[MOD 0.12.30+] VanillaΣx (Vehicles, Defense, Energy & More!)

[orzelek]

Basically if you delete control.lua from any mod, it removes changes to the original game. Usually it won't bug the game and you can still play normally, but the entities from the mod using control.lua will not work correctly. For example, the wind turbines mod: If you delete control.lua, the turbines can still be crafted, placed, etc, but they won't generate any power.
control.lua is optional, and anything that modifies the vanilla game has to use control.lua.

mm apparently it is possible to have multiple control files, by adding

Code: Select all

require "control2.lua"

at the control.lua file, I have no idea if this name pattern is important. For the 2nd file that is.

Two things:
1. Deleting control.lua doesn't affect mod entities - removing the mod will remove it's entities from game.
2. control.lua is a predefined name - engine looks for it in same way as for data.lua, data-updates.lua and data-final-fixes.lua. Those files can require an other files but they are the entry points.

[bloc97]

Two things:
1. Deleting control.lua doesn't affect mod entities - removing the mod will remove it's entities from game.
2. control.lua is a predefined name - engine looks for it in same way as for data.lua, data-updates.lua and data-final-fixes.lua. Those files can require an other files but they are the entry points.

Yea you're completely right, control.lua requires other scripts, while none require control.lua, except if defined in data.lua, or someone does something weird such as inserting event scripts inside items.lua or technology.lua... The chances of that happening is quite rare.

[StarFox31]

Well, now I cant wait to finish my current game so I can start a new one with this mod. Looks excellent.

[bloc97]

Well, now I cant wait to finish my current game so I can start a new one with this mod. Looks excellent.

Happy to hear that, and you probably will need to restart a couple of times, as I plan to add much more in the upcoming updates.

I might not work on this mod until next month due to the final assessment projects that I have to finish before the end of the semester.
I will definitively add all the mentioned features in the upcoming updates before June. (All the features decided in the last poll vote)

[Raught19]

I'm going to try this mod this weekend, looks awesome! Will post my review here. Think I will combine it with Natural Evolution and Mobswarm

[401]

The added solar-panels need better icons to differentiate from each other, different color like how the accumulators are would be beneficial. Otherwise, awesome mod.

[bloc97]

The added solar-panels need better icons to differentiate from each other, different color like how the accumulators are would be beneficial. Otherwise, awesome mod.

Hm... The advanced solar panels have more separation lines (is it that subtle?), but I will look at how to improve the advanced accumulators' icon.

[Raught19]

Hey, I've played an hour of the mod so far, great stuff!

I ran into an issue though, I'm currently running 0.0.8 and I took a break, and upon loading my save I am getting the error:

Unknown key:"Error while running the on_load: __VanillaEx__/control.lua:12: attempt to index global 'game' (a nil value)"

Sadly this has stopped my progression

Hopefully this can be fixed soon. I am currently looking into it as well, because while I'm not familiar with Factorio's lua I did make gamemodes in garrysmod. If I can figure anything out I will post it here.


EDIT: So I couldn't figure out a fix. buuuut I commented it out. and it works... hopefully that doesn't just ruin me lol

[bloc97]

Unknown key:"Error while running the on_load: __VanillaEx__/control.lua:12: attempt to index global 'game' (a nil value)"

Thank you for reporting the issue.
Currently control.lua only serves as reloading the crafting tables if you disable parts of the mod. Deleting it should fix the problem in your case.
However, if you don't mind re-downloading the mod, the problem is fixed in bugfix 0.0.8a.

[Raught19]

Done deal! Thanks for the quick fix! Testing new version now

[maurojunior2011]

Version 0.0.8a [ Fixed crash on loading game ] , working fine, but advanced accumulator is invisible in crafting screen.

Version 0.0.8b [ advanced accumulator is visible in crafting screen ] , but crash on loading game.

[bloc97]

Version 0.0.8a [ Fixed crash on loading game ] , working fine, but advanced accumulator is invisible in crafting screen.

Version 0.0.8b [ advanced accumulator is visible in crafting screen ] , but crash on loading game.

I'm such an airhead... I used 0.0.8 to make 0.0.8a and 0.0.8b independently... So each one did not have the other bugfix.
The two versions are merged now as 0.0.8c. Hope I did not forget anything else... I'll keep v0.0.8a available since that version is confirmed to work, just in case I did something stupid again with 0.0.8c.

Edit: In meantime, I am working on the wind power sprites. I currently have a small and medium wind turbine.

