Missing alien artifacts...

[davidjberes]

I'm probably the only one with this "complaint," but I really miss the alien artifacts. They--well--gave me something to do. I find that once I research laser defenses, there's really no more challenge--Factorio becomes de facto "creative mode." When alien artifacts were necessary to progress in the game, I needed to develop tactical strategies to safely safari outside my base. Railroad networks were necessary, not just cosmetic. Now, just build a base with laser defenses and a launch pad and... uh... go watch a movie?

Don't get me wrong... Factorio is still my favorite game in that it's the only "toy" that will run in the modern Windows environment (anyone remember Maxis?). I just wish there was a point beyond building a factory that is 0.000125% more efficient. The original premise long ago was that you had to find and rebuild your crashed ship to escape--that would give us a reason to leave the base...

Just whining; as you were.

[Fel]

Since I am a fan of taking a break from base building every now and then to have fun destroying nests I do agree that it's a bit sad that it's less needed now than before (especially with the new artillery letting you even destroy spawners in a large radius without leaving your base), but I prefer to have these added back by mods with new things to make from them than how it was in older versions of the game where you were forced to go destroy spawners for an item that has very little to do with anything else in the game (most of the researches that needed them had very little to do with aliens or their structures).

The only researches that might make sense to require those items as ingredients would be the damage upgrade, since you could argue that "they do more damage since we understand the aliens better" (it's already stretching it but at least it makes some degree of sense).
Not tying vanilla's research and crafting trees to things that might be disabled from the map generation (since it's easier to learn the basics without being under attack all the time) was in my opinion a fairly good idea.

[piccolo255]

Eh, IIRC they were removed because 1) they go against the game's core mechanic, automation; 2) they made combat mandatory, while a significant subset of players prefers turning enemies off (for whatever reasons: performance, difficulty, annoyance...) which would make a large part of the research tree inaccessible. I agree with the reasoning, and I think it's a good thing they were removed.

Still, I personally like having them -- which is why I often put them back with mods :)

[Kylr]

Some mods add this back into the game. Factorio makes mods super easy to add, you literally just have to click on them in game to download and install them. Easiest, simplest, modding a game can get.

Love factorio, when I built my vanilla 91.28675% perfect mega base, I looked to mods and found an entire new world of enjoyment with the game.

Bobs mods, for example, add alien artifact branches of research, bobs mods also crank up the complexity of the game.

[Ryan]

And that's why I always play with alien artifacts. It makes the game much more interesting. Many of the high end items require them.

[Ryan]

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

Mods are not an answer at all. It is basically saying "this game is bad, just add some spice to it to make it good".

Your statement is false. Developers of popular games purposely spend quite a bit of time designing the game, so it can be modded. They know that the game will have a longer shelf life when the community is actively adding new things long after the developer has stopped working on it. The developer is going to design the game, so it appeals to the broadest audience possible. Mods allow players to change the game to their liking. Everyone likes to play with different mods to suit the style of game they play.

Personally, I mod my Factorio, so it plays more like a base defense kind of game with tons of strong enemies with a large assortment of weapons to deal with them. Not everyone would like the game if it was designed like that to its core.

I hope you understand that mods allow game customization and have nothing to do with a game being bad because mods were made.

[Kylr]

Anyone that shoots down modding when they complain about something a game is missing makes me think they dont understand modding. Fine if you dont understand mods, or for whatever reason dont want to use them, or are kinda scared of modding. Just fyi tho this game is insanely easy to mod. But you said you wish the game had alien artifacts, I said it can, and you said no?

Its like saying im dieing of thirst, I say here is millions of gallons of tap water, and you say no I wont drink it, it must be bottled water.

Sure if the vanilla game had every single awesome idea I or anyone else ever had in it that would be great. But it never will, either because it doesnt appeal to a large enough audience or they dont have time to add My little ponies to the game. But a modder who has a passion for My little ponies will make the mod and you can watch your little ponies dance around, something the devs of the game would never add (because secretly they hates my little ponies >:)

On a side not what to you is the difference between mods and dlc? Both add content or change aspects of the game. And most of the time mods are free so like a ton of free dlc is bad?

[Fel]

Mods in general mean "this game is good but not exactly to my taste so I will add and change things to make the game less suited for the general audience but a lot better for my particular taste".

We can all agree that when the most popular mods are called "unofficial patch" it means that the devs are not fixing their games and it's not a good sign, but not all mods are like that (and none in factorio's case).

I guess bob+angel+py+30 researches would be a fairly good example, it makes the recipes a lot longer and a whole lot of them have side products as well you need to take care of.
It is overly complex for the vast majority of players (even to most players using bob+angel that is already quite far from vanilla), but to a small subset of people it is extremely enjoyable.
Does that mean that the base game is bad or that it should be modified to add those mods in it?
Absolutely not, those mods are best left as options for those that want that extra complexity, and mods are the best way to give those options.

