Factorio Forums

This is not a suggestion per se, but I am curious.
You are a lone human being on an alien planet, laying about massive infrastructure, that can actually replicate itself.
It sounds a lot like what a Von Neumann probe would do. Except you are a human.

Some pros of the idea:
- fits the self-replicator, mechanical concept of the game
- No qualms about killing aliens and burning forests, you are just doing what you were programmed to do
- You can't have life and wear armor (which is bad), but you can make and upgrade parts for yourself. Like armor plates, maybe even a turret on your head.
- You could make RPG elements depend on production. For example: Instead of putting skills in Research and Fighting, like a human would, you could construct a Research Core II and place it in a slot in your head. That's optional though.

cons:
- Some people will miss the human element
- The models for cars and train would have to be designed to fit the shape of the robot. Sounds weird to be honest.

You could even extend that by giving the choice of multiple players with some different gameplay... You could have your robot, a scientific, a soldier... Many way to improve a bit the gameplay, and the role play too...

Ween wrote:You could even extend that by giving the choice of multiple players with some different gameplay... You could have your robot, a scientific, a soldier... Many way to improve a bit the gameplay, and the role play too...

I don't like this idea, it's like having classes and being stuck in more or less one role.

The robot idea i think is better, and could be very close to my wish of having perks instead of classes. Perks = robot upgrades.

Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier also. And the thing that is nice is when we all have the same gaming experience.

On the other hand, it would be nice to have some different type of evolution. You still have access to everything, but you could choose to improve you character by different ways...

A robot itself does not explain why the character try to survive. It is just a robots... If you put a human, it is kind of natural trying to survive, waiting for a rescue time or searching for other survivors !!!

The plot is that you prepare the planet for the incoming human space ship, that's why you have to build a radar (useless in gameplay) and a rocket launcher in the campaign.

Kinda resurrecting here, but (again) the only post I could find with this topic...

First of all, where is it written that the player is human, and not a robot to begin with?

Second, I would find it more logical if the player would be a robot (in the story). This because of what the player character can do by itself. Out of nowhere you can 'create' a pickaxe, cogs, even whole chem factories out of your pocket!

Your large pocket aside, if the player could not create anything besides the assembly machine it would be kinda explainable, but the player being a robot is the only explanation I could come op with why 'it' can create anything 'it' wants. (blowtorch and a saw up his sleeve? Inspector Gadget style!)

The robot could be human-like in appearance because humans made him! He is, as stated earlier, down there to make way for the humans!

Triblade wrote:First of all, where is it written that the player is human, and not a robot to begin with?

A quite logical thing: The character is crashed on a planet and wants to return. A robot doesn't need to think like so.

Second, I would find it more logical if the player would be a robot (in the story).

Well, I'm not. See above.

This because of what the player character can do by itself. Out of nowhere you can 'create' a pickaxe, cogs, even whole chem factories out of your pocket!

This can be logically explained with the time this story plays: It's in the future. Not now. This quote explains it better:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke

And one last thing: What do you mean differs a robot in 200 years from a human?
In my eyes there is a big cut: For me a robot is only semi-intelligent. Like my Roomba. Or a horse-like robot, that is able to walk and carry some load. Or self-driving car. It can do a job in a very clear restricted domain. It cannot do jobs outside of this domain. And this is also not wanted, nor needed, cause for the other jobs we still have humans; it's just a matter of pure economical decision, that it is much cheaper to build robots for specific domains, instead of having an universally usable robot (like in Isaac Assimov's SF-stories): That never gonna happen, cause such robots are so complicated and expensive and vulnerable, that it is just "cheaper" to use humans.

Why couldn't a robot 'want' to return? It could be programmed to want it
Especially the ones from the Asimov books (I read a lot (the Foundation series and of course I, robot) a few years back)

[geek]
Or the same as the Borg from Star Trek. They began as an satellite (Voyager VI (A.K.A. V'ger) from earth, but by 'chance' they came upon an alien race which gave it a more intelligent AI, which then in turn, turned into the Borg as we know. (and love?)
Source,click here
[/geek]

ssilk wrote:And one last thing: What do you mean differs a robot in 200 years from a human?

Did I say that? In that case, it could differ, it could not. Depends on your view of humanity. All kinda philosophical and theoretical. But overly simplified said, I think a robot is an artificially created life form that does not have free will.

Triblade wrote:Did I say that? In that case, it could differ, it could not. Depends on your view of humanity. All kinda philosophical and theoretical. But overly simplified said, I think a robot is an artificially created life form that does not have free will.

What you define here is in my eyes an android.

But despite from that small differences between meaning of words in different languages: I repeat, that I know that It just doesn't fit into the factorio background story. It won't make no sense now and with the ongoing story even more-

Other reasons:
There would be just no sense to have a character, which when eating raw fish gains life back.
It won't make sense to have the natives, which we need to kill. A robot can do that without feelings, a human cannot.
A big part of the game's sense is to have this feeling of lonelyness, alone on a planet against bad native lifeforms.
A robot cannot loose his life, cause he has none. He would just be replaced. And so on.

One more reason: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141208.html