Design of Extreme Industry Sets - An Analysis of FIRS and XIS

[Erato]

Sounds really good to try this out, but it seems the DPRK project has come to a standstill, hasn't it?

I haven't really been working on it much at all lately. Stylistically it doesn't mix well with other sets (though I guess a lot of industry NewGRFs have this problem), and the topic is quite niche.
Furthermore I've primarily been playing on the Japan themed maps of Tin's server, so I'd rather spend my time making stuff for use on that server.

I think you're missing the point of FIRS (and its derivatives such as XIS). FIRS was never meant to be challenging; first and foremost, it was meant to be fun even for the less skilled players. That's why every FIRS economy contains at least one simple feedback loop such as Iron Ore → Metal → Engineering Supplies → more Iron Ore.

Yup found that one out while writing the essay.

If I were to grade the "extremeness" of an industry set, I would also take into account the length of the longest industry chain and the connectivity of the complete industry graph.

The goal of this essay wasn't to see how extreme an industry set is, but rather to see how other large industry sets do their gameplay and how I like what they're doing.

Could that ultimate goal be... the ultimate weapon stash? Seems fitting for the DPRK theme.

Oh no, the plutonium going to the rocket launch facility is to provide electricity for our glorious missions into deep space.