I had a similar idea, only found out yours existed after. I have implemented things differently, fewer limitations. but I struggle to prevent user from leaving. and it doesn't have the neat upgrade feature. good job.
Hi, I did just notice yours as well! I guess it is inevitable that 'duplicate' mods get created, so no worries. For sure this one is a bit more limiting, I wanted to control the player experience a lot more! Otherwise it would be not very different from just giving the player a free starter spidertron.
one idea i was given was to integrate with Insectitron to give player lower tier equipment when starting. or a custom Tachikoma prototype that is non craftable but has different stats to spidertron - i.e. larger grid, etc.
or mimic the Brave New World play style by forcing the player to use the God controller but getting tiered Spidertrons from the start instead of using static roboports.