Show Non-Researched Items as Locked

[PeteTheLich]

So i was introducing my friend to this game and she enjoyed it for the most part but there was a glaring problem with the learning curve of the game. Everytime she would ask a question it would be something I would just say "Oh you yeah you just research this that and the other" well she didnt know that... and unless she spent time reading through all the technologies she didnt know underground belts existed at first because theyre hidden until researched.

I prepose showing some (at least the basics or 1-2 tiers) of items that are locked until researched.

here's just a quick example


Obviously there would be more items

I believe this would really help new players see all the items available and how to unlock them. especially if a locked item was clicked on it opened up the tech tree.

[Deadly-Bagel]

Personally I wouldn't have found this particularly useful, on one hand it would be useful in my current (and first) Bob's Mods game as I occasionally find myself looking for recipes I haven't unlocked yet and which are buried in the huge research tree, on the other hand in the same game it would just be information overload every time the crafting menu opens.

A tickbox to show/hide unaavailable recipes would be needed but not really sure how much benefit it would have.

[Articulating]

I feel like this addition would just add a lot of not particularly useful information to the crafting menu for most players, especially in the early game. However I do think that some players, eg those new to a game or a particular mod, could benefit from this addition. Perhaps it would be best implemented as a setting in the options menu (default being non-researched items are not shown at all).

[PeteTheLich]

Personally I wouldn't have found this particularly useful, on one hand it would be useful in my current (and first) Bob's Mods game as I occasionally find myself looking for recipes I haven't unlocked yet and which are buried in the huge research tree, on the other hand in the same game it would just be information overload every time the crafting menu opens.

A tickbox to show/hide unavailable recipes would be needed but not really sure how much benefit it would have.

I feel like youre looking at this through a more experienced lens. The beginning of the game can be very frustrating for new players and showing a few items that then show how to get them would help guide them in the right direction. It's easy to search "Splitter" in the research bar but you first have to know what a splitter is to search for it. Im not saying show every recipe all the way up to rocket just a few of the basic ones like maybe upto oil refinery.

And for modded playthroughs this would be invaluable because bobs can be a total headache

I feel like this addition would just add a lot of not particularly useful information to the crafting menu for most players, especially in the early game. However I do think that some players, eg those new to a game or a particular mod, could benefit from this addition. Perhaps it would be best implemented as a setting in the options menu (default being non-researched items are not shown at all).

It's more of a way to click on a locked technology to see the tech tree for it instead of having it buried in the tech tree until you research it. especially for the automation 1 to get the assembler.

That is the main intention but I think it would be best to have this enabled by default for fresh installs with a notification that it can be disabled in the settings.

[ssilk]

If there is a button or so, that switches this feature on/off, this would be really useful.

Added to viewtopic.php?f=80&t=25782 Improvements of the Graphical User Interface (GUI)

viewtopic.php?f=80&t=14645 Research-queue and -progress Visualizaton / Research-Overhauls

[PeteTheLich]

If there is a button or so, that switches this feature on/off, this would be really useful.

Added to viewtopic.php?f=80&t=25782 Improvements of the Graphical User Interface (GUI)

viewtopic.php?f=80&t=14645 Research-queue and -progress Visualizaton / Research-Overhauls

I like that even more a hotkey that "toggle hidden technologies"

[Deadly-Bagel]

I feel like youre looking at this through a more experienced lens. The beginning of the game can be very frustrating for new players and showing a few items that then show how to get them would help guide them in the right direction. It's easy to search "Splitter" in the research bar but you first have to know what a splitter is to search for it. Im not saying show every recipe all the way up to rocket just a few of the basic ones like maybe upto oil refinery.

And for modded playthroughs this would be invaluable because bobs can be a total headache

To some degree yes but I remember my original playthrough quite clearly and at no point did I want to see more than I could. The base game is very linear, you look at what you have available in the research screen and base your decisions around that. What can I research next? Oooh a faster inserter, that sounds good. What does Electronics get me? Wow that unlocks a lot of stuff, will go for that. Hmm thing are running pretty smoothly now, let's have a look at this oil processing. Seems to be working with liquids, so what's Fluid Handling? Oh it adds a liquid tank, that will be helpful. And etc.

If you make everything available at the start you'll get people setting unrealistic goals because they don't understand the game flow yet. If they've heard anything about the game they might have heard about bots and set themselves on building them WAY before they should be, only to run into blue science or something. IMO it's more likely to disrupt the flow of the game for inexperienced players than it is to help them at all.

Seems this would be most useful for say a second playthrough, after you've launched a rocket already and know vaguely what order you need to do things in but before you're familiar with the game's research and recipes. Again I can't really know how useful it would be, how often it would get used, but personally on the rare occasion I need to know what research unlocks something I just search for it. It's easier than it would be trying to hunt it down in the crafting menu.

[Boogieman14]

I feel like youre looking at this through a more experienced lens.

I actually think you're doing the exact same. In your case, you (an experienced player) were guiding a new player, introducing her to concepts faster than would've happened in a normal progression. I really don't think your proposed feature would be a help to a real new player trying to find their way on their own, possibly even confuse them.

However, for the more experienced player, I do believe this feature might add value. Certainly for modded games, but even in vanilla games I've found myself browsing the research list trying to remember which research unlocked a specific item.

[BenSeidel]

Lovely idea.
I am someone that does not play with item categories and subcategories turned on, so the early game is really difficult for me as the items continually move as I research more and more items. If they were all there right from the start it would make the first 2-3 hours much easier.

[AlexTheNotsogreat]

My idea is that you would see locked recipes if the research is available. With your accumulator example, it would appear with the "locked" icon once the prerequisite researches are unlocked, and mousing over it would say "Required research: electric energy accumulators" with a mini image of the tech to go with it.

[Rseding91]

Lovely idea.
I am someone that does not play with item categories and subcategories turned on, so the early game is really difficult for me as the items continually move as I research more and more items. If they were all there right from the start it would make the first 2-3 hours much easier.

Just turn the categories on. That's what they're for - creating some other feature to solve one that already has a solution seems foolish.

[<NO_NAME>]

This idea would work very well with that one: Ghost building ☸

[BenSeidel]

Lovely idea.
I am someone that does not play with item categories and subcategories turned on, so the early game is really difficult for me as the items continually move as I research more and more items. If they were all there right from the start it would make the first 2-3 hours much easier.

Just turn the categories on. That's what they're for - creating some other feature to solve one that already has a solution seems foolish.

Well good it's a good thing that I don't have any reason to play the way I do and not the way you want me to.
*bleats and jumps a fence*