Finite resources option

[BlackSpy]

So I love the game, but I'd like to be able to play it with finite resources. Reasons to keep moving and exploring, not really settle down to mega installations.

Those games are fun, but other resource options might be fun too.

[Nazemec]

Reminder: the map has a finite size. Making resource nodes limited means, sooner or later, the game will just stop because you won't get any resource anymore, at all.

[Sarah Miu]

I am the opposite. If the resource were finite I would have left the game quickly
This game takes a lot of time, and its huge, if the resources were finite it would not make much sense.
In the time u end creating a line u have to do it again somewhere else.
And when u will go further in the game, and unlock things like aluminium (dunno if u did already!), trust me when I say that is so complex that u cant even think to move the whole thing!

[Mousey]

personally, I would find it interesting, if Eventually Nodes would downgrade to a "poorer quality" very slowly.

Never running out, but every once and a while, you need to go back and touch up supply lines to fix flow issues...


Though I would want a user interface of some kind, to make Checking supply lines better first. "Maybe a tool that highlights supply lines that are not getting enough resources."

[Princess Luna]

As an option - maybe. BUT this should be set before the game start.

As a permanent option - NO. If node has depleted I am NOT: Running 1.5 km away to the nearest node and then spending 30 minutes to built belts, power poles and the whole production line. I will just uninstall the game.

[Vexblackheart]

Extra options are never bad.

[All Nodes are Rich] wouldn't be bad either and might be the optional map setting that triggers your 28th restart.

Neither of these things seem difficult to implement as simple UI option... from my gamedev armchair.

[Samtana]

To make some of these components you literally need quite a large base to make it happen.

Also, as someone else mentioned already, at some point there would be no resources anywhere on the map if you continue to play.

[Capt. W. Schwartz]

Want all pure/easy mode? all impure?
Uniform Nodes: https://ficsit.app/mod/BvjoAkQLbHxwy2

[Mister Fabulous]

Aww shucks. I made too many iron plates. Guess I have to abandon the last 200+ hours of gameplay and start over.

No thank you. If that was intended, the game would play very differently.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by Samtana:

Also, as someone else mentioned already, at some point there would be no resources anywhere on the map if you continue to play.

That is merely a balancing issue. No game lasts forever. So if balanced accordingly no game would run out of resources entirely even if they were finite. It could be setup like Factorio where you can determine the amount of resources in a deposit according to what suits you when setting up a new game. In this case depending on how long a game you want to have.

I think it is a pretty good idea. There are so many deposits on the map that I just can't see ever being used. But if deposits ran out eventually then there would be a potential use for them.

BTW, where the deposits are located does not have to dictate where your base is. So just because a node runs dry does not mean you have to abandon your base and setup a new one some wheres else. There are multiple methods for transporting raw resources around the map.

[Mister Fabulous]

Originally posted by Vimpster:

BTW, where the deposits are located does not have to dictate where your base is. So just because a node runs dry does not mean you have to abandon your base and setup a new one some wheres else. There are multiple methods for transporting raw resources around the map.

You'd have to use belts to move everything to get the most out of your nodes. You risk running out of the resources to fuel the vehicles too whether it's what's fueling your generators to power a train or whatever it is you're filling the vehicle fuel tank with.

[Bobucles]

As others have mentioned, the biggest risk would be running out of energy. If your coal runs dry before unlocking oil, that's basically game over. Decaying iron/copper isn't as disastrous. The basic setup would be to set up a mining output, then truck it over to the main base.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by Bobucles:

As others have mentioned, the biggest risk would be running out of energy. If your coal runs dry before unlocking oil, that's basically game over. Decaying iron/copper isn't as disastrous. The basic setup would be to set up a mining output, then truck it over to the main base.

That is hardly game over. It is very easy to setup a bunch of biomass generators and fill them up to jump start a system. Also, if you knew you were at risk of running out of a critical resource you would get a secondary supply ready to be implemented as needed.

Originally posted by Mister Fabulous:

You'd have to use belts to move everything to get the most out of your nodes. You risk running out of the resources to fuel the vehicles too whether it's what's fueling your generators to power a train or whatever it is you're filling the vehicle fuel tank with.

I disagree entirely. I certainly would not use belts for far distances just because resources are finite. Though in reality they are not finite. There is an infinite source of biomass in the game due to respawning creatures. Are you aware that a single Alien Organ is worth a full stack of 200 biomass? But besides that, even if you were to rely on actual liquid fuel for your vehicles, depending on the quantities of the resource node a single node might be sufficient to supply your vehicles with fuel for 100s of game time. How long do you actually expect a single game to last? Depending on the amounts you might have to play in a single game save for many 1000s of hours before you would completely use up the entire maps supply of any particular resource.

[Nazemec]

Originally posted by Vimpster:

Also, if you knew you were at risk of running out of a critical resource you would get a secondary supply ready to be implemented as needed.

...as long as there's some left.
The problem isn't about "jump starting" the system. It's about running it at all. Not only power generation, but any production line. "Finite resources" means that at some point there won't be any left. The game would then become a walking simulator with no factory to run (although the scenery is nice). As someone wrote above...

Originally posted by Mister Fabulous:

Aww shucks. I made too many iron plates. Guess I have to abandon the last 200+ hours of gameplay and start over.

Originally posted by Vimpster:

How long do you actually expect a single game to last? Depending on the amounts you might have to play in a single game save for many 1000s of hours before you would completely use up the entire maps supply of any particular resource.

If you can consider finite resources as infinite based on your play time, then why make them finite in the first place..?
It's much easier for the game to spawn them infinitely (just remember its type) instead of having to track how much each node can still deliver (remember its type and an arbitrarily large number that will barely change anyway because no one plays for that long - at least according to you).





An alternative to the finite resources would be "finite at a time". For example, when you send some iron plates into a sink-like machine, an iron node would magically generate a few additional iron ores (same number than required to make the plates, not necessarily the exploited ones to still force players to move or expand). Adapt the same idea to all resources (burnt coal, and so on).

Would be a mess, but it feels to me like a middle ground between "infinite" and "finite". It would still turn the game into something completely different though, doesn't seem like what devs intend for it.

[Mister Fabulous]

200 biomass gets you 66.6_ liquid biofuel. That's not going to last long no matter how you use it and you have to take into account the energy needed for the conversion. Depending on the distance, you're getting 4-8 round trips out of a tractor. If it's continuously hauling, that'll last roughly 1/2 to 1 hour. And that's currently in tier 5. Depending on experience, you may not have much of a biomass reserve.

And if resources from the nodes are finite, why should the wildlife in the game respawn? Treat it like the plants. When they're gone, they're gone. Since no one has established the capacity for the nodes, I can't answer how long a game is intended to last. Some people can unlock everything in less than 100 hours and put it down. Some are going on 500+ hours. If nodes are suggested to last that long, why have limits then anyway? It's artificial difficulty/longevity.

I understand the appeal for a definite "end" to what you can do. Sorry, you didn't pay attention to your production and made too much, time to move everything. Sorry there's an update to the game, but you can't do anything because you drained the map. Start over. There are more things to consider. The Awesome Shop would need to change. You're not making 192,378 turbo motors to buy everything in its current state. It becomes a different game.

[The Big Brzezinski]

I'd be happier with randomized resource nodes, so I would have a reason to go prospecting instead of just consulting an online map. Every game would require its own exploration and logistics planning.