The first interview with a dev is out. No hard details, but some good general ideas being floated. Some highlights:
One of the great things about Galactic Civilizations II was how alive the galaxy felt—the universe, it was full of random events and the presentation and things. How will the universe feel alive in Galactic Civilizations III? A big problem with a lot of 4X games is that they feel rather dull and procedural. What kind of random events can we expect in Galactic Civilizations III?
Events have always been one of my favorite aspects of the game. You will be playing along thinking you have the game wrapped up and wham, “the Jagged Knife” pops up and half the galaxy is suddenly at war with you. Events of all kinds – simple to crazy and game-changing – are some of the most fun elements of Galactic Civilizations to design. As the game gets tested we will refine which will stay and which will go, but I can promise more events than ever, not to mention the classic Galactic Civilizations II events that we are be keeping around and enhancing.
What is the scale of the engagements like in Galactic Civilizations III?
Like in Galactic Civilizations II, engagements will go from ships dueling one-on-one to massive fleets battling it out. One of the beauties of going to 64-bit is that we can have absurdly large fleet battles. However, fleet sizes will still primarily be limited by the player’s technology level and the resources they control.
How do ground invasions work in Galactic Civilizations III, in contrast to the second game?
It's safe to say ground battles will be different.
Other good stuff in there, too.