This is a really cool game!
I have a few suggestions though.
1. Uniform Controls
Right now, similar functions require different (sometimes contradictory) inputs.
* For example, if you want to exit a menu, it can either be Q, B, or Tab depending what menu you have open.. and EDIE's menu doesn't have a key to exit out, so you have to click the exit button. Also, sometimes if you hit Escape, it will close the menu and bring up the "do you want to quit" screen, but sometimes it won't close the menu (depending on what menu it is). I would like it so that I can just hit Escape and/or Q to exit any menu, and when all the menus are closed, then it brings up the "do you want to quit" popup.
* Another place is adding items to shops and machines. Q takes from the shop, but adds to the machine(if one ingredient). E adds to the shops, and sometimes adds secondary ingredients. You can remove items from shops, but not from machines. It would be nice if E was always add, and Q was always remove, or something similar.
* Some things you can hold down the add/remove button to speed up the process, and sometimes you can't. Shop you can, machines you can't, and junk piles you can't. It would be nice if this was available everywhere.
* Scrolling. 3 different scrolling options by my count. Mouse(Build and Weapon menus), W/S(Player Upgrade), and R/F(Trade booths). It would be nice if this was also more uniform.
2. Custodians also restock machines
Currently, you have to restock all machines by hand (unless I am missing something), and since you have to hit the key to add each item individually instead of holding down the key, it takes a lot of clicks. For Example, if you want to make 1 piece of metal, you need to click a total of 28 times on different machines(16 to add veg to oil, 4 to add oil to stone, 4 to add oil to metal, 4 to add stone to metal). Alternatively I could hack away at a junkpile and get a piece of metal every 8 clicks, all in one spot, with a chance of getting plastic.
All this to say that if the custodian filled up machines, as well as the wood burner.. that would be nice. Or if you could hold down the buttons, that would be good too.
3. Change order of build menu
Right now, the build menu seems kinda random. There are certain sets of tabs/categories which I often use in conjunction, and they are never next to each other. For example, when I am building, If I'm working on production/farming, I often switch between production, ranch, and automation. These are all two clicks apart. Likewise, if I am building actual buildings, I'll need to switch between Building, furniture, and light/deco, which again are each two spaces apart. It would be nice if these tabs were grouped together, right now I've seem to have memorized 2 sets of build menu tabs (Auto->??->Prod->??->Ranch, and Building->??Furniture->??->Light/Deco) switching between the two or looking for something not on those lists feels random. I'm sure with enough time I'll get the hand of it as it is, but until then it's pretty frustrating..
I would organize it something like so: Building->Furniture->Light/Deco->Ranch->Prod->Auto->Resources->Economy->Building
4. Bigger weapon arcs.
Right now it feels like I have to be looking directly as an enemy to deal damage to it. when there are multiple enemies/friends/corpses, and damage numbers flying over them, it's hard to tell if I am hitting anything or not. When I die in a fight, it's often because I am swinging my machete over a corpse, instead of the enemy right next to it.
5. Puppy priority last.
I really like having the dog follow me around ^^ and I like petting him occasionally..
But he'll often get if the way when I am planting, watering, harvesting, filling machines, tending animals, looting, etc etc.
It would be nice if the option to pet him only showed up when there is nothing else in range which I could use the E key on.
6. Can't click the x in windowed mode to close the game.
Not too big of an issue, but it puts me a little bit on edge when a program won't let me close it by hitting the close button..
Sorry for such a wall of text, I didn't intend for it to be so long >.<;
I really do enjoy the game a lot =D
It just needs a little bit more polish I think =]
P.S. Are you programming this from scratch, or are you using an engine? If an engine, which one?