Sounds like fun
I agree that some perks for neutrality could be interesting... I'm thinking of a galactic achievement called the "The Map of the Illogical Mind." This would open a new tech line of psychic weapons that shred the minds of double-thinking zealots. In combat, they'd deal damage proportional to the squared deviation from neutral alignment, to both the attacking and defending ships. So a race at alignment 50 would take no damage; at 60 or 40 a negligible 100 units of damage; and at max good or evil, 2500 units of damage.
A "Temple of Galactic Balance" that moves all races gradually toward neutrality might be interesting as well... it would eventually deny good and evil races their specials, if they do not resist the pull.
As for the "Spin Control", it's not necessarily simple to detect spin. A sudden 5X power jump would be obvious to humans. However, let's assume:
Some random target number "T" between 3x and 6x is selected.
The observed power of the military slowly advances from 1 to T over several (perhaps 10 or 20) turns.
Once T is achieved, a new value of T is selected, and the drift begins again.
This is similar to the way the US government used to obfuscate the GPS signal; even if you know the maximal deviation, you can't pin down the enemy's strength. And because of the slow initial rise, you can't tell when - or even be certain if - the enemy has built such a device. It would be even simpler (programming-wise) to pick single random target number T, jump there immediately, apply the change retroactively across the history graphs as though the Spin Control Center were built a long time ago, and then keep T constant... which would offer some degree of secrecy from humans, though not as good as drift. Spin is generally used to change history, after all.
As for special tiles... will they ever have special resources? Like Adamantium and Nightshade in MoM, or Ivory and Aluminum in Civ3. I don't know how they would integrate into the game, but tiles with special specials (rather than %bonus specials) would be fun...
Also, how about cursed/blessed tiles? I'm thinking about things like the Mines of Moria. For example:
City of Sin: An ancient city, destroyed by some vile forgotten sorcery, lies in ruins. Though unfit for industry or habitation, scientists and priests and tourism developers are fighting for control of such a fascinating area, each claiming amazing benefits in their respective fields. However, the taint of evil remains, and will slowly infuse any soul that remains too long.
If developed, provides 200% bonus to research, culture, or morale... and slowly moves your civilization toward evil.
Core-Worm Complex: The tunnels left by native core-worms are filled with their valuable nickel-iron droppings. The worms themselves appear to be hibernating in the molten core, or extinct... if they awaken, who knows what might happen?
If developed, gives 800% to industry, but every turn risks awakening the core-worms, who might kill half the planetary population and prevent access to planetary minerals (no industry) for years.
Transoceanic Spawning Grounds: All animals on the planet return here eventually to spawn in the mineral-rich waters fed by subsea thermal vents. This amazing phenomenon attracts tourists and big game hunters from around the galaxy. The area could be farmed for huge amounts of food, or developed into a tourist resort complex for the wealthiest people in the galaxy; however, with development comes the continual risk of destroying that environment and thus all animal life on the planet (-50% to all agriculture).
Mount Olympus: The tallest mountain in the known galaxy. What better place to build a Galactic Achievement? Any Galactic Achievement placed here will please the Gods, immediately causing a positive event and decreasing your chances of negative events (by, perhaps, 20%) as long as the structure stands.
-Cherry
