I love the new trash piles. Now that you get resources out of them I don't want to just bag and sell, which means my base stays messy longer but is even more satisfying to clean. Maybe make them drop two scrap instead of one or make them smaller? It feels like they lose 75% mass when shoveled. The individual piles that you need to use to get items out of hold 6 and are flatter than the clumps.
The new base is also fantastic. More stuff everywhere, it feels more previously lived in and also manically abandoned.
The new way signals are downloaded is also fun, more engaging to have to triangulate and being rewarded with easier adjustments. More physical stuff everywhere for all the chores makes me happy - using floppy disks for daily tasks instead of having to type out hash codes is great! Same for the transformers and servers. I like more mini games and I appreciate that transformer maintenance only requires one of them instead of all of them. The physical module upgrades are also a fun replacement for the previous console upgrades and for the transformers.
I was initially a little irritated that the new ATV always requires fuel, but then I realized that this is an excuse to put more mannequins in the wood chipper for coal so it's not too big a problem. Thematically, I think wheels take too much damage from regular use. It's not a resource problem - tool kits are cheap enough - but tires don't have durability that degrades (except the treads, which wouldn't wear down on the soft ground around the base and you wouldn't be able to repair anyway). I think it would be cool to replace that with an air pump and pressure - you periodically have to pump the tires up, if you over-fill they explode. Maybe add leaks that slowly drain the air if you run over nails or take really big falls and patch kits to repair them, something like that? Also the way it eats gas seems off. It probably shouldn't just drain constantly whenever you hold forward no matter what is happening. I know you can just tap the throttle repeatedly and let go but that's just annoying. Maybe it should drain less fuel depending on how much effort it takes to maintain top speed? Also towing things with the ATV and hook is a lot worse now. I get more leverage with just a hook on foot even on very heavy objects.
A lot of people have complained about the coordinate towers and I have to agree with them. I like the idea of maintenance on them, but fuses are way too expensive, even if you craft them, for how often they break. I had CR2 go down, I fixed it, and while I was heading back to base it went down *again*, and this happened on at least two different days. They need to be able to soak more damage before they break (maybe add upgrades?), or you should be able to repair a fuse for less resources / scrap it into more of the components, or they should cost less in the store, maybe let a Kerfur fix them. A server upgrade is permanent and only costs 25 points, or is made with a metal, electronics, and plastic, and lasts forever. Vs a fuse that costs 50, is made from metal, electronics, glass, and wire AND breaks every time you turn your back on the tower. ("Mind your step" is very funny, it catches me every other time and I turn around and chuckle whenever I trip.) Also, ADD THEM TO THE MAP, PLEASE.
Speaking of the economy, 900 points seems like way too many for the big flashlight. It's a great upgrade and I appreciate a good cost to escape the fiddling annoyance (so much of the game is trying to make everything less directly annoying and time consuming to get your job done, of course!) but it's somehow 400 more expensive than Kerfur, an entire autonomous robot. Bandages are also a little expensive. One bandage is 35 points. That's two food boxes and change!
Cooking and farming are also good times. No notes, I love growing potatoes and oranges and baking bread. You should probably need to add water to the coffee machine instead of just bumping the coffee bag against the machine.
Control scheme - I also don't care for the new "hold the button" scheme and would like a toggle to revert to how it worked in .8x when I want to use vs activate.
It would be nice if the daily drone also provided a drive box but I understand if Dr Bao wants to be stingy or whatnot. :-D
Dreams - they seem to occur way too often now and take far too long to complete successfully. I struggle with actually completing them to begin with, sometimes it seems you just can't, and being punished with -30 stamina is a lot. Maybe shorten them but also shorten the reward, or reduce the penalty? Also, the one time I finished the boulder dream successfully I was still flung out of my sleeping bag on the floor so hard I immediately bled to death even though I was wearing a helmet, which was funny but also incredibly annoying.
Overall it's been a great update and I look forward to seeing what comes next!!