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KanalFausta's videos are in Polish, not Russian.

I think that "DF does it like this this is how it must be done here" is not a good argument to get anything into the game, but neither is "DF did this and this game is not trying to be DF so it can't do that". I would imagine, based on the current feel of the game (playthroughs), that it deserves a pseudo industry, but I don't know the right answer. A lot of things, like whether minerals turn to metal by mining or smelting, are quirks for Tynan to decide; we will adapt to it working either way. Guns, bullets and missiles might be exclusively bought/looted, they might require significant investments in gunsmithing and gunpowder/explosive synthesis, or they might all be made from metal at the workshop after a research is completed.
There needs to be a balancing and enforcing relationship in this game between the player doing things by himself like research, construction, and possibly industry, and the storyteller sending obstacles, assistance, and variety at the player for the experience to be complete. Too much of industry and the game risks loosing the story element; too much story and the game risks annoying and taking away the player's control.

The theme of this game is a band of survivors, but, then again, they DO have the ability of building a huge fortress out of solid steel using standard tools that even oafs own.

The exoskeleton could work as a low-mid onward item, augmenting the wearer to be better at mining, construction, etc. I would argue for them to have to be researched and manufactured or bought before being used (They are not that unique if just a named passive research). I would even go as far as have the wearer having an "exoskeleton" skill which dictates how much benefits the suits would give.

As a late-game toy, I even agree with the concept of larger mechs. I imagine them to be slower, bulky 2x2 machines (I don't know if large entities work in the game though) controlled by a person.
They could require the purchase/salvage of a power core (can't be built) and several other kinds of parts that can be either researched from scratch or faster by reverse-engineering. Once the parts have been researched, copies of the parts can be manufactured and the mech can be assembled at dedicated "mech assembly station".

Mining and construction mechs would be unnecessary due to the exoskeletons, but the combat mech could function as a tank. It would have good armor and high health, and could equip tank-grade weapons. It would, however, be slower than people. It would require power to work, having a decent but finite battery life and, to recharge, having the option of being plugged into any nearby power conduit for a minute or a charging station for several seconds. The mech would also require a character with a high "exoskeleton" level to operate it. Anyone with a low "exoskeleton" skill could hurt themselves while operating the mech, in addition to less efficiency and higher maintenance needs.

NPCs of wealthier factions would be able to bring these combat mechs over to raid you. When mechs are destroyed, they would obviously explode (still leaving a few salvageable parts), although mechs could also be recovered by killing the person inside before the mech itself (this would need to be difficult/rare).

There are three main issues I have with mechs:
Can my version of mechs even be programmed into the game (they are 4x as big as a person)?

X -person

\/
/\ - mech

Do these mechs fit into the lore of the game?
Can mechs be made to fit into the balance of the game? (Mechs must be optional; they can make combat slightly easier due to the investment costs but MUST NOT be a requirement)

This was originally a reply, a clarification of what I interpreted Semmy's idea to be ( http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=108.0 ), but I ended up elaborating to the point where I decided to make my own post. So here is my ideah:
     Events should be dynamic and have dynamic consequences. I mean that events should have a lot of variables in what happens (magnitude, optional occurrences) and what effect they have. I will demonstrate this system by describing a hypothetical "flood" event.
     The flood starts as normal rain. Every time it rains, there is a chance that it will rain abnormally long and cause a flood (probabilities can be impacted by other things like what part of the cycle it is).
     If a flood decides to happen, then there are other possibilities. The flood has different stages of intensity (amount of which varies from flood to flood), each of which may or may not have different answers to the following questions. Is the flood going to be a wave that passes by and leaves or a rise in water levels that may last for a while. Is it going to be strong enough to drag away and drown people or just to annoy them and impede movement. Are the crops going to outgrow their farms and give you a huge yield or will they be washed away?
     After the water recedes/drains away, the terrain could be effected positively or negatively (mud sinkholes vs. new very fertile land). If it was strong enough, it might have washed away a lot of the wildlife of the map, allowing new animals to immigrate but leaving you with a temporarily desolate land. Maybe new animals, or even parts of a pirate outpost/ship have been washed onto the map by the flood, giving you new things to explore.
     This event could then impact the probabilities of future events. It might reduce the chance of a drought for a cycle, but then increase it for the cycle that follows.
     The probabilities of every aspect of such a dynamic event system will obviously depend on the storyteller. A "Creative" storyteller would have all events turned off. Casual mode will probably have negative flood effects turned off. Normal mode could increase the chance of a dangerous flood as the game progresses to a limit. Random mode could have it set to a flat chance (maybe even a random chance?).
     This would make the game a lot more suspenseful and fun. Instead of getting an annoying message, "U r gonna get fl00d3d agin; hid ur kidz et wifes liek last tiem", or "all ur plantz dieded rand0mly l0l"(a real example from the "press release" game) there can be more immersive storytelling. Events, although all known categorically, will have their own, possibly even unique and personal, impact on your story. Filling the game with dynamic events (flood, volcano eruption, tornado, earthquake, disease, raid, assault, siege, thunderstorm, forgotten beasts are all examples that could have, as stated before, different magnitudes, phases, and optional additions) will assure that each play-through is unique enough for "infinite" replay value.
     My point is to, instead of having "small flood" as an event and "big flood" as a completely separate event, have a single "flood" event which includes all ranges and types of floods, allowing each flood one has to be different in its own way.
     Criticisms, comments, and questions are desired.