Does population play any importance role in SE4?

[rdouglass]

I agree with minimum pop for facilities. Also, I'd like to see a bigger difference for production / population bonuses.

I remember in SE3, a ShipYard would take 10 turns to build for a newly (minimally) populated large planet. The same planet fully loaded with pop could build the same SY in 2 turns. Now in SE4, I think it changes from 5 turns to 3 - not a very big difference. Yes, I'm aware of the mod's for pop bonus, but I haven't done much modding and it could be somewhat discouraging for someone running right 'outa the box'.

Also, if this could be race-specific and not 'global', that too could help with adding more features to the game. Maybe use Racial points or something???