Factorio Forums

TL;DR

Ctrl + Left Mouse Button on craftables in inventory queues up a stack to craft.

What?

Right now we have:
LMB = Craft 1
RMB = Craft 5
Shift + LMB = Craft All

What I'm suggesting is:
Ctrl + LMB = Craft Stack

This can mean 200 green chips, 5 roboports, 100 pipes.
This includes considering that some recipes crafts multiples, like 50 for transport belts for a full 100, and 25 for underground belts for a full 50.

Why?

More often than not I find myself Shift clicking until I have a full stack. Usually when running out of belts, pipes, power poles. While with this addition a single Ctrl+Click would easily fix this.
I think if we have a hotkey for this would be a small QoL addition, fairly easy to code, and it changes nothing, only adds. No downsides!

One disadvantage : making handcrafting even easier and useful is kind of antinomic to the game's purpose. One could argue that there are enough ways to "make things easier" to handcrafting for a game about automation.

That's sorta fair? If it wasn't for the fact that there's already the craft all button. If you properly time it, you'll eventually craft a single stack with those.
This is just an in between option to keep people from getting arthritis.

Besides, isn't automating things a good thing? Even when it comes to manually crafting?

Koub wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:18 am One disadvantage : making handcrafting even easier and useful is kind of antinomic to the game's purpose. One could argue that there are enough ways to "make things easier" to handcrafting for a game about automation.

This. With 0.17 out I started a vanilla run for 'Lazy Bastard' and it's a much better experience than allowing myself to handcraft. I used to handcraft way too much stuff because I was lazy to set up an automated assembly. If I could, I'd put a penalty on handcrafting, like 2 times slower than a machine or something.

The penalty on handcrafting is that you need to have everything before you start, and you can only make one thing at a time. I think that's sufficient to convince people they need to make production lines.

CDarklock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:55 pm I think that's sufficient to convince people they need to make production lines.

Obviously not, if people want to be able to craft full stacks in one click

Koub wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:01 pm Obviously not, if people want to be able to craft full stacks in one click

Imagine I have 400 iron plates in my inventory.

I can make 1 gear with one click.

I can make 5 gears with one click.

I can make 200 gears with one click.

If the third option is acceptable, why isn't it acceptable to craft 100 gears with one click?

Ultimately, it's the devs' decision. However, if a shortcut for one full stack was added, why not another one for half-a-stack ? And yet another one for a-quarter-of-stack ? And another one for tens ? and ... you get the point . When does more become too much ? There isn't one right answer to that question, it's a matter of choice.
I wouldn't care it more shortcuts were added, but I'd rather see the devs' time invested into aspects I find more important.

CDarklock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:55 pm The penalty on handcrafting is that you need to have everything before you start, and you can only make one thing at a time. I think that's sufficient to convince people they need to make production lines.

Sometimes it's quicker to simply have materials on you, rather than to create a production belt on literally everything you'll end up needing. Be it power poles, electric miners, a bunch of belts.
Especially when walking long distances (which is inevitable at times), it helps to keep your craft on.

Not to mention, everyone plays this game differently.

Koub wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:46 pm Ultimately, it's the devs' decision. However, if a shortcut for one full stack was added, why not another one for half-a-stack ? And yet another one for a-quarter-of-stack ? And another one for tens ? and ... you get the point . When does more become too much ? There isn't one right answer to that question, it's a matter of choice.
I wouldn't care it more shortcuts were added, but I'd rather see the devs' time invested into aspects I find more important.

This is a pretty exaggerated black and white way to look at these things.
Right now you can pick between 5 per click, and everything in your inventory. I really do think that a single stack craft would be a welcome addition. It wouldn't take long either. 10 lines of code at max if their code is as optimized as I think.

Again, it's simply one more hotkey to improve QoL, mainly so you won't have to click 20 times.

Koub wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:46 pm When does more become too much ? There isn't one right answer to that question, it's a matter of choice.
I wouldn't care it more shortcuts were added, but I'd rather see the devs' time invested into aspects I find more important.

Agreed on all of this, with one caveat.

You and I almost certainly do not find the same things equally important.

Alphasoldier wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:12 pm Right now you can pick between 5 per click, and everything in your inventory. I really do think that a single stack craft would be a welcome addition.

What about a replacement? Instead of shift-click making everything, what if it made everything up to one stack?

CDarklock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:26 pmWhat about a replacement? Instead of shift-click making everything, what if it made everything up to one stack?

That would be the exact same as my suggestion, only you're now also suggesting to remove the original shift+click?

Not sure why you italicized up to either. It's not like we'll ever be able to make more than we have the materials for.

Alphasoldier wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:49 pm

CDarklock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:26 pmWhat about a replacement? Instead of shift-click making everything, what if it made everything up to one stack?

That would be the exact same as my suggestion, only you're now also suggesting to remove the original shift+click?

Yes, I wasn't entirely clear. I wasn't talking about replacing your suggestion with a new one, but replacing the existing "craft everything" command with your suggestion.

Alphasoldier wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:12 pm Instead of shift-click making everything, what if it made everything up to one stack?

I am also in favor of this.

The bindings really don't matter so much, but the ability to say "one stack" is very useful.

A tiny number of specific things: landfill, ammunition, etc, are sometimes useful to handcraft at any point in the game. Sure, you could go fetch most of them from a mall, but it can be easier to craft the small amount you need right now and finish your work.

...or your running as the biters try and eat you, not that I learned that a full stack of magazines wasn't quite enough for the second big base as well doing this, and was very please to be able to craft ammo on the run....

Indeed !
And hopefully HotCraft will be updated to 0.17 soon !
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/HotCraft
(I especially miss the "craft via pipette if no item in inventory" ability... )

CDarklock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 6:02 pm

Alphasoldier wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:49 pm

CDarklock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:26 pmWhat about a replacement? Instead of shift-click making everything, what if it made everything up to one stack?

That would be the exact same as my suggestion, only you're now also suggesting to remove the original shift+click?

Yes, I wasn't entirely clear. I wasn't talking about replacing your suggestion with a new one, but replacing the existing "craft everything" command with your suggestion.

I'd be in favor more this then the addition of an extra option. That said, I also feel the same way as this person:

AlexAegis wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:52 pm If I could, I'd put a penalty on handcrafting, like 2 times slower than a machine or something.

And actually, I'm pretty sure you can via mods, too. I believe there even was one at one point that did it. I think it was accomplished by raising the crafting times of the recipes, then also increasing the crafting speed of the assemblers and the like, but I'm not sure. That's assuming there isn't something somewhere to control the player's crafting speed, which as I think about it, there might be.

Player's crafting speed (multiplier) is 1 : it's what the crafting speed of everything else is based around.

AlexAegis wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:52 pm If I could, I'd put a penalty on handcrafting, like 2 times slower than a machine or something.

Well, it's 2 times slower than 4 Mk1 Assemblers !