Power's Out: Theorizing

Today, the power to my apartment is out for an extended amount of time. Because of this, I can't really work on the game so much. I mean, I could but I'm saving my resources (laptop charge, wifi hotspot) for more important things.

Because of this, I decided to just chat with Gemini about a concept for the game I'll be implementing later, the factory. Many games these days contain some sort of crafting system, and mine will too. I decided I wanted something simple, but fun and different, so I came up with the factory. 

It will be a player controlled space where the player directs crafting but doesn't directly control it. I envision something akin to Rimworld, where you have "pawns" (including the player's own character) do the work based on a priority and queue system. I want the factory to work both online (when the player is active in the scene) and offline (while the player is actively enjoying another area of the game) but had concerns with balance.

My biggest issue was travel times. With the player active in the factory, I wanted realistic activity such as item pickup and delivery. But when the player isn't in the scene, how do I account for those travel times in my calculations?

Well, I had a chat with Gemini to figure that out. And, I decided not to actually worry about it. Travel times when the player is in the scene will occur, but the added "pawn" of the player character may make up for it. Plus, adding on extra bonuses (travel speed or crafting bonus) for player interaction with the factory may also factor into this.

I'm certain that I will have to carefully balance this out once it is implemented. I don't want the player to feel "punished" based on how much they decide to actively do (or not do) in the factory. Of course, this is all just planning for the future. There is still so much to do before I even begin working on anything related to the factory.

What do you think? Do you have ideas that might help deal with the factory?