Friday Facts #280 - Visual Feedback is the king

[ecrazor1911]

Please train speed limit, like this:

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/TrainSpeedLimit-016

Thank you

[nljr]

I love all of these changes. Great work. I especially love the new toolbar.

I have one little request for the toolbar: I would really like to be able to pause my server with a hotkey. I play with my wife and when a cat starts throwing up is a bad time to be hunting through menus.

I'm kind of hoping the toolbar replaces the buttons up by the map.

[Ericwu91]

God almighty. The graphics are getting insanely good. Just. Can't. Wait.

[Azzinoth]

What if copy/paste supported system clipboard? You could just copy a blueprint from web and paste it into Factorio and vice versa. Only problem may be, that you would fill your clipboard with base64 "nonsence" that you would occaisionally paste into a textfield.

Ok, I need this now. I don't know if it is possible to implement, but if it is, it is too cool to not be implemented.

[DonovanHawkins]

So the solution could be to add "Passenger not present" wait condition if there is a passenger in the train at the time of temporary station creation, otherwise add something like "Passenger present OR 60s passed".

I think this would be the ideal default for temporary stops:
  [5 s] after passenger count changes
OR [60 s] have passed

This works for both pickup and drop-off, and the 5 second delay gives a small window to allow for multiple passengers. The devs would have to store a timestamp of when the passenger count last changed, but that also solves the problem where a person gets on/off just before the train arrives at the station (a simpler "Passenger count changes" condition would not be triggered).

Donovan

[bobingabout]

I like mods (thanks a lot to the mod community!!!). I sometimes play with several mods at the same time, but I find those icons/buttons in the top left of screen ugly, because there is no pattern between them, they are misaligned, with very different sizes, like this:




I think that this proposal can help to improve the pattern of mod buttons, decrease the (ugly) mess on the screen, and not overload the new toolbar with many buttons/items.

I believe that these proposals contribute to game value.
I would like the proposals to be evaluated/considered by the community (and perhaps by devs!?). I also had a hard time working on them ...
Thank you!

I agree that it would be cool if certain mod buttons could be added to a GUI like that. 2 of the ones added by my mods (Bodies and Inserter config) would fit great down there.

On that note I still think it would be cool if a button could be inserted to the begining of a GUI, so I can "force" my clock into the top left most corner. it can look kind of dumb if the clock is half way across the top bar there.

[5thHorseman]

On that note I still think it would be cool if a button could be inserted to the begining of a GUI, so I can "force" my clock into the top left most corner. it can look kind of dumb if the clock is half way across the top bar there.

You have to allow the player to set that, otherwise every modder will put theirs first and then the order will be the same.

[bobingabout]

On that note I still think it would be cool if a button could be inserted to the begining of a GUI, so I can "force" my clock into the top left most corner. it can look kind of dumb if the clock is half way across the top bar there.

You have to allow the player to set that, otherwise every modder will put theirs first and then the order will be the same.

I agree it is something that could be abused, but it's silly when the clock is in the middle of the bar. If I force my clock to the left, then someone else forces there clock to the left, well, that's fine, 2 clocks at the far left.

It is something that could be abused, but, being able to insert GUI elements to a specific position in ANY GUI would be a good thing, not just limited to the top bar.

When I asked in source access what a solution could be to force my clock to the left, the answer was basically to clear all objects off gui.top, add my clock, then add the mod interface back in... the problem with that is that it won't re-add everyone elses buttons, they'd be just gone. Klonan also said that I'd be a cunt if I did it.

[mrvn]

What is the use case for waypoints? I've never felt like I needed to build one.

Sometimes the shortest way is straight through your base and then all trains are stuck at some cross roads. Then you can set a way point so trains take a longer but less congested way avoiding the traffic jam.

[mrvn]

Do train stops for waypoints give any events when a train drives through?

What happens when the train has no path after the waypoint? Will it stop at the station or blast through it and then break to a stop in the middle of the rail network?


Here is the reason why I ask: One could setup a waypoint "Tunnel Entry" that dead ends. Somewhere else setup a station "Tunnel Exit" that starts at a dead end. Then when a train reaches "Tunnel Entry" it triggers a lua script that teleports the train to "Tunnel Exit".

[bobucles]

Will it stop at the station or blast through it and then break to a stop in the middle of the rail network?

Things might get messy if a train blows through a waypoint and the next station is suddenly closed. Trains also reserve the tracks ahead of them so if there is no track in front then they will panic and begin to stop.

The train would need special behavior to not stop after it sees a "dead end".

