Friday Facts #102 - Getting close

[Rahjital]

Aw, I hoped the power switch would have been 1x1 or 1x2. 2x2 is huge!

Also it's great to hear the FactorioMods is going to be (well, sort of) made official. It's so much better than the silly fractured mod forums we have, but it's not used nearly enough...

[Drury]

CALLED IT LIKE AN ELEVATOR TO THE TOILET FLOOR WHEN HOLDING IN THE MOST EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA

[TheKingOfFailure]

CALLED IT LIKE AN ELEVATOR TO THE TOILET FLOOR WHEN HOLDING IN THE MOST EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA

Congratulations! *Golf claps*

[-root]

Unlike load break switches and circuit breakers, disconnectors lack a mechanism for suppression of electric arc, which occurs when conductors carrying high currents are electrically interrupted. Thus, they are off-load devices, intended to be opened only after current has been interrupted by some other control device. Safety regulations of the utility must prevent any attempt to open the disconnector while it supplies a circuit.

cccccombobreaker....

Dave, don't be raining on people's parade man. It looks good. It clearly associates the idea with a concept people are familiar with (putting a power plug into a power socket) and it looks good

[lyallp]

Regarding the Power switch.
Looks cool and love the action, what would be really cool would be an 'electric arc' as it goes on/off.
An observation and a question or two.
I assume the active/neutral side can be either side.
Does the switch have to be quite so big? Could it be more compact? Say combinator compact?
Also, does it rotate? As in cables enter leave from top/bottom?
If it does rotate, I assume it's only top/bottom left/right, otherwise the red/green lights would be on the other side and not visible.

Great stuff, keep up the good work.

[GewaltSam]

The power switch looks great, and I like the functionality - a red/green lamp and a visible connection/disconnection of the power line should be easy to check while passing by. I personally don't mind it being 2x2 - the modding community will come up with smaller versions anyway, if needed

To your goals: I think your system of taking it step by step is the right decision. In my Opinion, it is very important that you continue to listen to good input from the community; but, when more people are joining this community, you will get more different opinions on how things should work. And I think that most players don't always want the "right" thing. I've seen it a few times now that loud communities get their will with some features in games, which, in the end, made the game itself worse.
Long story short: YOU guys are the designers, and you should know best. Let the community be helpful to your work with good arguments. But ignore the ones that are only loud.
(I hope what I wanted to say didn't get lost in translation )

==============

Unlike load break switches and circuit breakers, disconnectors lack a mechanism for suppression of electric arc, which occurs when conductors carrying high currents are electrically interrupted. Thus, they are off-load devices, intended to be opened only after current has been interrupted by some other control device. Safety regulations of the utility must prevent any attempt to open the disconnector while it supplies a circuit.

cccccombobreaker....

Dave, don't be raining on people's parade man. It looks good. It clearly associates the idea with a concept people are familiar with (putting a power plug into a power socket) and it looks good

I think he answered to this:

although i love the new power breaker i do belive that it looks kind off odd.
why make a big heavy (and overengineered) machine when you can use a disconnector (google it)

also i would love a way to stop trains as i still have train problems (there are a tiny chocke point that only fits 3 rail lines that is used by 14 trains)

best of luck

================

Among other things, read today how NOT to test your web applications: http://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-102

A QA tester walks into a bar. Orders a beer. Orders 0 beers. Orders 999999999 beers. Orders a lizard. Orders -1 beers. Orders a sfdeljknesv. Orders a '; DROP TABLE users;

I lol'd

[Darthlawsuit]

Finish lines are a human creation. The universe has no finish lines only infinite change. If you get rich making this game do what you enjoy. If you enjoy working on the game then keep working on the game, maby work less hours and make it more relaxing.

[Flextt]

If you really want to take Mojang as a model case for designing a successful indie game:

Concentrate on a solid, technical basis for the game until its release. A performant, flexible and open technical basis will go a long way and avoid continous world breaking after patches and costly rewrites.
Respect your modding community.
Keep out flavor content with very limited impact to the gameplay until the release.

