Well, in the distant past I just used a spread sheet to automatically calculate it all. But all this is just number crunching with the precondition that everything is supplied instantly. It works pretty well if you know what you are doing. Otherwise it's as useless as any system.
Yeah, accounting for transport distance is impossible without a simulation. Which is what Cosmoteer does by playing so it makes no sense to add such an extra feature.
This is a building game so I think giving some form of recommendation is good enough. Players should have to figure it out for themselves. Otherwise what's the point of competition if all you do is just fitting the stats.
