Try a deathworld then. Once you're comfortable defending until you can secure flamethrowers, you can add in some mods that slightly extend or complicate the early/mid game (like AAI industries and/or Krastorio2). Especially with K2, you get some new options for controlling your pollution (planting trees, running greenhouses, air filters...), and in the endgame you get the tech that enables fully self-sustaining bases. I think all of these are interesting alternatives to the endless expansion and the sudden, rapid power spike of the base game.