Here's a some progress on the user interface.  If you right-click on the two visible sectors, you can invoke some of the working orders dialogs: Build Ships, Create Designs, etc. jQuery has saved me a ton of time putting these together, but the code needs a bit of polish.  (Anyone out there an expert on namespaces and jQuery?)  Anyway, here's what's left to do:

Here's a demo page of the beginnings of the new user interface.  In addition to some more map items (portal connectivity lines, homeworld indicators), I've added a few interactive items:
 

Well, here's the first map generated with the new software.  It will look familiar to veteran SE players, but has some new items.  The small black dots are collapsed wormnet portals, and the hexes outlined in red are ion storms (which are similar to the blue-outlined nebulae, but which damage ships in the same sector).  Although the map is not yet interactive, this is a nice milestone along the way.   Stay tuned!

Would you believe I'm still working on it?
 
So the past 18 months have been kind of busy for me, and suffice to say that I wasn't getting much work done on Star Empires.  But things have stabilized a bit and I'm ready to get back into coding up the game.  I won't make any predictions or promises about when you'll be able to play a game -- it'll be ready when it's ready.  But I'm actively working on it now, and 2010 is looking promising. :)
 

It's been over three months since I've had a chance to post anything, but I'm happy to report that the updater code is done and pretty well smoke tested.
 

Well, if you're looking for an epic Star-Empires-like game involving space combat, political maneuvering, resource management, and technology advancements, here it is.  Twilight Imperium (TI) from Fantasy Flight Games is the mega experience you're looking for.

Here are a couple of Star-Empires-like games to keep you busy while things are still churning here.  While I tend to favor turn-based games over real-time games, I've found both of these to be addictive.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.  I know it's a been a while without any news.  Things are moving along with the new version, albeit more slowly than planned.  The good news is that the updater is almost complete.  I hope to start testing it within the next week or two, and I may recruit a few veteran players who don't mind coding up their orders line-by-line old-school fashion until the GUI is ready.  
 

Casey's been doing further work on the GUI prototype, as you can see in this snapshot.  The portals and connection lines are new.  Head on over to his demo site anytime to play with the prototype.
 

Yehuda Berlinger over at Purple Pawn gave Star Empires a quick shout-out.

 
Thanks, Yehuda.  I'll consider myself switfly kicked.  I'm shooting for a playable beta game in January 2009.