I like your line of thinking, though I will admit... An increased focus on logistics does seem a tad ambitious. However, anything that can significantly increase the player's sense of immersion without disturbing the flow of actual gameplay earns a Germanium Medal in my book. (I really do hope we can pull all this off...)
I have been thinking a fair bit about music. There are three particularly amazing musicians who, if we could get them to agree to the contributing to the project (or at the very minimum, get permission from them to adapt some of their work), then it would definitely help the feel of the game a lot. When you get the chance, look up Neurodancer, Hoffman and Alexander Brandon; like CoLD SToRAGE, these guys are all legends when it comes to making music in Tracker formats, and I feel like using a module-based format would give us a lot of flexibility with the soundtrack that we wouldn't otherwise have. Not to mention, I just really love the crunchy style of sequenced music~
As for engines, I am really thinking that Unreal Engine 4 might be the way to go. Based on some prior research, not only is it well optimized and free to use (as long as you don't go commercial), it is packed with cutting edge features that make it incredibly easy to work with, and could also give the game a very nice visual style. VXGI, anyone?
Well, that is all for tonight. Thank you all for generating some interest here. As always, remember to tag the thread; this will really increase the odds of it getting traffic.
QUICK UPDATE:
I found some old videos which might actually be relevant to the discussion, and to game design as a whole. Check them out when you get the chance!
Extra Credits: Perfect Imbalance
Extra Credits: Power Creep
https://youtu.be/Bxszx60ZwGw
Extra Credits: Spectacle Creep
https://youtu.be/pKzJWoZWMOI
Design Club: Why Mario Kart's most hated item exists*
https://youtu.be/LFFGA8-3SZI
*WipEout's closest equivalent would be the Hunter Missile in Fusion.