Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post all other topics which do not belong to any other category.
Post Reply
d0w1ts
Manual Inserter
Manual Inserter
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:41 pm
Contact:

Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by d0w1ts »

As the title says, I'm wondering why the oil extraction system in the game is yield based while all the other resources(ores) are set numbers. Why did the devs decide that oil specifically needs to be different from everything else ? How does that balance the resources ?

User avatar
DaveMcW
Smart Inserter
Smart Inserter
Posts: 3699
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 11:06 am
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by DaveMcW »

Because oil extraction in real life works that way. Oil wells never extract all the oil, production just declines until the well is no longer profitable to operate.

Early versions of Factorio had a much harsher and more realistic oil decline curve. This forced players to expand to find more oil. After playtesting, the 20% floor was added so the endgame did not become a constant hunt for oil.

Bauer
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 346
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 12:48 pm
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by Bauer »

Also, it is attractive to different mechanics in the game so that not all production steps look the same.

Durentis
Fast Inserter
Fast Inserter
Posts: 105
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:55 pm
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by Durentis »

Good thing we can't spam an oil field with beacons in real life, eh?

astroshak
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 597
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 9:59 am
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by astroshak »

Durentis wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:36 am
Good thing we can't spam an oil field with beacons in real life, eh?
[Moderated by Koub : Off topic]

Xeorm
Fast Inserter
Fast Inserter
Posts: 206
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 7:11 pm
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by Xeorm »

To go off what was said before, I found that having a trickle of oil come through was annoying. You wanted to maintain the oil field because it was generating more than zero, but generating as little as it did made that effort feel pretty bad. Not to mention thinking that I was losing out on production because you'd find oil, start pumping, get overfilled and so stop pumping because the pipes were full. You'd produce for a bit and it wasn't too long later that it'd be producing almost nothing.

Having infinite wells is unrealistic, but it's also not terrible. Even in longer games I found I didn't get through too many patches. Did 120+hours on one marathon factory and I think I only made it through the 6-9 ore patches. It takes awhile to get through and the tech increases go a long way towards prolonging each ore patch.

Alexoates
Manual Inserter
Manual Inserter
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:08 pm
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by Alexoates »

I advise you not to worry about resources. It's enough to use productivity modules wherever possible. On the current version of the game infinite resource productivity research is available, I advise you not to forget to pump. Oil extraction should start with the opening of blue flasks, otherwise there will be no further development. And "intermediate targets" and "how many cookers to put up" depends only on the extraction capacity.

User avatar
ptx0
Smart Inserter
Smart Inserter
Posts: 1507
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 7:16 pm
Contact:

Re: Why does oil extraction work separate from other resources ?

Post by ptx0 »

astroshak wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:59 am
Durentis wrote:
Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:36 am
Good thing we can't spam an oil field with beacons in real life, eh?
main impact is allowing more plants to breathe
edit: no longer required, moderated away

Post Reply

Return to “General discussion”