First play-through thoughts - a bit too easy

I just finished my first play-through, so admittedly I'm late to the party. I don't anticipate much of any of this being implemented given you're out of early-access, but I felt compelled to share a few things. In general, most of these revolve around the idea that the game is currently a bit too easy and there should be a bit more incentive to try different strategies or equipment.

1. I fully realize difficulty is always relative among players, but I'd like to see hard mode expanded a bit to complicate recipes for items. I was never really resource constrained in the game and rarely had to go specifically looking for a resource in the middle to late game (except for some very special late-game items). As an example, if the cyclops has six power cells in it, that should be part of the recipe. It was way too easy to construct the vehicles and ultimately the Neptune.
2. There really isn't much incentive to building additional habitats, which I was disappointed in. I certainly built a few thinking I would need them mainly for charging batteries and power cells. Well after finding the swim-charge fins and solar / thermal charging blueprints for vehicles, I didn't have any power issues ever again. I also built scanner rooms on most of the outpost habitats and never used them. It was always easier to just swim around and find everything. In the end, it wasn't worth it to haul all the necessary materials with the small player and vehicle (pre-Cyclops) inventory sizes. It would be nice if habitats offered some other need satisfaction such as sleep or even eating and drinking.
3. Along the lines of #2, I also only ever used solar and thermal power. Never built the others, and didn't have the need (which is the problem). I'm thinking power consumption could use a bit of a revamp to have a reason or incentive to diversify power production.
4. Along the lines of #3, I also never built a torpedo or associated launch capability for any vehicle and built a few decoys for the cyclops and never fired one. Creature threats to even the cyclops should be much more severe. Currently you just take your damage, keep speeding along and wait for the creature to lose interest, and finally hop outside and patch everything up. While I'm mainly talking weapons here, there's a number of other items that I never felt the need to use in order to survive.
5. I realize it's a game, but more as a funny observation as a former scuba diver, every time I shot to the surface from the depths I would cringe. Again, I'm not advocating introducing compression etc., but it just feels a bit wrong.

Otherwise I think the approach to storytelling in this game really sets the mark high for other survival titles. I had my doubts about this game before buying since I was concerned about replayability with a static map, but the game was so rich that this really doesn't bother me much. I'm hopeful that in six months or so, when I forget a lot of details and locations, I'll be ready for another playthrough, especially if there's an expansion in the works.