Great behind the scenes video Bench. When you say beefy computer can you give details. Is there any memory tricks that had/suggested we do, or is it optimized from the initial download? I've read conflicting reports that Java doesn't get allocated a large amount of memory, but others say it does.
As for the manual elevator system. It's not a cheat - it's a really cool effect with player interactivity, although the automatic logic run lift should be able to create a docking system. What I really want to know is - how do you go about planning a station design when every block has to be made from scratch?