Show vehicle color on map

[Kapitalizt]

Hello,

Long-time player of Factorio, first time poster. Loving the improvements of .15, really they're excellent.

One thing I noticed is that with the changes to the map, I'm using it much more. Coordinating has become so much easier, and that's great. However, I notice that while you can adjust locomotive color, this only affects the physical engine on the screen. It would be much more useful if this color change were reflected in the color of the train's indicator on the map as well (as would train names, but that's a different suggestion).

Seemed like a pretty simple improvement, but perhaps it would be more trouble than it's worth. Either way, happy to be involved in such a great game.

Robert

[Ripshaft]

I saw this one last night but forgot to comment - I think the base idea is incredibly good but i see potential problems with the proposed implementation.

The idea of being able to identify your trains in some way at a glance from the map would be a wonderfully sweet feature, though I don't think changing the icon colour, or changing it alone would be a good way to approach this.

The colour palette is chosen carefully to provide contrast, and it's never a good idea to give the player the ability to annoy themselves by changing the colours such that the trains blend into terrain or objects or other such things. Instead I pictured a glowing dot trace similar to what you'd see in a 1980's high tech subway tracking system... which is quite in line with factorio's aesthetic, though I'm not sure how well it'd play out in practice.

Will see if I can find some images of what I'm talking about... but basically imagine moving a single bright coloured led behind a sheet of greasy paper and taking a picture of it with a ~1sec exposure, and then animate that as movement.

Edit: Thought of an analogy more people might be familiar with - imagine the effect of moving a laser pointer across a screen, and how it seems to leave a trail due to the afterimage, it'd be something like that, but perhaps less intense, within factorio's palette range.

[joshinils]

I would love it when the colour inside the triangle that represents a locomotive on the minimap is the one i set on it rather than just white, same with stations.

[Sachertorte]

I would like to be able to tell at a glance which train is wich in the trains GUI. As it stands, I have to read the list of stations each is assigned to. This is a damper on my efficiency when I should be able to find the train I want much faster. It may present a greater problem for players who use trains with lots of stops, as they may have to scroll through in order to distinguish them.

For players who colour-code their trains, it would be useful to be able to see the train's colour from the GUI. I would know which trains are transporting iron ore because I can see that the train is the colour of iron ore.

Looking at the trains GUI currently:



I see two potential options for colouring:

1. The arrow denoting the train's position. Advantage: the train can now be distinguished on the map view as well. Disadvantage: the train's colour may conflict with the surrounding terrain, introducing an accessibility issue.
2. The grey border around the train's map button. This seems unused and safe to colour.

[blazespinnaker]

I use map mode .. a lot. especially with cut/paste now in map mode, I don't have to leave it. However, I have a lot of trains zipping about, it'd be useful to be able to distinguish which train is which. since we've already set the color of our trains, can that be rendered in map mode as well?

[ssilk]

You can see them with the https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Vehicle_Radar

[blazespinnaker]

Thanks for the response, however that mod doesn't appear to color trains in map mode.

It seems like a fairly obvious feature, tbh. Perhaps there is a perf reason why it wasn't implemented.

Map mode is awesome tho. Can't say it enough. It's everything that is right about factorio.

[Impatient]

+1

[Trific]

[ssilk]

Thanks for the response, however that mod doesn't appear to color trains in map mode.

Of course it does: you need just to zoom in!

Edit: Or you understand „map mode” as the zoomed out version of the map mode.

[NotRexButCaesar]

Thanks for the response, however that mod doesn't appear to color trains in map mode.

Of course it does: you need just to zoom in!

The whole point of the suggestion is to avoid zooming in

(Also +1)

[blazespinnaker]

Small addition, hopefully, when we mouse over in map mode I notice it selects train stops and trains, it'd be great if it showed info about the selected object in the right most panels similar to non map mode. In particular, it's destination and / or route.

[Llama]

TL;DR

Coordinate Spidertron's map icon colour with Spidertron's remote colour instead of default red outline.

What ?

The outline of Spidertron is always red, yet Spidertrons can be recoloured to match their remote control. I think their outline on the map should correspond with their remote control colour. For consistency you might consider doing the same to all vehicles (most benefit to be found on train engines I think) but the issue I have is mostly with Spidertrons.

spid1.png (489.17 KiB) Viewed 4436 times

spid2.png (483.76 KiB) Viewed 4436 times

Alternative solution: Make the Spidertron glow or flash when their remote is held in the cursor.

Something to consider: What about other teams Spidertrons in MP? Colour those as well or not?

Why ?

WHY do you think it increases the value of Factorio as a game?
When building blueprints with the help of multiple Spidertrons it's not clear which Spidertron will move. I have to start them moving, observe the line, stop the Spidertron, put the remote away and pick the other remote if I wanted to move a particular Spidertron. The Spidertron may not even be in the area, might have to scout around. It would be a smoother experience if there was an indication for which Spiderbro will move with the selected remote.

This would then make Spidertron map icons different from other vehicles, for consistency it might also benefit train engines to have their colour outline coordinate too, so that we can tell at a glance if the train we're seeing on the map is orange for copper, blue for iron etc.

[Amarula]

+1
I click the wrong remote quite frequently, come back a minute later why isn't spidey here yet, oh rats, instead of grabbing the remote for the spider that was right there, I clicked one on the other side of the map who is now stuck trying to cross a lake...
For multiplayer, I would prefer spiders that aren't mine all the same default colour...

[NotRexButCaesar]

+1

I see only positive outcomes for this change, & it does not sound especially difficult to implement.

[vulduv]

+1
Just commenting to support this post, it would be great to be able to see which spidertron is which from the map view!

[ickputzdirwech]

[ick] Merged five topics about showing the colors of vehicles on maps.

[Gummiente27]

I just had the idea that it'd be a great idea to show vehicle colors on map.
I'd suggest the change the color of the middle instead of the border tho.
For trains with non-colorable vehicles but only one color of locomotives it should still color all train middles.