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As others have pointed out as well and what I feel the map needs:

1. More automation (scavenging task, scout task, go somewhere task and so on), set task to the specialist and they keep doing it until stopped with no interaction from user. When done or something else stops them, user gets alert of actions needed on map. This would make the need to go to map only when something new needs to be done, not to just re-issue same walk order over and over again.

2. Outpost - Don't understand why this is needed at all. As I always have a number of specialist, they all get hurt and always need to get back eventually to base to heal. Outpost doesn't do anything for me (or I missing something). I would suggest to change this something similar to what its in Frostpunk, you setup an outpost that generate a resource and have either specialist or colonist assigned move back and forth with the resources.

3. Encounters - Map is way to static, I can have 1% health and always make my way back to base to heal. If there where encounters that interrupts task or assigned orders. Bandits spotted, choice of attacking or sneaking by, traveling groups or whatever, just to make it more live and add chance to actually fail to just walk somewhere. This would also be more interesting for trade deals and number 2 option above, as you need to perhaps add armed guards for them to succeed.

4. Radar station and weather - As others have mentioned, have weather affect what is possible to do on the map. Storms appears and makes some tasks more difficult/reveals new resources. Having radar station build to get early warning and prevent task from failing by either pausing them or re-rerouting. Pollutions and radiation clouds that appears and could damage specialist if caught unprepared.

5. Similar to outpost (late game?), built more stuff on the map it self. Early warning for bandit raids with watchtowers (perhaps make some of bandit encounters visible and move on the map?), defensive forts, safe houses/areas for healing/help, build roads to make travel faster/safer. Clear map of dangers to make it safer overall and perhaps have the possibility to create sister colonies.

Anything that basically adds reasons to go to map I can see having a micro and macro management going might be interesting, doing colony stuff at the same time managing (or at least affecting) the greater world outside.

In any event, I don't actually mind the overworld map, I like the break from the colony building occasionally, I just don't want it to always be the same, re-issue orders you already put in and go over same things all the time. If this could be made to be less of a nuisance then I would be fine, if not, then I also would see that having a drop down box for what specialist would do, might be better and skip the map entirely.
 
Agreed, I really want to like this game but the need to micro the specialists and world map is really a bitter pill to swallow. I still don't understand what is all this pointless micro doing in a city builder...
 
Another issue I see wasn't able to be properly addressed because it was too baked in from the start and unable to change. Real bitter pill when a game gets less interesting as it develops.
 
Just chiming in with an overall +1. Know that this is coming from a place of really loving the game overall.

The Overworld is a neat idea, but there is nothing particularly interesting in how it is implemented and the required context switching breaks the immersion of colony building. Going to the overworld feels more like a frequent interruption that really is disconnected from the game.

Examples of disconnectedness:
  1. I cleared out the bandit camp in the same zone as a society. It did not affect my reputation.
  2. I faced a behemoth bear in a quest. Later my colonists found a bear that ultimately attacked us. Could have scared off the first and had it retaliate - that could have been a more integrated experience. Or maybe scare it off in town and that opens a quest to track it to its lair.
  3. We have an overworld map of all these locations - factories etc - but then quests keep introducing more of them temporarily - as if they were not there all along. (Hard to convince me that the specialist did not notice the nuclear power plant. :) )
  4. People at the gate never are connected to the world - what if the Scientist said "I have a really big score on a hospital if you will join me" and gave you a quest. Similarly, what if after paying off some bandits you could track them and take out their camp to prevent them from returning. (I would think they would keep coming back and extorting more until you do.)
  5. Societies also don't leverage your obvious world-changing skills - Someone suggested that other societies could send us on quests - that could be interesting, maybe just through the trade menu? They will trade you important items (e.g. special items like seeds) for clearing out nearby bandit zones and that would boost reputation and lower prices.

Additionally, it feels a little clunky and incomplete. Examples
  1. My giant specialists single-handedly punching out a bandit camp or whole sector just does not feel as rich/real as the colony - campy even. Conversely when fighting bandits in town, there are loads of them and one or two specialists would be hard pressed to take them all on.
  2. The fact that you can't find the cars you bring to camp until you build a garage - they just disappear.
  3. The giant distances and zones specialists can walk in a turn, yet I can't explore my own area map without scout towers. (Specialists in camp should be able to be set to explore.) (I almost wish the overworld just used the same graphical view as the colony - maybe you can only build on "the island" as its defensible, but they can roam much further and that there was a factory area to the map, an airplane, map etc - I know that would be a lot of work for minimal gain and may have practical limitations.)
  4. Outposts do just one thing. Why can't a scientist researching something, patch up someone? Why can't a transport hub not scavenge when there is nothing to transport? I'd rather have a single type of outpost - maybe built in the same way as the end game research ones that require a building and supplies - that I can either dial its purposes to or that auto-does that as I leverage something other than research or scavenging in its sector.
It's a super-neat idea, but it just feels incomplete, disconnected, and ultimately, as it is today, I think I'd be just as happy with a dialog box that had a list of specialists and objectives and that I could marry the two up - maybe with a type, reward, risk, and time indicator. Maybe a modder can make that and the overworld becomes a place to visualize what is happening while your specialists are on missions?
 
