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I am Nero. I write, I play music, I do some digital art, and I game when time allows. I am studying political science and law/legal theory in Virginia. I wish to be a legal analyst (not a person who goes on TV and talks about law, not that kind of analyst). I found this game via Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Mech suits a I am wary of. I like the idea but I am not sure how it will fit in and increase the depth of the game. Tools, weapons, and armors I can get behind though. Mining? Grab a laser pick (if you're tech is substantial enough, lower equivalents available). Doctoring? Grab a laser scalpel/medkit/etc. Defending? Grab a gun or a sword or a grenade. It furthers the gameplay elements in my opinion.

I have to write a paper, but if I get it done before it's too late I'll try and get something decent out. I am thinking about taking out the ship and moon and just detailing the planet a little bit, move the words below the image and have the silhouette of a large planet in the background. 

It's a real thing though and could be an interesting story telling option, and wouldn't be hard to put in. I am a fan of colonist in-fighting and tension. After 5 months in close quarters with 5 or 6 other people you aren't going to be best friends with them in most cases.

Racism - If the relationship module makes it then have different races for the randomly generated characters. If a character has the Racist trait they get a massive penalty to relations with characters of X race.

If I ever find my pen then I'll do something better.

It's a concept/WIP/trying to find my pen and tablet to make it look decent but here it is so far:

I like the idea. In Empire Earth you could launch a flare (at least I think it was EE) and it would reveal and area for a certain amount of time and then everything in that are would remain. Sometimes you would get there and the village that you revealed would've been wiped out by the AI, but you didn't know that because of the FoW. I like the idea that it helps with the story and creates tension. Maybe in the mid-late game you can build a radar dish or something that scans the area and reveals all, or something like that.

Well, if Ty wanted to differentiate RimWorld from Dwarf Fortress, he certainly could do so with an abstracted manufacturing system.

I think this is the stutter right now in a lot of people's minds. I've read that Ty's intent was for this game to be DF in space (or the poster referenced a post on the Bay12 forums that said that), I'd have to go find the post that references it but I think it's in the Suggestions & Concerns thread. There is a schism there. There are the simulationist DF players that are here expecting something similar to that, then there is the people who say 'well this isn't DF, PA, FTL, etc.'. I'd like to see what Ty has to say about influence vs. actual possible implementation. Unless it has already been stated, then please someone link me up.

I found this concerning building options later on:

Yeah, I think I'd prefer to see a tier system that has steps to do more complicated things, but that is somewhat abstracted.  I would prefer, for example, a Forge required to make swords; but not the requirement to make a blade and hilt in order to make a sword.

I agree with this. If you take 'industry' out of the game then you just have something simple, and while I take into account this is a 'storytelling' game you still have to have gameplay. I mean RimWorld isn't Dear Esther, it's a different beast. It is the simulation of the story of a group of survivors/colonists on a planet, insomuch as it doesn't actually have a story. You're the story and if you don't have interesting elements to build upon then there is no story.

For example if a tiered industry system is implemented my colonist A goes out and gathers some metal to smelt down at a smelter. This produces a metal bar and that metal bar goes to the forge/smithy and it is made into ammo, tools, or weapons. That is as far as it has to go. I don't need a gunsmith that will makes the barrels, and a crafter that makes the stock, then an assembler who screws it all together. Now for the contra-example of no tiered system, colonist A takes the same metal resource and puts it in a machine that spits out a gun, tool, or other item. There is only a single link in this chain, therefore no tension can be made. The most tension or story building you'll get out of it is 'Oh, I am out of metal.'

I am not arguing that it isn't poorly done. I am arguing, however, that the lack of initiative or attention to delve into the game because of the less than friendly UI  is a modern syndrome. I guess it is a good thing because it limits the community.

Back on topic:
Are there plans for more expanded industries for the colonists/survivors to partake in?

It'd advise you guys go go read the Suggestion and Discussion Megathread, which has already hosted a bit of discussion about DF.

Here's what I had to say on that matter, for instance:

Since RW is inspired by DF, I downloaded it this week-end, out of boredom.
Unfortunately I wasn't bored enough to be able to cope with the entry-level complexity, and there are still parts of my brain that are dripping from my ears, due to the induced melting.

So yes, please make RW accessible for the masses, and as said earlier, the more different difficulty levels you can add, the merrier...

I've read it. My comments on yours:

DF is complex but should be easy for a beginner to pick up. Really, getting a self-sufficient and impregnable fort set up in a decent map is easy cake once you understand the system and configure it properly. I could whip up a guide on it in fairly little time. Much of the complexity is, in fact, not necessary for play, which is to say that there is a long and deep experience to be had once you get over those initial hurdles (I may have already responded in that thread actually).

The real difficulty with DF (other than self-imposed through various game choices, which can be extreme-impossible) is with the interface: it's clunky, it sucks, the graphics are not intuitive (even with tilesets), and even highly experienced players can find themselves endlessly frustrated by its tedious and unintuitive design. I think much of the supposed difficulty curve is just that. Yes, there are lots of "bugs" and "features" that make the game more complex/tedious than other RTS/RPG/management games, but nothing than an experienced gamer in these genres couldn't handle.

My point here is that Rimworld clearly does no suffer from the horrid UI and interactions of DF, and giving it an equal level of gameplay difficulty would not put it anywhere near the total difficulty of DF (for newbs and vets alike).

I agree that DF is easy, the entirety of a tutorial that I found to learn how to play was just navigating the UI. The game is, at its core, much like a Caesar game. You get resources, take them to a building that processes them, and then sends them to a warehouse to be used to improve your town/fort or to be traded. Where DF get complex game play wise is when you get into the hierarchy of dwarves, the interconnecting relationships, and keeping everyone super happy. That is probably the most complex part, and it is fairly easy to be honest. People complain about DF because they don't want to take the time to learn it how to navigate the UI efficiently, which I think is a modern syndrome in gaming.

I echo, the latter, reservations of the OP. There seems to be a lot of promise of story-telling, but lets be fair here. This game isn't a Dear Esther or a Amnesia title. A lot of how well the post release does will have to do with how well the features are. I know that the game is still pre-alpha and all but it seem sort of barebones in the gameplay department. I mean there are some really great concepts there, but what is holding me back from supporting the game right now is the lack of depth that will keep me from going back again and again. That is why I love DF. I learn something new every time I play, even after I have spent 100 hours playing one fortress. It would be great if the creator could address some of these concerns directly.

Another great example of a game like this is Factorio. Check it out.

On a separate note:
I know there are no stretch goals, but the game has already reached well over double funding requested. I read that extra money would be used for art and sound, but that is only going to cost so much. Where is the money going to go if the game reaches something like $150k or more? Will it be more features such as the suggested modules? or what? I'd like to see the depth that DF has translated into this game, but that is my opinion as a recovering DF addict.

For sure Mathas and then Northernlion and his crew. Christopher Odd, if he will do it. He is a great youtuber as well. I am not sure if he would do it, as it is not really his type of game but there is no harm to asking but Arumba at https://www.youtube.com/user/arumba07/videos. I love Grimith and SKS so maybe them at http://www.youtube.com/user/GrimithR/videos?view=0 and http://www.youtube.com/user/ioaz81/videos?flow=grid&view=1 respectively.