Somehow the game stops being fun for me around Phase 4.

I’ve been playing this game on and off ever since it first became available on Steam - it’s a fantastic game and I keep coming back to it because the factory building, the atmosphere and the exploration is so fantastic. The early tiers especially have a wonderful sense of progression; you go from barely being able to climb a small cliff to zipping around the landscape with increasingly fun traversal tools. You also get increasingly advanced production tools that help you simplify earlier complex parts of the factory (like removing screws from the producion line entirely after you collect the appropriate recipes). It’s a top tier experience that I keep coming back to.

Howver, I have yet to make it past phase 4 even once. Usually around the time I’ve set up my aluminum processing plant, it feels like everything just becomes a chore. Where during earlier phases I was eager to unlock the next one because it gave me tools to make my factory more efficient, the ones during phase 4 make me think “oh great, now I have to spend the next 10 hours building another 100 machines just to get 1 high speed connector a minute”. I really want to see what’s next (especially what happens when you complete Project Assembly) but every time I start the game now, I know I’m spending hours building a row of conveyor belts or rail support towers through an admittedly beautiful landscape just to get a resource I don’t necessarily see the usefulness of.

Of course, everything I’m describing is a “me” issue, but I’m wondering whether I’m the only one who feels this way and what could potentially be done to keep me engaged to the end.

Personally what I think is missing in the later phases is further tools and recipes to simplify the tedium done during the earlier stages of the game - like I said, it feels amazing to be able to cut out screws entirely. It’s like the game says “you’ve shown that you CAN do it in the way that takes 40 hours of your time, so now we’ll respect your time by giving you a way to skip that step for the next factory you build”. Mk2 or Mk3 versions of most production machines would go a long way to condensing the factory building process.

What do you think? Is it just a matter of “late game isn’t for you” or is it an issue other people experience?