Ore dictionary

[YunoAloe]

Factorio having an ore dictionary, like Minecraft, would immeasurably improve the mods compatibility. It is currently very problematic to play different big mods together. There are bridge mods, but an ore dictionary would certainly be a better option.

[Deadlock989]

We discussed this on Discord recently.

Factorio isn't Minecraft despite the resemblances. The Ore Dictionary came about to stop seven different kinds of copper ore blocks appearing in Minecraft worldgen. This is because in Minecraft (actually in Forge, nothing to do with the base Minecraft game at all), every block and every item is prefixed with the name of the originating mod, so if I make an iron ingot and you make an iron ingot, they're different ingots.

This is not true in Factorio, where any mod can make any item, recipe or entity with the same name and simply overwrite whatever got loaded earlier. So the issues are different issues to solve. The problem is not the proliferation of items and entities but the exact opposite. An "ore dictionary" mod wouldn't even be able to detect the existence of multiple items with the same identity.

A different idea being explored by some people is that there could be a "registry" mod which handles "registration" of prototypes. But then, you'd have to get people to use it. And then:



And what if you have two recipes with the same name, but one is radically different, more expensive, etc.? Which one "wins"? Whoever got there first? Then we're back to having mods called Aardvark's Abactinal Aquarium.

I think the real problem is in players' ill-founded expectation that a bunch of different overhaul mods are ever going to play nicely together in the first place without someone - not the players, obviously, someone else - doing a ton of hard graft.

[Arch666Angel]

The same discussion is true for function libraries, currently each major mod has either an own dedicated library or at some kind of base mod. Aside from the mess that is StdLib there are no real efforts to come up with a standard, but as you already wrote its utopic to assume that if you create kind of a library mod everyone will follow along (I won't) and the implication. None the less I think it's still a good discussion to have and maybe start some community project, if not for already existing o erhauls then maybe for mods to come and also as a help for people new to modding.

[darkfrei]

This dictionary / library must be in vanilla, but not enabled, like lab floor tiles, loader entity, plane item, railgun weapon.

[Darinth]

The ore dictionary's origins are slightly different in minecraft than they are in factorio, but it's functionality could/would be much the same. In the end, the ability to specify a single name that references multiple names is still useful. Keep in mind, even in minecraft the ore dictionary has been extended to more than just list equivalencies, but has also been used to group items. One of my favorite examples of this is Pam's harvest craft, which utilizes ore dictionary entries for everything that 'is a vegetable', 'is a fruit', 'is meat', 'counts as pork', etc...

Unfortunately, I'm not certain this is something I'd want to see done this close to 1.0, but for 1.1 taking a survey of things like common ores that are added by mods and setting up a dictionary so that modders can add in their ores and link them to the ore dictionary entries (or not, if they don't want the ores to be interchangeable) would be useful.

[YunoAloe]

any mod can make any item, recipe or entity with the same name and simply overwrite whatever got loaded earlier.

What I see is rather than overwriting other mods' items with it's own, everyone makes their own sand.

An "ore dictionary" mod wouldn't even be able to detect the existence of multiple items with the same identity.

Should be in vanilla, not a in a mod. I intended this as a request to Factorio staff, just like Minecraft's oredict is a part of Forge. (Forge is a community project though, so uh...)

A different idea being explored by some people is that there could be a "registry" mod which handles "registration" of prototypes.

Prototype dictionary? Maybe. That's a different point though.

And what if you have two recipes with the same name, but one is radically different, more expensive, etc.? Which one "wins"? Whoever got there first?

Both could make coke which could further be used in any other recipes of any mods. The balance is out of scope. It would still be better if these items worked automatically rather than having to endlessly extend compatibility bridge mods, or playing each mod as a separate minigame.

In the end, the ability to specify a single name that references multiple names is still useful.

Exactly.

[Deadlock989]

What I see is rather than overwriting other mods' items with it's own, everyone makes their own sand.

So back to pre-Forge days, then, when there's nine kinds of copper plate and fifteen kinds of tin sword?

Good luck getting this added to vanilla. The words "snowball", "chance" and "hell" come to mind.