If only it were possible to mod in extra options to the game setup screen, that would make changes to the values in "settings.txt," then there could of course be several such tweaks made easier for players. What I should probably do is document some options and include a few variants of Settings.txt for players to choose between.
I think you're probably right that it makes the development side move much more quickly, since you are doubling two exponential factors in planet development (pop size [therefore transport] and pop growth).
It comes down to preference - how painful do you want your realism? Realistically, a game where the goal is to take over and develop to a large extent a quadrant of a hundred or more star systems, modelled with one month turns and several equally strong hostile alien competitors, is going to take a ridiculous amount of time to complete. I think though that even in the standard SE4 game set, that's part of the appeal for a lot of players - that the game doesn't usually end for a possibly prohibitively long time. Realism and exciting, dynamic play are often at odds.
Sticking with realism can lead to some pretty painfully slow development of colonies, though.
Anyway, I'm sure you're right that it will speed things up and probably be more dynamic if you double those two factors - sounds like a good option worth making a variant Settings.txt for. It could also be interesting to reduce the pop size but not increase the reproduction rate, because then although you could better develop several worlds, population preservation and allocation will be more important.
PvK
Edited for typos.
[ 28 April 2002: Message edited by: PvK ]