Factorio Forums

Worker robot speed 3 requires utility science but does not depend on utility science.

This is not a bug.

More specifically, all tiered researches, damage, robots, inserters, etc, don't include their science pack prerequisites, aside from the first one. Not entirely sure why, but given you clearly can't research them before that science pack is researched and produced, it isn't a huge deal.

Loewchen wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 2:30 am

This is not a bug.

Then call it an improvement.

I also stumbled over these things when I was new to Factorio. Why? Because my interpretation was: If a technology in the "Research" screen has a light-brown background then I should be able to research it. If not it should be red. That assumption is broken by these missing prerequisites and it confused me.

Up to this day i thought - OK, they will fix this stuff some day. Declaring it just "not a bug" makes me sad.

Ranakastrasz wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 2:36 am

More specifically, all tiered researches, damage, robots, inserters, etc, don't include their science pack prerequisites, aside from the first one.

There are quite some leveled technologies which proves your statement false. Some examples:

• Worker robot speed 6 (requires white) That's blatantly the successor tech of the thing we talks about here!
• Military 2 (green)
• Military 3 (black & blue)
• Advanced material processing 2 (blue)
• all Level 3 Modules (purple)

The thing is: Most technologies don't require direct declaration of their science packs as prerequisites because they have other prerequisites (direct or indirect) which do so. When this is not the case -- as my small and incomplete list of examples shows -- then a direct dependency is declared - tired technology or not.

Ranakastrasz wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 2:36 am

Not entirely sure why, but given you clearly can't research them before that science pack is researched and produced, it isn't a huge deal.

It's not a huge deal but it makes the game a little less polished and a little more idiosyncratic. On the other hand: It also should be not a huge deal to add the missing dependencies in a bugfix.

asheiduk wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 9:21 am

If a technology in the "Research" screen has a light-brown background then I should be able to research it. If not it should be red.

To research a new tech requires not merely that you have the tech to produce the required science flasks, but that you actually are producing them. The ochre background never guarantees that!

(I'm not disagreeing with the suggestion being made here, just saying that this particular argument for it is not completely cut-and-dried.)

Khagan wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:41 am

asheiduk wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 9:21 am

If a technology in the "Research" screen has a light-brown background then I should be able to research it. If not it should be red.

To research a new tech requires not merely that you have the tech to produce the required science flasks, but that you actually are producing them. The ochre background never guarantees that!

My point was not about actual production of bottles which is completley outside the "Research" screen. I confined myself to the user experience of the "Reasearch" screen only.

So I think you put more into my words than I intended. I'm sorry for sending you onto a wrong path of thoughts.