I was thinking of one thing related to 'previous' version, Mars Colony Online, of which I saw a video or two of a while back.
As usual, I failed to trim this post down much...
A 'Phase 0'.
A mission to survey a potential building site.
Time would be limited by supplies, and there would be a 'base camp'.
An advantage to doing this would be the chance to uncover more than might be revealed from just building a base on an area already surveyed and prepared ahead of time. Another advantage, if player(s) help to survey an area, they can have 'first dibs' on if they will setup a base there, or hand it off for an 'NPC base' to be built (or for another team of players, considering mention of dedicated servers).
Survey Camp
Base camp composition. 2+, 2 'self propelled rover trailers'.
Rover 1 & 2: Each carries 1 core sample drill, 1 'surveyor tool (proper name?), 1 GPR, 1 Plibs.
Trailer 1: Has a portable shelter/ELS. It includes some basic oxygen, food, water and medical supplies. It will have a step ladder, along with several side pylons extended to the ground for stability and to anchor it down during a storm. It has solar panels on the tops and sides for basic power recharge capacity. It also has a retractable radio antenna boom that swings up and extends, with a small 'radio mast' on the end of the boom.
Trailer 2: It carries additional equipment, including a full sized LIBs, 'storage equipment' to store oxygen, methane, power, some storage lockers with extra equipment (oxygen and menthane containers, 2 tool kits, 2 Plibs, case of 'contingency supplies)). Either that, or 'storage racks' that are 'open' (have doors that look like they could close over it), with items 'snapping' into place when put on the rack. A 'canopy' over it is made of solar panels. A power cable would run along the ground to the first trailer/portable shelter. Some oxygen and methane will be used up from the trailer 2 storage at start of the mission, to account for the rovers and the 'trailers' being refueled after the base was setup.
Survey Mission Objectives
Try to locate an idea location for the initial water pumps (ice quality/density affecting initial number of wells that can be drilled), taking core samples of the ice to ensure the water is of usable quality.
To locate which hill or hills nearby are best suited for the main inter-base relay towers, surveying them to make sure they can support the weight of a tower and ensure there is line of site to other radio communication towers in the area.
After the goals are achieved, remaining supplies can be used to survey for other possible resources in the area.
For an 'acceptable' mission, the player(s) need to find the following.
An ice deposit that can support at least 1 well, survey at least 1 hill suitable for a radio relay tower.
For a 'successful' mission, the player(s) need to find the following.
An ice deposit that can support 2 or more wells without need for additional filtration, and survey at least 2 hills suitable for relay towers.
Survey Mission Secondary Goals.
Gives a 'bonus' to those taking part in the survey mission.
For each additional well beyond two that can be supported by the best found ice deposit (small bonus)
*Ending a mission (with at least acceptable results) without accessing 'contingency supplies' (small bonus, moderate bonus for successful mission)
*Ending a mission (with at least acceptable results) within 5-10 minutes of starting to use contingency supplies (tiny bonus, small with successful results. The small window allows time for others to return to camp and prepare to pack up and depart so as to return to base with sufficient supplies remaining, shows at least responsible management or at least not trying to put the team in danger)
*For each type of resource detected via Plibs samples, and for GPR hits (negligible bonus)
*For each resource type/deposit confirmed via core sample and LIBS testing (tiny bonus)
*Each rover that has not suffered severe damage (small bonus, not countered by repairs at camp, so rover condition never enters yellow)
*Mission is successful with at least 25% of supplies (life support, fuel, etc) remaining. (small bonus)
*At least 5 resources confirmed by core samples and LIBS testing without using contingency supplies (small bonus)
Survey Mission Penalties
Be it due to bad luck, or poor planning and and taking actions putting the survey mission and survey team lives 'at risk', which can result in penalties reducing rewards from bonuses.
Some can include 'fines' that will take out of the player(s) existing resources/currency/points.
*Using up at least half of the 'contingency supplies'. (small penalty, negligible fine)
*Rover fuel storage emptied, but rovers have at least 80% fuel each (tiny penalty).
*Rover fuel storage emptied, at least one rover is at or below 50% fuel (small penalty, an extra rover needs to be deployed with fuel supplies, medium penalty if a rover ran out of fuel, large penalty if both rovers out of fuel. Can result in a small fine if there are insufficient bonuses/rewards to counter it)
*A rover is damaged enough it condition becomes yellow (small penalty)
*A rover is damaged enough it condition becomes red (medium penalty)
*A rover is crippled (major penalty, massive penalty and a fine if contingency supplies are also exhausted)
*Not finding and confirming a suitable site for a well before initial supplies are used up (medium penalty, as it should be a primary goal. Penalty is only small if ice has been found, but not confirmed via sample drilling.)
*Not surveying a hill top suitable for a radio relay tower before initial supplies are used up (small penalty, as it should be a primary goal)
Failure possibilities.
Bonuses for other goals are halved, a small fine can be applied due to needing to send out another survey team.
*Not finding and confirming an ice deposit capable of supporting a single well before mission end.
*Not surveying at least one hill top suitable for placing a radio relay tower.
Mission Abort possibilities
These don't make the main base command staff happy at all.
*All rovers become crippled (all bonuses lost, even if the mission is otherwise successful, due a 'rescue mission' needing to be deployed. A fine is incurred if the team has already started to use contingency supplies).
*All standard and contingency supplies exhausted, and a single player drops to 50% or lower in food, water or oxygen levels. (bonuses halved if primary goals achieved, otherwise no bonuses for secondary goals. Fines are incurred if a rover is below 50% fuel or is in red condition, as it requires a 'rescue mission' to ensure all survey team members make it back safely)
*Player(s) get into contingency supplies, without a single hill top surveyed for a radio relay tower site and without a single ice deposit confirmed via sample drills (main base recalls survey team, and will dispatch another team to finish up the survey mission without wasting supplies doing 'other things'.)
