Reduce need for Alt-Mode by putting Modules/recipes on building sprites

[D1398342003]

TL;DR

Reduce reliance on Alt-Mode by making Modules, Recipes, and Chest Contents visible in 'normal mode'.

What?

• Integrate beacon style module attachment points into the sprites of all applicable buildings. (Assemblers, Miners, Furnaces, Centrifuge, Chem Plant, Refinery, Rocket Silo, Pumpjack, etc)

• Assemblers show the recipe on the front. A hole in the front for AM1, a window for AM2, and a CRT display for AM3. AM3's display could be a bit larger than the front of the building, so it's more visible from a further zoom.

• Furnaces have a visible pile or stack of finished product on or by the furnace. Stone and Steel furnaces would have a pile on the ground beside the furnace opening, Electric furnaces would have the stack roughly centered on the building.

• Chests have a hole (wood/iron), window (steel), or display (network) showing the contents in the front or top. This only shows one item, either the first stack, the highest count item, or a logistic signal.

• Visible chemical flow and tinted fumes already act as the Chemical Plant's on sprite display. Maybe the window could be a bit larger and the tint a bit more solid on the smoke, but it's pretty good as is.

• The Oil Refinery could use a similar effect as the Chemical Plant. Maybe tanks showing the outputs, or different flame colors and/or smoke for different refining types. Maybe red-orange fire for basic refining, yellow fire for advanced, and black smoke for coal liquefaction.

• The small number of recipes may make the Centrifuge not need this treatment. I can't really think of a good way to show different recipes in a manner similar to the Chemical Plant, and a display sounds like the wrong move here. All the options would be shades of green, and none are liquids. Maybe modules on the left and a small display on the right, both under the spinning white shields.

Badly done MSPaint examples:

Factory Change.png (1.1 MiB) Viewed 981 times

Why?

Factorio looks bad with Alt-Mode, and is harder to use without it. This is an absolute shame. Alt-mode should be used for setting up factories and refineries and when laying pipes, but once that's done Alt-mode should be off and still have the same information available.

Alt-Mode is like Detective Mode in the Arkham games. It's so useful that not using it is objectively worse from a utility standpoint. At the same time, it obscures the beautifully animated sprites, becoming part of the default look of Assemblers, Furnaces, and Refineries. Without Alt-Mode all the Assembling Machines look exactly the same, so a line of Assemblers looks like a boring mass of brown grey green.

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Thanks for reading my suggestion, I have a very fragile ego and will probably cry if I'm not showered with praise. That last bit isn't true, feel free to tear this apart and make something better out of it. I could only find one similar suggestion that was made five or so years ago, and it didn't include modules or a focus on alt-mode.

[Vulkandrache]

I quite like permanent alt mode because the new and improved models
of almost everything look bad.
With information-loaded icons i feel like im playing an actual game instead of someones trashheap.

[D1398342003]

I wasn't requesting the removal of Alt-mode, just to add some of its features to regular mode.

Alt-mode itself would remain unchanged. You want always on Alt-mode, it works just like it does now.

If you don't like Alt-mode but need it, with my suggestion you could turn it off and have a factory that maintains most of its utility.

[Lezreth]

Alt Mode is an incredibly useful eyesore. It feels more like a band-aid to the serious problem of not having required information in regular mode that forces alt mode to become the default. Because of this, regular mode has become one of those features that feels due for removal. However, doing so would be throwing away a major part of Factorio's unique art style.

Reworking the graphics for machines that produce items to include a built-in display that shows the recipe, and perhaps also modules (if there is enough space, recipes are far more important for this) would allow the visual style to shine while also having important information available at a glance.

[aka13]

I think that is a very cool idea, but alas, I can understand that the artists time is better used somewhere else, propably.