There was a thread here about maybe starting a Doper game a few years ago, but it kinda fizzled. I’d forgotten about the game until I stumbled across Planets Nu.
The game is alive and well, even better than ever. No more game disks to lose/mangle. You play online, through your browser. Basic play is free (restricted to Tech level 7 and under), and Registered play (Tech 10) is available (and cheap! $30 a year or $3/month, with other subscription lengths available). The downside there is that as far as I can tell, there are no restrictions on the mix of registered & free players in a particular game. Most games seem to have a majority of registered players, so if you don’t register, you’re probably going to be toast.
You can play solo/training games against a computer opponent, head-to-head “blitz” games (multiple turns per day, small map), team games, traditional 11-payer games, and a new format called “Giant Melee” with 30 openings.
In Giant Melee, players can choose any race they want–so you will see multiple empires of the same race, but they are not necessarily aligned. Feds can and do fight other Fed players, etc. Best of all, there is no waiting for the game to fill up before it starts. In this format, the game starts as soon as it is created. Players that join after the start are given extra planets/ships to help them catch up.
In regular games, you can join games in progress as a replacement player for someone that dropped out or start from scratch.
Most of the games seem to have one turn per day through turn 15, then 2-3 turns per week after that.
The site has a ranking system, with some games for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. Registered players can create private games, so it would be possibly to have a Doper game if people wanted to do it.