This is something which may be counter-intuitive to the TA ethos but has anyone thought about factories and other things that build units to have the need to be supplied by the resources that metal extractors/power generators create. Could it be something akin to the adjacency bonus that was in Supreme Commander, pipelines or ai controlled transports from another building. Could be a mixture of such ideas. You have a metal extractor connected to a factory and they are both connected to a power supply via a pipeline [maybe invisible underground one]. Could lead to greater strategy in disrupting an enemies supply by destroying its pipelines, starving outer bases and more. Constuction bots could be used to automate pipelines without having to manually build every one unless you choose to. You could have metal and energy storage linked to a factory if its pipeline is severed and its own reserves are drying up. Of course this might just be too complicated, how would you keep construction bots supplied?
That is too complicated and too far from the kickstarter to be implemented in vanilla PA. I am sure some one will try and mod it at some point though.
If building them is automated, then where's the extra gameplay? If they're not automated, I'm reminded of SimCity 2000, where you had to link every single building with underground sewer pipes. It was rubbish. Being able to shut down factories 1000m from the main base by attacking an arbitrary point 500m from the main base would make defending a nightmare, and would most probably reduce the game to surgical strikes in a few choice locations. It would render army combat mostly obsolete. Plus, magical teleportation of metal and energy, obviously. ;-)
