Re: Development and Discussion
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:08 am
Good point about the oxygen to make solder.
Solder is likely the first recipe a new player uses Angel's refining for, and it's perhaps a tad too complex for a starting one? Requires fluid in and output, and two types of ingots to melt. Seems like a bit of a jump ahead of the progression curve, if new player experience is relevant to AB. Imo there should be an easier entry point into the angel refining mechanics. Requiring resin for solder seemed punishing enough imo, but still more convenient and might lead to further delay of exploring Angel's refining. My favorite approach to guiding players to refining would be: use the very expensive steel recipe. 10x iron plates as we had. And along with the research for refining (blast furnace, induction and casting tech) add the steel recipe to that tech. This would be obvious enough to get people transitioning to refining for steel, which is required for further refining machines anyway. Perhaps the tech could have a description or be renamed to properly reflect the intent of significantly better steel creation. The current way of making early steel is a bit too efficient while sidestepping the desired effect of getting people to use Angel's refining - I'd prefer a very simple and ineffective early steel recipe instead. Maybe I'm an outlier but I sidestep early Angel's refining until I have at least green science level (which turns ore into pellets) researched; is that the desired way for players to go? I think it would be nice overall if Angel's refining was incentivised over straight crushing -> smelting up to finishing green techs. Unless I'm forgetting something you need neither tin nor lead to set up Angel's refining machines (all basic boards with just copper), so maybe the direct crush->smelt recipes for tin and lead could be disabled, getting the player to set up Angel's refining before even advancing into green science. At that point I think it would be okay to keep the old solder recipe around for player choice, though it's likely a player who has to make tin and lead via blast furnaces will opt for the Angel's refining recipe on his own. He's now naturally using oxygen for steel already, and making tin and lead ingots for his plates. The jump to solder is tiny and natural at this point.
Solder is likely the first recipe a new player uses Angel's refining for, and it's perhaps a tad too complex for a starting one? Requires fluid in and output, and two types of ingots to melt. Seems like a bit of a jump ahead of the progression curve, if new player experience is relevant to AB. Imo there should be an easier entry point into the angel refining mechanics. Requiring resin for solder seemed punishing enough imo, but still more convenient and might lead to further delay of exploring Angel's refining. My favorite approach to guiding players to refining would be: use the very expensive steel recipe. 10x iron plates as we had. And along with the research for refining (blast furnace, induction and casting tech) add the steel recipe to that tech. This would be obvious enough to get people transitioning to refining for steel, which is required for further refining machines anyway. Perhaps the tech could have a description or be renamed to properly reflect the intent of significantly better steel creation. The current way of making early steel is a bit too efficient while sidestepping the desired effect of getting people to use Angel's refining - I'd prefer a very simple and ineffective early steel recipe instead. Maybe I'm an outlier but I sidestep early Angel's refining until I have at least green science level (which turns ore into pellets) researched; is that the desired way for players to go? I think it would be nice overall if Angel's refining was incentivised over straight crushing -> smelting up to finishing green techs. Unless I'm forgetting something you need neither tin nor lead to set up Angel's refining machines (all basic boards with just copper), so maybe the direct crush->smelt recipes for tin and lead could be disabled, getting the player to set up Angel's refining before even advancing into green science. At that point I think it would be okay to keep the old solder recipe around for player choice, though it's likely a player who has to make tin and lead via blast furnaces will opt for the Angel's refining recipe on his own. He's now naturally using oxygen for steel already, and making tin and lead ingots for his plates. The jump to solder is tiny and natural at this point.