[Raught19]

Hey so I got about 18 hours with this mod, and I have to say its pretty fantastic. I know I can always go in and alter the fields, but I just wanted to make some suggestions for balance changes based from my play through. My only other mods are Natural Evolution and Mob swarm.

I haven't unlocked all the tanks yet, but I have unlocked all ammo and weapons so I will be mainly focusing on that.

Ammo:
Incendiary Ammo is amazing. Fire damage in a bullet just deals so much damage.

Explosive Ammo Damage is kinda lacking compared to Incendiary ammo. the Tier 2 Incendiary ammo, since most aliens have lower resistance to fire. I would actually switch the materials and crafting time for explosive and Incendiary . Or, alternatively make the explosive ammo, do a small AoE when shot, that would make it pretty balanced with the lower damage.

Hollow Point is mehh damage, better than piercing, but makes sense for its lowered crafting cost.


Guns:
Assault rifle: The range was really nice with this one. But Once I got the LMG, the LMG is just better in all regards sadly.
LMG: The range on this is Superb, firing speed is great. No real downside to this gun!
Rotary: Now this gun looked awesome to use. but sadly with its 10m range, by the time anything comes into range you are already dead or surrounded. Especially by spitters. I increased the range to 18 which brings it more inline.


Also side note, what is the point of the cargo tank? Just lower energy consumption? I expected it to have a bigger inventory or something.

Hopefully this didn't seem too nitpicky, just wanted to share my feedback!

Great mod though man, I can't imagine playing without it!

[drownet]

I also really like this mod in singleplayer, especially the solar panels and advanced batteries.

However, when using this mod in multiplayer we get constantly desyncs (every 1-10 seconds) after playing with it for a few hours.
It did some testing and it turns out it (unfortunately) is only this mod.
Here is what I tested (all multiplayer, since singleplayer works fine):
- Had version 0.0.8c of VanillaEx
- Tested it with hamachi and local area network; activated and deactivated peer to peer each time; set latency from 249ms to 1992ms (500ms, 1000ms in between)
- Tested it with Versions 0.12.29-0.12.32; both PCs always had the same version (and the same mods)
- Other mods installed: AdvancedEquipment_0.4.3, air-filtering_0.3.1, Electric Furnaces_1.3.3, WaterWell_1.0.7
- Deactivated all mods except VanillaEx: still desyncs
- Activated all mods except VanillaEx: runs smoothly

I am not that familiar with the mechanics in the background. What I found out means for me that I won't use VanillaEx in multiplayer, but like it very much in singleplayer!

[Raught19]

However, when using this mod in multiplayer we get constantly desyncs (every 1-10 seconds) after playing with it for a few hours.

I haven't run into that issue while playing multiplayer for a few hours. Is there anything that happens before that triggers it?

[drownet]

I haven't run into that issue while playing multiplayer for a few hours. Is there anything that happens before that triggers it?

Unfortunately not. We just played without any problems, saved the game normally like we did before and tried to start again the next day. That's when the desync started.

Just to clarify: We used the mod the first time during that session, which lasted for about 3 hours. The map is about 28h old and we didn't use the mod before reaching about 25h. We had no problems prior to that.

[bloc97]

Unfortunately not. We just played without any problems, saved the game normally like we did before and tried to start again the next day. That's when the desync started.
Just to clarify: We used the mod the first time during that session, which lasted for about 3 hours. The map is about 28h old and we didn't use the mod before reaching about 25h. We had no problems prior to that.

Try deleting control.lua (in server and all clients) and see if the desyncs cease. If not, then another mod is causing the problem. Currently in v0.0.8c, the only thing capable of causing desyncs is the recipe reload script in control.lua. All the other features are tables and only get loaded once when the game starts, thus cannot cause periodic desyncs. (Factorio dev correct me if I'm wrong about how your Engine/API works)
In 0.0.9 @pre you might get desyncs in MP, but since its a nightly build, its not intended for all around use.

If you can post the logs of the desync, we might be able to help you locating either the mod or the source of the problem.
If you can post the savefile itself, it would be best! Then I can look myself what is causing the problem and if it is related to my mod.

Explosive Ammo Damage is kinda lacking compared to Incendiary ammo. the Tier 2 Incendiary ammo, since most aliens have lower resistance to fire. I would actually switch the materials and crafting time for explosive and Incendiary . Or, alternatively make the explosive ammo, do a small AoE when shot, that would make it pretty balanced with the lower damage.
Hollow Point is mehh damage, better than piercing, but makes sense for its lowered crafting cost.
[...]
Also side note, what is the point of the cargo tank? Just lower energy consumption? I expected it to have a bigger inventory or something.

