Plastic Barrels for Sulfuric Acid

[Hakkayo]

Hey all, enjoying the new .15 and fixing all the now broken processes of my factory and I was thinking about how I want to do uranium mining. I already have an extensive oil barrel network so I thought I would just adapt it to also include sulfuric acid. However, sulfuric acid can corrode steel, especially when stored in barrels or other containers that can allow moisture in. I don't know how complicated this would be to add to the game or if it would actually improve the experience but I was thinking what if there was a plastic barreling process for corrosive fluids. It could just be me being a stickler but I don't think it would be a ridiculous addition.

[Tekky]

I'm sure there are many other things that are not implemented in a realistic way. So, if your suggestion were implemented based on the argument of realism, then many other things would have to be changed too. I don't think that this would be meaningful.

[Hakkayo]

I see what you are saying but I personally think that having an alternative to metal containers can be used in really interesting ways. Just spit balling here, but what if heat containment were a real factor? What if to transport hot liquid long distances you would need to put them in insulated containers. What if certain liquids had to stay at specific heat temperatures to achieve maximum efficiency? Right now fluid temperatures are in the game and are kind of a pointless feature beyond making steam. With the addition of how heat works with the nuclear reactors I think this could be another way to expand on that facet of the game. It might be something for the more complex stuff or harder difficulties. While realism is the basis for the argument to add it, I don't think it is the only reason to add plastic containment units.

[Tekky]

I like your idea of adding different countainers for reasons of heat insulation.

I hope that heat dissipation will be simulated by Factorio in the future, so that you can't have dozens of storage tanks filled with 650 degree steam without losing any energy. If this were simulated, then the player would have an incentive to build containers with better heat insulation.

[Hakkayo]

Exactly, and what if cracking heavy oil was optimal at 200 degrees with a distribution curve on either side that reduces the efficiency. Idk, might just be a mod idea.

[Lav]

If Factorio devs implement the concept of an abstract liquid container, then I'll be totally for plastic barrels.

Until then, the suggestion IMHO doesn't hold water (pun intended). As soon as you have plastic barrels for acid, there's no reason to disallow other liquids in plastic barrels as well. That's double the recipes and five times the chaos.

[Hakkayo]

I see what you are saying, but as I mentioned before complexity is kind of the point of my suggestion. Yes it adds complexity, that I think can easily be made optional for the player before they start a map, and it's not illogical complexity as it has basis in reality so it's not abstract and feels unfair. Playing factorio for me is fun and it is one of my favorite games but I, and I'm sure many others, can feel at times that after you reach a certain level the game becomes easy. By introducing further complexity it allows the game to feel longer without feeling unfair, as well as introducing new puzzles of manufacturing and logistics that make up the spirit of the game.

[ssilk]

I see what you are saying, but as I mentioned before complexity is kind of the point of my suggestion. Yes it adds complexity, that I think can easily be made optional for the player before they start a map

Currently the game needs a restart for such config change of entities. In the end it's the same as if you have a mod switched on/off. With that switching the vanilla would also become incompatible to the "modded": You cannot play the changed config save with the unchanged.

So, we already know a similiar mechanism: mods. And that's also how I see this suggestion: As a mod.

It would be a really simple mod to change that.