Factorio Forums

Nine month ago, the battery graphics was changed in 0.16.51. Some people reacted to it because they didn't like the change. I would like to ask the players today: are you happy with the current battery design?

Please vote without being influenced by other people's posts. You still can change your vote later anyway.

For reference
[Poll] Battery design that stabilizes 0.16.51

5th option missing: i don't care how it looks.

The reason for the graphics change was not because the new one looks better.
The reason was that DURACELL would sue the shit out of WUBE if they would not change it. So the previous one will not come back.

Eh, I still miss the sonic screwdriver repair kits, the old plastic, steel, and copper.
But eh, aside from steel vs plastic, its all pretty recognizable at a glance.

My only complaint with batteries now is they are too visually complex for their size. Small objects should be simple, but the battery isn't.

I think it's more difficult to see the batteries in a base.

Check this screenshot, can you spot the battery lane as fast as you can spot the iron/copper/... lanes?

Maybe the problem is that the batteries (and the solid fuel by the way, is it a placeholder graphics?) have roughly the same color compared to the belt color: dark grey.

But I guess everyone have different tastes.

Even if it's true that Duracell sparked a change in the battery design, there's nothing wrong with Factorio sticking with the same simple stripe design but changing the colours. Look at Duracell and Energizer batteries side by side.. roughly the same proportions of the stripes but different colours. Other branded batteries have different stripe proportions and different colours, but nevertheless the same simplicity of coloured stripes. Maybe I'm just thick, or have not purchased disposable batteries in too long (because why?), but I never in all my time playing Factorio thought of Duracell when crafting batteries despite the colour similarities - I think their environments are just too far removed to create association/confusion.

And just receiving a notice doesn't mean it's credible and requires a change. The response to Monster from Blue Jeans Cable was amusing, for example.

There were proposed alternative colours that I much preferred when these batteries were initially changed that maintained the ease of identification on belts and would have made any outside claims against them frivolous if they weren't already.

But that said, the look of the batteries isn't really going to alter my experience much and I don't expect them to be changed back. It's still the same gameplay in that they're automatically produced, routed, and consumed while I'm running around somewhere else.

I find it rather unlikely that Duracell would sue over this. And if anything, reinforcing that as the default depiction of a "a battery" is probably a win in their book. Other games have use the "copper-top" image too, without any problem as far as I know.

However, I personally think it's mildly undesirable to have it look so much like a real word brand, even the fact that it looked like an AA battery at all is a little bit silly. So I prefer the more generic high-tech look. If the new images don't stand out well on belts that's a legitimate criticism though.

Perhaps a nice orange coloured plastic wrapper around the battery? (with the gear logo if you zoom in really close, perhaps) Because clearly they're Factorio brand rechargeable batteries that you're making. =)

Can I vote "whatever"?
I think the new graphic is good enough. Not sure why people even bothered to care about it, probably just because they can't handle change. No one ever brought up things like whether the blue PCB really looked like an advanced circuit board, or iron ore looks like raw ore etc.

ManaUser wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:45 pm

I find it rather unlikely that Duracell would sue over this. And if anything, reinforcing that as the default depiction of a "a battery" is probably a win in their book. Other games have use the "copper-top" image too, without any problem as far as I know.

I guess the design change was a proactive move. The problem is that Duracell might be forced to sue since you can lose any claims for designs and brands once they are considered to be generic and you are not showing the will to defend them.

viewtopic.php?p=369067#p369067

posila wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 25, 2018 9:36 am

So, Duracell very politely pointed out to us by an e-mail the battery design we were using is their trademark and asked us to change it. [...]

for the non believers

When a company asks you nicely to change something for trademark reasons you do it. Simple as that. Better to do it voluntarily and part friends (or at least without animosity) than have to deal with legal issues. Besides, someday you may have a trademark to protect.

Why cause a fight when it is such a simple thing to change? Wube and Duracell 100% did the right things here, Duracell by asking nicely, and Wube by complying without a fuss.

milo christiansen wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 21, 2019 6:22 pm

When a company asks you nicely to change something for trademark reasons you do it. Simple as that. Better to do it voluntarily and part friends (or at least without animosity) than have to deal with legal issues. Besides, someday you may have a trademark to protect.

Why cause a fight when it is such a simple thing to change? Wube and Duracell 100% did the right things here, Duracell by asking nicely, and Wube by complying without a fuss.

Indeed. Better than the way youtube is being torn apart over copyright claims.

That doesn't change the fact that the battery isn't as instantly recognizable as it used to be. Too much complexity for the size of the object. Before it had like 3 color segments. Now, its got at least 7 or so. I can understand this for machines that probably weren't meant to be on belts most of the time, but batteries are like a basic resource.

I liked old sprite with clear shape of AA-cell. Current child's comic book battery looks general gray stuff from far away and is difficult to identify (especially in modded games). Colors would be easy to change so that they do not conflict with Duracell's trademarks.

milo christiansen wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 21, 2019 6:22 pm

When a company asks you nicely to change something for trademark reasons you do it. Simple as that. Better to do it voluntarily and part friends (or at least without animosity) than have to deal with legal issues. Besides, someday you may have a trademark to protect.

Of course but only coloring is Duracell's trademark. Not the shape of AA-cell. Devs could have just changed Durecell's orange color and maybe make color ring width different.

We're just basically redoing the long debate that initially occurred at the time the change was done.

The fact is that batteries used to be instantly recognizable from practically any distance and now they are not (almost from any distance).

DerGraue wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2019 1:35 pm

The reason for the graphics change was not because the new one looks better.
The reason was that DURACELL would sue the shit out of WUBE if they would not change it. So the previous one will not come back.

Proof? If anything, Duracell would probably look at it, consider a letter, and then instead opt to offer a formal image licensing agreement for product placement advertising. That said, I highly doubt any contact was had between Wube and Duracell Inc.

Maddhawk wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:14 pm

DerGraue wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2019 1:35 pm

The reason for the graphics change was not because the new one looks better.
The reason was that DURACELL would sue the shit out of WUBE if they would not change it. So the previous one will not come back.

Proof? If anything, Duracell would probably look at it, consider a letter, and then instead opt to offer a formal image licensing agreement for product placement advertising. That said, I highly doubt any contact was had between Wube and Duracell Inc.

This made me laugh. Thank you for that.
It also reminded me of how useful these discussions in forums are in general. Thank you for that as well.

For proof scroll up a few posts.

DerGraue wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 22, 2019 5:22 pm

Maddhawk wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:14 pm

DerGraue wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2019 1:35 pm

The reason for the graphics change was not because the new one looks better.
The reason was that DURACELL would sue the shit out of WUBE if they would not change it. So the previous one will not come back.

Proof? If anything, Duracell would probably look at it, consider a letter, and then instead opt to offer a formal image licensing agreement for product placement advertising. That said, I highly doubt any contact was had between Wube and Duracell Inc.

This made me laugh. Thank you for that.
It also reminded me of how useful these discussions in forums are in general. Thank you for that as well.

For proof scroll up a few posts.

Ah, might want to reformat your post and place the link at the bottom of it. I had been doing just a casual skim and had missed the link several times since the color of links is the same as post titles. I know, I know, I know; no need to say it, that is on me for missing it. Still if I missed it due to skimming, and I was looking for very such a thing before posting, then others will probably miss it as well. Moving it down to the bottom of your post, after your little tit, will help better promote it for visibility.