That idea is probably worth keeping in mind: Some kind of vague story or world history.

I know that, to me, Minecraft was fun due to the progression (in the early-game), building (in the mid-game), and exploration or advanced mechanics (in the late game).

Some changes I am making to crops are reminding me of how I could make some of these mechanics a bit more complex, almost like how they are in TerraFirmaCraft.

I always liked complex crafting mechanics, like Project Zomboid, TerraFirmaCraft, or some other modded things. I just need to figure out what would be the compelling reason to do any of those things.

With this next release, improving the automation and logic layer, I will probably define some more resources to make that interesting. I will increase the spawn rate of ores (even with the caves, they are too hard to find), will add some new mineral for the automation (and maybe other things), and might look into other interesting places to explore deeper in the world.

Of course, at some point it would be worth improving the combat system, which might open the door to other interesting things.

Some things to consider.