Hopefully this didn't seem too nitpicky, just wanted to share my feedback!

Your suggestions are noted, and I intend to flesh out the balance before v0.1.0 (the big update). Currently they are the way they are since I used an weighted equation to balance all the guns/tanks, and thus they should have only small improvements in firepower. Only the ammo really affects the damage per resource. When 0.1.0 hits, I might make the LMG less accurate (meaning less good for ammo conservationists), and the rotary shoot like an shotgun (conical spread damage) and have warm-up.
Explosive bullets' explosion is too small to deal any significant AoE, and will serve its purpose when I add more aliens.
Cargo trucks can be researched way earlier than tanks, and can be used to transport more stuff than automobiles. I refrained myself from actually modifying the vanilla tank values in fear of backlash ;P

Edit: If you don't see a lot of progress on this mod for a few weeks, that's because I have to complete my end semester comprehensive projects. (They do take a lot of my time)
I should be pumping out code nonstop after May 19th though

[Raught19]

Your suggestions are noted, and I intend to flesh out the balance before v0.1.0 (the big update). Currently they are the way they are since I used an weighted equation to balance all the guns/tanks, and thus they should have only small improvements in firepower. Only the ammo really affects the damage per resource. When 0.1.0 hits, I might make the LMG less accurate (meaning less good for ammo conservationists), and the rotary shoot like an shotgun (conical spread damage) and have warm-up.
Explosive bullets' explosion is too small to deal any significant AoE, and will serve its purpose when I add more aliens.
Cargo trucks can be researched way earlier than tanks, and can be used to transport more stuff than automobiles. I refrained myself from actually modifying the vanilla tank values in fear of backlash ;P

Edit: If you don't see a lot of progress on this mod for a few weeks, that's because I have to complete my end semester comprehensive projects. (They do take a lot of my time)
I should be pumping out code nonstop after May 19th though

Thanks for reading my suggestions I am especially excited for the planes and water vehicles.

If I may make a request, if you alter the biters could you make it a separate mod edition or compatible with Natural Evolution and Mob Swarm? Your mod currently meshes amazing well with those two mods. It is extremely satisfying and feels very balanced.

[bloc97]

[..]
if you alter the biters could you make it a separate mod edition or compatible with Natural Evolution and Mob Swarm? Your mod currently meshes amazing well with those two mods. It is extremely satisfying and feels very balanced.

Compatibility with Natural Evolution is planned, since what I am planning would merge very well with that mod. It would detect if NE is installed and adjust its spawning accordingly. Mod Swarm would be harder (still feasible), but it won't be a priority, since the two mods would work independently, its just that the custom aliens won't split on death.

[401]

I also really like this mod in singleplayer, especially the solar panels and advanced batteries.

However, when using this mod in multiplayer we get constantly desyncs (every 1-10 seconds) after playing with it for a few hours.
It did some testing and it turns out it (unfortunately) is only this mod.
Here is what I tested (all multiplayer, since singleplayer works fine):
- Had version 0.0.8c of VanillaEx
- Tested it with hamachi and local area network; activated and deactivated peer to peer each time; set latency from 249ms to 1992ms (500ms, 1000ms in between)
- Tested it with Versions 0.12.29-0.12.32; both PCs always had the same version (and the same mods)
- Other mods installed: AdvancedEquipment_0.4.3, air-filtering_0.3.1, Electric Furnaces_1.3.3, WaterWell_1.0.7
- Deactivated all mods except VanillaEx: still desyncs
- Activated all mods except VanillaEx: runs smoothly

I am not that familiar with the mechanics in the background. What I found out means for me that I won't use VanillaEx in multiplayer, but like it very much in singleplayer!

I can confirm continuous Desyncs, after as myself and friend logged off for night, then next day it started desyncing as soon as you join server. Similar to what Drow has done, I did the following in this order:

- 1st attempt = removed VanillaEX while keeping other mods activated: No desyncs.
- 2nd attempt = re-added VanillaEX while keeping other mods activated: Desynced.
- 3rd attempt = removed all mods except VanillaEX: Desynced.

Confirmed VanillaEX causes desync for multiplayer. Haven't tested enough in single player to give any feedback if it's stable. I really don't know how to reproduce this.

Other notes:
- Game Versions: Firstly the problem started happening on 12.29, then I updated to 12.33 problem still exists.
- Max players on save = 2
- Both players have 50ms or less latency with each other and server.