Friday Facts #103 - Prototyping ahead

[wwdragon]

I look forward to seeing our new spider tanks with dual gatling lazors!

[roman566]

(Tank is already OP as it is)

Really? It's slow, has terrible DPS and does not heal itself... Hardly OP.

[Marconos]

semi secret mini project with 8 legs

I really hope it's a new enemy (even though we got the spitters not that long ago) - we really need an enemy that's either FAST (faster than a biter, at least) and weak OR is slow but tough - main idea would be that they are able to climb over our walls and get inside of our factories to fuck shit up. Nowhere would be safe. But I suppose this'd be quite hard to get the balance right with.

A new vehicle isn't necessary (Tank is already OP as it is) and not "realistic" (I know...) and I can't imagine anything else beside arachnids or vehicles that has 8 legs.

Wait you say the tank is OP?? What settings do you play on? The thing instantly dies at anything past medium biter / spitters where you have even a few concentratred hives. Against default 1 hive here 1 there, you only need a SMG and Heavy armor, so not sure how you can say it's op. I should give you my map and say go clear one hive with the tank, it would be impossible to do. The current tank is worthless late game.

To the original post: The new graphics are looking great. Have you guys though about making posters, t-shirts some other factorio merchandise that you could sell? <sarcasm>I know Albert has nothing on his plate so should be easy to get done</sarcasm>. Many of us would be up for some cool merchandise and it would be a great way to help keep the games cash flow up without a huge $$ investment.

[Xterminator]

New Steel Furnace graphic looks amazing. Will be interested to see the new technology free and all the new icons as well!

Hmm 8 legged something or other. I am thinking either a new vehicle spider thing, or new spider enemy type that can like jump over walls or something.

[bobucles]

(Tank is already OP as it is)

PFfffffffft ahahahahahaha hoooooooookay there bud.

Seriously, a basic power armor with shields and a shotgun is better than the tank in every way. Vehicles need an upgrade path or module slots to stay relevant with the player.

[Drury]

Here's hope he takes a look at the stone furnace also, it quite literally looks ancient. As in, it's like something egyptians would use

Well, considering it's build from stone what would you else expect?

Considering it's in a semi-futuristic industrial environment, something semi-futuristic industrial-styled.

[Twisted_Code]

== The prototyping ==
What's this about platform building?! That sounds like an awesome feature that I obviously haven't been keeping up with the game's news well enough to know about
== The package ==
You are absolutely correct: we don't do 'small' here in the US, at least not by international standards. Oh, could you send those 'Butterfingers' and 'Starburst' candies back? They were clearly sent in error, because I don't know why anyone would ever want to share those in the first place. They're just too good!

[DaemosDaen]

You are correct, we do not think small here in the US.

Beware the Resee's Cups, they are addicting

[FlyHigh]

Interesting new sprite but I'm actually having trouble of letting go of the current ones. I felt the same way when repair packs changed, loosing the Doctor Who screw driver, and the plastic that became white... The furness should be less shinny. It uses coal as fuel, after all!

[roman566]

I start to think that I will need the new turrets. I just decided to scrap another game due to not having enough oil to build enough turrets to defend my base. You would think that three rows of fully upgraded laser turrets would be enough to defend the base without loosing any turrets in the process...

[StoneLegion]

I start to think that I will need the new turrets. I just decided to scrap another game due to not having enough oil to build enough turrets to defend my base. You would think that three rows of fully upgraded laser turrets would be enough to defend the base without loosing any turrets in the process...

How new are you btw? I use to think the same way till I learned about construction bots and repair kits lol.

[roman566]

I start to think that I will need the new turrets. I just decided to scrap another game due to not having enough oil to build enough turrets to defend my base. You would think that three rows of fully upgraded laser turrets would be enough to defend the base without loosing any turrets in the process...

How new are you btw? I use to think the same way till I learned about construction bots and repair kits lol.

Hmm... I bought the game in May last year so yes, I do know about the construction bots. If it wasn't for them I would loose dozen turrets every attack. If you do not know how is that possible, have a screenshot.

seriously.jpg (394.86 KiB) Viewed 8363 times

This is before I upgraded the defenses to three full lines. The enemies you see were not drawn there from the nests, that is a SINGLE attack wave.

After the upgrade did not help much, I decided to go with 'pole of victory' tactic. It... did not help much, again. With that failing, I just quit. My patience along with oil for batteries run out.

[hitzu]

But where are your walls? Also fast and express belts can help keeping biters away.

