idea

[Event Horizon]

First of all I have redone the table with numbers that are more appropriate to what the OP was proposing. My apologies. I should have used 200 million as the level 40 cap and back calculated from there.

The basic calculation is as follows: (Base Value x 1.5) + 500000.

The base value is 20. A half million is added so that the small numbers early on won't interfere with growth and the cap won't really become an issue until players hit around 1 million fleet and level 25 computer. The half million can be increased if people feel it lets the cap become an issue too early. The reason for setting up the formula like this is that it actually matches the way that all other limiting factors like cost and time follow and therefore should keep the cap relevant on a consistent basis from early to late server except the first month or two.

Level 0 500020 (fleet) 0% (production bonus)
Level 1 500030 5%
Level 2 500045 10%
Level 3 500068 15%
Level 4 500101 20%
Level 5 500152 25%
Level 6 500228 30%
Level 7 500342 35%
Level 8 500513 40%
Level 9 500769 45%
Level 10 501153 50%
Level 11 501730 55%
Level 12 502595 60%
Level 13 503892 65%
Level 14 505839 70%
Level 15 508758 75%
Level 16 513137 80%
Level 17 519705 85%
Level 18 529558 90%
Level 19 544337 95%
Level 20 566505 100%
Level 21 599758 105%
Level 22 649637 110%
Level 23 724455 115%
Level 24 836682 120%
Level 25 1005023 125%
Level 26 1257535 130%
Level 27 1636303 135%
Level 28 2204453 140%
Level 29 3056680 145%
Level 30 4335021 150%
Level 31 6252532 155%
Level 32 9128797 160%
Level 33 13443196 165%
Level 34 19914795 170%
Level 35 29622192 175%
Level 36 44183288 180%
Level 37 66024932 185%
Level 38 98787398 190%
Level 39 147931097 195%
Level 40 221646646 200%

This also solves a basic problem with the Supply Hub. Players will bust a nut to get one built as early as possible which they can probably get done in about 6 months or so. They won't have anywhere near the 150 million cap. So they just balloon their econ as much as possible so they max out the production credits from the Hub, keep half their fleet on their bases at all times and use the other half to farm. Put any income not going to production into upgrading your supply hub. The rate of fleet production would accelerate massively leaving players basically simming fleet. With the structure I've outlined above the fleet cap per level of computer is much more realistic and still maxes out at 200 million as the OP suggested.

Minimum Cap

What I'm proposing here is that production bonuses not be generated by a building but rather stem directly from the level of computer tech. I also don't think it makes sense to force players to keep fleet on their bases for the bonus to apply. The whole point is to encourage players who've lost their fleet to stay and rebuild. I don't think anyone wants to sit around just simming fleet for months on end which is why they quit. Telling them they can sim for shorter isn't really addressing the problem. The real issue is allowing them a realistic possibility of using active play to recover quickly. Not to mention the fact that rebuilding players will want to protect their mobiles until they're big enough to stand on their own. If they lose the production bonus when they move fleet from their bases then how are they supposed to protect their fleets? They're not allowed to store fleet on the guild blob while they rebuild?

Furthermore I really don't think we need any more bonuses to production for players who aren't far behind the server average. The point isn't to give a blanket increase in production and income to all players under their maximum. The point is to give players a chance to rebuild quickly.

So for these reasons I think you should have to be under a certain minimum % of your fleet maximum in order to receive any bonus to production. Even in that case I think it's up to the player to generate the income to pay for keeping their production queues moving. That means getting out and using feet to get the credits to take advantage of the bonus. It also means idling other queues if you need to.

How would the minimum work? Well, I'm proposing that production bonuses only apply when you have less than 50% of the fleet maximum allowed for your level of computer tech. The exact formula would be: 0.5 x (fleet max - 500000). If you're not sure why I subtract the 500000 please refer to the formula I gave for calculating fleet max above. For example, using the table I listed above, at level 20 computer you would need to have less than (566505 -500000) = 33253 in fleet to get any bonus to your production. At level 30 computer you would need to have less than 0.5 x (4335021 -500000) = 1917511 in fleet. At level 40 you would need less than (29622192 -500000)/2 = 14811096. So basically the bonus gets you half way there and the rest is up to you.

I'm proposing that the bonus to production be 5% per level of computer rather than requiring yet another structure. However I don't think you should get the full bonus all the way till you go over 50% of your fleet maximum. That seems too overpowered to me. Instead it should be that as you rebuild the bonus gradually diminishes until you hit 50% of your fleet maximum. The way I see this working is as follows:

1. Computer Level 30 your max production bonus is 150% with less than 500020 fleet. Remember that this is the number used to determine your bonus it is not the number used to determine your fleet minimum. So here goes:

Computer Level 30
Fleet minimum = 0.5 x (4335021 -500000) = 1917511

Production bonuses while rebuilding would diminish as the fleet total passed the maximum for each computer level:

500020 150%
500030 145%
500045 140%
500068 135%
500101 130%
500152 125%
500228 120%
500342 115%
500513 110%
500769 105%
501153 100%
501730 95%
502595 90%
503892 85%
505839 80%
508758 75%
513137 70%
519705 65%
529558 60%
544337 55%
566505 50%
599758 45%
649637 40%
724455 35%
836682 30%
1005023 25%
1257535 20%
1636303 15%
1917511 0% (minimum at level 30 computer)

Notice that the full bonus applies for the first 500K in fleet then slows down as you approach half you maximum fleet. If you manage to research another level or two of computer you can extend the rebuilding spurt for longer. At level 40 computer it's the same thing but start at 200% bonus. This way you get a bigger bonus to production when your fleet maximum is higher and therefore the feature keeps pace with the growth of fleets on the server.

Lastly, yes we seem to agree that some kind of accelerating decline in production is warranted as players go further over their fleet maximum.