Friday Facts #262 - Hello my name is: Compilatron

[5thHorseman]

Just don't make it "procedural" like every other game is doing. "Bring me 143 copper ore and I'll tell you your next objective!"

[yblondinca]

Does this mean with the path finding open to modders, someone would be able to make a mod to potentially fix some of the biter pathfinding issues for late game megabase style builds? I ran into an issue with my 1K SPM vanilla base when I started using artillery. There would be huge packs of biters not pathfinding or attacking my trains after they had wiped out the nearby nests. They would just bug out (lol) and stand around which would eventually tax my system UPS with keeping track of so many active biters in my coverage area.

[mike_smit]

It reminds me of Claptrap XD

[Edit] I forgot to tell the most important : I think the idea is brilliant. As always, whatever many suggestions we make, the devs always manage to surprise me the right way with either an idea if their own, or a twist on the community's suggestions they choose to implement.

Claptrap is a legend! (Turning on Xbox to play borderlands ASAP!)

[SuperflyR6]

Compilatron: Now I have to buy a 3D printer! My own Factorio Wall-e

[Light]

"I'm sorry Player, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

[Omarflyjoemacky]

That new power pole though! And the red factory...?

Love the Compilatron idea! Even in normal game play, definitely removes the sense of isolation. Unless you're going for that.

[betrok]

Another way the Compilatron helps us keep the immersion intact is as a plot agent. Currently campaign plot events just 'happen' when objectives are completed, or when characters internal monologue decides the next move. Now we can have Compilatron act as a driving force to the campaign, it gives the objectives to the player, interacts with entities during cutscenes, and overall makes things less awkward than they are now.

And now Engineer will receive commands from batch of rusty gears? Internal monologue looks much better for me.
Besides how will "couple text and positional data together" work when destination is far away from player and possible covered with enemies?

[Slayn25]

2) What happend when compilatron have close encounter with train?

When Compilatron has trouble with railroad gates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL314jlcsuU

[AssaultRaven]

Another way the Compilatron helps us keep the immersion intact is as a plot agent. Currently campaign plot events just 'happen' when objectives are completed, or when characters internal monologue decides the next move. Now we can have Compilatron act as a driving force to the campaign, it gives the objectives to the player, interacts with entities during cutscenes, and overall makes things less awkward than they are now.

These changes sound entirely negative to me. Why is the Engineer taking orders from a rolling monitor instead of their own initiative and goals supposed to be a good thing? Why is the Engineer receiving instruction from a robot better than them just either already knowing these things or inventing them as they go along? You're taking something that currently exists outside of the game world and so is clearly teaching the player what's going on, and turning it into something that exists inside the game world and is also apparently teaching the player character, which is a significant change in basically all of what little characterization the player character currently gets, from that of a rugged Space MacGyver, and into someone who is just following the YouTube tutorial on surviving super-tech, like the Survivor from Subnautica.

[kamiza]

Factorio RTS scenario mods, what?

[DanGio]

I love the robot. I'll do the tutorial again to see it in action!

The red assembling machine has the same model of mk2, so it seems that you unified tiers colors : 1 yellow /2 red /3 blue. I'm not against that, although lvl 2 assemblers aren't really equivalent to lvl 2 belts in the game progression.

If we still have several months to wait before 0.17, I'd like to see a roadmap update to read it again and again with eyes full of stars.

[bobingabout]

Klonan is a mod junky.

[TPRJones]

I'm really looking forward to launching Compilatron into space as soon as possible.

[Sigma1]

I like how Compilatron has a little floppy drive on the front.

It is also adorable, and I hope it will exist in freeplay.

Now we just need the spidertron.

[fishycat]

The lil dude looks nice, a bit Falloutish look. This way I may even play the tutorial

Now that tutorial and campaign is covered with Mr. Compilatron, can we hope for some "eight-legged-in-game-tron"?

edit: Is the spoiler function not working yet?

[miturion]

This would be cool for Earendels AAI mod. Those vehicles passing gates will be good. As will patrol.

[H8UL]

...

My main worry is that it will take away from the lonely castaway feeling of the game. And it's only a worry, a point of concern. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it, just that you should consider this change by applying a few different lenses to how you view the game and possibly adjusting accordingly.

As I said, it really helps out with making the tutorial missions be a lot more cohesive and sensible. And I can also see how Compilatron might work as an early game robot...

Klonan has confirmed it's a tutorial and campaign thing, so it's quite possible, it'll even emphasize the loneliness of free play. Your trusty robot friend is now gone and you got to go it alone...

[Wiking]

My dream of playing this game like a Red Alert or Supreme Commander RTS is slowly coming through!
I can imagine myself as a commander in orbit with automated machines on the ground, consuming, buildings, spreading, waging war!

I remember in early days there was mention of having an RTS game mode in Factorio, happy to see some work done on that department.
Looking forward to having special wagons on my trains that deploy drone armies ala Star Wars style!

[Atomicking74]

The only thing I have against that bot is its name. But I'm sure it will grow on me the same way claptrap did.
But only having the bot in campaign/tutorial somewhat restricts the ability to use the bot as a mascot for the game, the same way borderlands latched on to claptrap. But then again, having him in free-roam can really mess with the meta. What will he do: just sit somewhere and wait for the player, follow him slowly, take up space, be in the way of placing items. Or will he be more active: Pull out some R2D2 style weapon to hunt biters, act as an early game construction bot, extra storage.
Honestly the potential for a mascot/companion is quite large for a smaller game like factorio. And i know that the devs are creative and surprisingly cunning and I'm all for anything they decide, but i would like to see more of the little guy. And definitely need to 3D print him. Ill start working on a model next week at work.

[Alice3173]

Yes it will be Campaign/Tutorial only

I vote you put it in freeplay mode and give it some sort of personal logistics capabilities for convenience, if only to spite all the people randomly getting up in arms about a tutorial/campaign mode having some sort of guide to actually guide you through it. (I am actually serious about the logistics thing though. Even if it requires researching some techs it could be useful.)