Factorio Weather and Seasons

[Bonzi_the_Great]

So I've been thinking of ways to make the game a little more interesting and I've come up with a few. First off I want to say that I haven't thought everything through, so if something doesn't make sense I may need to rethink it. I want to let you all know that this is a very early thought and a lot can be adjusted.

First of, lets talk about weather. Weather could be something that just happens as you play. It doesn't have to affect you in anyway, it could just be there to make they world feel more alive. Maybe during a thunderstorm, lightning could catch trees on fire or maybe there could be more fish in lakes/oceans to catch. Maybe in a deserts there could be a dust storm or some other type of weather event. As for transitioning from one biome to another, think like Terraria. This weather would only be there to make the world feel more alive.

Second lets talk about seasons. Now seasons will actually affect the player, but not how you think they will. I'll start off talking about winter since it will lead into the other seasons.

Winter

During winter, biters will become less active or disappear entirely. They could go into hibernation. All their bases will still be there except the biters themselves will not be. If you attack the bases during winter biters will spawn out of the base and attack you. If they win they go back sleep. Also biters would move more slowly and take damage from the cold. Winter will also affect your machines. As the temperature gets colder your machines could become more efficient and use less power.(this could be redesigned heavily to fit better in the game. this is a very early thought.) Also during winter it could snow which will be entirely a visual effect. Now lets talk about spring.

Spring

During spring the biters will come back alive and multiply more than usual. During this time you can expect to find them in bigger numbers, but less inclined to attack you after there long wintery slumber. Nights during spring could be cold so biters will move more slowly and be less aggressive, and during the day they would be somewhat normal. Also during Spring since they will be multiplying this is when evolution takes effect the most. During this time it would be wise not to attack them, so that they don't evolve even faster.( some type of multiplier could be added to there evolution during spring).

Summer

Heading into summer is when things get a little crazy. During summer it gets really hot and your machines and the bitters don't like it. I start with how your machines will be affected. During summer your machines become more inefficient and use more power and produce more pollution. This increase in power usage can cause many problems for your power grid. ( this is as far as I've gotten with summer affected machines, any suggestions are greatly appreciated). As for the bitters they become more aggressive, attack more often, and move faster. Also the bitters could create new bases during this time if the option is turned on. ( again this is as far as I've gotten for summer. a lot could be added to make things more interesting.)

Fall

Fall would be much like spring except everything is getting colder instead off warmer over time. Bitters would attack less frequent. Also something i just thought of is during fall the biters may migrate away from your base, or migrate into giant groups. Just a quick thought.( during spring they could migrate towards your base too.)

Again this is all very early thoughts. We still need to figure out how long seasons would be and other small details. A lot can be changed and added to this idea. Any ideas are welcome and greatly appreciated. This will be my first post ever on this forum and I hope some of these ideas may eventually make it into the game.

Thank you,

Bonzi_the_Great

[ssilk]

This are nice details to long existing suggestions. Many of them can be found here.

This also sounds to a good idea for a mod, similar to

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Nightfall (0.18)
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/axial-tilt (0.17)
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/NightBrightness (0.18)
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Clockwork
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/DayPhaseAdjuster

Sadly some are outdated.

[sparr]

I guess I could update axial tilt...

[Hannu]

There would be infinite number of interesting options to play with seasons and environmental conditions. Even one or two variables (like temperature and humidity) affecting to machines and enemies would bring huge amount of richness in artificially straightforward gaming and immersion to gameworld. But most players want to optimize simple mathematical ratios and achieve 100 % performance instead of adjusting base to adapt to varying non-optimal conditions. I think there will not be any progress in this, even it would fit very well in harder game modes.

[ssilk]

Yeah. But currently we crash on Nauvis. Would be interesting to crash somewhere else in the universe. Perhaps with “biters” that like pollution. And are so deadly, if you don’t pollute enough, that they will overrun you, once a little mine runs out of resources...

@sparr nice

[Drunkorio]

So what about a weather system? Like rain and things of that nature. Maybe something can collect the water for players who don't want to go traveling for a body of water on seeds where one isn't super close. It would add great atmosphere for building. Could have windy days where turbines can generate power, adding another way of making power while reducing pollution. Speaking of pollution could affect the rain. I don't know. i just know that i haven't seen anything like this in any mod or even heard mention of it anywhere. I at least think it would be a great additon.

[ssilk]

merged with similar topic — ssilk