If Oddy is going to remain as grindy as it is right now, the least FDev can do to help with the issue of going to a Ground Engineer to upgrade their equipment is to implement 2 TINY changes to the Engie Bases.
And for bonus points... have the engineer say "Oh, you need to upgrade your <armor/weapon/whatever> at Pioneer Supplies first. You have no room for my mods currently." But that would require voice-acting or something.
- Put a Pioneer Supplies shop in the base, so folks can upgrade their equipment in case they forgot to do that before going to the Engineer's base.
- Put a Bartender in the Engineer's base so we can trade for materials we might need in a pinch. Doesn't have to be a full bar, just the bartender.
And for bonus points... have the engineer say "Oh, you need to upgrade your <armor/weapon/whatever> at Pioneer Supplies first. You have no room for my mods currently." But that would require voice-acting or something.