[geoschmo]

It's a matter of opinion whether this is a bad thing or not. Some feel it's more realisitic. That a space ships is a complicated thing and no matter how many dollars you throw at it, it should take a minimum amount of time to build one. Others agree with you.

You pretty much mentioned all the factors related to production rate. Although typically space yard facilities on a planet do build faster than space yard components in a ship.

I have heard of a mod recently that allows the building of multiple facilities that will boost production, but I haven't seen the details yet. You should be able to find the thread fairly easily. I think it was in the "Pirates life for me..." thread.

You could also modify the data files your self to boost production in a number of ways. Change the base construstion rate in the settings.txt file. Change the facilities.tx file to increase the space yard rate, or add additional levels of space yeard tech. Do the same for the Space Yard component. Modify the Racial Traits .txt file to allow for increased construction racial bonuses.

There is very little about this game you can't change if you don't like it. It's one of the stregths of Spaces Empires IV.

Geoschmo