Games like factorio have little late game purpose. By adding colonists that require late game goods like power food and possibly even luxuries you could create a demand for these things you have produced. Colonists could In turn take on more specialized late game roles. To limit hardware taxation the colonists could spend the majority of their time in their houses performing domestic functions. They could then travel and socket into other buildings to perform advanced functions for processing materials. The only time they would need to be animated would be in transit. Power and food would be a limiting factor so adding colonists would be slow especially if their houses required a substantial upkeep. While spending time in buildings primarily it would be interesting to have controls to move them around as this would create a less empty feeling in game. Most of these building games feel empty as there is a sole focus on the machines. While multiplayer will help it is imperative that constructors have some sense of purpose and life in their factories. Adding colonists would greatly improve the depth of the game.