[mrvn]

Will it stop at the station or blast through it and then break to a stop in the middle of the rail network?

Things might get messy if a train blows through a waypoint and the next station is suddenly closed.

Normally a train wit waypoint will have multiple stations in it's list. And if a station suddenly closes it will skip to the next. Nothing really new. But what if the train has only 2 stations, the waypoint and a closed one. Will it drive around in a circle just like the example in the FFF? That would be my expectation.

Trains also reserve the tracks ahead of them so if there is no track in front then they will panic and begin to stop.

The train would need special behavior to not stop after it sees a "dead end".

Maybe "dead end" doesn't invoke the right image. The end might still be a good way away from the stop (although hopefully not too much). Something like

Code: Select all

CCCL>_____________________________|__________

There is still some way after the waypoint stop. But no path. But let's ask that question too: What happens if the train tracks end right after the stop?

Anyway, the way I would use this is to have a waypoint at the tunnel entrance. Then the tracks keep going a bit as they disappear into the earth. So tunnel entrances would have to be big. Maybe 50m long. That a) make them more realistic, b) means you can't just put them in the middle of your base to make a 2m tunnel because the crossing has jams and c) would mean the track doesn't just end after the waypoint so trains can blast through them.

[HammerPiano]

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

[steinio]

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

Not sure if just trolling or just need glasses.

[HammerPiano]

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

Not sure if just trolling or just need glasses.

I am not exactly sure why is this trolling....
My reasoning behind this idea, is that I don't want that my train that I called to run away.
Do you have a better idea?

[steinio]

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

Not sure if just trolling or just need glasses.

I am not exactly sure why is this trolling....
My reasoning behind this idea, is that I don't want that my train that I called to run away.
Do you have a better idea?

Because you are at least the second person which asks for this and it's right there in the FFF (Passengers present):

[Oktokolo]

There is still some way after the waypoint stop. But no path. But let's ask that question too: What happens if the train tracks end right after the stop?

The train stops at the stop because it cant path to the next stop after it. That is the current train behaviour and i see no reason why it should change. Whether the train would normally pause on the station or not should make no difference other from deciding when to start decellerating.

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

Not sure if just trolling or just need glasses.

I am not exactly sure why is this trolling....
My reasoning behind this idea, is that I don't want that my train that I called to run away.
Do you have a better idea?

Because you are at least the second person which asks for this and it's right there in the FFF (Passengers present):

LOL. Not sure if trolling or serious too. But should get into trolling if not. Would definitely be a successful troll catching a lot of fish.

[mrvn]

There is still some way after the waypoint stop. But no path. But let's ask that question too: What happens if the train tracks end right after the stop?

The train stops at the stop because it cant path to the next stop after it. That is the current train behaviour and i see no reason why it should change. Whether the train would normally pause on the station or not should make no difference other from deciding when to start decellerating.

But when will it make that decision. Normally trains slow down and come to rest at the stop before deciding the next one isn't reachable. With waypoints that isn't the case.

So does the train switch destinations when its breaking point hits the waypoint and roll to stop? Does it switch destinations when it passes the waypoint and then rolls to a stop? Come to a stop instantly?

For the tunnel it would be nice to not stop. Maybe the API could set a flag to make trains behave that way for the stop?

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

Not sure if just trolling or just need glasses.

I am not exactly sure why is this trolling....
My reasoning behind this idea, is that I don't want that my train that I called to run away.
Do you have a better idea?

Because you are at least the second person which asks for this and it's right there in the FFF (Passengers present):

LOL. Not sure if trolling or serious too. But should get into trolling if not. Would definitely be a successful troll catching a lot of fish.

The "Passenger present" might be in the FFF but not in combination with temporary stops. I guess he is asking for "Passenger present" to be added automatically to temporary stops.

[nljr]

I have an idea (I hope it wasn't already suggested)
When you add a temporary station, if the player is in the train, make the train wait until the play exits the train. If the player isn't in the train, make the train wait until the player enters the train.

Not sure if just trolling or just need glasses.

I am not exactly sure why is this trolling....
My reasoning behind this idea, is that I don't want that my train that I called to run away.
Do you have a better idea?

Because you are at least the second person which asks for this and it's right there in the FFF (Passengers present):

Adding a temporary stop is kind of the opposite of programming a new stop with its own condition. It's not trolling.

[HammerPiano]

The "Passenger present" might be in the FFF but not in combination with temporary stops. I guess he is asking for "Passenger present" to be added automatically to temporary stops.

That's what I am asking for.