Factorio Forums

When you go to Aquilo for the first time, you cannot force print until you have placed at least one ice platform and concrete on every tile type. The game always uses whatever was used previously, but on first arrival there is no “previous,” so stamping just fails. This is very confusing for first-time players and also for speedrunners.

This behavior could be improved by making the default on first arrival not “empty and fail,” but instead concrete + ice platforms. After that, it could still change dynamically based on the last usage as it does now.

This is still a problem in every playthrough and people struggle to understand why they cannot force print on aquilo water.

This thread is interesting to me, because I have never personally run into this issue on my playthroughs (not that it doesn't occur).

It's very likely that I just already knew to put down ice platform and concrete from reading that I was meant to in the factoriopedia + tips and tricks briefing on aquilo.

Maybe another improvement could be something pointing players towards these planet briefings as I've definitely helped a lot of people with their playthroughs who didn't even know such briefings existed.

I do think it makes a degree of sense for stamping blueprints on ammoniacal solution to default to ice platforms and concrete as there are no other valid tiles that one can use as far as I know

juliawtapp wrote: Wed Oct 29, 2025 8:59 pm [T]here are no other valid tiles that one can use as far as I know

Foundation
Hazard concrete, refined concrete, refined hazard concrete

Nemoricus wrote: Thu Oct 30, 2025 2:40 pm

juliawtapp wrote: Wed Oct 29, 2025 8:59 pm [T]here are no other valid tiles that one can use as far as I know

Foundation
Hazard concrete, refined concrete, refined hazard concrete

I suppose this is true, but we could assume that a new player probably doesn't want to pave their first aquilo base in foundation and refined hazard concrete.

Nemoricus wrote: Thu Oct 30, 2025 2:40 pm Foundation
Hazard concrete, refined concrete, refined hazard concrete

Actually, foundation can’t be placed anywhere on Aquilo