Factorio Forums

TL;DR

We need a more user-friendly way to use the "emoji" style item icons in the game

What ?

Have it so that when a user types a screen similar to the "signal selection" screen for combinators pops up. Clicking on an icon in said screen inserts the required code for that item/fluid/signal.

Bonus points for having it filter based on the next few letters typed. Eg would have it show Heavy Oil, Light Oil, and Boilers, exactly like using the search box already does, but because you're in chat it automatically gets focus.

Bonus-bonus points for having the screen allow arrow keys and enter to select without needing to use the mouse.

Why ?

WHY do you think it increases the value of Factorio as a game?

The items-in-text feature is little known, amazingly useful, but difficult to use. Even without mods it almost necessitates using the wiki to find item and fluid "real names" and with mods it is nigh-impossible to use effectively.

Having an easy, intuitive way to do it opens it's use up to many more people.

+1

mrbaggins wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:06 pm

The items-in-text feature is little known, amazingly useful, but difficult to use. Even without mods it almost necessitates using the wiki to find item and fluid "real names" and with mods it is nigh-impossible to use effectively.

Holy crap, is this true. I've "learned" at least four or five times from watching videos or streams where the player was making extensive use of icon-as-text within trainstop names, for example. Absolutely WILL start using them in my current save, but I have no baseline clue what any of the references would be for any given item, and I'll have to google each one individually for a while. Hell, I might even compile them into an external spreadsheet, or maybe I can find a mod that provides an in-game notepad I can record them on.

+1 for this idea, please.

Shift-clicking in the crafting menu helps a lot, especially for those pesky fluids !