I really enjoyed playing this game through at some points i had to scratch my head to figure out some of the mechanics. I love the idea, the music and mostly everything about this game. So here is some feedback on some of the aspects i think should be improved.
Main points
- It took me some time to figure out how to get more controllers and which type i really needed for construction. This mechanic feels kinda abstract to me because it doesn't really relate to any specific building or funtion. It makes the game more complicated than it should really be and so IMHO should be removed and merged with the operators maintance system. If it is to stay i think you should remove the price climb on the tool storage or make it less steep.
- Tracking production and consumtion levels isn't really intuitive. It took me some time to find out that you can get the production level by simply hovering over the icon in the storage menu. Perhaps the production should be displayed by the graphs like it's done in Factorio. The interface also adds to the problem.
- The interface isn't that bad but not that good either. I am not really an expert on the GUI topic so i can only suggest that you minimize the "resource required" icons and also show what a building produces.
- The tutorial is a bit shallow and needs some improvement. Perhaps the tutorial should focus solely on the things required to start the city. The game is complex and so you should add hints to apear during the city's growth. In my opinion, you shouldn't really force them onto the player but instead make them apear somewhere noticable but not too much. Generally i don't think you should force the player onto a straight "better" path. The player should himself decided what he wants and needs. The quest system is a good way to award good city development. There should be added descriptions to the buildings and items.
- I wish the settings had more options.
Personal suggestions
- I love the verticality the game has. I think it would be great if you could build the foundations not only on the core level. Certainly it would allow you to make your city even more interesting to look at.
- I, personally, don't really like then a game looks soap shiny, bloomy and blured. The game looks greats it's just that i prefer turning off the bloom effect. Not a really big aesthetics problem.