I am not a programmer, I am just really frustrated with how Mojang maintains the game ever since the early beta. I am confident you will do better. Factorio has one main advantage:

You have a set target group with the technical background. Keep building on it.

[Drury]

Among other things, read today how NOT to test your web applications: http://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-102

A QA tester walks into a bar. Orders a beer. Orders 0 beers. Orders 999999999 beers. Orders a lizard. Orders -1 beers. Orders a sfdeljknesv. Orders a '; DROP TABLE users;

I lol'd

I liked the reply to this one that basically goes

QA tester leaves, satisfied. A customer walks into the bar. Asks where are the bathrooms. Bar bursts into flames, killing everyone.

[marsch]

thx for the Friday Facts

[ssilk]

A QA tester walks into a bar. Orders a beer. Orders 0 beers. Orders 999999999 beers. Orders a lizard. Orders -1 beers. Orders a sfdeljknesv. Orders a '; DROP TABLE users;
QA tester leaves, satisfied. A customer walks into the bar. Asks where are the bathrooms. Bar bursts into flames, killing everyone.

Lol.

I think it can go also like so:

A QA tester walks into a bar. Orders NULL beer. Orders 0 beers. Orders a lizard. Orders -1 beers. Orders a sfdeljknesv. Orders a '; DROP TABLE users; Orders 999999999 beers.
After a while the police comes and brings him into a drying-out cell.

[happymoep]

A QA tester walks into a bar. Orders a beer. Orders 0 beers. Orders 999999999 beers. Orders a lizard. Orders -1 beers. Orders a sfdeljknesv. Orders a '; DROP TABLE users;
QA tester leaves, satisfied. A customer walks into the bar. Asks where are the bathrooms. Bar bursts into flames, killing everyone.

Love this one XD

I really liked this FF. To be honest, it passed me that Notch has had a divorce :S. I knew about it when he married and I know some of his depressed posts here and there but I didn't know it is that bad for him :/. I feel really sad for him.
But on other terms:
It is good that you guys have a (distant) look at things like that already. Being prepared for what might come without dwelling in fear is a good thing.
When reading your FF entry and the way you took away complaints with that "Now don't get me wrong [...]" I was astounded by how well-thought-out your posts are
You guys are great and under-appreciated!

The news about the modding portal are great and the same accounts for your GFX reinforcement.
I would have imagined a smaller version of a switch aswell, but if you think about it it makes sense. You are (dis-)connecting a whole network of power generation so a massive connector is realistic.
Also:

I personally don't mind it being 2x2 - the modding community will come up with smaller versions anyway, if needed

The graphics are really good and they totally fit the style of all your machines (@Xterminator said it). If you get along well with Vaclav that's just perfect.

give vaclav a cookie

@GewaltSam:
You said many true and fitting things. I agree with your post in every point (Don't worry about translation)

To those questions about the switch:
I am pretty sure it is meant to be activated by a circuit network because that is what they where aiming for the whole time.
(Many) Players want to use their steam engines only when the rest of power production does not suffice and this is a step towards that.

Conclusion:
I support what matjojo said about you having fun. Don't make too much of success and responsibility. You started this project for fun and it should stay fun for you. If that doesn't work for you any longer you might have to bail out. The world might hate you but it's your sanity and you have to think about yourselves. I think Notch said that in the beginning aswell but it seems he didn't manage to keep that up. If the world hates you you have to shake it off. Stick to your friends and family and I can only wish for you to do well on that train to success.
Here, have some love <3

[SHiRKiT]

1. The lesson learned from Notch is important. It's utterly, the most important lesson we can learn in life: the journey is the reason of life, or life itself is it's own meaning, and we are the ones who create the meaning for it!

2. The art although looks cool, it feels a bit "big"