New Game Mode Idea

[unknowntrojan]

Hello fellow Factorians,

i got an idea for a new game mode.

I thought of something more sandboxy than the already pretty sandboxy Freeplay.
I would call it: "The Automation Mode"
Basically, you would spawn in, with everything unlocked.
You can build everything, place everything.
There would be a "Start" button, which would set everything into motion, but if you want to change anything you'll have to press it again, which would delete all items on every belt, everywhere. If you "start" again, it would Let the drills do their thing, get the stuff to the ovens, to the boilers etc.
Meaning, you have to FULLY automate your Factorio world, so that it has enough power to do your stuff, and insert everything, cuz you couldn't interact while it's working.
If you want to change anything, you'll have to stop the world again,
which would lead to having to wait again.

So in a nutshell:

You have to launch the rocket without interacting with anything while you are "Playing" the world(the button plays and resets). So your facility will have to be able to defend itself, get enough resources for the rocket and pump oil.

[steinio]

+1

[klein648]

I really like the idea, but wouldnt it be cooler limiting the ressources, so you can Keep some of the produced in chests?

[unknowntrojan]

If you keep that stuff in chests, wouldn't that ruin it?

I mean the game mode's purpose is to not store anything and automate everything.
You could still use chest as a buffer though, but after a press of the Start/Stop button every item will be reset.
Only the world will remain the same
So the world resources(like iron fields getting filled up again) will just be reset.

The idea to limit resources...
If there was a map editor, you could limit what you have and make it harder.
Maybe you could change some gamemode settings while the world is not started, such as reducing stack sizes of items, reducing the inventory of ovens, chests or higher the amount of parts needed for a certain item, or add items to a crafting recipe to make setting up the assembly machines much harder.

[darkfrei]

Also, delete all items on the map, in chests, in assembling machines, delete all liquids in pipes and switch off mining drills, offshore pumps and pumpjacks?

[unknowntrojan]

Exactly. It is meant to, as explained, be FULLY automated.
No chest storage, no fluids anywhere, just the resources on the map are available.

[Hannu]

Why do you need special game mode for that? You can just make a base and let it run. I let sometimes my base to run hours on background if I want to know how much it can produce in the long run. Or I just travel from factory to another by train and see how my system run. I fix maybe some mostly aesthetic details but not anything which have significant effect on production.

[Factorie]

I like the idea, probably not something I'd want the developers using their time on though. Maybe as a mod or something

[MrGoodbits]

+1

But with levels of achievements.

First, automate smelting...
then higher level items....
But instead of everything available, still work through research...
And each "reset" clears items, but research levels stay...

You would have to run several passes to work through the research needed for the rocket.

I think a mod could handle this... find all items in world and delete. Not sure what to do about biters (or just leave 'em off)

[Koub]

Why do you need special game mode for that?

How do you reset if you see something to fox and want to restart after a small change ?

[jaworeq]

Idea is interesting, the building part, but not the rest. The "watching" phase would need some significant speed increase button.
Otherwise, I can imagine a situation... Well, I might have just changed my mind. I imagined spotting a mistake down the line, like 10 hours into the "watching", but that's not really the case.

Here you're just talking about setting up miners/smelting/pumpjacks/assemblers to send a rocket, which should be quite quick process from first ore dug to rocket's launch. You would need some hack on power though, otherwise every "game" would require you to spam the same fields of solar panels (and you can't just manually put first batch of coal into boilers). Maybe a special solar panel with 1000x output, just so power management is not a hassle. And let it decay after 30 minutes, so your boilers can kick in.

All in all, +1

[unknowntrojan]

MrGoodBits got the idea right.
I also think that a Speed button line should really be there.
And you should probably make stages, so stages like the Soundtrack changes, so research period 1, then Iron-expansion etc.
maybe you could edit the map and stuff every stage, and then press play.

And maybe set targets per stage, so only when the target conditions are met, you can proceed to the next stage, like "10k iron per hour" or "produce 10GJ Energy per Minute."
I apologize that i used the wrong times in the last posts, such as simple present while actually it's supposed to be something different.

Yeah, the difficulty of the game mode should be to think twice before pressing play and having to restart and correct an error.

(Kinda like programming, just WAY more frustrating)

I also think a MOD would be better instead of a real game feature, and that the devs also have enough to worry about.
Kinda fun idea i just came up with:
Multiplayer in that mode?

I never coded in LUA, so i think i really shouldn't waste time to that, cuz im programming in C, but if someone makes a mod from this, it would be really cool.

(if you do, please credit me. thanks!)

[darkfrei]

I never coded in LUA, so i think i really shouldn't waste time to that, cuz im programming in C, but if someone makes a mod from this, it would be really cool.

15 minutes and you can Lua.

[unknowntrojan]

What i wanted to say was, i am too lazy for another language and i also tried factorio modding but i didn't understand it right

And the topics title is idea, not mod

[Koub]

And the topics title is idea, not mod

This is true, but many good features in today's Factorio come from mods that proved the concept was valid.

[t-lor]

u might wanna check out : viewtopic.php?f=36&t=37089

[unknowntrojan]

Well, it seems somebody already did that



(Man was i useless again?)

[darkfrei]

Well, it seems somebody already did that
(Man was i useless again?)

It means that your idea was right and useful. Too late, but good.

[unknowntrojan]

POST DELETED BY OWNER

[bobucles]

I'd like to expand on this idea a bit.

The map is basically a time loop scenario. You start frozen in time, build a factory, and try to build the rocket. Obviously you won't get it on your first go, so you reset the map. Your base survives, along with a "time capsule" where you save your factory's loot. You can then use those resources to build the next stage of your factory.

You are given a starting supply of assemblers drills and power. No hand crafting is allowed. You can only expand using the materials you produced in the previous time loop. As the OP stated, you can not interact with your factory while it is in motion. Everything must be built and programmed before starting the clock.

Too keep things interesting I suggest a time loop time limit. Your time loops are forced to end after X minutes at which point the factory stops, items vanish, and your time capsule opens up for the next round. The rocket silo does not save progress upon a loop reset. You must complete all 100% of the rocket and have it ready to launch before a complete cycle ends.