Hello @dacapoday. We were totally unhappy with the resources situation you are referencing to. That's why the last few weeks we were in the biggest redesign of the map zones since the first Alpha. I can't wait to share the updated version with you.
As for hard ice - it's going to be changed a bit to become meltable and diggable. Probably you saw the Meltomate feature in our roadmap, you can consider it as a spoiler :)
Perhaps the resource positions can hold a variable amount of resources? The image used can vary by how much is currently available? (Right now, there are only two types of each, a "5 count" and "1500 count" version.) Possibly add some very high (maybe even infinite?) resource tiles, especially near the edges.
The ice might vary according to how much heat it is near. Adjacent to a heat source might make it melt (maybe within 2 tiles of a heater?) Likewise, some way to make ice from water might be handy. Could be an "ice machine", and/or a "heat shield" type placement.
