Continuing my thoughts on weather/elements from yesterday:
Fire: Kind of already have this covered with the thermal/temperature elements previously discussed. As an avid D&D player, however, one of my favorite observations is how many problems fire can solve. I’ll have to be very careful about giving the player any access to flammable materials or components.
Earth: Honestly, I don’t have a solidified idea here. Earthquakes are of course a significant natural disaster, but I’m not sure how to work that into the game. Looking at it from a different angle, there are some nature-based mechanics that could be interesting: plant growth, erosion, etc.
I may be going too far with some of these mechanics. At a certain point this is just going to turn into the text adventure version of Dwarf Fortress.