The problem is that you need terrain tools and depots mk3 to use ships conveniently. And we didn't find a spot in the earlier levels to unlock all of that.

But currently we are seriously thinking of replacing the level system (with items unlock) by a tech tree, where you would choose which tech unlock first.
If we do that, it would probably be along a big update and a DLC, with lot of new items & techs, different planets - making the tech tree even more mandatory to manage that. Nothing decided yet, but don't hesitate to join discord, we sometimes talk about it and ask some advices to the players

One thing to consider is that we could really use a viable solution to the issue of a huge chunk of resources getting sunk underwater and becoming inaccessible once we hit the ice melt phase - either/or by getting a way to access those resources, or an alternate method of obtaining critical resources outside of recycling and surface mining. Like a lithic drilling and refining tech chain that is a hybrid of the two. Or "green" techs like refining minerals from seawater.

Also, a space efficient form of storage bank that adds higher capacitance to a resource chain than depots do, even if at the cost of being able to access them at the same transfer rate that depots do. Then we could at least harvest and stockpile the stuff that we know is going to otherwise get stuck on the ocean floor ahead of time and trickle them back into the supply chain.

Originally posted by OverkillEngine:

One thing to consider is that we could really use a viable solution to the issue of a huge chunk of resources getting sunk underwater and becoming inaccessible once we hit the ice melt phase

I use all the excess sulfur to make dynamite, and then raise the terrain to access them.

I was able to make a section of dams and pumps to "dry out" a huge underwater aluminum deposit. You can then use ships to move the ore across water (load them across the dams with higher-tier depots)
I do agree that oceanic minging platforms would be a neat thing to get late in the tech-tree

I also hit that issue with scarce resources. But as someone mentioned earlier: Make a lot of TNT (its super cheap), use it to get soil and raise the sea level high enough to build damns around it. Then you have an artificial island and use boats to transport it.

But yeah..ocean mining platform would actually be super cool!