In that case, I guess my answer to this thread would be, 'no.'
But! I have been wanting to play Stellaris, it looks very pretty. Would you recommend it to a fan of city simulators? I'm not looking for something insanely complex. Honestly, I really just wanna try the Star Trek mods.
It (Stellaris) does most definitely have some city-building esque features. For instance, you can manage population groups on your home planet and as well as all of your colonized planets. You can either choose what to build on each planet for said pops to work at/utilize.
Or, you can either assign a planetary governor or a sector governor to make those decisions for you- but the AI thinks only short term. It sees you're running out of energy credits (one of the main resources in the game)- then it's going to build additional energy plants. It doesn't assume that you were saving the space to build something else, and that you had a different solution for your energy credits shortage.
At a certain point, however, once your interstellar empire/monarchy/republic/etc. grows to a certain size, you *must* hand over planets to AI Sector Governors, or you won't be able to colonize additional planets, essentially.
So at that point, the city building part is sort of stripped away. But there's still plenty of other options to keep you engaged. And it all depends on your play style, what you are role-playing, and the race you created.
For instance I created a human faction that had split off from Earth centuries ago. Years in space led them to conclude that a highly centralized and powerful government was needed. Thus, the Human Imperium was formed. All the power of the government flows from the Emperor- a leader that you get to create. The humans of the Imperium are highly xenophobic and militaristic.
So basically, I get to run around the galaxy, taking over planet after planet, brushing aside any resistance with my massive interstellar Navy.
Then you can load up another game, and play as a peace loving-all-inclusive faction. Explore the galaxy, focus on defense, and create a cultural paradise for all races.
In terms of complexity, it's night and day compared to, say, Victoria II or Europa Universalis IV. Less complex than the Hearts of Iron series- although HoI IV has been dumbed down somewhat. I'd say it's about on par with Crusader Kings 2- although I think CK2 is the superior game.
Either way, you wouldn't regret a Stellaris purchase.
Have you ever played Sins of a Solar Empire? Reminds me a lot of that, but on a grander scale.
