The industrial aspect of Rust scared me. For a game the revolved so much around grubbing until you are no longer prim and then taking risks I did not expect such a mechanic to exist. Getting to know there was so much more electricity than simply plugging a solar panel to a battery was certainly eye opening. Realizing that you can move and sort your loot automatically was something else.
I remember seeing a video by JFarr on how you could automate loot sorting. I was familiar with the idea of depo boxes, I’ve used them often enough. I was also familiar with having to sort through 300 cloth, handful of components and other knick-knacks paste me thought to put inside of it.
For something with so much depth to it, industrial is pretty simply. Storage adapter goes to a conveyor, which can go into a splitter or just plugs into another adapter. Set a filter on it and you’re good to go. Things like storage monitors were novel but didn’t see as much use.
Something that did interest me is the seismic sensor, the ability to identify the level of boom is huge. Realizing your base is getting raided is one thing, making sure they don’t get your best loot by piping it away to a bunker is something exhilarating.
Then there’s auto TC upkeep, keeping the bare minimum in your external furnaces and refineries, auto crafting and even cycling blueprints!