Military suggestion

[axelsword]

Great game!

However, I think it would benefit from additional military options. And some logistic ones.

I'm sure this has been discussed in other posts, but coming from Starcraft and other RTS background I find it very frustrating to not be able to move weapons. I'm thinking about

• walkers (laser turret with legs)
  autonomous tank squadrons
  mobile laser turret mounted on a cargo wagon and a second wagon with battery to power the turret
  good old bulldozers with attached shredders or saw blades (mow down trees, grass and insects)

Nothing too fancy. Just a less tedious way to deal with the aliens. Something that could do patrols.

The alternative would be to turn off alien expansion. It's one thing to clear out a few nests, but having them come back in force is a whole different matter. Maybe I missed that option on the map generation screen.

Also game seriously needs some kind of pallet system where whole lots of products could be shifted swiftly, like one of those cargo lifters for ships in real life.

[KatherineOfSky]

The game really isn't about military conquest -- there is nothing to be gained from the biters except Artifacts and Territory. Once most people have set out a large territory for their base, they simply defend their perimeter.

It's more a game about building a supremely automated production facility.

There is an option to make aliens not attack you, (unless attacked). Tick "Peaceful Mode" when you start a new game.

The pallet system is already in place -- either use conveyor belts, (which are usable on even extremely long distances), or use the train. Train wagons hold HUGE amounts of goods, and you can make trains as long as you like. You can only shift as many goods as you are able of producing....

[Kewlhotrod]

It's more a game about building a supremely automated production facility.

way to contradict yourself, why attack biters manually when you have the technology to do it automated? then same with setting up new copper/iron mines, its gets tedious and repetitive.

[KatherineOfSky]

It's more a game about building a supremely automated production facility.

way to contradict yourself, why attack biters manually when you have the technology to do it automated? then same with setting up new copper/iron mines, its gets tedious and repetitive.

I am not contradicting myself. In fact, you've proved my point -- using automated defenses is end-game.

[Kewlhotrod]

I am not contradicting myself. In fact, you've proved my point -- using automated defenses is end-game.

huh? your previous comment has no point, I don't understand what your trying to convey here, there is no way currently to clear a path to iron or copper from the biters, without using your person.

[Evan_]

That looks like an interesting topic.

While Kath doesn't seem to present her argument too well (automated defences is endgame? That's the very first thing you automate with a hard enough bug-setting), you have to admit to see where she's coming from. The main focus of the game at this point is building, constructing and problem-solving. Aliens are just a piece of the puzzle - even on a very hard map, you can generally ignore them once your defences are set. The need to get artifacts and clear some space is also just a minor distraction in the process of making a huge factory.

With these circumstances, the op's is a completely valid suggestion. The only thing you can't automate at this point is offence - though you could argue that peacefully driving trough the terrain while supper-expensive bots decimate the hives is just that. But that could be 'improved' further.. with the suggested robot tanks and walkers that you can mass produce and send out there to bring down hives and unload artifacts into the System. It totally fits the scope of Facorio.. I think this thread is a good place to exchange our feelings about the subject.

From a gameplay perspective... I'm not sure how to feel about automating offence. It feels 'right', but it takes away one of the very few (in not the only) distraction from building your infrastructure. I feel the cons slightly outweigh the pros here.

But let's consider one more aspect - multiplayer. It's a marvel that the nice devs managed to add an originally unplanned MP feature. It'll be even more awesome if they add a playable MP feature (just pulling your leg here Mr Dev. It's not that bad, that's all I play and I know you are working on it). In MP, players tend to generate infinite content for each other. I'm sure once the technical difficulties of implementation are past, we'll see a very popular game-mode where team vs. team pvp is either the main goal, or an ever present option that you have to keep in mind when dealing with the fellows of the neighbouring factory. Hope this will be a vanilla feature, but if not, modders are quick to act. Balancing such will be long and painful, but the community and server hosts will get it done eventually. Now I feel any automated offence options will be the first to be turned off or nerfed into oblivion once we get there.

Think I got sidetracked.
TL,DR: op's suggestion would be very cool, and very boring. If one wants zero reason to ever visit the aliens, he might just play Peaceful Mode. But I can't deny that the awesomeness factor of robo-tanks rivals the feeling when your bots build an outpost around you in a minute.

