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I'm loving the game so far after getting it yesterday and playing it a bit, and as I was playing and needed some additional electricity it occurred to me that during emergency situations the player probably doesn't want to micromanage the power consumption. I think a more detailed power management system would be a good way to address this.

One way to do this would be if it were possible to set particular items to have a power usage priority your power grid could selectively shut off non-essential systems when power is low. Instead of setting an item be 'on' or 'off' the player could set it to 'high priority', 'low priority', and 'off', or something like that. When electricity is low the lower priority items would turn off automatically to preserve power for the higher priority items.

Alternatively, rather than having this be done for individual items this could be done by item type by a menu where you would set a power management policy. You could have multiple policies as well - for instance you could have one policy that is in place for day to day operations that prioritizes lighting, luxuries, etc. but has turrets set to low priority or outright turned off, and a different policy for when you're under attack where you put the defenses on high priority, but have sun lamps and doors turned off. In this system I'd also want to have the ability to have particular items capable of overriding the policy and be always on if power is available.

This system could be a research item as well so it isn't initially available, and could require the user to build a computer that does this management.

So here's what I'm thinking - in addition to the human colonists, in the mid/late game there could be the possibility of adding androids or robots with advanced AI to your colony. These could be built, bought from one of the more rare traders for a high price, or perhaps be found in the ruins that may later be implemented as a remnant of an ancient advanced civilization.

The AI types would start off as blank slates - they have some degree of knowledge of all or most of the possible jobs, and get better at those jobs as they do them more frequently. Eventually some internal limit would make the android stop learning so they wouldn't be too overpowered, but being able to direct the development of one of your colonists to be a specialist or jack of all trades to your liking would be quite powerful. Perhaps the android could master two jobs before maxing out. Of course, that shouldn't be without risk...

AI is a crapshoot, as the trope goes, and so using an android would come with some risk. As an android learns, it would get character traits related to what it does. Some of these would be positive for your colony, others negative, others harmless quirks, and others being a mix. The possible traits would depend on what you choose to specialize your android in. Here are a few examples:

1. Let's say you make your android fight in combat a lot. Ways this could go...
Omnicidal - This android enjoys killing humans. A lot. If it doesn't kill an enemy for some time, it will go berserk and turn on your colonists.
Cruel - The android has a fascination with inflicting pain. Beatings of prisoners will be more effective, and if left idle it may go out of its way to kill animals on the map on occasion.
Fiercely Protective - The android has fought in numerous battles to protect the colony. It fights with efficiency beyond what it should be physically capable of.
Gloomy - The android is routinely depressed due to having seen and caused much death. Its presence may cause colonists to be less happy, and may decide to go into the wilderness and self-destruct if left idle for too long.

2. Let's say you have an android you relegated to farming duty...
Green Thumb - The android farms with incredible efficiency.
Tree Hugger - The android likes plants more than the colonists, and will sulk and refuse to work if it sees too many plants harvested in succession.
Nurturing - The android's patient work with plants has translated into compassion for living things, and the android will help lift the spirits of depressed colonists.
Calm - The android's patient raising of plants has instilled it with great calm, and it will be significantly less prone to malfunction.

3. Let's say you have an android you had do a bunch of different things, with no specific focus...
Inferiority Complex - The android, failing to have mastered anything, will get depressed at its failures if it does any one task for too long and sulk instead of work.
Helpful - The android will prioritize helping colonists with active tasks over doing tasks it is assigned to do.

4. You have an android who you've made master medical knowledge...
Pacifist - As a healer, the android takes "do no harm" seriously.
Social - The android has had many conversations with its patients, and will spend time every day talking with the colonists.
Mad Tinker - The android has a fascination with biology and will sometimes experiment on colonists or prisoners when healing them. This may results in the colonist being crippled when a failure occurs or enhanced when successful.

Some traits may be shared among possible jobs. For instance "Social" could come about through both being a doctor or being a warden.

The androids could probably have two or three 'revelations' through their development, with a trait gained at each one. If you get a really bad trait early on, perhaps it could be curbed by having the android go along a path that has a contradictory trait. For instance, you could have an android with the "Omnicidal" trait could be urged to farm as a second specialty in the hopes of getting the "Calm" trait, so that it would enjoy battle a lot but not turn on your colonists. On the other hand, this would risk it getting the "Tree Hugger" trait and having it go berserk if it sees your colonists harvesting plants even if it did battle recently.

Thoughts?