I only just saw this idea, but while I would hate having to put blocks into the shipyard (while I know factories become a necessity, I also hate them), the shipyard itself would be amazing (still rather have a money purchase system). Perhaps you build it, then activate the thing, finally the trading guild stocks it up with supplies? Or maybe it would work in conjunction with either a shop or a storage block, utilizing the materials within. If you use a shop, it would cost the normal amount of money, but hooking the shipyard to a storage block would allow you to only need to get the materials yourself, and can be built without money changing hands.
Queuing ships would be another function I would want, or a repeating tool. However, would the A.I. module be active or inactive? It would be terrifying to attack a faction\'s homebase, then watch as a drone silo begins spewing out hundreds of the buggers as the shipyard was stocked with a TON of supplies before you attacked.
The power requirements should be enormous, and watching the ship come together would be amazing! This idea is the other that should be implemented, along with a large modification to the weapons and armour of the game. It has so many possible uses, and the game would become a lot more strategy-based than it is now. However, there should be an option to use the current blueprints system for a server, so that those who don\'t like the idea can go play on their own.