Maybe you've done this already, but here's an idea. A factory consists of units that follow simple, or not so simple, instructions. For example, a truck unit does the truck thing: once let into the wild, it starts transporting stuff from A to B. You don't neef to direct it manually, you only give it a direction and keeps doing that forever. Some units are programmable: you can change their instructions, and they'll follow them. You can make units of hostile nature: trucks that steal stuff, builders that are reprogrammed to disassemble your neighbor's factory, units that are tasked with destroying hostile trucks amd so on. The goal is to get intetesting emergent behavior. Instructions are executed one step at a time, at fixed pace, so a poorly programmed unit would appear stuck. To simplify the ramp up for beginners, there are a few pre-fab factories with a stable crew of units.
