Friday Facts #350 - Electric mining drill redesign

[DanGio]

how steady and predictable they were, always outputting while at the ends for example.

they don't, I checked

[Illiou]

how steady and predictable they were, always outputting while at the ends for example.

they don't, I checked

Damn, you're right haha, the animation is slightly longer. Your brain makes it work when it isn't.
I guess the fact that there is at least a perceivable relationship between production state and animation state at all is enough for a certain intuitiveness to the production frequency.

[SirSmuggler]

how steady and predictable they were, always outputting while at the ends for example.

they don't, I checked

Damn, you're right haha, the animation is slightly longer. Your brain makes it work when it isn't.
I guess the fact that there is at least a perceivable relationship between production state and animation state at all is enough for a certain intuitiveness to the production frequency.

Add in some mining productivity reseach and/or productivitry modules and it all goes out the window any way

[Hooch]

I think that old desing needs to be updated. But I really don't like the new one.

[Overlord218]

Now big drill fields look like a mess because square frame was removed.
When drill output oriented to left or right you can't see those really cool (no sarcasm) animation same when drill output oriented down and drill have modules in it. Old drill was more "readable" and "clear"

[Yijare]

So, yet again another Graphic update we didn't need. While HD Graphics are nice, this example here just looks awful. Not looking forward to 'em when i finally update my game.

[Zazcallabah]

So... the new icon for the drill, is temporary, right?

It will be changed again, to something that doesn't look like it has a giant penis, right?

[5thHorseman]

So... the new icon for the drill, is temporary, right?

It will be changed again, to something that doesn't look like it has a giant penis, right?

You're the only one to see that so far. So the fault may not be with the icon.

[Zazcallabah]

You're the only one to see that so far. So the fault may not be with the icon.

That is provably false. https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comme ... d/frx1mjk/

[V453000]

You're the only one to see that so far. So the fault may not be with the icon.

That is provably false. https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comme ... d/frx1mjk/

My penis certainly doesn't look like that. I can make it look like one if you want though?

[posila]

You're the only one to see that so far. So the fault may not be with the icon.

That is provably false. https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comme ... d/frx1mjk/

My penis certainly doesn't look like that. I can make it look like one if you want though?

Most american males are circumcised so ... you can't really take Czech penises as a representative models. That said, out of all the things in the game that look like phallus, the drill icon looks like phallus the least (even I have not seen it until Zazcallabah injected the thought into my mind, and you know I have some pretty dirty mind).

[5thHorseman]

My penis certainly doesn't look like that. I can make it look like one if you want though?

Wait. you can make what look like what? The drill look like your penis or... *shudder*

Actually both make me shudder but the unspeakable option makes me shudder more.

Most american males are circumsized so ... you can't really take Czech penises as a representative models. That said, out of all the things in the game that look like phallus, the drill icon looks like phallus the least (even I have not seen it until Zazcallabah injected the thought into my mind, and you know I have some pretty dirty mind).

Yeah for uncircumcised I'd go for Piercing Shotgun Shells. And you put 2 of them touching. GROSS.

[AntiElitz]

You're the only one to see that so far. So the fault may not be with the icon.

That is provably false. https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comme ... d/frx1mjk/

My penis certainly doesn't look like that. I can make it look like one if you want though?

I would certainly be interested in that Ding-Dong-Drill
Maybe you can add it as an optional setting next to the other settings like "use legacy sounds" and "use 0.12 graphics, because I cannot get used to new stuff" (Kappa)

[thuejk]

You're the only one to see that so far. So the fault may not be with the icon.

That is provably false. https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comme ... d/frx1mjk/

My penis certainly doesn't look like that. I can make it look like one if you want though?

I want that! I am so glad that Wube is asking the fans what they want, and I am sure Wube will follow through on the fans' feedback.

[posila]

Maybe you can add it as an optional setting next to the other settings like "use legacy sounds" and "use 0.12 graphics, because I cannot get used to new stuff" ones (Kappa)

If we make those settings, how do we sell you Factorio Classic next year after we blow through all the 1.0 money?

[AntiElitz]

Now the serious reply: I like the new drill graphics visually. I just don't like that they overlap with the tile above. There is 2 issues i have with this. First you cannot see if the close side of the belt above the mining drill is full very easily anymore

Secondly I have some trouble placing it accurately, because the entity middle and the graphics middle do not align. I often place it 1 tile too high. This is because the in 192px above the mouse-curser and only 138px below (in my screenshot) when you actually hit the middle.

I would much prefer if the graphic would align to the grid better for game-play and placement clarity.

[Hooch]

I too have trouble with how much it hides tiles above it. Biter eat my belt and I didn't notice for over an hour as it was just hidden behind the drill. You also don't see items on belt.

[_CJ_]

Old drill was more "readable" and "clear"

While I love the design it looks like it was designed as single standing entity while in game it is used as quite large fields. I did not have much time to play recently but I load up my base to see how it looks and it is .... oof. I had some concerns but in last fff it look awesome because you did not show big patch of miners. I support both quoted things. I can add something more as casual player I want to remove some miners after they are done while middle of patch is still full of resource - the light on miner is invisible because how complex the design is (also Alt-mode could have some bigger indicatior like in second quoted post without mod needed). I cant easily say which miner is off because belt is full and which is done with red - I have to zoom a lot and check it with more attention. This is also caused because you cant see patch undeneath very well. Uranium patch and belt color makes it even worse.

I really love the design as solitary entity and I hate it when you use it on larger scale which is how you use it most of the time.

[neotronic]

While I love how the new drill looks like when it's standing on it's own I don't like the mess my mining field turned to. It's very hard to see the belt that is behind the drill and spot problems - a mis-rotated belt for example.

Another issue is, when the drills are slow moving (= no modules) it's hard to tell if the drill is working or not - it's only shaking slightly. Compare that to the old outdated design - you could easily tell if the drill is doing something or not.

The last issue I have with the new design is how cluttered it is. It's hard to see the ore beneath it. This makes it harder to spot miners which have mined out all it's ore.

All those issues combined makes the visual redesign a downgrade, since it makes the plyability worse.

I know I gave you a lot of critique, but I still appreciate the excellent work you guys are doing and love the game greatly.

[runamucker]

A huge improvement, but unsatisfying in that it drills the middle section more often than the ends, which just feels unbalanced, on top of it already feeling unbalanced in that the drill looks like it can only drill a 1x3 strip down the middle.