Factorio Forums

I was asking me why, when I walk with the spacebar press and come near an enemy I start shooting even if the mouse pointer is far from enemy, if near enough, but the same dont happen when I press the RMB and some target from the last action enter in my area of action. Only if the object go under the mouse pointer the action go on.
Then why dont let a woodcutter continue to cut wood if he has trees in his work area? Or if he move and new trees come in his work radius?
Or a miner continue mining if he has other squares of the same ore patch in his work area? Or if he move and new mining places enter in his work radius?
This give more sense to mod that add radius of action ad similar effect.
Actually having to point any single square or tree for cutting it is a waste of time even more in the mods that give you increased speed of actions.
If you give to tools a power similar to weapons, for me at least, is a great bonus...
I have to admint that I play with a notebook, then using the touchpad is a pain for actions that need fast mouse movements like change mining patch or hunting trees for chop them down.
That's why I'm giving this suggestion.
Optionally you can allow to activate or deactivate this "option" from the game options, like the minimap show or hide actually present...

RMB acts very differently than space bar, it's more analoguous to C, or whatever key is the manual fire.

There isn't any tool, in the base game at least, that have "power like weapon". And that's to be expected :

Players usually want to kill any ennemy in a nearby area, hence the spacebar button.

Players usually want precise control over the parts of their factory they deconstruct, hence the RMB button (wood cutting is the same as factory deconstruction, understandably since one may want to only deconstruct as few of them as necessary).


Now if you want to selectively kill ennemies, you totally can, check your key bindings, I think by default it is the key C.

If you want tools to act as weapons, then just use weapon. Shotgun, grenades, flamethrowers and tank are popular ways to clear forests.

If you want to mass deconstruct things like forest, then construction bots and deconstruction print are the way to go. Your suggestion would reduce deconstruction time by maybe by an unnoticeable 1/50, at least in the base game.

As far as mining goes, this is not minecraft, you're not supposed to hand mine past the 10 first minute of the game or so. And even then, it would be an even more negligible annoyance.

If you have in mind a mod encouraging hand chopping and hand mining, then I think this might be a discussion for these mods (though changing these kind of mechanics is probably a lot harder than introducing a wood cutter)

I have to admint that I play with a notebook, then using the touchpad is a pain for actions that need fast mouse movements like change mining patch or hunting trees for chop them down.

RIP.

Your suggestion makes a lot of sense from that perspective, though I'm pretty sure most of the pain would still remain (you can't go around being precise when building).

Deconstruction need time, and if you are interested in decostructing only, that's why the option to enable or disable it in option as request.
Anothehr point is "If you have a little patch of 5-6 squares (I mean a little patch that has a 2x3 area or similar little patch) and are keeping the map at max zoom for intercept critter in attack mode against you, you find hard to point exactly each mining patch and if you just need to clear that patch have this effect is very useful. After all buy an electric line or an energy source enough to feed a mine and a transport to your base is inefficient and for this little patch, maybe found when you are looking for a bigger one where to build a base, collect this "little" ore amount can let your base work a little longer.
Another point is that if you need to clear an area where build your first base, at the start of the game you dont have bot nor other instruments for clearing it, then chopping them by hand for clear a big ore patch where you want to build is better.
And, at that point, you dont have granades, shotguns and flamethrowers at your disposal.
I was looking in a wider ways than only a single mod. I usually play in a forest world for have combustible when coals are not near and you need some.
On some mods, I have to add, you can improve mining and chopping faster than any other way to clear forest.
In my actual setting I have a digging/chopping speed of 60 and more and this is a pain, for me, have to catch any single tree each time for clearing a place where I want to build something when, with a function like this, I could clear a wide area in few seconds.
Just for tell, in 10 seconds I would mine around 200 ores and this is good for big ore patches, but is a pain for scarce and scattered patches.
I'm not sure it's a problem only for me, but using a notebook I'm one of the more troubled by this.
Tat's why I'm asking if can be a solution, even if optional, for a travel gaming mode.
Just an idea, but I have thrown my 2 cents based on my game experience that is something like 5.000 or more hours.
It has been a pain from the 0.12, but since that time I was hoping that developers will put an eye for travel players too...

4xel wrote:

I have to admint that I play with a notebook, then using the touchpad is a pain for actions that need fast mouse movements like change mining patch or hunting trees for chop them down.

RIP.

Your suggestion makes a lot of sense from that perspective, though I'm pretty sure most of the pain would still remain (you can't go around being precise when building).

The difference is that if you want to be more precise you can use zoom in freely, but usually you dont go placing blueprints or new buildings while under attack or in very dungerous zones, then you has all the time for place the building in the best place.
Before building, you secure a little the area clearing monsters around that place and only after that you go on building your factory, be it main base or a side base.
But you can clear trees when there are monster near just for place a gunturret or another modded defence for protect your work, then pointing each tree is a big pain, even more when using a touchpad.

Just offering something that has to be used as "notebook mode" from options, or a tab of option for who is using a notebook or worse a netbook.
Your game, after all, work fine even on a notebook not too new, then why dont extend gaming for who travel long on train or bus?
And dont tell me that in train and bus you can play "Candy Crash" games serie. This will let me think you're not so smart.

Touch pad, early game, and forest world, and hand minind, I don't think I can imagine a worse combination

I'm actually the kind of guy who plays factorio on trains, even though mainly creative and puzzles, since I fortunately don't take train very often (so I can play normal game mode at home). For me a wireless mouse on my lap is usually better than a touch pad.

I could give you some more advice about how to ease your pain, but I don't think you'd be learning anything new.

Now I have great news : I just discovered what you ask for already exists in the game! But only for removing stone/concrete floors. I'm pretty sure wood cutting is not that closely related to ennemy fighting but litterally is deconstruction, which is why I bring floor on the table. If my intuition is right, it would mean the amount of work for the dev to implement your suggestion should be very small, thus more likely to happen.

As for the GUI, I'm not a huge fan of introducing too many options, but that might be the best solution.

An other way could be to have a square similar to how floor editing works.

Yet an other way might be to jump to the next thing marked to deconstruction by a deconstruction planner.

Both suggestions you offer are good.
The "squared mouse pointer" can be a great improvement, and if you go adding keys for improve or reduce area of selection is a great solution.
Even the suggestion for "jump to next marked to be removed" can be a great solution too. Having both of them will allow a surgical precision on working even in a normal game allowing to remove quickly what you need removed even manually.
If this can be inserted will be a true great solution.
But, if you think this can alter too much the actual way of play for desktop gamers, a solution can be allowing the selection to use or not that setting that can give more flexibility to the game.
I love forest world for many reason, great combustibile source, good defenses because the small critters come faster, but bigger are slowed down and allow you to kill them even if not too well equipped and, last, but not least, they are very decorative, if you give them a good shape.
And I'm a lover of the green color, then I use, too often, seems, a highly grass world with forest.
But, as counterpart, I set all environmental world in last sheet to the max, then enemies grow bigger very fast and them I have to plan each move carefully, for avoid to be crashed by behemoth too fast.

[Edited for correct some errors, nothing substantial has been changed]