Unusual mechanics in automation/factory games?
I've been trying to sort out factory mechanics inside my head and kind of look at them in a systemic sense, and got curious.
Basically, ~100% of the mechanics boil down to :
there is building which is placed just by clicking on the ground (in some cases, you need to craft the building's item first)
you may or may not need to select a recipe
there is a way to put material(s) into the building (belt, loader, pipe, by hand)
there may or may not be a need for a fuel or a power source (electricity, mana, etc)
it takes some time to convert material(s) into product(s)
there is a way to take product(s) out of the building (loader, pipe, etc)
the resulting products are either used or moved to the next step of the production.
And this is basically it.
There are things like sprays in DSP that can be applied to materials to get more efficiency.
But other than that, are there other mechanics that break the mould?
(I'm not saying that every game is the same, or that it's boring)