Robot

[MasterFryzU456]

Witam chciałbym zaproponować by w grze można było by zbadać mecha. Robota którym można będzie sterować. Dodawanie nowych do niego ulepszeń.

[ficolas]

please english D:

Hi I would suggest that the game could be explored mechanisms. Robot which can be controlled. Adding new improvements to it. : D

[Arakasi]

Witam chciałbym zaproponować by w grze można było by zbadać mecha. Robota którym można będzie sterować. Dodawanie nowych do niego ulepszeń.

Actually this polish text means that it would be nice to have some kind of Mech (robot which can be controlled by user). This robot might be upgradable.


Sounds interesting but what should be purpose of this robot? For upgrading only?

[ssilk]

I have this idea:

Some sort of robots can be built very early (e. g. after logistics-1 and automation researched).

- The robots need to be programmed - same system as filter-inserters.
- One program for all robots. So if you reporgramm one robot, you will reprogramm all.
- The robots can take one piece only. No upgrades.
- You can only have 10-20 of them.
- You can only built it yourself.
- You can call all robots to yourself (as protection or to destroy them)

The robot looks, if the (filtered) material is needed anywhere. If yes, it looks if it is in a box. If yes it walks to the box, gets a piece and walks to the montage and deploys it. This may speed up the start-process and makes it less annoying.

[MF-]

I have this idea:

Some sort of robots can be built very early (e. g. after logistics-1 and automation researched).

- The robots need to be programmed - same system as filter-inserters.
- One program for all robots. So if you reporgramm one robot, you will reprogramm all.
- The robots can take one piece only. No upgrades.
- You can only have 10-20 of them.
- You can only built it yourself.
- You can call all robots to yourself (as protection or to destroy them)

The robot looks, if the (filtered) material is needed anywhere. If yes, it looks if it is in a box. If yes it walks to the box, gets a piece and walks to the montage and deploys it. This may speed up the start-process and makes it less annoying.

aren't inserters robots?

how would you explain the 10-20 limit?
PS: sounds like Thaumcraft3 golems.

I agree that it seems like gap in the research tree, that there are no non-flying logistic robots.

[ssilk]

aren't inserters robots?

Yes! I thought of a "running" filter inserter.

I have more ideas/rules:

- If the way between two requesters isn't too much difference (balancing) they try to fill the requester with less stuff in it.
This rule tries to fill the more empty stuff first.

- In the "programmer" you can choose between the modes, the robots search for requests.
--- They can search for requests near their current position.
--- The robots search for "requests" near your current position and tries to fill them first.

With this rule, you have some control about what the robots are filling first. If you want to fill some far turrets, go to them, switch to "near your position" and wait, until enough robots are here, then switch to "near robot postion" and you can do other things.

how would you explain the 10-20 limit?

Hm. It would destroy the current game, if you can build hundreds. I see them only for the beginning. They may deploy ammo into turrets or some other tasks, which takes long, when doing yourself. Maybe 20 are too less, maybe 1 item per run is too low; must be balanced.

And from the game-story, I can think of "you have a blueprint which can be used only 20 times...". And with the time you become friends with the robots, you can give them names or - as already said, they will become your body-guard.

PS: sounds like Thaumcraft3 golems.

Yea, the description sounds a little bit like that.

I agree that it seems like gap in the research tree, that there are no non-flying logistic robots.

I just want to speed up things, doing less micro management. And maybe - much later, after many research - they could be your "body guards".

[rk84]

I think one of the reasons why there is flying robots, but no land robots is pathfinding. It takes less resources to add entity that flies between two points. You might notice that in start of "big" creeper wave.

One way of limiting amount them would be uncraftable parts needed for building. mayby found only in space module wrecks (computer?)

[ssilk]

Hm. Pathfinding is a problem, confirmed. This is also a reason, why those robots should be limited.

But - maybe flying robots at that stage of game are a way too early... not logical explainable, I would not like them.
Uncraftable. Hm. Maybe it is limited because we have only one control and this control can handle only a limited amount of robots.

Hm. I think the idea of a robot as a helper to speed up the game is good. But to have much robots is bad. So how about having only one (1!) robot and that can handle much parts at once (depends on balancing). One, because more than one cannot be handled by you. And with one you should not have a pathfinding problem, and if, then it just waits until it is calculated.


... More ideas from railroad tycoon deluxe: The robot takes as much as it is in the box or it waits, until his capacity is reached before he runs to the requester.

PS: There are many possibilities for a plot with a robot. He can get your friend. He can get crazy. He can be overtaken by the creeps...

[ssilk]

I just read that:

https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... ?f=6&t=613

Why not? Switch mode to "replace belt" (which belt-type with which new type), select an area (the area is shown in highlighted color when in the programmer) and start program. Of course it must replace a belt in the same orientation.

Robot takes as much belts as he can, and just replaces belt by belt in a more or less random order.


This brings me to an idea: How about more programs you can load into this robot, doing something for you? Some programs:

Cut: cuts any resource in the given area and brings it to the next chest

Cleanup: The same but for (filtered) resources, that lays around. E. g. if you want to catch the output of a mine in the beginning or accidentally remove a full box.

Support: tries to find most requested material of filtered type and fills it up from chests

Built: can produce any item you can produce, but much slower

Replace: can replace any (belts) item in an area with another item (must have been built)

Copy: Can reproduce a saved area in the wished orientation.
This would be really, really nice, because someone can save his "superoptimized iron production" into the forum and I can load it and the robot makes an exact copy of it, if possible. He also removes stuff, if it is in the way. This is also no cheating, because he takes much longer for it, than me. (With some more effort it could be possible to built fractal structures...)

Fight: ...

[slpwnd]

We have had this idea for "blueprints" for a while. Basically you would select an existing setup and "copy paste it elsewhere". Then you would have a bunch of small robots that would take resources from allocated chests and then go off and build that setup. All of this is not easy to develop - loads of small complications starting with robot path finding (in case they wouldn't be flying), robot allocation, etc. However it would remove the micro especially in the mid - later stages which would be great. So the idea is still on the table.

At the moment there is actually a mod which does this (though very simplified): https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=14&t=553

[FreeER]

Maybe the devs should just add a robot or two with pathfinding and basic functions (followPlayer, detectNearbyEnemies, mine, place, getFromChest etc.) and give us the ability to 'program' it with lua code? lol Then people could write scripts to make the robot defend the player and such. The devs could have the 'programs' be added to the game as a mod so that you would have to research the programs and thus the script designers could assign a cost to getting the program (rather than in minecraft's computer craft you can do whatever you want for free once you make the turtle). The robot it self would be somewhat expensive (probably requiring alien artifacts) so that it would take a significant amount of time to create an army of robots that could scour the land for creepers and kill them, but eventually would be possible lol. Just an idea

[ficolas]

and give us the ability to 'program' it with lua code?

I would love it, but that also will require lot of more modding stuff to be added

[FreeER]

and give us the ability to 'program' it with lua code?

I would love it, but that also will require lot of more modding stuff to be added

And the problem is? LOL this does not seem to be a priority so if we are going to discuss it why not discuss what will be best/preferable longterm?