Water bodies

[DoxxMulder]

I think it's fair to say the the terrain generation is a bit monotonous.. Trees here and there, water every so often, ores, rocks, and not much else. I think Factorio could use some things to make exploring more interesting:

Rivers - even just long, thin strands of water would feel more natural than the random allotment of lakes sprinkled in like how it is currently. Since water doesn't deplete, they wouldn't even necessarily have to be flowing, although that would look pretty. They don't have to be anything fancy, just alterations to the terrain generation. I don't think Factorio needs flowing water or flooding mechanics, I think it could just use some more variation in how water is placed IE longer, straighter, thinner bodies of water ideal for pumping from or bridging over. As a side note, bridges would be nice, just for the aesthetic, if nothing else.

[ssilk]

Added to viewtopic.php?f=80&t=13022 World Generation / Map Generator / Game Modes / Scenarios / Biomes

[Alien_Squasher]

So essentially I am suggesting to add in semi realistically shaped bodies of water for flavor in the world.

I suggest that one new type of water body is implemented: Rivers. No new mechanics, just flavor. Perhaps a bridge rail if you feel like it. I however suggest the limiting factor of there cannot be more than one river per x number of tiles, and possibly have multiple rivers merge at points if that seems like a good idea.

I think this will add to the value of Factorio because it would give the game's terrain a little more variety and flavor without changing anything major, and I think many players would find rivers not only a strategic benefit due to high defense capability (Unless you make all the water shallow ), but a refreshing sight and an interesting land feature to build around, as I find the most beautiful and defensible structures in real life are the ones that incorporate the terrain. Look at Mont St. Michel, the castle in the middle of the sea, it incorporates the low lying terrain surrounding it into both it's defensive capability and the beauty of the design.

[Yair3231]

There's not much to say in this topic, but I think that rivers should be added - long and narrow bodies of water.
This could result in a better looking map generation.
(Sorry if my english was bad)

[Tekky]

I agree that having rivers would be nice.

However, this would create additional problems. Right now, the player can move through the map relatively freely, without being hindered by water. This would change if your suggestion were implemented.

Therefore, if your suggestion were implemented, it would be important for the player to be able to swim through water. However, this would then add the question of whether biters should also be able to swim. If so, then the player would also have to be able to build defenses on water. For this reason, a Factorio developer has already stated in this post that he was currently against allowing the player to swim.

Related suggestion thread (which contains further links):
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60787 Boats, Bridges, Island builds, Rail bridges?

[betrok]

It is pretty difficult to get something structured from the noise-based generation. This was nearly the best I could achieve so far.

The main problem for me is the implementation of interference between different branches of logic. Rivers tends suddenly end just before the seas or cross each other at odd angles(when there is more than one layer) and so on... Without postrpocessing it does not look well.

[Yair3231]

I agree that having rivers would be nice.

However, this would create additional problems. Right now, the player can move through the map relatively freely, without being hindered by water. This would change if your suggestion were implemented.

Therefore, if your suggestion were implemented, it would be important for the player to be able to swim through water. However, this would then add the question of whether biters should also be able to swim. If so, then the player would also have to be able to build defenses on water. For this reason, a Factorio developer has already stated in this post that he was currently against allowing the player to swim.

Related suggestion thread (which contains further links):
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60787 Boats, Bridges, Island builds, Rail bridges?

limiting the players movement in the early game actually sounds nice, since the player wont expand his base just in one direction/in a box shape, but rather build around rivers and such, until he gets the landfill. Swimming is really not mandatory if you want to add rivers.

It is pretty difficult to get something structured from the noise-based generation. This was nearly the best I could achieve so far.

The main problem for me is the implementation of interference between different branches of logic. Rivers tends suddenly end just before the seas or cross each other at odd angles(when there is more than one layer) and so on... Without postrpocessing it does not look well.

First, your preview looks nice. I really liked the islands that were formed from this generation (having to get to and "capture" an island sounds real nice). I understand nothing when it comes to map generation, but the devs have created much complex stuff before, and I believe they can handle this suggestion too.

[darkfrei]

This mod adds rivers for generating islands between them.

[spro123]

I am a little confused because there's no rivers at all which is a shame because rivers are cool I can understand how they can be annoying as they block your path but that's what landfill is for in the blog post about how the new map generation there's elevation and canyons and paths but no rivers?

[JackTheSpades]

If I had to guess I'd say because rivers sound incredibly broken for defense against biters and besides that would be a pain in the routing of their path finding inuring massive detours around the entire length of the river to launch an attack.

You could argue that maybe rives use different, shallow water tiles that can be crossed by biters but at that point you've already gone and seriously revamped the terrain generation.

[Koub]

[Koub] Merged a couple of threads with the same suggestion.
Also, there are heaps of suggestion including this one. Most of the time, rivers are requested not only for the looks, but alongside something useful gameplay wise (hydroelectricity/dams, boats, ...), or as a subset of more diverse map gen features :
viewtopic.php?t=131702
viewtopic.php?t=103309
viewtopic.php?t=97912
viewtopic.php?t=61087
viewtopic.php?t=59921
viewtopic.php?t=59148
viewtopic.php?t=56511
viewtopic.php?t=53731
viewtopic.php?t=40522
viewtopic.php?t=40508
viewtopic.php?t=31851
viewtopic.php?t=4692
viewtopic.php?t=1480
As you can see, some of them are quite old.