Friday Facts #347 - New hope demo levels

[FactorioBot]

Here it is! (beep boop)

https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-347

[billbo99]

I wonder how hard it would be to have the construction drones throw grenades to clear trees

[ManaUser]

I think it's very exciting that the demo (as in free sample) is getting expanded. And using the tried and true campaign levels seems like a good way to go. As cool as it was to have a demo at all (something I miss from older games, seems much rarer nowadays) I always thought the old one it was a little lacking, it stopped before getting into anything that really felt like Factorio. But the rail map feels like the real deal.

You get a taste of the scale the real game works at, and there's enough room to experiment on your own if you want to.

[mudcrabempire]

I wonder how hard it would be to have the construction drones throw grenades to clear trees

But... but... all that valuable, valuable wood.

I actually use it btw. Wooden poles forever (plus some big ones for large distances). So while it's a funny idea, it would need to be somehow controllable so players can choose to keep the wood or not.

Also, the ability for robots to use military-grade items could lead to potentially .. interesting things.

[malecord]

Nice job having construction bots throwing explosives.

So... when will the "biters deconstruction planner" be ready? XD

[bobucles]

I wonder how hard it would be to have the construction drones throw grenades to clear trees

I wonder how fun it would be to have drones throw grenades at enemy player bases to deconstruct them.

[bor]

I remember the first time I played Level 05. I was so stoked that I was finally going to use trains after all the hard work of gathering the materials and ferrying them by car...
Only to find out that I wasn't gathering the materials to fix the train... I was supposed to use the train to gather them in the first place... :facepalm:

[Optera]

Regenerate Terrain to new map generator including decoratives, trees and cliffs while keeping existing lakes and entities sounds like my old mod https://mods.factorio.com/mod/WorldGen_Update

However I did things quite differently to get to the same result.
- create a new surface with the intended map seed with no water.
- copy each tile over to nauvis if it doesn't collide with water, if it's under floor tile remove the floor before copying so it remains nice even when players remove the floor later
- copy cliffs, big rocks and trees over if they don't collide an are n tiles away from player placed structures
- regrow decoratives

[IronCartographer]

I wonder how hard it would be to have the construction drones throw grenades to clear trees

Poison capsules avoid damaging infrastructure hidden by trees, and they cover a larger area at the same time.

[SuperSandro2000]

To be honest the cliff just vanishes into thin air. No explosions or something.

[DerGraue]

To be honest the cliff just vanishes into thin air. No explosions or something.

True. With the new particle system it should be possible to make them crumble into the ground.

[trad_emark]

To be honest the cliff just vanishes into thin air. No explosions or something.

Exactly my thought. It needs way more particles. And a debris too.

[bobucles]

Over 5 years of optimizing the game to the limits, and it all gets spent on graphical overhauls in a month. Never change, game industry!

I tease, I tease. It's nice to see more shiny things in Factorio. Can't go wrong with shinies.

[MEOWMI]

Golden!

Not only can I refer friends and strangers, owners and potential buyers alike to exactly the thing I want, but I can refer them to the same thing.

These missions are what I think really sealed the deal for me when I bought the game and started playing it. They're what I keep referring to when asked what's best to start with and what I always wanted to let people try if they asked for a demo.

[nuke_it_from_orbit]

These missions are what I think really sealed the deal for me when I bought the game and started playing it. They're what I keep referring to when asked what's best to start with and what I always wanted to let people try if they asked for a demo.

Same. I played the same missions for the v.16 demo over and over again. Probably 50-100h of play time. Then I bought the game and started free play.

[promaty]

I really like having a narrative in my games when there is a clear direction and goal. Removing the campaign still makes me sad

I was thinking since you scrapped the campaign, maybe you can add random objective feature in freeplay levels? Find a ruined base, explore this part of map, etc.

[conn11]

(...)
So... when will the "biters deconstruction planner" be ready? XD

I think, it‘s called MIRV.
A word of caution though, setting filters on this is quite broken.

[conn11]

I really like having a narrative in my games when there is a clear direction and goal. Removing the campaign still makes me sad

I was thinking since you scrapped the campaign, maybe you can add random objective feature in freeplay levels? Find a ruined base, explore this part of map, etc.

This wouldn‘t necessairly fit the playstyle of most.
Maybe you should check something like the Ruins mod out.

[meganothing]

I take bets on when an impossible-to-predict bug is found that came into existance because the bots now throw cliff explosives.

[KatherineOfSky]

I remember that area so well... the second screenshot with the half-ruined smelting column. That's how I learned how to use long-handed inserters! I only played the campaign one time... but I designed my smelting columns that way for weeks afterward! Coal in the middle, ore close, and power poles tucked between the undergroundies!

I'm glad the current "campaign" is going ... I attempted to play it, and it was definitely not new-player friendly.

As far as the old campaign goes.... Are you going to keep the level with the car/biters? I have to admit... I didn't get past that one when I was a newcomer to the game. It almost made me not play any more. The only help I got (and this was when it released on steam... so years ago), was someone driving around and hitting the alien bases with the machine gun ... and my driving skills were terrible back then! I didn't succeed at passing that level. It was just a terrible experience for me.

Went straight on to Freeplay after that. I hope that an enemy introduction level is a bit less severe.

Awesome job with all the rest of the optimizations and upgrades to effects, pathing, etc.! Looking forward to playing when I am well again!