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I played it while it was in beta/before full release and progress (terraforming %) did feel pretty slow. On my recent playthrough though, post-full release and having some understanding of the map/general progression, it went along much faster. My suggestion if you haven't played much of it is to explore the map, the random blue chests are nice (and so are the golden ones) but the real prize is access to new/advanced resources (sulphur, osmium, uranium, etc etc). Also, the map is actually much less empty than you think it is, and it changes somewhat as terraforming progresses :)

The default starting area is fine, if a little boring at first, as you're initially limited by how far you can explore by oxygen tank size (so at the very beginning of game you wanna focus on upgrading that first)