0.15 - plans?

[TheTom]

I think with the changes coming (new entities, revamp of the science packs and the endless research)... any words on the ideas how Bobs mod will move to accomodate this?

[bobingabout]

The current plan, in it's most simplified form is.

Come home Tuesday evening, Check if 0.15 is released.
Try and get some mods that don't require much updating working (Like the Library), and release those ASAP.
Spend the next few days going through the rest of my mods one by one, checking if they still work, what doesn't work, what doesn't make sense anymore, what completely needs rewriting (Steam power does, research tiers probably do too).
Mods that don't require much in the way of changes Like Ores (Okay, I actually do need to completely redo the graphics to bring it up to 0.15 spec, but that will probably still work even if I don't, they can be updated afterwards) will probably be updated and released first. Mods that require more effort, like Tech, Power and Warfare will likely be last on the list.

You're probably looking at about a week before something of everything is released, and more like a month before everything makes sense.

Config mod will not appear in 0.15, as there will be a new in game configuration system to work with.

[eformo]

I'll be waiting until the mods I play with are updated before I update to 0.15. Not saying that to rush you, but to show how important your work is to my enjoyment of the game Bob. Thank you!


I'd like to make a plea. The biter artifacts have left the game because they didn't add much in vanilla. But you have expanded so much on that basic mechanic, and I'd hate to lose that. I love them as a drop from dead biters/nests, and I love them when I make them through Angel's bio-processing mods - either way. I hope/plead that they would remain in your mod in some form, because they are a totally different challenge to automate at present.

Regardless, thanks again for your hard work!

[bobingabout]

Alien Artifacts will remain (And re-add base game version) in the bob's enemies mod. However, I an unsure if I should have them enabled, or disabled by default.

[WhiskyCharlie]

Bob,

Just wanted to say thank you. I am loving all the work you have done and will do to make this such a fun complex game.

[SHiRKiT]

Glad to hear, love your mods bob!

[porcupine]

Bob,

Just wanted to say thank you. I am loving all the work you have done and will do to make this such a fun complex game.

I second that. Bob's mods add such a level of depth to a game that already has a pretty ridiculous level. It's beautiful.

[solidscarlet]

The Base game is great but it's a fucking joke compared to the complex and convoluted mess of a hellscape insanity I was running in 0.14 . Your mods and angels were the absolute centerpiece of this setup that took 80 hours minimum of game play to just to get to modular armor. NEEDING a 60+ belt wide main bus and 30+ trains to scrape my way up to purple and yellow science packs made me feel like I really earned the Jets and special rockets that came with the other mods I like. I really appreciate the hard work Bob and I'm looking forward to seeing you update everything.

[bobingabout]

Irony:
I could have done some preliminary work on my mods last night, Except since the news said "Tuesday" I didn't even check to see if the update was released until most of the evening had already passed.

Progress:
Clock works with 0.15 without modification. (Obviously I renamed it to 0.15 and edited the .JSON file to tell the game it was for 0.15)

Plans for today:
Starting with Inserter GUI mod, See if it works, and what needs changing, Then move on to Library and Ores.

Most of the Ores mod code is actually in the library mod, including basic graphics. The ores mod itself basically holds definitions of what each ore is, which is passed through the library, plus the icon and gems ore graphics. There are some planned changes I need to make such as HD ore graphics and being able to dynamically create an icon (in 0.15, Icons can be tinted, and layered!) but hopefully, these will require minimal updates.

Depending how long this takes, I MAY get chance to move on to the next mod, but the library MUST be first (It's used by most of my mods), and due to their inter-dependency, I will be working on it side by side with ores.

NOTE: I can't even start until I get home from work.

[TheTom]

Just checking release notes.

Tiers can stay in at least for mining.

* Added infinite mining productivity research, each tier increases mining productivity by 2%.

2% is nice, and if it explodes fast enough in cost it is a good "after last tier" addendum, bit it will not change the world

* Infinite resource minimal yield

So, that one is in - interesting. I would appreciate a way to get rid of them in game (so I can remove ressources on the base that are in the way), btw.

[Sygmasf]

i just wanna thank you for this awesome mods, i can't really play without them since i tried it so my first 0.15 play has to wait =D
im looking forward to update my italian translation too, as soon as you define all your mods and items!

[Shadoku]

Can't want to see the mods in 0.15

Luckily your inserters work correctly in .15, as I've gotten to where I can't play without them.

[bobingabout]

Can't want to see the mods in 0.15

Luckily your inserters work correctly in .15, as I've gotten to where I can't play without them.

Since the clock worked with a simple version edit, I suspected that inserters would only require the same.

