Friday Facts #71 - To the stars

[BrinCaspian]

I would personally like an end game that makes me want to keep building larger and larger. Maybe the space port is just a way to ship back huge expensive items to the home world. So your score is how much you can export per minute.

I could go for that. I've preferred continuing the game past the current placeholder ending of building a really expensive empty box, and waiting 10 minutes for a score. Rather than starting over, I've been expanding and stockpiling every resource I can strip-mine from this bugger world! I am really looking forward to a new segment of gameplay, and I think customizing and running a space transport would be great.

[Piranha]

I wonder if the market and coin [that's already in the game] will finally come into play now... ..

[Drury]

lol, will you pull that silo out of your pocket like other buildings?

I'd say yes and no.

It's probably going to be like monuments in Pharaoh. Normal buildings are built like those in Factorio, click and bam, fresh building up in a moment ready for use. Things like great pyramids and sphinx are a bit different. When you place them down, instead of the whole thing, there's just staked land (kinda like construction robot blueprints, except just for one building). Then you have to bring resources to the staked area to progress construction. When you bring all the resources needed, the monument is complete and you win the scenario. I think that's what's happening with those inserters loading advanced circuits in (I love how the one inserter next to the pole looks like it's just dunking expensive technology into the bottomless pit. Reminds me of /r/shittyrobots).

[ataaron]

Selling stuff in space is fine but what are you going to buy if you reached endgame with the best power armor and all research.

without any new items that rely on it its going to be pointless

[Drury]

They just said it's a starport. We don't know what it's for. Not sure if devs have a clear idea at this point actually

It might be a space market, but it may also very well be just a fancy replacement for rocket defense. Not sure if either would make people happy, though.

You know, I'd really love to see something like SpaceChem's 63 Corvi. Factorio DLC/sequel in open space, taking place after the main game.

[Nemoricus]

Now, colonization, and automating the supply and defense of outposts, towns, cities, all the way up to metropolises would be quite interesting.

The more I think about this, the more I think it would actually make for a great endgame. It would really tie everything in the game together, from building automated factories, to scouting and gathering raw materials, to making logistical networks, building electrical networks, and balancing pollution, production and defense.

A simple outpost might just need inputs of food and basic products, like gears and electric circuits, while a full metropolis needs vast quantities of food and complex goods like modules, vehicles, and so on. They're also biter magnets in proportion to their size, so you'll need a solid defensive line to prevent them from being destroyed.

Oh, and it turns out that the colonists aren't too fond of pollution themselves, so you'll need to keep the heavy industry a good distance away, necessitating a solid logistical network.

There's more that can be done with these ideas, but that would seem to be the basics.

[fredcowgill]

I don't have much to add. I just want to say the Starport looks beautiful and I love this game so much. Keep up the good work.

[Martc]

When you place them down, instead of the whole thing, there's just staked land (kinda like construction robot blueprints, except just for one building). Then you have to bring resources to the staked area to progress construction. When you bring all the resources needed, the monument is complete and you win the scenario.

I think this construction site can be applied for every building, not only rocket silo.

I think that's what's happening with those inserters loading advanced circuits in (I love how the one inserter next to the pole looks like it's just dunking expensive technology into the bottomless pit. Reminds me of /r/shittyrobots).

I think that inserts are for rocket, that is built inside silo, not for silo construction.

[Marconos]

As long as the new building need like 100 Rocket defense units to make .... that would be epic.

[Seru]

I really like the idea of building your own city after building the factory part.

You'd be able to build city buildings like any factory building (perhaps in multiple steps). For starters three or so house types would suffice. Houses need a certain amount of resources each day, as well as fulfill specific requirements like "low polution" or "distance to factory" to house settlers (that perhaps need a special building to unlock... space port or the like). Houses would produce money if requirements are fulfilled (might grow slowly to show that it takes for settlers to arrive). Of course all those settlers are non-working force, because you colonizers, and your kind are the only beings left "physically" working (in the beginning). Money can be exchanged at an interstellar trade port, where you can exchange goods for better/exotic goods (of which only one or two can be found on a planet in tiny amounts), which in turn are needed for the better houses, which then make more money.

