I created a modified single-player only version of this scenerio that places you in a "story-line" style sandbox. It's a bit of a challenge if your looking for something different:

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=846076622

Also incase anyone's wondering my dirty little secret to scenerio design is I set it up for single-player then run it inside the editor positioning things and making them happen - then remove anything I don't want on the field after; Works pretty well.

I think it is a bug. Basically from what I read, a full barrel of each will prime it, and then they will never be needed again. Might have been fixed though not sure as I haven't tested it myself. I agree there is plenty to do without needing to worry about food and drink. I just checked and the time compression you used seems to be close to what is used on mars in the manned space program missions, which I think is a good balance.

Ah yeah - I'll consider it - after playtesting a bit it seems like there's plenty to take care of already without worrying about having an ample supply of food. Honestly the hydroponics thing is a bit of a bug if you ask me - someone should know well enough to check it for drain every so often - and even if it doesn't require soil - it still drains water; which you start with none; Also Even if you were able to make the first batch of soil's human waste and mars soil - you still need the interceding step of fertilizer which requires a large refinery to make; Seems like giving them a free box of soil isn't easing their burdens too heavily, and plus i deleted the container after filling it so that's all you'll find of fertile soil on the map :D

Looks great. Much improved. But unless you want people to be able to grow crops right from the start, I'd replace the hydroponics with a fresh one without dirt in it. I could be wrong but I heard that growing crops never uses up the dirt once you have some in there.