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In DF, the game increases attacks and their difficulty based on the cumulative value produced by the player. If you make a spaceship build the end-game goal, you can make it so that it requires a lot of valuable parts/fuel resources. It may be not so difficult to get the infrastructure in place to slowly churn these out, but as your stockpile grows each day, the ferocity of enemy attacks grows with it. This may not be linear growth either...

Point is that as you get closer to that finish line, you have to spend more and more resources/manpower on defense and triage. With any medium+ difficulty storyteller, this should mean that you would even need to start preparing in advance of the final spaceship run given how much value/ferocity would be built up over its course (simple passively reacting to the increased difficulty would not be sufficient for a typically experienced player).

Additionally, adding in new attack elements with certain levels of ferocity would create new situations in the later game. For example, adding in siege machines or other war machines or better weaponry. This makes sense since at first perhaps you're only under attack by roaming bands and local resistance, but as your value of production increases, you become a larger and juicier target that draws in more advanced, larger, and more coordinated attacks from afar. Hell, if aliens were found with a near-complete spaceship on Earth, what wouldn't we throw at them to get it?

Or even if the aliens eschewed a ship and just built up their tech and facilities. Each level up in tech should have a correspondingly higher (like 10x) amount of value attached to it, and the difficulty curve for assaults can also go up a level once the cumulative value also increases 10x or so of the previous value limit.

So, like basic furniture is $1 of value, as are basic walls. Basic power generators are like $5. Advanced power generators are $50. Hi-tech power generators $500. So, at $0-100 you get small bands attacking, at $101-1000 you get larger ones with basic vehicles, at $1001-10,000 you get like a modern army, at $10K-100K you get the whole deal, like a full on fortress defense.

First, let me say that this game looks pretty interesting. As a long-time DF fan, I've been eagerly awaiting a game that takes the best of DF and combines it with a solid UI and actual graphics. That said, I have some reservations before backing it, and also some suggestions regardless of my final decision.

Suggestions first:
For the graphical style, well, there needs to be some. I think the natural areas are really well done for this point in production, but the sprites and constructions are very weak. I understand it's a stopgap. Here are my suggestions for this:

• Character sprites need to be far more detailed and unique. I should be able to look at a sprite and know who it is immediately. These are the most important sprites in the game, and as such should be the most detailed.
• Character sprites should change as the characters do. Aging, losing limbs (too much DF?), gaining scars, balding, growing beards, etc. Clothes should also change over time, as the colony becomes more developed and can create better quality fabrics (or perhaps encrust them with gems).
• You definitely need a strong sci-fi style to this. Since there are multiple levels of tech involved in the gameworld, having multiple styles is possible. For instance, a basic Star-Trek colonist (TNG examples) look for furniture and walls, with more detailed mechanical apparatuses. Then, other tech levels (perhaps reached as the colony develops) could have a more Alien/Quake2-4 feel. Traded tech weapons could have aesthetics lifted from all over the sci-fi metaverse.
• Moddability is key. If you get a solid base game, the community can add furniture, buildings, resources, and art styles as needed.

Current Reservatations:
The game right now is not so appealing for a pre-purchase, though I'm certainly happy it's passed its goals. My issues and concerns are:

• A lack of industry. Having gotten used to DF's complexity in this matter, I would find little to do with such a streamlined game.
• A lack of things to build. Same, basically. Plus things to do with what you've built (I want to encrust things and add metal spikes).
• A lack of development opportunities. Ultimately, I'd love to see more of a sandbox where you can realistically tech up and improve on your starting options. For example, you start with a basic wood/feather (whatever materials we have) bed, but in time can make a bed with foam/springs once you have your industry built up, and eventually like sleeping pods with all sorts of benefits to the character once at the highest level. Currently, though, there's very little to do or work up to.
• Just more variety in general. Like above, for materials and resources, is that all? I know it's "feature incomplete", but I want to know how incomplete and how filled in this is going to get. Again, I'm coming at this from a DF background, and just won't be able to get into it if the current level of depth is indicative of the final product. I'm sure it will sell well enough for others, though, since it's a solid concept.