"Constructor" mech vehicle for early game

[Avezo]

Problem:
In early game we have no construction bots and yet it is when we often need to do the most tedious builds like the same smelting column over and over. There are mods like nanobots to automate this, but IMO they don't fit well into steampunk game theme and having construction bots in later game feels like downgrade, after all we had access to nanotechnology already.

Suggestion:
Introduce early game 'vehicle' - a 'constructor mech' - when you are near by placed blueprint and mech have materials in its trunk, it would autoplace entities, as if it was 'constructing' them.

Why:
It would fit greately into steampynk game theme AND nicely solve tedious parts of early game for many of us who already have lot of experience and well-tested blueprints.

Or at least, could someone make a mod for this?

[darkfrei]

Like bluebuild?

[mrvn]

Like Bluebuild, but with a steam powered car.

Would you drive the mech? Or does it drive itself?

Driving itself it would need to combine AAI Vehicles with Bluebuild.

[Avezo]

It would be driveable vehicle for better fitting theme, meant especially for early game.
Such autoplace with no cost of any sort as in this mod feels too cheaty, at least for me.
Self-driving 'vehicle' for construction already exists - a construction bot

[mrvn]

In Bluebuild rewritten there is a cost. It costs the same as doing it by hand except you don't have to click or hold the mouse button down. It even uses up your pick when deconstructing.

[darkfrei]

It looks like just normal car with grid for solar panels and personal roboport is enough.

[Avezo]

It looks like just normal car with grid for solar panels and personal roboport is enough.

You need later-game tech for personal roboport, the entire point of this idea is that it's meant for early game (without theme-unfitting ideas like nanobots or other autoplace mods). To be built only with red and green science research.

[lovewyrm]

How about a blueprint mode that only allows the placement of blueprinted items when the mode is activated, the cursor assumes a different shape and when you click a ghost, the item gets placed, in the correct orientation, if it's inside your reach.

That way the player would still have to move the mouse and click/sweep with a held down mousebutton, but the tedium would be reduced quite a bit, imho.
Make it so it doesn't work from inside vehicles to limit its use to early game.
If this is still too strong, make it also give the player a fixed slower speed that cannot be improved with equipment or ground tiles.

1.)Completely new players usually won't have blueprints anyway, they still get all the benefits of slow design and game exploration.
2.)Clicking is not fun, it's a catalyst for RSI, reduce it as much as possible. Make blueprint mode an actual built in, non modded, control mode that requires no research and can just be toggled(! so you don't have to hold yet another darn key).
3.)If things like "there is no spoon" is a concern for bragging rights, duplicate the achievement and give the first one a little quip, like "Look, ma! All hands!" to signify that the speedrun was achieved with pure manual dexterity.

Screw clicking and "playing virtual DJ with the mousehand", though. Like, seriously. Reduce it as much as possible. This blueprint mode, in my opinion, is a really good middle ground between "don't trivialize lategame bots" and "screw those freaking smelting columns, HOT DIGGITY DANGNABBIT".

[darkfrei]

Suggestion:
Introduce early game 'vehicle' - a 'constructor mech' - when you are near by placed blueprint and mech have materials in its trunk, it would autoplace entities, as if it was 'constructing' them.

Or at least, could someone make a mod for this?

Construction Car

[Factoruser]

Once I suggested "manual" autobuild. I.e. if you stand close enough to a ghost and have the item, you're placing it automatically. Of course also auto-repair. But I'm totally satisfied with the actual blueprint system, I even don't hurry getting robots anymore. I can pick a ghost with the middle mouse button and place it then, copy entity settings by shift-clicking...

I'm against a vehicle or similar low tech construction robots. The only vehicle that's missing might be a wood harvester, but you don't need THAT much wood...