Friday Facts #44 - Decision making

[kovarex]

This time, with some daydreaming flavor: https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-44

[jakobeng1303]

Wouldn't it be cool, if tanks would change depending on what you have researched so far. eg if you have tank level 1 the tank looks old, it has no firepower, it's not fast and its easy to destroy and later on you have a high tech tank with built in nv googles, big and powerful weapons. And it goes fast and has a lot of durability!

[Gammro]

The tanks in the "big" sketches all look like a flavor of early to middle WW2 tanks. Given the characters skill to build and research other weaponry, I think he has at least some idea about what a tank should look like. They look cool, while I like some more than others.

We are fighting a force that sends large waves of melee combatants, and projectiles are shot only from stationary targets(worms). This means the tank has to have a rapid firing weapon to deal with the amount of biters, while also having a lot of sloped surfaces to have more "equivalent" armor. This is something I'm not seeing very much in the sketches. I'm a big fan of WH40K imperial vehicle design, and think something in that style would also fit factorio.

Of course, you could make more types which are all specialized in some way: less armor, but faster. Less firepower, but faster firing to deal with infantry and not buildings.

Anyway, you got me excited

[MCDomYT]

Loving the tanks and i think it would be a nice addition to the game but they all look awesome. Cant you model them all to have different specs?


Also its a great thing that the multiplayer is getting somewhere, even if it only works locally at the moment . Better than not working at all eh?

[Balthazar]

They're beautiful I want all of them

[ssilk]

Decisions:

1. there should be a (motor driven? But they are so loud!) paraglider in the game.
With a huge Factorio sign on it.
Perhaps it's use is limited by the wind?

2. I like tank 4a, cause the sketch is so dense. This one looks a bit funny, but is deadly. It will look realistic, if this one turns 180 in half a second.
He must think for the needed materials, has not much time to make a cool design. The tank should look a bit "unready".

[ataaron]

Cant I just have a Land cruiser tank like the "Ratte"

but seriously, If I would be a tank Engineer in Factorio I would make it agile, put spikes on it and give it a rapid fire 20mm gun with A flamethrower as a secondary weapon

[Neotix]

I would like tank to be more suitable to train design. I think that first tanks from WWI would be better reference than from WWII.

[Redominus]

Why only one tank, why not using a few tanks with diferent specific roles like the MLRS from the first C&C, an artillery rocket unit with low defense then a heavier tank with low range. IMHO if factorio is going to have a stratetic RTS element it has to be """strategic""" not just zerg rush vs tank rush.

[Spharv2]

I was thinking level one would be something that looks a bit cobbled together from spare parts. Some pipe, half a water tank for the turret, bolted on armor. As someone else said, more along the lines of WWI tanks, though one would assume the player knows how tank design evolved, so he wouldn't have to start from scratch like they did...besides, we don't have the dozen or so people to run of those monsters. The two big ones on the left side and #5 say "This is just an expedient" to me. Then later levels could be more visually impressive.

[i-make-robots]

Tanks open a whole can of worms. Once I can put two belts on a motor and start driving around the first thing I want is to make it modular. I want to change the head for a machine gun or laser turret.
I want to change the head to a long-arm inserter and program the movement, try to build a von Neumann kinematic self-replicating machine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replicating_machine

I'm still waiting to be able to make a turing-complete assembly line. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_machine

Is there a road map of where Factorio is going? some picture of the end goal at v1.0?

[Malkasphia]

I think the tank is an awesome idea if it could allow the player to :

1- Be something you could blow a lot of resources on that is an alternative choice to your power armor. Aka it is such an investment you will want to go with one or the other, that way in multi-player games you can have niches for each player to fulfill

2- Sustain massive amounts of damage for stuff like driving into biter bases and blowing them up but having to be wise enough to know when to pull out when your damage is getting too bad. This would mean the tank is definitely slower than the car but a bit faster than the player model.


Tank 1 and 7 are awesome with dual turrets.

