Just read a bunch of posts with suggestions. Most of them are meaningful/sensible/interesting (some seems a bit too niche, but.. who am I to tell?), however I have the feeling that many would be quite suitable for a plug-in (or a mod, if you prefer the term). Also, in consideration that the coming switch to Java plug-ins may bring quite powerful possibilities.
So, my question: shouldn't perhaps the core development focus in adding basic features and elements AND in providing a flexible, (and possibly performant) way of creating plug-ins, more than in adding an infinite (but never complete) collection of ready-made 'thingies'? By elements, I do not only mean objects you can place, but as well process steps and (mechanical and biological) behaviour patterns, which could be chained and built-upon by plug-ins.
I think this could allow a more consistent and efficient 'core game' (by spearing dev resources), providing a more robust and polished user experience, even if basic; to which plug-ins could add any sort (many sorts?) of bells and whistles.
A couple of examples. I read many posts asking for a more hostile environment (or with more hazards); personally, I don't like zombies, monsters, demons and 'final bosses' (there are other games for this kind of things) and, if implemented, I would like an option to disable them: for me and for all the other persons with similar tastes (I am sure I am not the only one!), that development effort would have been wasted. Or the other way around, for things I may like and other may find disturbing or distracting. Other posts ask, for instance, for electricity: very nice, but technology is wide, deep and tall! What about the countless chemical reactions, metallurgy processes, nuclear technology, and so on? What about the innumerable forms of life which exist in this planet (or can be thought of)? Once this "slippery slope" entered, there is no end and there will always be some (some? A lot!) missing pieces.
If the plug-in framework could be developed enough to allow a fair part of this to be implemented in plug-ins, the load of implementing specific details could be moved to plug-in developers and the dev team could concentrate on the 'important' stuff.
Just rambling, no well defined strategy, of course. But perhaps it might give someone some idea...
Thanks for reading,
M.