Make distribution right! Your planets throw military production in the dumper. In the dumper, if there isn't a starport. How about adding that to the list in Stats? "Amount thrown into the dumper: ####". Because I expect it to be a 4 digit integer value over the course of any game. Not theoretical - confirmed. A place with a nonexistent military sector will not retain production for social projects.
Your options reduce to: build no ships -or- colonize no fresh worlds -or- employ military subsidizing, only `Hello!` the providing tech's 3x more rps as research from the other branches, and gives you a partway solution at best -or- rush build everything colony (20-1 exchange? Gee! thanks!) -or- watch the dumper fill to overflow, while your genius opponents consider your civ & laugh and collect 80% more everything by comparison. n.b. the absense of any reasonable alternative!!
Such things don't fall thru the cracks, normally. It (the colony wheel) was talked over back and forth and sideways back in the day, I saw so I know. How many versions old is this issue? It was around 1.7 that the governat0r replaced the production wheel. DO you have folks checking things like this? Does a Stardock dev have friends? Could facebook possibly help?? Am I dreaming all of this??? I know I rant, but fix this and you'll have fixed the ranting too. Otherwise it's unprofessional, and that's the bottom line. Show me the universe where this is anyone's idea of fun, plz.
Footnote: In my Krynn game I needed to: 1. assign every new planet to a starport somewhere. 2. move military slider all the way left after said assign. 3. wait till colony tiles are covered. 4&5. re-assign shipyard sponsorship if/when the planet is rdy to supply a local yard and adjust military slider to a reasonable q. or check on 'use empire'. In non-krynn games, this workaround can't be done. And THIS IS CONFIRMED! A slider set to 1/2 will fill your planet's several tiles at 1/2 speed. A slider set to 3/4, it's ONE QUARTER speed and no increase in shipbuilding from that world. I know I rave, but is somebody in charge rite now? And if so, then what are they doing? They should be reading this and taking note.
Appendix: Think I'm opinionated? I'm just speaking what most people think. When they see that a shipyard bug they brought up YEARS ago is still present, they think that the developer's "compile" button is broken. I don't think I'll buy Star control! Because when it turns out I cannot turn left but need to keep making a right turn until I face to where I wanted to, the entertainment wanes.