Factorio Forums

Clean Battery Icon (GitHub) replaces the battery icon with something less noisy.

I would love a mod like this that changed it to look like a cross between a motorcycle battery and something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Volt-Hea ... B000EZWMHA

Especially if it had one copper post and one iron, and looked a bit dented or misshapen and maybe a bit rusty. Because that's how stuff in this game is supposed to look. It looks like some random lone engineer jiggered it together.

I agree, the current battery icon doesn't look much like a battery.

Why would a freshly manufactured battery be rusted?

mrvn wrote:Why would a freshly manufactured battery be rusted?

I thought of that too. But all of the brand new assemblers, refineries, etc... are all rusty. Maybe nauvis has a particularly corrosive atmosphere.

eradicator wrote:

mrvn wrote:Why would a freshly manufactured battery be rusted?

I thought of that too. But all of the brand new assemblers, refineries, etc... are all rusty. Maybe nauvis has a particularly corrosive atmosphere.

Maybe, the thin coat of rust serves to protect against further corrosion like it is with aluminium.

But i am satisfied with the non-rusty battery.
Batteries are mostly visible when lying on a belt. I can't see the rust on assemblers if they lie on a belt and would not expect to be able to see it on batteries if i had included it.
The original battery before the last update was not rusty.
The battery is only used as a component and other pure components aren't rusty.

I will not do a rusty version. But the mod is licensed under GPLv3 or later - so whoever wants to, can fork it to add some rust.

Oktokolo wrote:Batteries are mostly visible when lying on a belt. I can't see the rust on assemblers if they lie on a belt and would not expect to be able to see it on batteries if i had included it.
The original battery before the last update was not rusty.

Yeah...

But I still think a motorcycle battery looking battery would be more interesting. Thanks for the work you've put in though. I may use your thing just because I can never find the battery icon anymore because it just doesn't say 'battery' to me and your model is at least good that way.

I wish I knew 3D art tools a little better.

Omnifarious wrote:I wish I knew 3D art tools a little better.

They're a lot easier to learn than you expect. Took me 2-3 days or so when i started modding. I have a lot more trouble doing the textures, not the 3D modelling. Also i think OP said he used Inkscape, which is a 2D vector editor.

eradicator wrote:Also i think OP said he used Inkscape, which is a 2D vector editor.

Yes, i used Incscape because i was able to learn how to do it in that software in half a day. I put the original battery in the background and throw two ellipses and a rectangle on top replicating the general shape. Then i added some more ellipses for the top and two path-converted rectangles for the side panel. I faked 3D by filling each shape with a gradient. I then converted the resulting SVG (wich is included in the Git repository) to a PNG using Gimp to get the new icon.

I too wished i would know Blender enough to get a basic shape done. But 3D modelling software in general seems to be designed to be hard to learn.

Oktokolo wrote: I then converted the resulting SVG (wich is included in the Git repository) to a PNG using Gimp to get the new icon.

No need to use a different program. File -> "Export PNG Image".
You can also add a shadow by placing a blurred (1.0) black filled path the shape of the battery behind the battery and shifting it slightly right-downwards.

Oktokolo wrote:I too wished i would know Blender enough to get a basic shape done. But 3D modelling software in general seems to be designed to be hard to learn.

That's probably because there's sooo many features in it. And it's interface being aimed at people who have to use it every day, and not at beginners. 3D Vectors aren't that different though. For the Shape of a battery you litterally only have to click the "create -> cylinder" button on the left side. But it'd just be an untextured tube ;=).