This mod feels like it has promise, but there are a few areas that feel like they need more attention. I spent a night with my partner playing, we made it partway through green science. Here were some of the potential improvements we saw, some of the confusions we had, and some of the inconveniences we encountered:
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Having to confirm that you want to enter the train every time is a strange and inconvenient choice. I frequently forgot to hit ctrl-enter a second time and had to repeat the motion again, and each time it happened I thought "why do I need to confirm I want to enter?" ctrl-enter is not an "oops I hit this by accident" key combination - I don't feel any confirmation is needed.
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We were looking to use AAI Loaders to unload the input chest inside the cargo wagon. Either it was a deliberate choice to not have that work or an oversight, but I think with such a small access point for unloading, loaders are a pretty important commodity. Allowing them to unload/load the input/output storehouses would be a big QoL enhancement.
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The fact that your connector space gets "eaten up" by the train wagon squares as you level up the interior space was not super clear based on the mod information page, and took some careful watching and measuring as we were leveling up the technology. I think it would make far more sense to remove "connector" space altogether and have the wagon space be stretched horizontally. After all, the train cars are rectangular, not square. Then, as you level up, you get more vertical space, but the horizontal space doesn't change (which is, in large part, how it currently works, it's just not described that way).
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Similarly not clear is the "utilities" space, which seems to transfer into the buildable area as you expand, leaving your specialized "only certain things can be built here" sections wasting your freely usable space. Having a clear line that will be cut and pasted when the train expands could help resolve this, at the expense of having to reattach parts later. Or having a separate "utilities hallway" map, though that could be additional complexity.
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All of the train researches are really expensive compared to other research in the game. I can understand some markup for significant improvements provided, 1000 green and red science early on is not just a markup, it feels more like extortion! Some rebalancing of those costs could help.
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The fact that the train battery powers the area outside but NOT the interior of the train when power runs low seems like an odd choice as well. The battery charging was consuming a ton of my interior power, but there was little that I wanted to use it on outside. It was a massive drain for my resources, and in return I'd hoped to tap those reserves as needed - but as our power demands scaled the engine didn't want to give anything back to help the work inside the train! Seemed counterintuitive.
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There are several technical things that should probably be hidden more of the time. E.g. the yellow square indicating where power can be drawn from should either be toggle-able or only visible when holding a powerpole - it's another somewhat obnoxious thing to have on the screen while driving the train around.
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Lastly, and this one is more of the hope and dream when we began playing this mod - why is the tech to expand the train's length so expensive and limiting? When we started we were hoping to create our one, singular train that would be extremely long - a factory on wheels that was dozens of cars long, with locomotives straining to pull it. A Snowpiercer kind of train that brings our world along. With only one train allowed, I think we assumed there would be more collecting of train pieces, but instead we've spotted 3 within a short walk of our spawn, and we will only be able to add two of those for hours to come.
Overall, again, a really interesting mod idea, and we had fun trying it out. I think with more careful thought it could be a great mod. As it is, I think there's some ideas that need to be worked through a little bit more. Thanks for the fun evening though!
