Blueprints

Hi,

I have already posted this once but it was on the steam forum as the one here wasn’t working. So I am repeating it here (albeit slightly tweaked) so others who are serious about this game can see it.

One of the newest things that has been added is the blueprint mode. When I saw that little button I thought I was about to find something that I had hoped for from the beginning, however it appears like a lost opportunity. I have tinkered with the blueprint mode and find its use rather limited. So I thought I would explain how I would like it to work. I know nothing of coding so feel free, Cliffski, to tell me I’m asking for the moon.

There was a poll on the forum asking players how they play the game with a focus on how the main expansion of the factory is carried out. It seems that most play the game the same way I do, that is researching all slots before making any really large changes. I don’t see the point in doing only a part of the line because it just leads to huge problems with bottlenecks and it’s very easy (as in real life) to make a right mess of the situation totally. This means a large amount of players are going to remodel their factory once and then all the rest of the changes will be small unless they decide to make a very large change for efficiency purposes. The blueprint mode currently does not reflect this need because it doesn’t allow the planning over the space the factory currently uses. Blueprints are a plan for the future. I would like to see it work something like this…

  1. All slots unlocked in blueprint mode.
  2. All factory areas unlocked in blueprint mode.
  3. Option to see the current layout or not.
  4. Blueprint should be saveable.

The idea is that the blueprint is the factory you want to build but not necessarily the one you can build. The mouse pointer tells you the cost of construction which is a feature you have already added so you can plan and budget for the financial side of the build. It allows you to plan a factory instead of sitting and watching the researching in the background and waiting for the money to build up. If you click to build the blueprint and the money isn’t available or the research hasn’t been done, then as in real life the constraints will prevent you from building it. The same is true for unlocking other factory floor areas. A clash with existing plant should prevent it from being built as floor space would have to be cleared (again as in real life) before new plant can be installed.

I’m sure many have felt the pain I have when making that big step and it doesn’t fit right and you lose money demolishing bits and pieces and retrying other ways all costing money that in real life you just wouldn’t be allowed to spend because you should have had a proper plan.

I’ll keep playing the game however it turns out as it is strangely addictive.

Well that’s my ten pence worth anyway,

Back to the line,

Archer.