Persistant notifications to the player when queued researches are completed

[dood]

In the FF#254 you said how the queue has the problem of overlooking the thing you just researched and indeed, it just makes the "research complete" sound and jumps right to the next one with no more indicator of what it is that has just finished so if you weren't constantly aware of what it is that is being researched right now, all you know is that a *something* just finished.

Now, you guys love looking at starcraft 2 a lot, don't you.
If you do an upgrade in starcraft 2, you get a notification of what it is in the right screen that fades out over time.
Maybe do the same and have it clickable which leads you to the research.
You can easily cobble that together right now by just using a chat message like "___ has been researched", maybe even have it lead back to the research tree and give it an icon with one of them newfangled tag thingers.
An easy fix for the disadvantage of the queue.

[js305]

I support your idea and furthermore I would like to see a research history log.

[Koub]

I will shamelessly auto-advertise one of my posts on a topic centered on notifications :
viewtopic.php?p=380450#p380450
I think if this was implemented, your suggestion would be covered.

[Darinth]

I will shamelessly auto-advertise one of my posts on a topic centered on notifications :
viewtopic.php?p=380450#p380450
I think if this was implemented, your suggestion would be covered.

And I still support you in this endeavor Koub. A good, proper, unified notifications system is probably the right solution here.

[steinio]

First i would be happy if the research screen would not pause the whole game.
Also if one selects start reasearch, nothing happens until the window is closed.

[BlueTemplar]

IIRC the speedrunners that use real time* usually play (alone in) multiplayer because research isn't paused there...

*why using real time when Factorio has an UPS-tied timer ?!?

[Skev]

When you have the research queue turned on (and having it default to off is a weird decision), when you complete a research the game doesn't tell you what you just researched. Please add some sort of notification, a message in chat would be fine.

[Koub]

[Koub] Merged into older topic with same suggestion. Also changing OP title to make it more explicit.

[777]

I have to say, without SOME sort of notification of what research just completed, the research queue serves little purpose. The drawbacks greatly outweigh the benefit.

Benefit: I can pre-plan a sequence of research and commit it to the game, at one time.
Drawback (currently): I have to memorize or write down somewhere the sequence, or just figure it out(?!) after the research is done.

The benefit is mostly a cognitive deload, which is appreciated. But the incremental load from the drawback is HUGE in comparison.

I'm now conflicted on whether the research queue is a benefit or a hindrance early game... seems silly.

[Koub]

I think just a text entry log in the chat window would do the trick (until, if my dreams come true, a real notification center is added).
Like "Fluid Handling research completed", and if possible, make it a link to the tech in the research tree.

[Zavian]

I think just a text entry log in the chat window would do the trick (until, if my dreams come true, a real notification center is added).
Like "Fluid Handling research completed", and if possible, make it a link to the tech in the research tree.

+1 on this idea

[Hannu]

I have to say, without SOME sort of notification of what research just completed, the research queue serves little purpose. The drawbacks greatly outweigh the benefit.

This sounds little bit strange. If I make research for some actual project I remember very well what is going on. And if I make filling research just to keep my factorio running (for example last bits of certain tier research during finishing of next tier production) I do not need instant information.

Messaging is OK, but I hope that they do not make any windows which needs clicking or other obligatory breaks. Suggested chat message would be a good solution in my opinion. It is very clear but not disturb concentration when I make something more urgent.

[Deadlock989]

I think just a text entry log in the chat window would do the trick (until, if my dreams come true, a real notification center is added).
Like "Fluid Handling research completed", and if possible, make it a link to the tech in the research tree.

You can do it in three lines of code. Four if you make a localised string for "research complete". An active link isn't possible as far as I know, but you can show the icon at least. You would have to add some more subtlety if you want the "-number" suffix of infinite upgrade research printed as well.

research.png (235.05 KiB) Viewed 5409 times

Code: Select all

script.on_event(defines.events.on_research_finished, function(event)
	event.research.force.print{"", "[img=technology/"..event.research.name.."] ", event.research.localised_name, " research complete."}
end)

[Koub]

[...]

This is absolute awesomeness. Hope it makes it into vanilla along with the permanent unlock to research queue, because every game, I forget to activate it in map gen, and I have the choice between continuing without queue and disabling achievements

[Deadlock989]

Turned it into a mini-mod. Added localisation as well, and an option to always enable research queuing (off by default). I know it doesn't help if you want cheevments, but, well, meh, cheevments, that ship sailed for me a long time ago.

[777]

Turned it into a mini-mod. Added localisation as well, and an option to always enable research queuing (off by default). I know it doesn't help if you want cheevments, but, well, meh, cheevments, that ship sailed for me a long time ago.

Thank you for this! Just 4m more green circuits, and I'll certainly be using this.

[MagRoader]

TL;DR

What the heck did I just research? I forget!

What ?

When research is completed, in addition to a sound, have an animation/notification to show what was just unlocked. In addition, make it easy to find recently-unlocked research, perhaps in historical order.

Why ?

I frequently get a bit more research than I really should, and the tech comes in fast. Inevitably, I am in the middle of something important when research completes.

When that happens, I hear a sound that indicates research is complete, but... I don't remember what that means. What did I just get? I have no idea!

Ideally I would see some nice flyout indicating what I just earned that I can glance at briefly. Then, when I'm done with my important task (or if the research screen pops up automatically) I can go to the research screen and clearly see what I just finished researching.

[Adamo]

Hey there. Just responding to make sure that you're aware that the researched technology name is displayed in the upper right hand corner with a flashing light once research is complete.

[OkraDonkey]

Hey there. Just responding to make sure that you're aware that the researched technology name is displayed in the upper right hand corner with a flashing light once research is complete.

... Unless you had additional research in the queue - then it will just change immediately to the new one. I'm just as forgetful as the OP; I think my engineer hasn't yet fully recovered from the concussion sustained in the crash-landing. And it's not always clear from looking at the technology GUI which of the completed techs is the one that most recently finished. It's a minor problem for sure, but it happens often enough that I went looking for a solution, too.

Deadlock's Research Notifications automatically logs each completed research to chat. With this mod taking notes for me, when I forget which technologies I had in the queue, and therefore which one might have just finished, I can just hit ~ to pull up the chat log and see what it was.

[Adamo]

... Unless you had additional research in the queue - then it will just change immediately to the new one. I'm just as forgetful as the OP; I think my engineer hasn't yet fully recovered from the concussion sustained in the crash-landing. And it's not always clear from looking at the technology GUI which of the completed techs is the one that most recently finished. It's a minor problem for sure, but it happens often enough that I went looking for a solution, too.

Correct. Although this is only an issue if you change the default settings, so that the queue is available through the entire game, or you are at the end of the game, just doing the infinite techs, in which case I doubt this would matter. The "Auto Research" mod, which I use, also prints the researched tech to the chat if it is researched by the auto research mechanism.