[Jackalope_Gaming]

Alien Artifacts will remain (And re-add base game version) in the bob's enemies mod. However, I an unsure if I should have them enabled, or disabled by default.

Since Enemies can just be tacked on to vanilla, and vanilla doesn't need them anymore, it probably makes most sense to have them default disabled on vanilla. Ditto for any other combination of your mods that don't require artifacts.

Although, what you end up doing with science packs and such is a whole different story isn't it?

Idea: Would it be possible to have hybrid science packs? Like high tech + production, and those take artifacts to craft and potentially their own labs to research?

[bobingabout]

I didn't really make any plans for last night because I was working late. However I still managed to get time to go through and update the enemies mod.

This basically concludes the "Easy" updates...
Keeping in mind I'm still on the first pass. First pass is "Make things work". There will be a second pass "Make things make sense" coming once the first pass is complete.

However, there still needs to be a degree of science pack balancing during the first phase.

Keep in mind I've not actually played 0.15 yet to see how the science packs work... Plans for today include looking through the new technology tree and then working on my tech mod. My Tech mod will still include basically as it did previously, Alien Science and Science pack 4. At least for now, I might be adding more labs and science packs to further complicate the complicated tree. The aim however is to try not to have more than 8 science packs per lab, so adding more science packs means adding more labs.

Updating the tech mod itself probably wouldn't take that long to do, but since I'll be working with the new system, I need to do that bit of research to draw out what science packs should cost in the new version, and draw up a basic diagram of what each "Level" science packs are, from there it will make updating the technology in all other mods easier.

After Tech, MCI, because after ore, enemies and tech, it's the base cornerstone. Basically, there's a hierarchy for the mods, some depend on others existing to change recipes, and it makes sense to start with the bottom of the tree and work your way up.

Library is first, Ores, Enemies and Tech are all (optional) second stage mods, MCI is the main stage mod, and then most of the others like Machines, Warfare, Modules etc are end stage mods. Electronics is one of the few main stage mods that exists side by side with MCI.

[TheTom]

Perfect. Looking forward. I strted a.0.15 vanilla try and - well, let's say I am not happy to stack turrets that much.

Putting it aside for a week or two Waiting for my favourite bob.

If you do the rethinking....
* I actually like no alien science pack. Problem is that the collection is tendious and - they bog down the system if you do not collect (like on an outpost far out). Also I am not sure anyone ever bothered with alien "Powered" ammunition.

* May I suggest a less powerfull power generator hierarchy to start? I found that buidling 2 of the new steam tubrines lasts quite long - downgrading it and then hving tier 2 or so being like the current starter ones may make sense. The new system stock system is extremely compact at the beginning. TOO compact if you ask me.

One other problm I found with the old bob mod:
* Aliens did not scale well. The moment you hit a power armor with shield and higher turrets you could basically just walz into a base and do nothing. IMHO that requires some rescaling.

Keep up the good work

[obuw]

Thanks for continuing to update your fantastic mods, I don't even want to touch vanilla now, definitely not playing 0.15 until I can play with bobs mods.

Regarding alien science packs, I can't even fathom how people can play with aliens disabled. So much of the game just becomes obsolete without them - no need for walls, weapons, turrets. All that weaponry research becomes useless.

Anyway, just as an idea for their automation, would you consider having an upgrade for the turrets that allows them to collect artifacts from dead biters? Perhaps even something like "frequency laser" upgrades for the laser turrets to make the enemies more likely to drop a certain color artifact? Or perhaps some liquid ammo for the flamethrower that makes it mutate generic biter bases to a certain color? I think it could be a fun way to automate the collection of alien artifacts to make ammo for your gun turrets and etc.

As soon as you update your mods, I'll also be updating my warfare mod to make use of all your ammo.

[bobingabout]

I have seen mods (FMod and DyTech, which I think "borrowed" the code from FMod) that pick up artifacts. the problem is that there is no system to do that in the base game, so they were using a script with a scan range. and that is probably as laggy, if not more so than picking up the artifacts.


Now, in theory, there is an automation system for picking up artifacts already, if you can be bothered to build it.
Belts.
Attached is an image of something I built, that worked well.

Belts to pick up artifacts.

Screenshot 2017-04-28 12.57.47.png (2.74 MiB) Viewed 9872 times

[ukezi]

you should reverse the direction of the belts and put the collector far out. that way you not only collect but also push the biters and spiters away from your walls.

[bobingabout]

you should reverse the direction of the belts and put the collector far out. that way you not only collect but also push the biters and spiters away from your walls.

I never said it was a good design, just that it was something I made that works. There are better examples around if you look for them.