Cool! Looks like you're already thinking about everything I was. All of this looks sensible (or at least plausible, and playtesting will sus out the best version of the idea).
One of my friends (named Voksa) linked it to me. They found it because it was listed on http://www.roguebasin.com/index.php/Main_Page . (And they were probably looking on roguebasin because they're in the process of prototyping a roguelike themself, about saving colonists from a reality-corrupted station.)
My name is Patashu, and permission granted. Thanks!
EDIT: I did get an idea, which is that if the game is in a 'Relaxed' difficulty setting by default, then it could detect when you're playing well enough to handle a higher difficulty and ask once if you'd like to increase it mid-game. That way the first game can account for people who get it quickly AND people who don't.
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Thanks! I update the game's info in RogueBasin whenever I release. I'm glad to hear that's finding it's way to new players! (Also, that sounds like a neat premise for a game)
I think some sort of dynamic difficulty is a good idea, but I don't think I'm going to invest in it now, since the release with the reactive ecosystem will change things so much that all that work would be lost. The reactive ecosystem by it's very nature will dynamically adjust the difficulty. For example, an efficient, rapidly expanding player will probably cause more disturbance to the ecosystem.
Under the hood, there is a bit of dynamic difficulty now. The number of enemies you get each night is partially based on your population. So if you have a few bad nights and lose some colonists, the next night will be easier than it would have been otherwise. I might expand that a bit to take other things into account. Perhaps total "value" of buildings. I think that might be a good metric for how effectively a someone is playing.
True I was already thinking about these things, but hearing other people's ideas and talking through my own helps to clarify, so thanks for sharing!