I really want to like this game but the tech tree makes it the most infuriating thing to work with. (At least for the current story mode.)
I was running into issues where I was being massively outpaced by tech I needed and where I was in the game, what resources I had, and the actual amount of research points I had. If you follow the missions or objectives as intended, it is entirely possible to fall behind massively. If you choose to house the colonists you need a massive amount of research. Research that is only prompted once you hit a certain milestone. So if you wait too long (or you don't know) it's possibly to fail. One of the most common work arounds currently that I have found from others it to literally not accept (click the confirmation) new missions until you get tech to a certain level. That is not good design.
One of the end game (if not the end game as of now) objectives requires a massive amount of resources. If you don't have a scaled factory (because it's your first time playing or you are learning to optimize) you can just lose. Game over. It's a multi-part mission and you don't know the exact requirements of the next until you finish the first, which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem, if failing the mission didn't involve a game over (requiring you to load a previous save and hope you can salvage the situation, go back far further to a save if you happen to have one, or start over.)
It is entirely possible to fail certain missions because your rover runs out of batteries due to the cycles of the sun. If you accept a mission and your rover is too far or you get unlucky, you fail.
A big component of this game is the online market where you can buy and sell resources. The starting resources basically do nothing but lose you money unless you put a massive amount in, and you basically need t2-t3 resources to really make any income. The game also (for story mode, which some people frequent, some people don't) will auto accept contracts randomly which will leave you scrambling for resources or you fail the contract.
Alongside bugs (which are getting better and fixed), what is essentially a research juggling mini game, the ability to scan for certain resources and find none (Aluminium) and clunky colonist mechanics, I just can't recommend this game right now. It may grow out of these kinks. It might be soon. But right now its a big no from me.
