What if you started the game on a space platform?
Starting platform
It would be located somewhere in the asteroid belt and your only mineral source would be what you have caught from space dust bombarding your settlement, refined and processed. In order to expand your factory you'd have to construct actual platform for it. Steam energy wouldn't be an option anymore (you can't have that much water), you have to use only solars instead. From the very beginning of the game, yeah, but it could be day all the time (it's space!). Becouse there are no aliens floating in space (are they? 
) and there has to be some danger, I'd make buildings degrade over time and to protect them you either have to repair them (I would assume you've got robots also from the beginning) or place protective shields that would repel projectiles for energy. Of course space dust collection wouldn't work under those shields for it not to be that easy It's of course pointed at more advanced players that chewed through normal game.
More ideas could be incorporated such like:
- deattaching parts of platform and floating them around
- space monsters!
- capturing hydrogen along with minerals -> fusion plants -> getting carbon from fusion
- energy/resources needed to keep your platform together or random parts will disintegrate - cost don't have to be linear to limit the size of the factory naturally
- Endgame I'd totally like
- Incorporates fresh feel into the game at some point
- Could be also standalone mode for richer gameplay without too much effort
- Utilises existing(?) awesome space platform graphics
- Takes time to code and Wube doesn't have unlimited manpower
- It might turn out not very different from normal play or too hard if not balanced properly
- No trains unless we maybye make them cross space and incorporate some other space platforms with goodies you can connect too somehow
What do you think?
