Constraining terrain/events

[VikingScientist]

TLDR; Implement terrain and/or situations which restrict familiar designs or combat strategies.

Why
To avoid players getting stuck re-using the exact same blueprints for factories, or re-using their "perfect" combat strategy all the time, try and force situations where they have to think differently, i.e. solve an old problem in a new way. It captures what Factorio is all about: continued problem-solving.

How

Swamp terrain
The lowest hanging fruit in this regard is to implement different terrain which limit building. For instance one can have marshes which don't allow heavy buildings or train tracks. To get resources across you would have to split up your train network into two separate pieces with conveyor belts or robots getting it across the marsh. Can't rely on existing infrastructure to resupply the "far" train with fuel etc.

EMP or dead zones
This alien planet has local wild electromagnetic oscillations. No electricity within this area.

Swimming
Let the player swim through water (possibly using a modular armour upgrade). This forces the player to leave any vehicles behind, so no more combat from safe within a tank. Yes, yes, I know you can put tanks into your pocket (inventory), but that is a rather silly thing to begin with. Extracting resources from islands require something else than your traditional railroad or conveyour belts.

Monster variety
Create different monsters with different strengths/weaknesses. Immune to fire? Immune to electricity?

World parameters
Instead of adding local challenging terrain (which one can often avoid), one could opt to globally change entire world parameters. For instance "planet O2 density" might influence how good your burners work. This would mean you can't google the best steam power-plant design to get the best 14-10 ratio of boilers/steam engines, because this ratio would be unique to your world. This forces players to do more in-game research and testing instead of googling perfect designs. What about wind strength/direction? Could influence any future wind turbine efficiency and pollution spread.

Disclaimer
I know that there exist multiple terrain threads on this forum, but I still think this post offers something to reflect on.

[steinio]

Sounds good to me.