Some thoughts on 0.16 -> 0.17
Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2019 3:52 pm
Let me begin by saying that I am entering this with a basic mindset: the direction of the game is correct.
It doesn't matter whether I think it should be going some other direction or not, so I haven't invested any time or energy in what direction I think it should be going. The game has changed the way it has changed, and will continue changing the same way it is already changing. If I don't like it, I can quit playing, and nobody else will care.
So what is meaningfully different from 0.16 to 0.17, and how does that alter the way I need to play the game? Maybe that will help someone else who is frustrated and struggling. The changelist isn't that helpful, I don't think, because of one major observation I've made.
The change in how biter bases absorb pollution (covered in FFF #283) is a much bigger deal than people seem to expect. It's just one line item in a big list, but it matters more than anything else I've found.
Now, I only have a vague understanding of it, but the way I interpret the change is this: in 0.16 and before, when pollution got to a biter base, it stopped. The base just sucked it all up like a vacuum and then trickled out a unit every few minutes, forever, because it had enough pollution to fuel producing hundreds of units. So for basically the entire game, that one closest base was the only one doing anything about your pollution.
Now, in 0.17, the base only sucks up enough for three units. I don't know all the details here, but lets think of it like a factory.
Imagine that you have a whole bunch of assembly machines, sitting right in a row, and you send a belt full of materials at them. If the first machine takes all your materials and throws them in the machine, your production is crap, because only one machine can produce anything. You need to throttle your consumption, so materials get to the rest of the machines, and then you double and triple and further multiply your production.
This is why inserters only stick enough materials into your machines to make two or three items: it's a waste of materials to stuff every machine completely full all the time. And this "just works." You don't have to think about it. You stick your inserters on the machines and they automagically throttle their performance to something reasonable, because that's probably what you want. If a machine backs up with two or three items, it stops producing, because clearly you do not need them or you would be taking them out.
So think of a spawner like a machine that converts pollution into enemies. We've taken a machine that consumed all the resources you threw at it, and we've optimised it - just like your assemblers - to only collect three enemies worth of pollution at a time. And the rest of the materials (pollution) move down the belt (spreading through chunks) to reach the rest of the machines (spawners).
This multiplies their production. Just like it does in your factory.
That means attack groups are bigger, and they show up more often. Plus there are other differences, namely that they're faster and hit harder and splash damage is a Big Deal. (There's a great video about these other differences on YouTube.) And that means defending your factory has gotten a lot more important. Military research is a lot more important. And you need to do it sooner.
Base hunting is also a bit harder, but... you still get to a point that it's easy relatively quickly. It will be a bit farther down the tech tree, but not too far. Base hunting on foot is a lot harder, if there are worms. Acid pools are a big deal. Splash damage is a big deal. Things are different, and they'll take adjustment.
Some people are used to similar things from other games, and will just go "oh, this is just like that other game" and their existing skill will easily transfer and they'll probably be all smug about it. Some people (like me) are paranoid by nature and were already gearing up for biter attacks that just never happened in 0.16, but we still did it because you never know, man.
I've always ringed my bases with walls and turrets from the early stages, before I even have decent furnace arrays. In 0.16 this made me feel stupid, because I would expand my base and when I took up the old turrets not one of them had fired a single shot. When I do that in 0.17, I often find little damaged areas of wall and the turrets are actually running low. I might be a little smug about that. A bit. Just a bit.
But it's different, and as I watch people streaming and uploading gameplay videos, I find a lot of them frustrated - or at least surprised - by the differences. So I thought I'd just jump in here and tell people what I've noticed, and maybe it will be helpful.
And if you've noticed things yourself, you're welcome to add your own thoughts. I'm still early-game in my own 0.17 run, and I know some people are already launching rockets in it. Maybe this can be a useful "how to migrate painlessly into 0.17" resource.
It doesn't matter whether I think it should be going some other direction or not, so I haven't invested any time or energy in what direction I think it should be going. The game has changed the way it has changed, and will continue changing the same way it is already changing. If I don't like it, I can quit playing, and nobody else will care.
So what is meaningfully different from 0.16 to 0.17, and how does that alter the way I need to play the game? Maybe that will help someone else who is frustrated and struggling. The changelist isn't that helpful, I don't think, because of one major observation I've made.
The change in how biter bases absorb pollution (covered in FFF #283) is a much bigger deal than people seem to expect. It's just one line item in a big list, but it matters more than anything else I've found.
Now, I only have a vague understanding of it, but the way I interpret the change is this: in 0.16 and before, when pollution got to a biter base, it stopped. The base just sucked it all up like a vacuum and then trickled out a unit every few minutes, forever, because it had enough pollution to fuel producing hundreds of units. So for basically the entire game, that one closest base was the only one doing anything about your pollution.
Now, in 0.17, the base only sucks up enough for three units. I don't know all the details here, but lets think of it like a factory.
Imagine that you have a whole bunch of assembly machines, sitting right in a row, and you send a belt full of materials at them. If the first machine takes all your materials and throws them in the machine, your production is crap, because only one machine can produce anything. You need to throttle your consumption, so materials get to the rest of the machines, and then you double and triple and further multiply your production.
This is why inserters only stick enough materials into your machines to make two or three items: it's a waste of materials to stuff every machine completely full all the time. And this "just works." You don't have to think about it. You stick your inserters on the machines and they automagically throttle their performance to something reasonable, because that's probably what you want. If a machine backs up with two or three items, it stops producing, because clearly you do not need them or you would be taking them out.
So think of a spawner like a machine that converts pollution into enemies. We've taken a machine that consumed all the resources you threw at it, and we've optimised it - just like your assemblers - to only collect three enemies worth of pollution at a time. And the rest of the materials (pollution) move down the belt (spreading through chunks) to reach the rest of the machines (spawners).
This multiplies their production. Just like it does in your factory.
That means attack groups are bigger, and they show up more often. Plus there are other differences, namely that they're faster and hit harder and splash damage is a Big Deal. (There's a great video about these other differences on YouTube.) And that means defending your factory has gotten a lot more important. Military research is a lot more important. And you need to do it sooner.
Base hunting is also a bit harder, but... you still get to a point that it's easy relatively quickly. It will be a bit farther down the tech tree, but not too far. Base hunting on foot is a lot harder, if there are worms. Acid pools are a big deal. Splash damage is a big deal. Things are different, and they'll take adjustment.
Some people are used to similar things from other games, and will just go "oh, this is just like that other game" and their existing skill will easily transfer and they'll probably be all smug about it. Some people (like me) are paranoid by nature and were already gearing up for biter attacks that just never happened in 0.16, but we still did it because you never know, man.
I've always ringed my bases with walls and turrets from the early stages, before I even have decent furnace arrays. In 0.16 this made me feel stupid, because I would expand my base and when I took up the old turrets not one of them had fired a single shot. When I do that in 0.17, I often find little damaged areas of wall and the turrets are actually running low. I might be a little smug about that. A bit. Just a bit.
But it's different, and as I watch people streaming and uploading gameplay videos, I find a lot of them frustrated - or at least surprised - by the differences. So I thought I'd just jump in here and tell people what I've noticed, and maybe it will be helpful.
And if you've noticed things yourself, you're welcome to add your own thoughts. I'm still early-game in my own 0.17 run, and I know some people are already launching rockets in it. Maybe this can be a useful "how to migrate painlessly into 0.17" resource.
.
