I've played until green sci (pre-oil) so far and encountered some balancing issues:
- Space sci is VERY slow due to ice! I've invested quite a bit into expanding the platform and I'm bottlenecked by ice at around 10spm. Space sci should cost much less ice imo (maybe 5-10) as oxide asteroids are really rare. I only see this issue getting worse after unlocking oil.
- Space platforms are quite expensive, especially on iron. Maybe it is due to me expanding a lot to get more ice but I'd slightly reduce the iron cost on platforms as well. Carbon poses no issue on that.
- Steam power seems obsolete to me as solar is really strong and basically free. Also I don't want to waste my precious ice on that.

I really like the concept of this mod and hope there is more to come :)

Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback, it really helps me see where the balance pain points are showing up in actual play.

Ice / space science: I hear you on the ice bottleneck. Adjusting asteroid generation is tricky in the code, but I do have plans to allow asteroid reprocessing relatively early in the tech tree probably right after green science. That should help smooth out progression and make ice less of a choke point.

Platform costs: The platform is intentionally set to be quite expensive as a limiter, so I don’t have plans to change that. I understand it can feel punishing at times, but it’s meant to encourage careful expansion and resource management.

Steam power: You make a good point here. Solar is available from the start with no research requirement, while steam needs a research unlock and also consumes ice, which makes it less appealing once solar is accessible. I agree it needs a more unique role, and I’ve been considering ways to make it useful beyond simple power generation.

I’m glad to hear you enjoy the concept overall. Balance tuning is a big focus as I keep iterating, so your notes are really valuable.

To give my 2 cents:
I just achieved green science, so not to far yet.
So far I like the concept a lot, but my science is struggling a bit.
-I agree, that Space science takes a bit to much ice, reducing it to 15-20 would help a lot already.
-The Space Platform cost is fine imo.
-Steam power does seem obsolete, espacially with the price for solars. If you want people to build steam, solar needs to be worse and ice needs to be more frequent.
-Maybe reduce the cost for electric circuits research a bit, in the beginning I was powerstarved the whole time while waiting for ice. The experience might be a bit better with cheaper space science, but Factory must grow.

Another thing that might be worth overthinking is the stone situation. Atm I just throw all of it overboard, it's not needed. Adding it into the process would make the game a bit more challenging in the early game (just adding it to a science or space platform recipe could already be enough)

Thanks for the effort

I really like this mod, pretty fun ! My game is ~30h old (with Time controler mod ;) ) and I'll soon unlock thrusters !
I agree with the previous comments, about Ice :

-I made a really big platform only to catch more oxyd asteroids, but it's still not enought ^^'. It's alway the bottleneck, for Ice and then for Calcite, when at blue science.
-Petroleum is very expensive : 35 Calcites to make 100 Oil, then 100 Oil to 55 Gaz, then 20 Gaz for 2 plastics. But 1 asteroid give 2 Calcites, approximately 17 asteroids to make ~5 plastics ? (without water and subproduct cost)
-As a result, the cost of blue science is also very high (2 plastic to 1 red circuit, and 5 red circuits to 1 blue science)
-Steam : never used it. Solar is way cheaper and efficient
-Space platform cost is fine

This mod is really interresting and challenging. With some balancing changes it'll be amazing. Can't wait to see the next updates ! :D

for steam power maybe make it that steam engines have steam input and water output with some % loss so you would still need to ad some ice over time, but it wouldn't be much drain from science production?