[MOD 0.13] Armageddon - nice little disasters

[binbinhfr]

Infos

• Type: Mod
• Name: Armageddon
• Description: Adds catastrophic events and other disasters to the game.
• Tested-With-Factorio-Version: 0.13.0
• Locale: english, french
• Multiplayer compatible: tested on a headless server.
• Tags: Enemies, Disasters, Special events
• License: You are free to use and distribute this mod and also to modify it for personal use, but not to release a modified version without permission (unless visibly not maintained anymore).
• Portal download : https://mods.factorio.com/mods/binbinhfr/Armageddon

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DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION
So you think that behind your walls and turrets, life is a long quiet river... You still believe that you can fall into deep sleep when night falls, just listening to the familiar sounds of your automated factory... Don't you think that God could appreciate throwing a dice from times to times ? You will learn the hard way that you were wrong !

Well ok, the title of this mod is maybe a little exagerated , but the idea is here :
I found that it would be great if sometimes, a catastrophic event would appear to break the routine.
Like a bunch of aliens making a tunnel and coming of from the ground in the middle of your base !
Or a gigantic Biterzilla crawling in your factory !
Or an overall alien frenzy making a large group of aliens attacking your base at the same time !

These disasters will be related to the overall alien evolution and will not appear too soon at the early stages of the game where player is still a bit harmless.
Their strength and frequency will also increase with the evolution.

I found it adds some fun and some action moments to the game. Robots are here to reconstruct, but you have to react, and to be prepared to go quickly on the alert area and solve the problem before the damages get too expensive...

WARNING : if you are installing this mod on a big existing map, there will be one period of scan during the very first installation (up to 1 minute on big maps), so that the mod learn where are the constructed zones. Please be patient. This scan only happens once.

TIPS :
- Biterzilla is slow but strong and full of life. Beware : he can oneshot you !
- Biterzilla has a strong main attack, but he also damages constructions around him just by walking.
- Destroying green nests rewards you with a bunch of alien artifacts.
- You can customize some parameters of the mod in config.lua file.
- If you want to trigger one event manually (for testing purpose or for fun), you can type in the console : /c remote.call("armageddon", "invasion") or /c remote.call("armageddon", "biterzilla") or /c remote.call( "armageddon", "frenzy") and look on the map where the alarm rings
- You can also use /c remote.call("armageddon", "on") and /c remote.call("armageddon", "off") if you want to temporarly enable/disable the mod (for example if you want to let your factory running alone for one night, you'd better disable disasters).
- You can use /c remote.call( "armageddon", "reset" ) to reset the counters and kill biterzillas.

PICTURES

INVASION

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BITERZILLA

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TODO

TODO
- will add other disasters like earthquakes, volcano, floods. Will have to see how I can represent them with the API features.

KNOWN ISSUES

KNOWN ISSUES
- sometimes, Biterzilla is doing weird things and does not seem to have a brain...
- if your base is perfectly closed or your are on an island, the frenzy will have sometimes problem to start because Factorio Alien pathfinder do not find a way to attack...

Download
For Factorio 0.13.X :
Please now use the portal for downloads (see link above or use ingame mod install/update), as I won't update both downloads links here anymore.

[sporefreak]

Hot Dam cant wait for the floods! (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, sorry)
Yet another Great looking mod from binbin! I would love to see this work with that mod that adds massive worms popping up from the ground (I cant think of the name but i know it exists)
Also, chances of getting a better-looking biterZilla? that ones a bit pixelated (Not a big deal really)

I would love to see in game turrets specifically made to counter these events. being otherwise really weak.

[binbinhfr]

I would love to see in game turrets specifically made to counter these events. being otherwise really weak.

Do you have problem beating the events ? With 10-20 laser turrets it works for me. Do you think events are too hard ? Maybe I could size them down. Or make them happen later in game/evolution. Balacing this kind of mod is not easy.

However, you can tweak the strength of the biterzilla in config.lua :
biterzilla = { proba_max = 0.6, minimal_evolution = 0.9, max_health = 200000, damage = 1000 }, -- gigantic bitter

lower his health and damage.

