Beacon Transmission Frequency Bands (Inspired by IRL Radio)

[Mandromeda]

TL;DR

An alternative base beacon which transmits over different layers (frequency bands); with each layer being researchable and offering its own kind of benefit, effect radius, energy requirement, and overlap effects.

What ?

Inspired by IRL radio frequency bands:

1. Transmission frequency bandwidths: Beacons start off with being able to transmit over one 'frequency' coverage layer, say MF.
2. Beacon Interference: Overlapping coverages may, in lieu of 'Overload', (i) reduce benefits, or; (ii) provide only N layer(s') worth of of benefits, or; (iii) 'overload' by canceling benefits, or worse; (iv) 'interfere' making things worse than if there were no beacons at all. Hmm, I wonder how lightning strikes could impact things...
3. Base beacons would all default to transmitting over Medium Frequency (MF) with a medium-sized coverage area. Other MF towers nearby would have, perhaps, zero overlap or interference effect.
4. We could then research higher frequencies (HF, VHF, UHF, SHF, EHF) with (i) increasing 'information' benefits, at (ii) decreasing coverage radius (like IRL), (iii) increasing interference penalties, and (iv) higher power costs) or; Lower bands (i.e. LF, VLF) with (i) decreased 'information' benefits, (ii) increasing radius (LF, VLF would have a HUGE radius), and (iii) better overlap effects, or maybe just 'overlap detriment avoidance', at a (iv) MUCH lower ongoing power cost.
5. Overlap Options Overlap effects vary by frequency, with whatever consequence devs prefer (from harmless, helpful, benefit-killing to downright hurtful), and where these consequences can be either diminishing, additive or whatever.
6. Construction / sprite options How many frequencies allowed per beacon? All? One? Different number of bands packed into a beacon depending on sprite size?

Why ?

From https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-409:

The main purpose of beacons is to allow massively increasing your production in the late game while being more than just a module or a faster machine. To make use of beacons you need to adjust your building layout for them.
[...]
Since there aren't many other significant alternatives to these two layouts, all in all using beacons seems restrictive on build variety and tends to feel monotonous and uninteresting, especially compared to how varied the earlier stages of the game are.

I completely agree with the desired outcomes as well as the changes to improve how they'll be achieved.

I think this proposal adds dials to

• Encourage players to want to modify and/or improve their factory layouts over the course of a playthrough; and
• Offer an optimization challenge for the true min-maxers, offering potential complexity that only smart planning and calculations can fully optimize, with through-playthrough increasing layout variance and complexity!

I kind of kept this intentionally vague, as it should just leave room to inspire modders.

[Stringweasel]

Pyanodans actually something like this. It's something like you can set the AM and FM frequencies seperately that some paramters of the beacon.

[mmmPI]

The picture helped me much to understand, i was a bit lost with the original forum post. I like the idea, it make sense to me as something to adress the stated goal.

I have not a conceptual, but more practical question, do you consider the area of effect of the beacon as circle or square in the ideal case or no such binary choice ?

I'm asking because i'm thinking : the current beacon transmit their effect without clear explanations, they have a square shape area transmission.

Going for frequency band inspiration may lead to reconsidering such shape, if for large area of transmission it may seem disconnected with the idea of radio waves that it form a perfect square (many) tiles away.
It would cause a higher number of tiles on the map to exist where it is possible to put machine "closer the to beacon without receiving bonus from it while seeing other tile in the corners, much further away from the same beacon but in diagonal that would receive the bonus".

Both the idea of "radio wave being the mechanism of transmission", and "huge-reach-beacons will exist" to me somewhat call for circular area of effect.


Maybe it's just me, i thought to convey the idea of things overlapping with different interaction visually, it could be done with patterns of different frequency and shape/tiling, "printed" on the visible area of transmission, to add another layer of information than just "where it reach", the gradiant of yellow (currently) being less and less transparent would only transmit accumulation of things, not interferences which are newly introduced concept i thought.

possible viz idea.jpg (1.41 MiB) Viewed 176 times

A and B would cause high (iii) increasing interference penalties

Unlike C and D that would not.

While C and D are representing opposite density of information.

E has higher "frequency" than C or D , because the same pattern would repeat more time in the same surface.

E may not cause the same interferences with C or D, than with A or B.

Such patterns density-shape/relation with the frequencies would also work with square area beacons, when understanding your proposal i could only thing of it as circular, like the range of most turrets so i searched for such examples, i imaged such patterns could be added to the transparency mechanism currently used to show overlapping interactions.