In some of my older "take over the universe' games, I had the fun option to have the game play itself.  And before you ask, yes, it was fun:  I enjoy just watching how empires develop over time without having to run my own sometimes.

So, I was wondering if their was any way to make the game remove me as a player, and run 9 or 10 AIs with me able to watch the  entire game and all of the 'players'?

And excellent game, by the way.  It absolutly devours my time.