Having played a bit more, I discovered the upstairs coffee machine doesn't require coins to operate. I am extremely thankful to have been wrong on this whole mechanic but it kind of double defeats the purpose of the vending machines and feels like the fault of not having had the time to even look around, not my own inattentiveness. Once you've made it through week one and you're a bit more established and have opened some crates, the game becomes a whole lot more enjoyable but some things like flashlight and ATV batteries and triangulation tower maintenance remain a constant headache. I don't really get the purpose of the fuse system, and the triangulation tower upkeep in general. I think keep the upkeep minigame but get rid of the fuses (or else have them degrade slower AND start the player with several spares around the base). Having a way to target the towers would also be nice since the lights aren't always visible from the ground.
Things become a LOT less frustrating when you've gotten to max download speed and built up a slight signal backlog, but I'd say the current alpha's still got way, way too many cases of micromanagement and time sinks. When horror elements show up, I'm not in any scared or tense mood, I just think how this would affect my tasks and if I'll end up being punished for it. There are a lot of really good ideas and elements here but they feel marred by the insistence that everything take as long as possible and be a multi-step process. The kerfur is slower, your reports have a semi-randomized timer and you have a number of new things to worry about, and it at the very least feels like your stamina and hunger drain way faster than they used to. You end up being in a rush but having to wait, which causes frustration.
I'm also beginning to change my mind on the new controls. I liked the idea initially, with some caveats, but picking up and putting down items feels weird and you can't pick something up while holding something else, which gets especially annoying during garbage cleanup. On a related note, I really miss a lot of the physics interactions, like being able to slam or even throw a drive into a slot instead of having to hold and click it. It adds a lot of charm and fun to the way you interact with the world.