Mattyrogue's Thread of Balance Ramblings (And Suggestions)
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:02 pm
So... I've clocked about fifteen hours on Factorio so far, and look forward to clocking in some more time, but there are several, quite significant problems I've begun to notice with the balancing in this game so far, this thread will try to chronicle them and also take in feedback from others;
Hopefully, I'll find the compulsion to come back to this thread and update (and add comments from other players) as I go.
Last Updated: 11/02/2015
- Player Death 'Mechanic' - When you die, you just... Respawn. Like you never died, furthermore, there really is no explanation on how you arrive, especially in Multiplayer. Perhaps some sort of new respawn animation featuring a drop-pod coming down from orbit? And perhaps some way to set your respawn location that comes in early/midgame (and requires electricity), like a landing beacon. (This beacon could also become a target for aliens.)
* - Early Game - Burner-type equipment (Miners & Inserters) outlive their usefulness within often as little as ten minutes and are never used again for the duration of the game. Now, there are some ways this could be amended I feel (either lowering the pollution or doubling the output, alternatively the Electric Miner could use some kind of revision instead) or some kind of mid-tier research requirement for electric miners. (Given we don't get electric furnaces until midgame)
* - Midgame Pacing - Railroads. Originally I thought they came a bit late, but after a while of talking with my Multiplayer friend, it turns out we were just avoiding them, still, there doesn't seem to be much emphasis on using them until drones and expansions come along, maybe some way to encourage or reward people looking to long-term invest in railroads and expansions in the mid-game, like an armed/armoured train carriage that can help take out mid-game nests. (Or alternatively lowered production and research costs)
* - Alien Artifacts - Now, I know this seems like a bit of a stickler for me, but their hardly artifacts in their own right, their a bunch of purple paperweights which require you to take out, one, maybe two Biter/spitter nests and then you have adequate science packs from the (sometimes several) dozen or so artifacts to reach endgame tiers. Could we rename these to Alien Artifact Fragments instead? As the term artifact is barely befitting of their purpose and abundance.
-Another thing I'd like to propose here is that the abundance of these 'artifacts' is toned down heavily, making a nest give a variable amount based on its evolution level (Never more than 10), and that a new type of enemy (that can 'hover', both over water and conveyors) be introduced, that has a chance of dropping these revised artifacts.
* - Pollution Revision and the implementation of 'Toxicity' - Trees should act like a sponge to pollution, slowly soaking up the CO2 you are producing, as you are producing more, the less effective it becomes. Now, when you produce your first Refinery, it will begin to introduce 'toxicity' into the chunk, and rapidly pollute a wide area around it (which increases with time and production) with this toxicity. The radius infected with this Toxicity causes trees within it to wither and die over the course of 30 minutes - an hour, furthermore, the Refinery itself drives the aliens mad and becomes their primary target. Any aliens that enter a chunk under the effect of toxicity will gain a 50% increase in damage. (As signified by them going berserk from the extreme pollution)
* - Enhanced Night Time Mechanics - Both Turrets, Players and Vehicles receive either an accuracy or some kind of range penalty at night, firing into the dark, making fights during the night a bit more risky than just the lowered awareness. Aliens will prefer to attack during the night, especially Biters.
-To counter this though, a new type of 'Optic', a Watchtower with a spotlight can be built, that will offer a sweeping cone of vision much like that of a player's torch that will 'lock on' to approaching groups of enemies (but not singular units). Turrets under the effect of this watchtower have any range/accuracy penalties removed when firing at enemies under its cone.
* - Improved Enemy Behaviour and Tactics - Biters, will now be more effective in groups and actually come in a spread instead of a never-ending conga line of death. Spitters, will try and hang back behind Biters while they try and distract turrets, giving them a chance to do damage. Worms can carry a small group of units and burrow closer (within one or two chunks) of a player's base to deliver a surprise attack before retreating. The AI will attempt to attack from a different path if more than 5-10 attempts fail.
-Concrete, a new Tile Enhancement, made from Bricks and Sulfur, can be used to create swathes of impassible ground that Worms cannot pass through, furthermore it actually lets us make our own paths and roads and add small roleplay aesthetics to our creations. Concrete can be built under most other structures and can be removed with a pickaxe.
Hopefully, I'll find the compulsion to come back to this thread and update (and add comments from other players) as I go.
Last Updated: 11/02/2015
