Secondly, I would like to put forth my [only] problem with Factorio:
I hate "pixel hunting" in the World Map for resource deposits.
I say hate because it detracts heavily from the almost constant fun of playing Factorio, which to me is investigating (exploration), planning, building and problem solving and so on.
I think that it detracts from the game when playing challenging maps where resources are sparse, because it just becomes a chore that you have to do before you can go off and have fun. Finding the resources you need in a fully radar'd map can often take several minutes of scouring the map for pixels that are of the right colour.
My case may be exaggerated, partly because I was never amazing with discerning colours, so I may be alone in wanting a solution for this, but maybe the forum can sympathise with someone who has worse colour vision than the average.
Onto the research & solution!:
I made a search of the forums for this sort of thing and I admit it wasn't extensive. Two posts caught my eye:
Ore fields just the tip of the iceberg? ( Map Markers have already been mentioned by this post )
Scarcity Of Iron ( This concept would show up far flung resources beyond the explored map making the resources easier to spot in the World Map meaning you don't need to COMPLETELY cover the map in Radars AND pixel hunt for the scarce resources )CreeperDaReeper wrote:What if F-Mod's underground mining was actually the main way we are supposed to obtain the majority of the resources we need?
What if the ore fields we find scattered across the map weren't a main source, but markers for areas rich in that resource?
What if the amount of resources in an area worked the same was as the amount of oil in an oil well?
If the above were true, assume that you could mine any resource from any location, however the output would drop over time to be minimal. The only way to overcome this would be to either continue to expand outward to find more and more resource-rich areas, or build large mining facilities dedicated to a single resource each.
ssilk wrote:It happened to me this week, that I started a map with defaults and now after 3-4 hours I feel, that the iron ore will go out. I begun driving around very, very far to find iron ore, and I'm sure to find it at any time, but currently haven't. Only much small fields, not worth exploding and near biters. Altogether I estimate the small fields to only 20000 ore. That's too less.
I would wish something, which finds such fields. Some "resource field radar" or so.
It doesn't unlock the map!
If turned on it begins to put "points" in the map which can be resource fields with some probability (depends on distance, size of field and time of running the radar - needs really, really much power, you need handling that!). When probability reaches a limit (50%?) it also unlocks the type of resource, if more than 80, it shows with rising probability the size, and if it becomes 100% it unlocks the area of the resource field (? Problems if there are only parts of the map unlocked?). Should cover a gigantic radius (5000 tiles or more?). Maybe a filter, to search only for iron etc. which makes search faster.
So if you built it and switch it on and the radar finds a point in the map, far away, then it must be a very big resource (or in some of the next versions a wreckage or something like that).
It would also help to have the existing fields marked in that way, because you will see how big the remaining field is.
Suggestion:
To show resources in the map in a way that even a player who cannot discern colours can see at a glance where to get the resources that they need
Different possible ways of displaying resources in the World Map:
1. Overlays - present in many Sim games - basically filter the world map so that only resources are shown. A separate overlay for each resource
2. Pin Markers - present in the latter Civ games - icon bubbles can appear over deposits that depict what the resource is and how much of it there is present
3. Selectable Fields - sorry I cannot list an example - the nearest resource field to the mouse cursor will be highlighted and an icon could display over the deposit to show what type it is. Moving the mouse cursor closer to another resource field will un-highlight the previous resource field and highlight the new closer resource field.
So that's my idea, it's more of a tweak to the UI than anything else, it may even exist already as a Mod for all I know!
I look forward to feedback on the suggestion or even just the presentation!
). The number of different ores should (within limits) not matter much.
. The solutions offered so far would certainly work so I give my thumbs up to the discussion going on so far!
If over some zoom-level, blend in the map at the same zoom level and blend out the normal view. That's it. 