Factorio Forums

Mod-Info-Header

• Name: Underground Belt Spotter
• Version: 0.0.2
• Factorio-Version: 0.12.26 (which Factorio version this was tested with)
• Description: Spots underground belts that have been placed, but do not have a counterpart yet.
• License: MIT
• Release: 2016-02-12
• Website: https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... 92&t=20071
• Category: Helper mods
• Tags: Utilities, GUI, Transport belts, Gameplay, Multiplayer compatible.

This doesn't seem user friendly at all. Why not highlight the mismatched belts for a few seconds with yellow tile in the game and map?

I move that to special interest, cause the usage case is so very special and me for example have in normal game SOME underground belts "open", cause that is needed to use it for some "belt-tricks".

ssilk wrote:I move that to special interest, cause the usage case is so very special and me for example have in normal game SOME underground belts "open", cause that is needed to use it for some "belt-tricks".

I'd like to 'fight' this move:

First: I undestand what you mean, I also sometimes only need one line of a belt, or need them to do some 'tricks', but the 'active search' only notifies you once per underground belt. If you ignore the notion once, you'll never hear about that one underground belt, unless of course if you specifically ask the mods to do this at the start of the game.

Mod Packs / Libs / Special Interest contains the really special case mods, like automating the search of how much rail things you have in your world. And logically all the mod-packs and libs.

But, UBS is meant as a mod that you use whilst playing, not as a one use mod to take a look once. Of course you can use it like that, hence the popup at the start of the game that asks you if you want to do a full world search.

Also there is a rather 'selfish' reason, special interest just does not get the attention the other categories get, if you want to take a look at some popular mods, like test mode, you will see the mods below that in the rest of the threat. But when you are looking for a mod-pack, you are not very likely to get interested in any mods that are not prepackaged into a package of plug and play fun.

third there is the almost complete lack of reasoning, I understand it if you don't want to use it, you can't have everyone like what you make, but just because YOU think YOU will only use UBS in a special case, does not make it into a special case mods for everyone.

Thanks for reading,
Matjojo

Zeblote wrote:This doesn't seem user friendly at all. Why not highlight the mismatched belts for a few seconds with yellow tile in the game and map?

I'm currently reworking the way it does that, it will use the orange-arrow-with-circle enity to show you where it is. (I think that arrow is used in the tutorial levels, otherwise think like the arrow at the start of a free-play game, but with a circle at the bottom around the tile it is placed on.)

matjojo wrote:

ssilk wrote:I move that to special interest, cause the usage case is so very special and me for example have in normal game SOME underground belts "open", cause that is needed to use it for some "belt-tricks".

I'd like to 'fight' this move:

First: I undestand what you mean, I also sometimes only need one line of a belt, or need them to do some 'tricks', but the 'active search' only notifies you once per underground belt. If you ignore the notion once, you'll never hear about that one underground belt, unless of course if you specifically ask the mods to do this at the start of the game.

Mod Packs / Libs / Special Interest contains the really special case mods, like automating the search of how much rail things you have in your world. And logically all the mod-packs and libs.

But, UBS is meant as a mod that you use whilst playing, not as a one use mod to take a look once. Of course you can use it like that, hence the popup at the start of the game that asks you if you want to do a full world search.

Also there is a rather 'selfish' reason, special interest just does not get the attention the other categories get, if you want to take a look at some popular mods, like test mode, you will see the mods below that in the rest of the threat. But when you are looking for a mod-pack, you are not very likely to get interested in any mods that are not prepackaged into a package of plug and play fun.

third there is the almost complete lack of reasoning, I understand it if you don't want to use it, you can't have everyone like what you make, but just because YOU think YOU will only use UBS in a special case, does not make it into a special case mods for everyone.

Thanks for reading,
Matjojo

I slept one night over this. And the question on which I decided to keep it as it is was: "What, if we have dozens of mods like this?"
That is something I would say, breaks my definition of helper mod: Some useful helping mod, that enhances my game experience.

I mean: I do such programs every day, programs, that checks lists of lists of data and outputs lists of lists of other. Just scripts, that does some output and the user needs to interpret it himself.

For a game I await a better integration into the UI to be really helpful. I await, that the UI of a mod doesn't brake my game experience.

In other words: Make it possible to use it on it's own. Add a real interface. For example: Currently you need something else to spot the direction of the open ug-belt (you can turn on debug-mode, or install coordinates mod, but that is ....).

Again: I really haven't made an easy decision and the question I want to ask you is: Do you really want to have some dozens of mods, that does some output into the console? For me it's an anti-pattern. For me the console is for debugging or error-messages. Not a game-interface.

EDIT: Just saw your last post now. Gimme a note, if you are ready, cause I don't read this board every day...

ssilk wrote: EDIT: Just saw your last post now. Gimme a note, if you are ready, cause I don't read this board every day...

Thanks for explaining, in hindsight I should have probably placed this in the WIP section when it actually still was WIP.
anyway, This is the note, I just uploaded version 0.0.2 That completely throws away the usage of the chat. And is a total rewrite in the second version -_-

Just uploaded version 0.0.2!
Version 0.0.2 (18-02-2016): Complete rewrite: replaced the chat system with the nice orange arrow and reworked the active search.
download link in OP!

Nice. Thinking of checking it out

Moved back to helper mods. Nice work!

ssilk wrote:Moved back to helper mods. Nice work!

Thanks a lot!

In multiplayer, the host can join just fine but the other clients are getting disconnected with "Desync!" message.

Unfortunately, unusable for me right now.

Murlocking wrote:In multiplayer, the host can join just fine but the other clients are getting disconnected with "Desync!" message.

Unfortunately, unusable for me right now.

I'm so sorry, could you please send me the log files and/or any more data that was given with the message?

matjojo wrote:

Murlocking wrote:In multiplayer, the host can join just fine but the other clients are getting disconnected with "Desync!" message.

Unfortunately, unusable for me right now.

I'm so sorry, could you please send me the log files and/or any more data that was given with the message?

Sure, here's the archive folder containing information and logs about the reported Desync on my friend client while attempting to join my server.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4JjnW ... sp=sharing

Server is hosted by me and I run the server inside the game, not from command prompt.