Map generator

[stylistic_sagi]

It will probably already be suggested but there have to be some new lines made in the map generation.

It is now almost impossible to start in a hard map (not much resources) without spawning somewhere where all the basic resources are very far away from each other making it almost impossible to start out.
When you spawn in a new map there must be a minimum number of each resources within your line of sight to start out.

I restarted a map for 20 times now and every time i miss a resource that isn't even on the map when pressing "m"...
This is a major problem

[Harkonnen604]

There is a mod out there (something with "resource" in its name) which shuffles ores in a more comfortable fashion. I didn't try it yet but people always recommend it in such topics.

[malecord]

Lol. Wanted to write the same thing. I tried yesterday a game with rare resource deposits with poor richness. The idea was to have a game where I really have to use trains since usually with normal options I just end up creating a big big perimeter around my spawning point and run "internal trains" because there are so much resource patches around that I never have to go far.

I'm even ok having patches that are reasonably distant from each other. You can carry copper by hand until you automatize belt production. My problem was that in my games was almost impossible to find iron, whereas copper was (relatively) very frequent. If it were the opposite it would have been fine: quite a few iron is necessary to develop trains and build railways. Copper is important only later in the game so I can survive just fine with a few small patches at the beginning, and grab the big patches with force in mid game.


I think I wrote it already. But personally I'd like to have an option to have a starting point with a weighted amount of each resource (with oil being optional) then some configurable buffer space around with no resources and finally the rest of the world completely random generated like now. In this way you could get you factory started and then be forced to explore with car and use rails (for real: with long distances) to go get the stuff you need.


Another thing it came to my mind yesterday was this: if you start in a place with not enough resources to have a full factory getting started, you could just play nomad: build a very small factory to research key techs, deplete the iron, move to another iron field and build another factory to create some weapons and then finally assault a big field and get the space you need to start your actual factory. The problem here is that the more far you go from the starting point, the bigger the biter bases are. So, to make a hard start mode like this feasible, there need to be some enforcement on enemy bases strength when the map is generated. For instance: there could be very small patches of metals with no biters where you start. Then some others with just a single nest. And then some bigger patches, good to set your definitive base up. not necessarily close to the spawning point but with enemy bases of reasonable size (something you can assault with turret creeps, grenades and maybe some capsule).
I wanted to try to start like this. But after exploring a lot I've seen that the only patches with no biters are in the starting point, but my starting point had no iron. So basically there was no way to get rifle, plate and turrets before angering at least one nest. Then, even if somehow I was able to do that, the big iron patches were very distant, and so the biters bases there very big and impossible to get with early weaponry. And so I restarted. But I think in the final Factorio version, it could be another interesting map mode: no "starting zone", but biter bases of reasonable size everywhere. And possibly a lot of forests.

Anyway, I understand this is not super priority, and I'll try the mod for the time being.