[Kewlhotrod]

Think I got sidetracked.
TL,DR: op's suggestion would be very cool, and very boring. If one wants zero reason to ever visit the aliens, he might just play Peaceful Mode. But I can't deny that the awesomeness factor of robo-tanks rivals the feeling when your bots build an outpost around you in a minute.

game needs a resource sink at late game and fun is subjective.

http://imgur.com/eM3bypl

[KatherineOfSky]

I am not contradicting myself. In fact, you've proved my point -- using automated defenses is end-game.

huh? your previous comment has no point, I don't understand what your trying to convey here, there is no way currently to clear a path to iron or copper from the biters, without using your person.

I am not suggesting automating ATTACKS. I am suggesting that DEFENSES are already automated. (Laser turrets, etc.) (There is a difference between ATTACK and DEFENSE -- perhaps this is the source of the confusion?)

Of course there's no way to clear a NEW area of biters with a sort of programmable mobile army. But, IMO, that would make the game far too easy and rather boring, and doesn't fit with the character of the game.

As to the OP, I've never played StartCraft, but have seen videos -- it seems like a completely different kind of game. There seem to be production elements, but all of those are focused on making armies that you send into certain death. In Factorio, that's very unnecessary Even if you have your map generation settings to spawn biters everywhere, it won't help you, since once you aggro one, the entire map might come swarming.

[mooklepticon]

The game really isn't about military conquest

To you, maybe. It's a sandbox. The game is whatever you make it. If I want it to be a pipe maze game, it is. It's my world, I do what I wants.

[mooklepticon]

• walkers (laser turret with legs)
  autonomous tank squadrons

Can a weeabo get some tachikomas, please?

Tachikoma[1].gif (39.82 KiB) Viewed 6172 times

[Griffon0129]

Try Yuoki Profit from War mod, you can't use everything it adds directly, you trade it for "money," (hints: Profit from War) but it still has a few functional items. You can turn your player into a mech walker (it's basically a really good modular/power armor with 12x12 grid that makes you look like a mech) and you can build laser guns for the player to shoot. It also comes with new modules for power armor. Most of that stuff is endgame anyways. The base Yuoki mod also has different types of turrets and several types of better walls.

[Cazadore]

if we ever get to produce automated attack units, i want to be able to produce bipedal and/or tracked AI combat vehicles...
like this nice looking fella :

UCS-Silver1.png (86.43 KiB) Viewed 5673 times

this game might require a optional endgame activity and/or a nice ressource sink, even though i havent come this far in the last 4 years of on-and-off playing.

i would go and add a new assembler, a special designed structure only capable of producing military units which will automaticly make their way to the closest waypoint or if none specified would automaticly move towards the closest alien nests.

and to make it balanced i would actually go and make the construction times slightly lenghty, eg instead of just putting steel, circuits and batteries in the assembler it actually needs to be constructed in phases.

phase one :frame building, steel, iron plates,copper plates and servo systems (joints) are welded togehter to make the combat units frame.
phase two : circuitry network installation, (basic) green and (basic) red circuits are assembled with wires to form the network tech of the unit. like the AI brain and sensory suite. additionally power systems will be installed.
phase three: final assembly of the whole combat unit: frame, circuit systems and weapons/power systems get put into the military assembly machine to create a single unit.

weapons are tiered : basic combat units recieve only basic weapons (smg, pistol, shotgun) while advanced combat units can use advanced weapons like rocket launchers and flamethrowers.

upgrades would increase speed and survivability in the means of armor points.
but if the hostile force is overwhelming our own units will get crushed like chips.


well i daydreamed this in much more detail just a few weeks ago, like automated patrol system, like every structure you place creates a zone of control, where your automated units will patrol, or a system like earth 2140 had, the AI generals where you selected a bunch of units, hit two switches and watched your units win the first campaign mission for you.

wow, this became longer that i thought ...
these are my two cents.
i love this game, like 1000h since i bought it in 2012. and i really hope we will get something along those lines eventually.

[albatrosv13]

deleted

[Shadowcaster]

This is a nice idea. The idea of automation is huge and currently there is no automation of purple science thanks to having to manually acquire the artifacts. Walker type things or creeping turrets (the original idea of laser turrets with legs) is actually not a bad start. Power is obviously a necessity but as to supplying them maybe put in batteries and each battery gives a set number of action points. Moving and shooting would expend the action points, and fuel-less entities would simply stay put until refueled. Giving the walkers and such a requester chest type approach for batteries would also help as robots could fly extra batteries to the walkers if needed, but overall adding walkers would be a way to convert your iron, copper, and oil into purple science through military conquest.