Global story, or the Why?

[safan]

I like this game, but i find it lacking in the "why the hell i"m doing al these things" or also: what am i trying to reach. I know the main point is to build a nice factory; but there should still be a direction.

I was thinking about this:

A colony ship was send out from a overpopulated earth. The colonists are frozen and the ship was meant to reach the destination in 100 years. However, because of a cosmic storm the ship was heavyly damaged and way out of direction. The cargo part of the ship was destroyed. Luckily the module with the frozen colonist was still safe. However, due to energy levels the computer decided that they could not reach the planned destination. Worse, the computer had to select the closest planet with near-earth circumstances. Once the colonizationship reached it, there was just ennough fuel to launch one single pod.

That pod is yours, you are an engineer, on a unknown planet. In orbit is a disfunctional colony ship with 1 000 000 frozen colonists. Your task is to prepare the planet for those colonists.

first task: re-establish contact with the hibernated ship by building a communication center and sending fuel to the ship.

second task: convert the planet from near-earth to earth-like conditions. (mean temperature about 20°, atmosphere about 90% earthlike)

third task: prepare the move
- build a city for 1 000 000 people;
- reach threat level of 0.

Threat level is a factor that determines the reaction of the planet toward the colonists. It's composed of the numer of local life population, and their aversion of the colonists.
It can be lowered by either exterminating the local life, or by adapting machinery and colonists toward the local life.

what do you think?

[Nova]

Sounds very nice.

But please note: Factorio is mostly a sandbox game - a game without a gole, like Minecraft. There is the campaign, which could use your idea, through. If this idea does not get into the final game, you can implement it yourself. With using Lua and the modding ability of Factorio, it would be possible to make your own missions.

[Darthlawsuit]

Sounds very nice.

But please note: Factorio is mostly a sandbox game - a game without a gole, like Minecraft. There is the campaign, which could use your idea, through. If this idea does not get into the final game, you can implement it yourself. With using Lua and the modding ability of Factorio, it would be possible to make your own missions.

The best sandbox is a game that offers you goals but you choose which goals you want to pursue. We have an infinite terrain mode so technically we could have infinite goals, we just need goals added,

[TGS]

This game has a goal. Build a rocket defense for your 'forces' to land. Yes, it's very weak and doesn't really seem to be very motivating. But to say there isn't a goal isn't really accurate. Also I kind of disagree with 'goals' in some ways because they can imply a 'victory' or end-point. The beauty of sandbox games is that you don't 'win'. Or rather you win when YOU decide you win.

[ssilk]

This is a great story.

Astonishing, that someone with the first post hits the most important points.

Some questions are open: where is the rocket defense? Isn't the planet not already very earth like? What should a city for one million people look like, what do they need, when waked up?

And reminds me to another discussion ... Perhaps I find it.

Edit: jepp, her it is: https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=1114

Edit2: this story reminds me strongly to this part of the thread: https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... 4&start=30

And now I remember, that I wanted the colony ship to have a completely empty planet as target, but due to an accident, the ship is stranded here. And one of the biggest decisions is, what to make with the native life?

[Chrille]

This makes me realize one of the problems of the base structure of this game as a sandbox compared to minecraft.
You have a finite research tree. It is built in way that is syncronous with an end.
As you say there is a goal. People talk about end game.

I'd love at least the possibility for "true" sandbox. Where the limitations aren't a weird science process which doesn't involve you learning anything it's just using resources to force you to expand. I'd love for technology to be removed. Or rather be learnt by the player, not by grinding a system.

It's not gonna happen because it's just way too far down and built on the system of the tech tree. But I love how minecraft deals with it. You want steel? Figure out how to make steel, gather the resources needed to mine it, refine it etc. Want to build something advanced directly? Go ahead, just work your way towards gaining all the resources needed and the resources needed to refine them. What determines if you know how to make steel (i'd say iron and coal) is if you the player has figured it out yet.

[ssilk]

I mean we (community) already have discussed things like that, and found it good. I mean also it would be relatively simple to built it in. But, hey, it's alpha.