Factorio Forums

Per viewtopic.php?f=23&t=52586&p=307514&hil ... te#p307514, Satellites are not an intermediate product. However they do appear in the "Intermediate Products" crafting menu. While certainly this placement was intentional (as is listing at https://wiki.factorio.com/Satellite as an intermediate product), it is confusing... as players naturally would assume anything in the "Intermediate Products" grouping was in fact an intermediate product. As illustrated in the referenced bug report, this leads players to incorrectly believe they can use production modules when producing them.

In my mind it is an intermediate product. It is an ingredient in another recipe, it isn't ammunition for a weapon, and it can't be placed in the world like a drill/assemblers/turret etc. It's one of the few intermediate products that you can't use prod modules on, but I still consider it an intermediate product.

I'll note that some other intermediate products also can't benefit from productivity modules. eg barreling and unbarrelling of fluids, and kovarex processing. So the rule that you can only use productivity modules to make intermediate products does not mean that every intermediate product can benefit from productivity modules.

When you try to add productivity modules to a satellite assembler, the message you get in error says you cannot add them because satellites are not intermediate products. So if they are regarded as intermediate products that cannot be produced with the aide of productivity modules, then at least that message should be updated.

Unfortunately, I was told this is a balancing issue, but it sure seems off to me:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=44801

Jon8RFC wrote:Unfortunately, I was told this is a balancing issue, but it sure seems off to me:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=44801

I'm not asking for any change in game balance... I'm asking for consistency in the U/I. If they are not intermediate products, then they shouldn't be in the Intermediate crafting menu. If they are intermediate products, then the message you get when you try to add productive modules to their assembly machines is wrong.

cvkurt wrote:

Jon8RFC wrote:Unfortunately, I was told this is a balancing issue, but it sure seems off to me:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=44801

I'm not asking for any change in game balance... I'm asking for consistency in the U/I. If they are not intermediate products, then they shouldn't be in the Intermediate crafting menu. If they are intermediate products, then the message you get when you try to add productive modules to their assembly machines is wrong.

Message about productivity modules is wrong.
It has been from quite some time if you add any mod that uses productivity limitations. Message gets more confusing then especially with mods that add different intermediate tab but don't add productivity to them.

Thanks for the report. The "intermediate products" message on modules is just missleading. It has nothing to do with intermediates - it's simply a list of recipes that they're allowed to work with.

The message should say "This recipe can't be used with productivity modules" or something to that effect. I'll change it for 0.17.

...still not changed

Kirold wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:54 pm

...still not changed

I'll change it: never. Everyone complains when talking about changing them so it's left as is. Just like the "Can't use Nuclear fuel" message with nuclear fuel in reactors.