This game is interesting.
After three short-lived attempts to get some workflow, finally managed to find a spot with coal, iron, and copper within a few screenlengths of each other, a short walk away from the starting point.
Realized that I have no rock pretty much anywhere nearby except a tiny outcropping way southeast, and water for power generation is also far away.
Eventually got a resource operation up and running, set up a powerplant far to the northeast at a small puddle of a lake (powered by coal from a nearby small source). Built a basic automated research station, destroyed a nearby alien nest to prevent attacks (via turret creep).
Rebuilt the research station a few times, automated green resource packs, expanded.
Ran out of coal for the powerplant, instead of finding more coal moved the whole thing further north to an oil source next to a major body of water (took some figuring out).
Ran out of the last rocks, no sources anywhere in reasonable distance on radar. Built a car, started loading up for an expedition to find rocks and have them shipped to the main base. Can't even build walls, which seems like a pretty big problem, but attacks are very few and small so far.
Research has been mostly an annoyance, popping up with a screen to select a new tech every once in a short while. Actually looking forward to running out of red-green research items.
Questions to the more experienced:
1) Do attacks pick up in intensity by themselves, or do I have to go further out to encounter bigger and more aggressive natives?
2) How the hell do I use circuit systems? What is their purpose? Couldn't manage to make them do anything useful.
3) Anyone know if there's a variant of the singleplayer campaign that starts directly with the tutorial? The campaign as-is turned me away by providing me with a starting base of a design I didn't make.
Having some amount of fun so far. Tinkering with logistics is surprisingly engaging, it's like a dynamic puzzle game.