That some people don't want to touch mods I can understand as well, but something to remember when you are asking to add to the base game is how it would affect everyone else, not just those that chose to pick that.

[davidjberes]

Actually, guys, I was able to find a couple of mods that look to restore the alien loot. Thanks for the suggestion!

[KatherineOfSky]

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

Basically, if I absolutely require a mod to make something happen in any kind of game whatsoever then it mean the game is bad, period.

No, It means that YOU don't enjoy the game in vanilla. Remember that hundreds of thousands of people do enjoy the game and think is is great. (Factorio has sold over 1.4 million copies, IIRC. More now....)

[piccolo255]

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

Sorry, but it exactly and positively mean exactly the opposite of what you said?

Sure, if you're the Emperor of the World, who has the power to decide what is good and what is bad by executive fiat. Are you? :P

Since I don't think you are, it means the game is bad for you. Other people are not you, so you can't say it means the game is bad, period.

TBF, I think that is what you meant, in which case KoS was basically pointing out that there could be a misunderstanding because of the lack of an explicit qualifier in your statement. As usual, text is a poor communication medium.

[TheWolfDrone]

Well generally speaking a team or person when making a game has a vision and they try to bring it to life. They at times make changes here or there as to make it more fun to others but at the end of the day it's their vision they are trying to make life, which can also change with time. Mod's come in to play here as a part in games like this and thousand's of others. This is where we the community and players and such get to bring our own personal visions and such into the game.

In term's of this game there are seriously tons of great mods from more difficulty in logistics, enemies , science etc etc. Everything from completely changing how things work to adding one or two more things into the game. If anyone in any way seems to think there is an issue with any measure of the game then I could suggest to look to the mod's, perhaps put forth a suggestion somewhere more official or viewed by the team behind a game. You could also look into making your own mod's if you're into learning some new stuff and opening the gates so to speak even further for yourself.

[piccolo255]

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

It was perfectly possible to collect enough alien artefacts without ever exposing yourself. Right now I believe you can even build mortars which deal with the aliens from afar... I really can't understand the reason of this move.

Artifacts were required for military research. That in itself makes the entire combat portion of the game entirely inaccessible for a significant number of players. Some people are simply bad at combat! You can overcome the skill issue through brute force by researching better combat techs... except that you need to clear biter bases (aka, the most difficult part of combat) to be able to do it. And artillery is a late-game tech.

And if you play with no biters, half the research tree is locked out. Which seems fine... unless you're a beginner player trying to learn the game in a low-stress environment -- then surprise, you can't learn how to build defenses, which is likely exactly the part you have most trouble with :/

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

You have two opposite forces trying to pull in opposite directions here. If they are really trying to give the player a choice (like I think is what is really happening, because some people like the action and others run away from it) then why tune it down in one direction for no reason?

Because there is a rather obvious reason to do that: when it is tuned too far in the other direction.

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

Basically right now what we have is a case of Avatar right under our noses... Except that the aliens aren't winning this time around and they get slaughtered for no other reason than just being in our way...

So... working as intended?

İlk olarak FFF tarafından gönderildi:

Cute is how we like them, we want you to feel sorry about planning massive biter massacres. In fact we want you to feel pity towards them, especially when you are killing them and destroying their habitat at industrial scale.

(Source: https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-268 )

BTW, another thing you're missing is that the devs pretty much consider mods to be semi-"official" extensions for the game. You're complaining that the option is not in the game -- but mods are literally that option, as intended by the devs themselves.

[piccolo255]

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

Seriously, you will never make me believe that the majority of the player base in this game are stupid to the point of being braindead enough to fail hitting the spacebar to fight.

1) I never said "the majority", I said "a significant number".
2) If combat in Factorio is "hitting the spacebar", then driving a car is "pushing the gas pedal". You're simplifying it just a tiny little bit.
3) I never suggested those players are stupid. It's not stupidity, it's reflexes and decision-making speed, often combined with unfamiliarity.

[KatherineOfSky]

İlk olarak Eagle_of_Fire tarafından gönderildi:

Seriously, you will never make me believe that the majority of the player base in this game are stupid to the point of being braindead enough to fail hitting the spacebar to fight. Fighting in this game is already dumbed down so much you can't even say there is skill involved...

And that's discussing the ridiculously small window of time in the game when you actually have to do that. Anybody with half a brain is going to use turrets, with personal robots or not, to kill most of the aliens. Even I do it since it is that easy and convenient.

The elitist comments are not at all helpful, and insulting people because they are new to a game is not cool.

There is definite skill involved in building useful defenses and fighting in the wild. If your skill level is such that you want to make fun of others, try a deathworld, or any of the endless mods for increasing biter difficulty.

Be respectful on these forums.

[Zorz]

İlk olarak davidjberes tarafından gönderildi:

Missing alien artifacts...

idk this mechanic.. i bought the game later..

i think could be a good way to make biters more interesting.. i know some scenarios on servers where biters drop the raw-ressources u need to build, it's fun..