5 minute tics was a bit extreame I'd say, the first few days was fun but no way to not use vm, after that it started feeling more like a chore. I went into vm for 2 full days then returned more casually and mannaged to somehow get killed in the last day of the round due to having less insane science than everyone else and not entering vm while at work.

Try 30 minute tics next if you want to experiment with faster tics, 4 hours base attack time is still pretty fast and manageable even if you got a job and need sleep, vacation mode should not be mandatory. Also put a hard cap on science so that you can focus on other things and still be fine. Maybe disallow sitting and invites since genesis originally was everyone randommed together.