Player Funded survey missions.
If the player(s) have enough supplies, perhaps they can fund survey missions themselves. No penalties or fines are incurred if the player(s) have sufficient backup supplies. For example, there is no penalty applied for running out of fuel if the player has a spare rover and fuel supplies to send out their own fuel supply mission. The player(s) could also resupply the survey with their own supplies, or even deploy an extra rover with additional supplies at the start, to extend the time they have to survey the area. The main base will still toss around penalties and fines for things that put the team at potential risk, such as continuing the mission after getting well into contingency supplies (even if resupply was sent afterward, as there was a window where things could have gone 'horribly wrong' had the extra supplies had been delayed and not arrived in time).
If available (and requested/dispatched/'paid for' in advanced), perhaps automated rovers could be present in the area, having already taken a few random PLIBs samples, or perhaps even there carrying a few extra items/supplies.
Relating to player funded survey missions, perhaps include the option to revisit previously surveyed areas. Maybe bad luck meant an area with good resources did not have suitable areas near the camp itself, but might still have some part of the map that needs the basic needs for a base. Or perhaps an area was not suited for a 'normal' colony, but might still have some potential to consider a base will need outside resupply due to lacking everything needed to be fully self sufficient.
Backup Plans.
Player(s) can setup backup plans for survey missions.
The most important will make the main base happy, but it costs a little extra fuel.
A 'personnel transport rover'. It is a rover that has an enclosed rear area with multiple inward facing seats, with a rear 'hatch' that doubles as a loading ramp. It cannot mount heavy equipment like augers. If it is present during a survey mission, it will house the container of 'contingency supplies'. It also mean the player(s) can opt to use their own supplies to have a second container of 'contingency supplies'. It also contains a small secondary 'emergency supply' of oxygen and power that cannot be accessed in a survey mission. If this rover is present in the camp, is over 80% fuel, and is in green condition, it counts as emergency transportation. In this case, should the survey team need to 'evacuate' the area, such as a mission abort condition, it means a 'rescue mission' is not needed. The very expensive 'rescue team' is replaced with a much less expensive 'recovery team' that can come out at their own leisure to recover equipment.
Unsuitable areas.
There could be an option for 'higher difficulty', in which an area is actually not suited for a colony for several reasons, such as none of the sufficiently tall hills being stable/firm enough to support a radio relay tower, not being able to find an ice deposit, or finding an ice deposit that contains to many contaminates to be of use.
These could be overcome with sufficient developments and resources. Such as a ground level tower that is built tall enough to be higher than the nearby hills. Or having to install a larger and more energy hungry well system with additional filters needed to make the tainted water from 'dirty ice' usable. Or perhaps even needing to have water (and supplies derived from water) shipped in.
Even if an area lacked signs of other resources, a large enough ice pocket that could support 3 or more wells would make it a good location for a base focused on farming and fuel/oxygen production.
A location that had little or no water resources might be well worth it for supporting a mining operation if the LIBS spits out results indicating one or more useful resources have unusually high ore quality/density.
It also gives reason to re-survey areas, a gamble in and off itself, to confirm if an area really is unusable, or to see if there is a 'mother-lode' of ice or mineral resources just outside of the area the original survey(s) had covered.
Secondary Rover cargo/storage idea.
Since the rovers appear to have storage containers on the side, give them extra storage. Basic idea. the side storage having 1x1 storage slots, items stored there would not be visible (fitting 'inside' of the side storage spaces, if they cannot be made to 'disappear' while stored). The cargo bed could have a single larger 1x4 slots, but each slot is actually be twice as 'tall' as a 1x1 slot. Stuff like tool kits and parts would be 1x1, and fit in the side storage. Larger equipment like GPRs and sample drills would be 2x1, and only fit into the cargo bed. Big equipment like augers would be 2x2 in size, and so take up half of the cargo bed. This would make rovers a little more flexible in what all they can carry, and not cause hard to believe situations of having two augers on a rover and having other stuff still fit in the cargo bed. If carrying capacity is not a concern, then the cargo bed could have more simple 2x4 grid, so it could carry 8 small, 4 medium or 2 large items. At the very least, it would make it easier for two rovers to carry all of the equipment needed for a survey mission.
For the 'personnel transport rover' idea, two of the side storage would be 'occupied' by the emergency supplies that cannot be accessed normally, on account they are for emergencies.
Secondary ideas
If we do have 'gambling' at the main, base, might as well have a basic 'market' there.
Secondary gambling could be stuff like who can produce the most of a specific material or grow the most plants (or food from plants) in a set amount of time.
For racing, one thing comes to mind. A base that was one of the first setup (after the main base), which was mainly for mining, but ran out of minerals (deposits turned out to be smaller than expected). Due to diverse terrain (from fairly level to hilly), the area was setup with several 'test tracks'. The tracks would have been originally meant to test out modifications for rovers, and for prototypes built on Mars. A few extra garage/maintenance areas for rovers being 'tested' on the tracks. Just the thing needed for people to then want to prove whose rover is the fastest or gets the best range out of a single load of fuel. Oh, and of course, if there is gambling, being able to met on the 'races'... The main base would have a good reason to allow the racing, as it is in and of itself contributing to rover R&D efforts, as some 'modifications' could be applied to improve all rovers in general. For added effect, two 'special' rovers could be present at the 'racing base', one setup like a tow truck, the other like an ambulance... maybe also an MMEV type vehicle, even if just 'scenery'...