Have you ever used the sandbox mode ?

[mmmPI]

This one :

Sandbox mode.png (929.55 KiB) Viewed 1122 times

You can change your vote, if you happen to use the sandbox mode but you never had before.

Changing a "yes" to "no" would be more suspicious but i cannot verify.

"no i use the editor" is also incorrect if you accidentaly clicked sandbox and used it once, but that's fair if you use editor a lot.

I almost forgot there was a sandbox mode, i mostly use the /editor mode when i want to "sandbox".

[jguy1987]

All the time. I have a save in sandbox mode that I use for train layout blueprints, train network designs, etc.

I just fired it up to create a new smelting blueprint. If you're into circuits it also helps, especially when you're looking to get a design down while you have material, and in your regular game you don't have 100% of your production setup yet and need to test a design.

[Khagan]

The first and third options clash because of the different tenses. For one of the answers to be 'No, I use (present tense) the editor instead', the question should really be 'Do you ever use (present tense) the sandbox?' With the question as it is ('Have you ever used') the answer offered needs to be 'No, I have only ever used the editor' (or perhaps 'Yes, but I prefer the editor'). So I want to select both the first and third answers.

Initially, I used the sandbox because I thought that editor was just for those making or modifying scenarios. After considerable time wasted in it (e.g. setting up banks of infinity chests to provide materials for construction bots to use), I finally discovered (I cannot now remember how) that the editor did the same job better.

To actually play the game, you don't want either sandbox or editor. For designing, testing and tweaking blueprints the editor is far more powerful and convenient. So what is the point of the sandbox (other than to entrap novices like me into doing things the hard way)?

[mmmPI]

The first and third options clash because of the different tenses. For one of the answers to be 'No, I use (present tense) the editor instead', the question should really be 'Do you ever use (present tense) the sandbox?' With the question as it is ('Have you ever used') the answer offered needs to be 'No, I have only ever used the editor' (or perhaps 'Yes, but I prefer the editor'). So I want to select both the first and third answers.

I felt there was something off in the wording but i'm not native english and the "Do you ever use(present tense) the sandbox?" feel very unatural to me. I guess the proper sentence to convey the meaning should have been => "no i had always used the editor when i could have used the sandbox" for the third choice.

Initially, I used the sandbox because I thought that editor was just for those making or modifying scenarios. After considerable time wasted in it (e.g. setting up banks of infinity chests to provide materials for construction bots to use), I finally discovered (I cannot now remember how) that the editor did the same job better.

I can understand this, the /editor command is what i often use after launching a regular game, and i'd turn everything to lab tile right away and use /cheat all later, i won't "launch in editor" nor in sandbox, even worse. When reading this i understand it as a 3rd answer "no".

To actually play the game, you don't want either sandbox or editor. For designing, testing and tweaking blueprints the editor is far more powerful and convenient. So what is the point of the sandbox (other than to entrap novices like me into doing things the hard way)?

I'm not sure what's the point of sandbox, i felt it wasn't used much because i've read players complaining factorio isn't a sandbox game "anymore with space age", despite its existence.

There was this mod : https://mods.factorio.com/mod/brave-new-world , it's RTS-like scenario, without the /cheat all and infinite chest or material, only the "no-character-body" from what i understand that would be quite similar to playing in sandbox , maybe for an experience similar to those "god-game" city building / base building where you can initiate action everywhere you can see scrolling on the map, but they are not instantaneous. "sandbox without inventory and manual crafting".

For design I feel too that the editor is far more powerful and convenient than sandbox, where you can't control time for speeding things up or pausing to check circuit logic.

[Khagan]

I felt there was something off in the wording but i'm not native english and the "Do you ever use(present tense) the sandbox?" feel very unatural to me.

"Do you ever use the sandbox?" is absolutely natural and normal English. It refers to present (or recent past) habit, and asks nothing about what you may or nay not have done in the (remoter) past.

I guess the proper sentence to convey the meaning should have been => "no i had always used the editor when i could have used the sandbox" for the third choice.

That's a little awkward. "No, I have always used the editor instead." would work. I would then unambiguously have to choose the first option, since I haven't always used the editor.

[coppercoil]

Yes, I use editor mode in the sandbox.

[mmmPI]

"Do you ever use the sandbox?" is absolutely natural and normal English. It refers to present (or recent past) habit, and asks nothing about what you may or nay not have done in the (remoter) past.

Thank you for taking the time to let me know, that's even better than choosing the option 4, because i know now what was the problem that could cause confusion. I suppose i'm unconfortable with what is usually refers to by "recent" and "remoter" past in this context. But i'd pay more attention to the context in which i'm hearing and using those sentences in the future.
I'm still not sure what's the best way to reformulate the poll, and if it's ok to do so after people have voted

That's a little awkward. "No, I have always used the editor instead." would work. I would then unambiguously have to choose the first option, since I haven't always used the editor.

The reasonning beyond the propositions was not super deep and i added :

"no i use the editor" is also incorrect if you accidentaly clicked sandbox and used it once, but that's fair if you use editor a lot.

Roughly the idea for me was that you could say "no" because you only go freeplay, scenario, multiplayers you don't see any use in /editor or sandbox kind of play, it's the plain and simple "no"

But you have an option specifically, to say, "no i'm not using the sandbox but i'm using the editor". ( which is what i do now but i have played a game in sandbox once ).

And an option if you do use the sandbox for sandboxy things.

Yes, I use editor mode in the sandbox.

I had not seen that as a possibility if you mean typing /editor after launching in "sandbox". I'm confused as to wether i should add another option on the poll ideally, or if that should be more considered as using the /editor, as i feel it's providing "at least the same thing" but with extra control on time and surfaces. I feel such game would be considered "in editor" for me, whereas i'd see "strictly sandbox" as giving "less" control on the environment. Freeplay>sandbox>editor. Considering most editor games are also "freeplay-in-editor", they are eventually redefined as simply "editor game", so "sandbox+editor" also makes it an "editor" game in my logic. But i may be missing someting ?

[Gergely]

Does opening it just to see what it does count?

[mmmPI]

Does opening it just to see what it does count?

That's a difficult question !

For me that would be half a "yes" , because it means you know it's there, but maybe you haven't "used" it. But really it's up to you to decide if you consider you are "using" it or not by just opening it just once to see what it does. I am not going to monitor wether or not it is used properly and if that kind of usage is to your liking then it should be a "yes" somehow, but if you didn't like what you saw that one attempt and you prefer to use the editor, then you should select the option that says just that.

"no i use the editor" is also incorrect if you accidentaly clicked sandbox and used it once, but that's fair if you use editor a lot.

This could be ammended with "and also if it was not accidentaly that the sandbox was opened but on purpose just to see what it does".