For Biterzilla pixelisation, alas I do not have the original files from factorio to generate new precise pictures...

[binbinhfr]

0.13 update

[odin_spain]

I love your mod, but I like to be more events, like big attacks or something.

[binbinhfr]

I love your mod, but I like to be more events, like big attacks or something.

Yes, I will try to invent other disasters, and see how global alien attacks can be conducted.

[hitzu]

Great mod! I think you could replace green spawners with more appropriate graphics for the tunnel.

worm-tunnel.png (19.01 KiB) Viewed 25026 times

[binbinhfr]

Great mod! I think you could replace green spawners with more appropriate graphics for the tunnel.

worm-tunnel.png

Thx !

A little late, but here it is : new graphics for invasion with the tunnel you provided (where did you get it ?)
please update.

[Qloshae]

I love your mod, but I like to be more events, like big attacks or something.

Yes, I will try to invent other disasters, and see how global alien attacks can be conducted.

Oooh, I know. How about biter frenzy?
At maybe 0.95<, there's a small chance (like maybe 5%) that all visible biter bases are infuriated by your factory and amass a single large scale assault.
Not talking about super complicated AI stuff, instead just like how they will randomly attack if in pollution. This triggers it for all visible bases a single time.
Yay or nay on possible?

[hitzu]

Great mod! I think you could replace green spawners with more appropriate graphics for the tunnel.

worm-tunnel.png

Thx !

A little late, but here it is : new graphics for invasion with the tunnel you provided (where did you get it ?)
please update.

This is just a worm sprite with a bit of photoshopping to erase the worm itself.

[binbinhfr]

At maybe 0.95<, there's a small chance (like maybe 5%) that all visible biter bases are infuriated by your factory and amass a single large scale assault.
Not talking about super complicated AI stuff, instead just like how they will randomly attack if in pollution. This triggers it for all visible bases a single time.
Yay or nay on possible?

Possible ? Honestly I don't know. I will see if I can "command" biters, but I never study this part of the API before.

[Peter34]

I don't like the idea of the natives digging a tunnel right to the middle of my base. I think it'd be much more realistic if they simply dig under the Wall perimeter and penetrate 1d4/2 Chunks distance under the Wall, before emerging.

That'll still give a huge shock, and so forth, but it'll seem much more plausible.

[binbinhfr]

I don't like the idea of the natives digging a tunnel right to the middle of my base. I think it'd be much more realistic if they simply dig under the Wall perimeter and penetrate 1d4/2 Chunks distance under the Wall, before emerging.

Ha ha, alas, I really don't know how I can detect all these complex stuff : presence of wall, no wall, shape of the wall (convex/concav), wall closed/opened, inside/outside, etc...
From now on, I choose a random location on the map, in the chunks that are populated with human buildings.
I am afraid it will remain like this.

Anyway, Aliens are really smarter than you think : they feel polution and they are digging just where they want, not for your convenience !

PS : when YOU attack them, are you staying just around, waiting for their aknowledgment ?

[binbinhfr]

This is just a worm sprite with a bit of photoshopping to erase the worm itself.

Yes I did a little bit PS too, to make a filled hole from yours.
But alas, I had to publish a new version, because this new animation creates a crash in the game.

Please update as soon as you can and we will wait factorio 0.13.18 for a new try
I reported the bug, that will be corrected :
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=31205

[binbinhfr]

Oooh, I know. How about biter frenzy?
Yay or nay on possible?

Possible !!!
waiting the return of the new tunnel graphics with Factorio 0.13.18 and its bug correction,
here is : the ALIEN FRENZY !!!!!!!!!

1.0.7 - add a frenzy disaster : a large group of furious aliens suddenly attack a zone of the base.

to test this manually, type :
/c remote.call( "armageddon", "frenzy" )

otherwise you'll have to wait for evolution = 0.95.

[Qloshae]

Oooh, I know. How about biter frenzy?
Yay or nay on possible?

Possible !!!
waiting the return of the new tunnel graphics with Factorio 0.13.18 and its bug correction,
here is : the ALIEN FRENZY !!!!!!!!!

