I just though I should post a note on fleet combat. The project is not dead, just slow. Fleet combat is a long way out, but it is most certainly not forgotten!
Because we have true scale space, ships are tiny, and move really freaking fast, and take a long time to accelerate and slow down (equal for each). Thus, when two fleets meet, what happens? They simply pass near or through each other and continue on their way. What if we give them super thrusters to stop and destroy each other? Well, they will just fly by each other, but be going much faster. Also, getting ships to stay together in fleets and properly stay next to rapidly moving planets is difficult. Super awesome solution of all of these problems? Attractive field technology (force fields, tractor beams, magnetic fields, super gravity, electric fields, what ever)! Then instead of fleet passes fleet, they shred each other into bits throwing ships in all directions! What could be better!
Have a video of this effect using simulated gravitational fields (video a simulation of a galactic collision, but the ideas is similar).