[roman566]

But where are your walls? Also fast and express belts can help keeping biters away.

I do not loose turrets on meele range bitters. Not after the three row upgrade. I loose them on ranged ones. Last time I checked, walls did not stop those.

Belts... yeah. tried that. Replace 'can' with 'might' and you got the overall effect of that attempt. After it failed, I did not bother with wasting more resources on belts.

[Marconos]

But where are your walls? Also fast and express belts can help keeping biters away.

I do not loose turrets on meele range bitters. Not after the three row upgrade. I loose them on ranged ones. Last time I checked, walls did not stop those.

Belts... yeah. tried that. Replace 'can' with 'might' and you got the overall effect of that attempt. After it failed, I did not bother with wasting more resources on belts.

I use a single row go fun turrets for packs like that and don't have issues. Maybe look at different tech?

[roman566]

Yeah... gun turrets... if I wanted to switch, I would need roughly 500-600 of those (assuming one row is enough). With attacks pretty much every couple seconds, my entire factory would have to be dedicated to nothing more than piercing rounds.

[Marconos]

Yeah... gun turrets... if I wanted to switch, I would need roughly 500-600 of those (assuming one row is enough). With attacks pretty much every couple seconds, my entire factory would have to be dedicated to nothing more than piercing rounds.

Well, no, you don't need that many actually (I play on a deathworld and don't have issues). Couple things you can do to greatly enhance your turret life.
1. Put up a wall. 1 - 2 squares in front of your turrets. That will cause a good number of spitters to initially attack the walls.
2. If you notice their attack pattern they are hitting you on the corner. Make your line longer horizontally to stop them from hitting the corner. That will give you more firepower and keep them from being to concentrate as hard.
3. Make sure you are using localized repair bots in that area so they react faster. If they have to fly too far then they won't be able to react before the turrets are gone.
4. If you are seriously getting attacked every few seconds (which would be continuous) then you should also go out and push the hive back some. In my experience with death world hives covered in solid red pollution they do not attack as fast as you are saying they do. That leads me to believe you need to push your turrets farther out to keep the groups from getting that large.

Many things you can do to take care of your issue. More turrets is not always better.

[StoneLegion]

Yeah... gun turrets... if I wanted to switch, I would need roughly 500-600 of those (assuming one row is enough). With attacks pretty much every couple seconds, my entire factory would have to be dedicated to nothing more than piercing rounds.

Well, no, you don't need that many actually (I play on a deathworld and don't have issues). Couple things you can do to greatly enhance your turret life.
1. Put up a wall. 1 - 2 squares in front of your turrets. That will cause a good number of spitters to initially attack the walls.
2. If you notice their attack pattern they are hitting you on the corner. Make your line longer horizontally to stop them from hitting the corner. That will give you more firepower and keep them from being to concentrate as hard.
3. Make sure you are using localized repair bots in that area so they react faster. If they have to fly too far then they won't be able to react before the turrets are gone.
4. If you are seriously getting attacked every few seconds (which would be continuous) then you should also go out and push the hive back some. In my experience with death world hives covered in solid red pollution they do not attack as fast as you are saying they do. That leads me to believe you need to push your turrets farther out to keep the groups from getting that large.

Many things you can do to take care of your issue. More turrets is not always better.

Another idea is you could have your belts rather push away but bring the spitters close to the base.

[hitzu]

Also a good tactic is to avoid 90 degree corners. Turrets and walls on the corners are the most vulnerable, so it would be good to make 45 degree sections.

In the hot spots where the attaks are most harsh you could spread the damage across the long section of the wall by pushing biters and spitters to the left and right using fast or express belts.

Land mines could be a good solution too.

And in the end - trains! Trains are death machines! Just make a loop or two around your base or just on one front, give trains a good space for acceleration, make repair stations inside your base and you have the Belt of the Inevitable Death!
I always wanted to make one, but I play on much more friendly maps where the attacks are rare and death trains wouldn't work. You have a great chance to test this tactic

[roman566]

Sigh... I wanted to play the game without using exploits. So no 'pole of victory'. If I destroy a base that's because I plan on building something there, not because I plan to place a single electric pole so the base does not respawn.
Now I know that's nearly impossible. I HAVE to kill all bases within the dark red pollution area to stop attacks like that. It did magically made my base an oasis of peace, but I stopped loosing turrets every minute or so. THAT is why I think we need bigger turrets. So the player can defend the base WITHOUT relying on that single exploit.