Darwinia and a The Big Universe idea

I've been a bit busy with work lately and have not had time to do anything on this project.

I had a quick go at playing Darwinia, it was a bit of a dull game as I knew I would win, it was just a matter of time. It had a good selling point and it was quite well thought out. An interesting thing was the map, it's a half sphere. with points plotted out for city like places that you can go. Lines connect the points and there are stargate type portals that allow you to transfer from one city to anoter. One city produces energy, another raw polygons, another makes the final product, etc.
The map was a nice idea, I think i might use something similar, but it does then raise the question to me, of how big I want to make my game universe? The bigger it is the more I need to consider how everything will balance out, plus I will need to create some sort of model for all the species to interact and trade with each other, so that there is an equilibrium. I would love to do it that way, so the universe is vast and there is lots to explore and learn. I could then have ancient civilisations, specialised technology, strange aliens who you come by, bars, pirate bases, guilds, traders, pirates, bounty hunters, militants, navies, ship wrecks with items you can pick up, and places you shouldn't visit without the right hardware!

I fear if I do go down this path too soon, I will never get anywhere near a finished product, as I will spend far too much time developing the trading simulation engine. So perhaps this vast universe I want, will have to wait for another day/version. Or perhaps just make it totally random and forget the balancing act!