As of now, there are comparatively few player-created shipsets, arguably a consequence of the switch to 3D graphics.

Custom race creation is basically the same as in the previous games, with two notable changes - you must now select a government type in addition to a social pardigm, and the game master may grant players a set number of research points to improve starting technology. Virtually all of the stock races are updated versions of SEIV races. The empire-building aspects of the game borrows as much from the third installment as it does from the more recent fourth, with research and intelligence being assigned as percentage of available points as opposed to the queue system used for construction. New to the series is a real-time combat engine, and the player can now control ground combat in addition to the usual space battles. It is the first Space Empires game to use 3D graphics, and as such, the user interface has been heavily redesigned.

While Space Empires V retains much of its predecessor's gameplay, there are several key differences.

Space empires 5 shipsets