py - turd beacons

[ben-w-brown]

Suggestion

please restore the py turd beacon functionality from pre-2.0 :)

[ClaudeMetz]

I am trying, it's not simple to do unfortunately!

[ben-w-brown]

mind sharing more details? I'm a software engineer but haven't worked on factorio mods or lua, but might be able to help if you point me in the right direction

[ClaudeMetz]

Eh it's kind of a lot to explain, but basically since TURDs are scripted manually by Py and don't use any vanilla systems, I can't support them in a generic way, but need to add specific support for them. To do that properly, it needs dynamic integration between the mods, which needs an 'interface API', which is a whole thing.

It worked before 2.0 because my handling of modules and beacons was just looser and less correct, and I fixed it with the 2.0 changes, but it meant that the Py stuff stopped showing up.

[ClaudeMetz]

I'll keep this card around, but the feature that would solve this is #332.

[rjgotten]

@ClaudeMetz
FWIW a stop-gap solution that doesn't need the full compat API from #332 is possible for the Py TURD bonuses quite easily, if you're willing to live with a bit of a wart on the side until the full solution has had time to be built.

1. In backend/handlers/generator.lua, in generator.modules.generate expand the filter definition to include the hidden "py-alienlife-turd-modules" subgroup. Add those modules to the data with a well-known internal category, e.g. fp-custom-py-turd for later use.
2. Also in generator.lua, but in generator.beacons.generate expand the filter definition to include the hidden "hidden-beacon-turd" and here's the trick: overrule whatever the beacon actually says and hotwire its allowed_module_categories as the special "fp-custom-py-turd" category.
3. In backend/data/moduleset.lua, in ModuleSet:check_compatibility simply short-circuit the validity check: if the entity.name is "hidden-beacon-turd", return whether or not the module_proto.category equals "fp-custom-py-turd".

This enables the mod user to select the special Py TURD beacon as the building's beacon, and allows placing any of the TURD bonus modules into it. (and only into that beacon! nowhere else!)

It's far from a perfect solution, since it allows any building to be given any of the TURD bonus upgrades, so players will 'need to know what they're doing' to get a sane result. But it works. And allows creating factory plans again that take into account the TURD side-grades.

[ClaudeMetz]

Yeah I guess that's reasonable to do, as the other solution will take a while. I'll have a look.

[r4d6]

How is this going? I would love for Factory Planner to be more reliable for my Pyanodons run, especially as many TURDs give productivity or speed bonuses!

[ClaudeMetz]

Well it's looking better than ever but I can't quite say when I'll get to it, sorry.

[ClaudeMetz]

PR up pyanodon/pyalienlife#610

[ClaudeMetz]

Implemented for the next release.