Of course you could after automatizing a planet (deep/regrowing mines so they don't run out of resources) colonize more planets to find different rare goods.

After writing this, it reminded me a lot of the Anno games, but since we're already making a planet urban/producing goods, why not colonize it as well.

[Yttrium]

I really like the idea of building your own city after building the factory part.

..as well as fulfill specific requirements like "low polution" or "distance to factory" to house settlers..

Wouldn't it be fun and controversial if humans have developed to be dependant on pollution or something twisted? Im thinking about getting the right Pollution levels for your "evolved" creatures that are supposed to be human.

[safan]

i realy don't get the people that want colonists and people: for me factorio is a empty planet, an empire of robots and machines under your control. You can decide what to build and when to build. Why would you ever want colonists there? They won't work and just start complaining about food and pollution. Before you know it, you have to leave the toilet seats down and you have two more little brats that take all your time. Who in his right mind would agree with that.

If you want a game where you have to build and provide a city go play anno****. Factorio is not about population caps, its about pure production.

[Nemoricus]

Well, my preference is to see an endgame that:

1. Encourages the player to build and design large, high throughput factories.

2. Encourages the player to build extensive logistics networks.

3. Brings the player into sustained, multifaceted confrontation with the natives.

So, if you've suggestions along those lines, I'd be quite happy to hear alternatives. Colonization is only one possibility that would fulfill that desire, after all.

[safan]

posted in another thread:

produce food, move it to space station, make sure the ship or space elevator works, it goes into space, you get credits, or trade for some material that doesn't exist on your planet, the ship lands again, move it to the right factory, make something hitech of it, move it back to the space elevator etc. Imagine the complexities of trying not to bottleneck this.

mayb you can detect nearby asteroids, send a bunch of bots to them and mine them out. This will end the sometimes tedious handlings of outposts.

the credits are the highscore. So you can see progress by selling more stuff or selling it faster. If something else then rich bastard is needed use titles as scout, provider, farmer, industrial etc

The aliens should have an end-game option to: total annihilation, total assimilation (you become one with the aliens), something inbetween so you can buy peace with some product you have to import from off planet.

[Nemoricus]

Aside from high score/buying materials, what role would the credits serve?

[MF-]

I wonder if the market and coin [that's already in the game] will finally come into play now... ..

They are used in the Scenario Pack that could be purchased separately.
Isn't that the DLC someone else was asking for?

[Piranha]

I wonder if the market and coin [that's already in the game] will finally come into play now... ..

They are used in the Scenario Pack that could be purchased separately.
Isn't that the DLC someone else was asking for?

Oops.. I haven't played many scenarios :S

[zwills]

I would personally like an end game that makes me want to keep building larger and larger. Maybe the space port is just a way to ship back huge expensive items to the home world. So your score is how much you can export per minute.

I could go for that. I've preferred continuing the game past the current placeholder ending of building a really expensive empty box, and waiting 10 minutes for a score. Rather than starting over, I've been expanding and stockpiling every resource I can strip-mine from this bugger world! I am really looking forward to a new segment of gameplay, and I think customizing and running a space transport would be great.

My two ideas for a scoring system:

Option A: your score is based on the value (quantity and quality) of alien artifacts which you retrieve from the planet. And the more valuable the artifacts that you collect, the more fierce the biter attacks will be during the 10-minute launch sequence.

Option B: Your score has several aspects, including time to completion, total resources consumed, maximum throughput, average throughput, efficiency (least pollution). You could try to break a record in any one of these categories. There could also be an overall score based on a combination of these factors.

[GlassDeviant]

This thing could be used to launch satellites, expanding your map and giving you distributed power for example (no more secondary power sources, or power lines run all the way to mining sites).

Either that or it's a beer vat. My vote goes to beer vat.

[Udav]

Why underground launch complex? It required only for strategic nuclear missiles!
Transport rockets better run with ground complex. It can be a lot of things to attach.
Rocket engines factory, payload factory.
Assembly workshop for missiles.
Delivery of completed rocket on special rails using a special transport device.
Mast technology service and fueling for missiles at the launch complex.
Pit to divert reactive jet.
Exclusion zone to jet stream is not destroyed buildings...