So, I've went and tried out version 6 with one of them mods that adds a buncha stuff. TTM or something like that and played a bit. I have not played the base game, much.
Meh, this post is going to be all over the place, like some crazy guy rambling on about anything.
For reference, Temperate zones(with the base game too), they are missing one of the foods, which you can't get in any way, so it closes off one of the early ways to get decent foods. No Muffalos either. So Arid Zone all the way. (Have not tried Desert zone yet. I assume it'll be nothing but sand, cactus and Iguanas.)
I'm like Grizzly with the clicking for decent people early on. In this mod, you have to research stuff before being able to build... anything.
And there is a Crafting skill requirement to make certain essential parts. That means one of your guys needs at least 6 skill in crafting or you can't trade, period. Adds in more clicking when RNG doesn't give me one. (I click out with anyone who has blocked off skills and negative traits. Also the Psychicly sensitive traits, like 30% of the people who don't have blocked off skills has this...)
Sadly, the make your own starting colonist mod died from the last version. Incompatible with current version and I guess too hard to update for each time.
I suppose it adds in other events, but one of em comes off as bullshit, you need to pay extra attention or lose a colonist events. Well specifically the Stroke. (I load the auto-save if I totally miss the message and someone dies as a result.)
There is another one that turns everyone crazy-rampage, except one person, like a massive forced mental break. Kinda bullshit too, it would be better off with a massive negative -90 morale modifier or something, so at least if you got a well run base/good traits, some more people would stay sane. (Though I guess some people would decide to leave or go melancholy instead of rampage.)
The dangers of sieging can be mostly negated, cause this mod adds in an anti-mortor shield generator(among others), but it eats up a lot of energy. (Energy in this mod is harder to set-up a consistent supply for early on.)
I'd pick up the zombie mod(I wonder if its compatible with TTM), but it seems to add some sort of way to get infected outside of zombie bites, so meh to it.