[Nostromo]

Wouldn't it be cool, if tanks would change depending on what you have researched so far. eg if you have tank level 1 the tank looks old, it has no firepower, it's not fast and its easy to destroy and later on you have a high tech tank with built in nv googles, big and powerful weapons. And it goes fast and has a lot of durability!

I really like that idea of stronger tanks the more research, and even having a late research to have them get a AI so they could even protect the base. Mobile turrets when you're in need of help

[Laturine]

I like #3! It seems like it has an electric motor. I love the triangular tracks! Awesome work guys. Press on toward the multi-player.

[Zequez]

EXTERMINATE EXTEEEERMINAAAAAAAATE.

[Cerus]

I really like the style Factorio has going for it, kinda feels like "Cobbled Sci-Fi". But I don't really get the right kind of vibe from any of those tanks, sorry.

[SkySo1dier]

Please give us the tanks by era -- from the steampunk to dieselpunk, to the galaxy colonization. Change in material, colors, design, and weapon. The latest tank is a hover platform, the first one has a thick black smoke as it drives.

All should take no damage from the trees!!!

The tanks should be step-ups illustrating their development for the in-game needs:

- current car;
- armed car - the same car but with a mount allowing a choice of weapons (requires a car to produce);
- armored car -- same as car, but slow, takes no damage from the trees but gets stuck in them and loses speed;
- tracked armor car with clearly visible steampunk elements suggesting bigger engine to move all that armor around (does not slow down at the trees, kills all aliens on contact except for the large ones and the warms, has a small pew-pew machine gun for biter safari);
- first real tank -- same body as the armed car but 100% tracked, with a small canon (kills the biters, capable of dealing with the warms but slow and fuel hungry);
- more tank -- diesel, slick, pow-pow medicum caliber gun making warm safari fun, but the ammot is... expensive...
- most tank -- hover, pom-pom laser, has a shield, fast, kick-butt, but needs to be charged up by a dedicated nuclear station... after each shot ^_^

Please no multi-turret monsters -- as the multi-turret designs neither took off nor will take off as one powerful gun is more desirable than two less powerful ones.

Also, I would prefer a committed design rather than a modular one -- as I'd love to have a parking lot with all of the tanks to show the transition and "growth" -- kinda like a museum.

[LordXaosa]

May be we should make a poll?
I like #7 and #9, something between them... They are more realistic with sci-fi upgrade. Other variants are too cartoon...

[MaxStrategy]

Wait, we are getting tanks?! omg omg omg omg omg omg




*takes a breath* OK, I think I can do this now. Gotta say the concept art looks like early soviet tanks XD

I think having tiers of tanks might be a good idea. You can have your really basic early ww2 steampunk/dieselpunk tank (though kind of goofy for someone with tech to travel to other planets?), then something more modern, then something futuristic with lasers? Maybe with slots upgrades and weapons like the gun turrets and power armor. The futuristic tank could require power armor and be more of a large exoskeleton tanky thing for example. Flying drones that accompany the tank to do cool things like scouting/missiles/lasers/smoke/etc might be cool.

Oh and to help flesh out a vehicle tree we should probably have some non-warmachine vehicles too? Some sort of bulldozer to clear out forests would be great (first tanks were modified bulldozers!). Some sort of construction vehicle to repair your base maybe? These would be useful and make a better transition than Car -> Power Armor -> Tank

I am tempted to bring up mechs seeing as we have robots and tanks now but I'll keep my peace. Wouldn't want to ruin the realism right XD

Just some inspirational pics if you really want to go the multi-turret route...


Actual tank design. Other historical tank designs worth looking up are KV-5, Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte + 1500 Monster


One of those glorious alternative history soviet tanks.


Not a suggestion, put this in. May be a small* licensing fee.


A nice futuristic tank/artillery/factory from the frontlines of the Infinite War.


The mighty Tsar Tank, great idea for starting tank (I kid)

I am very excited for Factorio's future, the skies the limit!

[SHiRKiT]

I loved this one: