Ive been following this game since it was Imperium galactica 3.This game reminds me alot of SFC on steroids. The game itself is pretty tough to learn, and has alot of micro managing to deal with, but from what i can tell you can pretty much mod in and immitate alot of the behaviors in trek ships with the bonus of 3d movement. This may seem like a shameless plug (and it is :p ) but its a very nice alternative if you want massive fleet battles (you can control up to 10 starships/bases along with thier fighter complements).
The graphics kick ass. You can use bump, specular, alpha transparencys, and lumiosity maps. You can also animate the textures, and the models themselves. only catch is you NEED lightwave to do this. Veterans of SFC1 should be very familiar with this scenario. The Good thing is you can model a ship with other programs like 3dsmax. Then import to Lightwave to add the features, animations, and hardpoints that only LW can do. The game comes with its own mod tools and documentation to help you with this.
I HIGHLY reccomend this one.
Its been released in the UK, but the US release isnt untill Febuary. If u in the states cant wait that long, u can always order the import like i did