1.0.7 - add a frenzy disaster : a large group of furious aliens suddenly attack a zone of the base.

to test this manually, type :
/c remote.call( "armageddon", "frenzy" )

otherwise you'll have to wait for evolution = 0.95.

Awesome!

[binbinhfr]

Awesome!

I know you would like it
Did you test it ?
How does it feel in terms of balance ? Not too many aliens ?

[Qloshae]

Awesome!

I know you would like it
Did you test it ?
How does it feel in terms of balance ? Not too many aliens ?

I tested it. They're able to run over a small outpost (awesome), but can be dealt with if you focus your effort.
It didn't work on my old save tho, but that might have been because we were in our own personally named forces or something or because we were basically on an island with a few entrances so they AI might have gotten stuck.
It was basically like the underground tunnel in difficulty. Except scaled as you see them coming somewhat.

It reminded me a bit of startship troopers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVO6A2anEqI

A good change of pace. In our PvP map I spent about a day of playtime watching movies because nothing was happening and I was done with everything. Like, what will the normal biter attacks do against a wall with 3 outer layers, 2 inner layers and with 3 layers of laser turrets? This I think will definitively make people scramble their defenses from time to time if they aren't super paranoid with their defenses.

Honestly, they were definitively possible to deal with even at like 0.0, because then it was just normal small biters.
I think they might make for a better base armageddon since they're the most like the normal vanilla type stuff in contrast to the invasion or biterzilla which are really cool and unlike vanilla.

Thinking maybe

invasion = { proba = 0.2, minimal_evolution = 0.5, nb_nests_min = 3, nb_nests_max = 10}, -- alien underground invasion
frenzy = { proba = 1, minimal_evolution = 0.2, nb_aliens_min = 100, nb_aliens_max = 500, radius_target=150, radius_call=1000}, -- alien frenzy attack (default disaster if no other found)

But it's all up to you and more testing I suppose. ^_^
I mean, technically you can deal with an early frenzy if you put up turrets quick and make sure they have ammo because the small biters die in like 2 shots. The invasion however is more devastating in terms of shock because they can just randomly pop up beside your steam engines and destroy your power. Besides, people are usually super calm about making defenses, like, I don't even build any normally until I get lasers.
Lore wise, they amass assaults, but fail, so they try to dig instead and when that fails, they send their titan (biterzilla). ^_^

[binbinhfr]

You're right : frenzy could be the basic disaster.
I will just set the number of biters attacking dependant of evolution. Because 100 small biters could be hard to handle at evol = 0.2 .
I will start at 20 to 500 for evol = 1, with a bit random on top of it. I don't want to discourage players.

One thing I was thinking of, is maybe make something dependant of turrets/walls number, so that beginners won't be dissapointed and experts can find their fun.

EDIT :

It didn't work on my old save tho, but that might have been because we were in our own personally named forces or something or because we were basically on an island with a few entrances so they AI might have gotten stuck.

Is it possible your base is larger than 1000 ? because frenzy calls aliens in a radius of 1000 around the area target position. I increased this a bit.
When you launch frenzy (manually or ni automatic), it target a zone on the map where there is a human construction (or was in the past). So maybe, you did not notice the attack. You should try several time on your old map. If it still does not work, maybe you can send me your save for testings (other mods are not needed).

[Qloshae]

You're right : frenzy could be the basic disaster.
I will just set the number of biters attacking dependant of evolution. Because 100 small biters could be hard to handle at evol = 0.2 .
I will start at 20 to 500 for evol = 1, with a bit random on top of it. I don't want to discourage players.

One thing I was thinking of, is maybe make something dependant of turrets/walls number, so that beginners won't be dissapointed and experts can find their fun.

Oh yea, that's a good idea with the scaling.
Could have like a wave of 10 - 20 come when you reach 0.2 as a type of warning of things to come.
Maybe also a warning message when you get into a new "tier". Like, "The biters grow more furious". They won't attack when you get that, but it would give you a heads up that the next time, they will be a lot less nice. That way you get some time to work on your defenses before they attack again. Maybe even with a forced delay, like, no armageddon can happen within 3 ingame day cycles of that message (tier shift).