endgame: rockets, space elevators, interplanetary logistics

[goertzenator]

I’ve been dreaming about making and playing a game involving an alien world, mining, and automation for years. I have scattered design docs on pieces of paper and google docs here and there, but it has remained a dream and would likely stay that way forever. Then yesterday to my delight, I find Factorio! Thank you, for making my dream game.

On to ideas. It seems you are searching for endgame projects, so I will share what I had in mind for my dream game. The goal was to ultimately build a launchpad, large rockets, and export exotic minerals to the homeworld (not unlike in the movie Pandora).

- Launchpads and launch infrastructure is enormous and can require incredible amounts of materials.
- Rockets can take a lot of research, and perhaps test launches are required.
- Rockets might require specialized composite materials that take a lot of research and specialized manufacturing equipment
- Rockets require enormous amounts of fuel.
- Sometimes rockets blow up and take infrastructure with them.

In addition to exporting exotic materials, another project could be to put more conventional materials into orbit to facilitate the construction of…. a space elevator! This would require a very large amount of materials to be blasted into orbit.. think arrays of launchpads and rocket factories. Also, a lot of ground infrastructure for building the “socket”. Once the elevator is built you can export materials much more cheaply.


Some other variations:

- Satellites to facilitate exploration, communication, mineral detection.
- Take the logistics chain to the next level: space transportation to other worlds. This might be good for a more isolated multiplayer game.

Dan.

[BurnHard]

Yes, we need real endgame material sinks, where huge logistic and production structures finally pay off Not necessarily for regular game ending, but in some sort of endless play. The question is, if this game should have a "goal" or some "winning condition" at all.

I myself dream of a HUUUGE factory with endless resources like the new oil mechanic (output of mine goes back to 10% but never ends) so that I can build enourmous structures, never have to deconstruct them because of complete resource depletion, and research projects or build buildings that need millions of resources

[ssilk]

Hehe. Yes.

My current opinion to that is
- the rockets should come much later. Because when you reach that, the game is nearly over.
- space elevator. Nice. But it makes the most parts of rockets useless.
- before that all I want to have automated factories, which build themselves. They "eat" into the landscape.
- what to do with the natives? Killing them all is just genozide. Do we really want that? Killing biters is fun, but a much more complicated story, if it would be real. And don't we want to make a "near to realistic" game?

[ray4ever]

I really like your idea to export your crafted goods back to the homeworld. This would add a late game goal for which you have to expand and expand and expand your factory to produce everything.

[goertzenator]

...
- space elevator. Nice. But it makes the most parts of rockets useless.
...
?

The throughput of a space elevator isn't necessarily high, it is just cheap to use. You may still need your rockets to meet your throughput needs (or to build more elevators).

- what to do with the natives? Killing them all is just genozide. Do we really want that? Killing biters is fun, but a much more complicated story, if it would be real. And don't we want to make a "near to realistic" game?
?

I like where you are going with that. There should be *some* negative consequence to plundering the planet and killing the occupants. Maybe it affects the value of your exports.

[ssilk]

What sense would that be? Having a space elevator and still using rockets?

I'm still for the older plan to bring down the 1,000,000 settlers, which lay frozen anywhere up in the colony ship. And I think an interstellar import/export will never be possible, due to the distances, which can't be traveled faster than light.

Assumed its possible to communicate FTL:
"We need corn! Our people are dying!!"
"We come as soon as possible and bring enough corn for 10 years!"
"Fine, and when?"
"Hum, just about 300 years... that's soon, the most other systems are much more far away...."

[kovarex]

There might be both someday (sending rockets to space + having satellites + having to support colonisation), it would be quite large but cool addition.

The link to not so unrelated game I already published here some time ago
http://mylostgames.com/play/into_space_2#game

[TheKingOfFailure]

- Take the logistics chain to the next level: space transportation to other worlds. This might be good for a more isolated multiplayer game.

THIS!

Scheduling rocket launches and landings? YES!

Though this may be better as a mod, maybe to encourage this expansion you should make these new planets have new or more concentrated/common ores. Or make some variable so some things can be crafted only on certain planets (not sure how) or in the vacuum of space?

Rockets will still be important to launch from space elevators, and maybe the space elevator needs to be crafted after decent use of the rocket network, or, as previously mentioned, have the elevator run cheap, but slow (it is an elevator of course!) making rockets still viable for large/fast transport? (wow, that's a run-on sentence!)

[British_Petroleum]

Space elevator is a great idea. It should require insane amounts of resources, time, & research, but the rewards would be far cheaper rocket launches.

I also like the idea of having to send resources to a homeworld, you could have delivery missions, and trade with other planets too.