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The fact that you can't find the cars you bring to camp until you build a garage - they just disappear.

Outposts do just one thing. Why can't a scientist researching something, patch up someone? Why can't a transport hub not scavenge when there is nothing to transport? I'd rather have a single type of outpost - maybe built in the same way as the end game research ones that require a building and supplies - that I can either dial its purposes to or that auto-does that as I leverage something other than research or scavenging in its sector.
Putting aside some of the deeper things I'd like to see the overworld do - like territorial disputes and outposts coming under attack and stuff like that, variations on these 2 in particular are some of my biggest problems with the overworld.

The Garage system as is renders the vehicles essentially worthless. It's so deep in the tech tree that by the time it is reasonable to do I've got 70+% of the overworld scouted and looted. At that point it just is not worth the effort. The way vehicles just disappear also caused me a major WTF? moment the first time and I actually had to look up online to figure out what happened.

The Outpost system as it stands is also problematic - it is clear that the design intent is to make choices between outpost types important but because they require the sacrifice of a specialist the actual outcome is that I don't really bother with anything but scavenger and science outposts, the other outpost types sit in a 'balanced by tedium' convenience aspect, which is a terrible design space to be working in since many players will just choose the tedium even when it reduces enjoyment of the game.

Recommendations: The Garage system needs an early game variation that upgrades into the garage either with a quest to unlock it that starts when you get your first vehicle or at least better UX explaining things.
The outpost system could be improved in a bunch of different ways, but the one I favor would be an outpost slot system where depending on biome your outposts have a certain number of slots and filling those slots takes sending that outpost resources and even survivors.

It's a super-neat idea, but it just feels incomplete, disconnected, and ultimately, as it is today, I think I'd be just as happy with a dialog box that had a list of specialists and objectives and that I could marry the two up - maybe with a type, reward, risk, and time indicator. Maybe a modder can make that and the overworld becomes a place to visualize what is happening while your specialists are on missions?
Unfortunately modding is super-low tier. It's that awkward place where it is theoretically powerful, but in practice is too poorly documented to fulfill that power without more work than even an above-average modder will be willing to put in. The poor modding is frankly my biggest criticism of Iceflake Studios since it feels like a minimal effort checkbox kind of thing.
 
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My 2 cents regarding the issue:

I think the developers should double down on the Sid Meier's Civilization style. Have your colony extend its borders, have other colonies do the same thing, and also raider factions. Captured territories should provide some sort of bonus too, like X amount of basic food and materials, etc.

Raiders should have clear concentrations and migration routes across the map. There should be a chance of stopping them before they get to your settlement. Right now I could have everything around my settlement firmly under control, and still get a Raider attack at my front door. It's pretty dumb.

There should also be non-Specialist units on the map (once again like in Civ), e.g. military. We should have a building like those Outpost Depots, but for making military units out of colonists, who could then move on the map and man fortifications, or attack other units.

Since we're all about rebuilding stuff, there should also be some kind of map-based infrastructure. Next to Settlers we could have Workers (just like in Civ), who could build roads for example. They would be costly and take long to build, but it would significantly speed up Specialist and trade caravan movements.

Also Limes-style defensive lines to thin out Raiders coming to knock on my front gate.

As a lategame element, there could also be advanced infrastructure, like rail, which would of course cost a #@*%ton of resources and money, but it would be a useful way of spending them. By lategame, I have so much food, money and resources I don't know what to do with them.

The Doomsday Bunker should be just one of many possible endgame routes, and each phase should cost resources. Other routes could be military-focused (setting up bases, defensive lines, etc. throughout the map, subjugating or annexing other colonies), or economy-focused (playing the wasteland Railroad Tycoon, issuing and spreading your own currency, etc).

Come to think of it, currency should be a much bigger deal. Each colony should have its own unique coins, and your economic strength and influence over them should determine how valuable it is (like in Fallout: New Vegas). If you're strong and influential enough, your currency could even become standard payment method in other colonies, which gives you bonuses, etc.

There are so many directions to work towards, looking forward to what the devs come up with!