Is that really the biggest problem though? The survival feedback loop is a well-trodden trope in game design. Punch a tree. NMS actually succeeds here by const

Is that really the biggest problem though? The survival feedback loop is a well-trodden trope in game design. Punch a tree. NMS actually succeeds here by constantly draining resources in order to survive... the same resources needed for many crafting recipes. You also can't carry a mountain's worth of resources in your back pocket. The severely limited (at first) inventory space is a subtle resource as well. Thematically it makes sense enough to immerse oneself in the game. Space, for all its wonders, is incredibly hostile to soft, squishy meat bags. It's tougher than the sea on our equipment... and the sea destroys everything eventually. So of course it takes resources to survive and travel to new worlds. The narrative framework of these mechanics is not built on one of harmonious living on a single patch of land with a zero-carbon footprint. And you don't have to kill the animals at all to catalog them (tiny, fast moving birds not-with-standing). Thematically I don't see this as the "biggest problem."