This is more for me, and honestly maybe the search engine virtual gods get this to the devs. From a prior post I mentioned that Techtonica has a communication issue, which perhaps is an identity issue. The launch of Laser Games (a weird FPS mode) instead of any news whatsoever on factory improvements wasn’t well received. In that space, I want to collect my thoughts on what should be on the future roadmap.

First and most importantly. Techtonica does not work well for large factories. You will have 2 machines producing wire, at MOST. This is fine as almost all the game has no need for it, but the late game portion would certainly benefit a lot from it.

New

Things that should be added to the game, that are likely resource intensive and will take time.

• Resource Tier
  • Currently there are 2 tiers for minerals. I don’t think this game needs liquid resources, but it does need a 2nd tier for plant-based production. These are closed-loop items, and needed to optimize the 2nd tier of minerals. The issue is that it is not currently possible to have enough of this and it needs a 2nd tier.
• Blast Tier Resources
  • Not all material can use Blast Tier resources, so new options are required allowing you to remove all first generation miners.
• More Inserters
  • Stack filters are amazing, but they need filter options for mass production chains.
• Research Station
  • Each station unlocks a new tier of research and base building options. Another is needed. Or perhaps, some use for the XRAY station as it currently has none outside of research unlocks (which could simply be a locked door instead).
• Storyline
  • The game “ends” at the large elevator, a tremendous opportunity is present to expand the types of biomes present (only 1 currently), as well as more terraforming options. I think the MOLE is awesome, more please.
• Blueprints
  • This is less important at lower scales. There are some niche use cases (Blast Charges).

Change

Things that should be fundamentally changed as they don’t work. These are hard to do, but less so than new content as their purpose needs clarity.

• Inserters & Complex Crafting
  • Everything that requires 2 ingredients can be optimized with Stack Inserters.
  • Everything with 3 or more ingredients is a complex build, requiring direct belt inputs, rather than a bus. Either Fast Long inserters need to be added, or the recipes need to be modified.
• Research Cores
  • The amount of space required to store these is beyond excessive. Making them smaller is not an option, but alternative storage options or compression is required for late game.
• Trains / Mass Transport
  • These are borderline OP once they are running and researched. However, they only work on 1 product at a time, meaning late game builds have dozens of trains and massive manually constructed logistic stations. It’s 5x larger than it needs to be. Logic filters would help.
• Power Options
  • Tier 2 crank generators are 10x more powerful than their normal cousins, and something should be applied in the mid tier as scaling is an issue. I had over 60 normal cranks, and they were replaced with 7 tier 2. Transferring power between locations is also painfully complicated, and 99% of the time easier to simply use power floors for super long distances.
  • Atlantum should be an optional power source, it’s not used for much currently.
• Concrete Production
  • Base building is cool! Having to pre-construct from a list of 50+ items is not, and your inventory cannot hold it all. This should be a concrete base item, a steel base item, and paint. Create a building tool that uses these products as base material to construct different shapes.
• Research Acquisition
  • I like that you need to scan to unlock new research items. I like that most of these are locked behind rooms with material requirements to unlock. I absolutely hate that some research are in hidden caverns, under flower piles. The OmniSeeker tool needs to point towards missing research, as a sort of compass (it used to).
• Exploration
  • Finding hidden nooks is amazing. There’s a pile of hidden stuff in the lower east corner. You need to dig like a madman to get to it. It looks amazing! And once you’ve seen the space and scanned it, you’ll never return. The entire game is based on one base at Victor, and some storage near the elevator (or a late game factory). It needs to leverage exploration to use the space explored.
• Jetpack
  • It needs a vertical climb option, even if it needs Atlantum fuel to get there. Vertical factories are a nightmare to manage without it.

Optimize

Mostly math-based changes, where the content itself is minor but the impacts are significant. Almost exclusively QoL, which is where Factory games shine.

• Mining ratios are generally OK.
• Crafting ratios are ok in the early to mid game. At late game, you get into spaghetti as the ratios are fractional and not balanced. 7: 2.5 : 1 production chains require a hub/spoke model, which due to the way transport options are present, it just doesn’t work.
• Alternative crafting recipes need to be more efficient. Especially the plant-based ones. They currently shift bottlenecks around, rather than getting rid of excess material.
• Blast Core ratios are less about optimizing and more about absolutely stupid belt pathing. Getting 3 blast cores every 12 second to a blast miner feels like magic instead of math.
• Seeds. There are not enough in the game in order to have a late-game build. They are not consumable, so it’s a closed loop and therefore math exercise. Either a new tier is added here, or a 10x ratio applied to the crafting path.
• Stack Sizes need to be standardized to common levels. Say 5 (buildings), 50 (mid-tier material), 200 (base material), 500 (construction material). Why stack sizes of similar material are all different is mind blowing to me. It makes transporting things to unlock doors a pain when you need 20+ inventory slots of stuff. It also messes up storage containers.
• Item destruction needs some tweaking. I’ve got a factory setup just to burn through excess materials. I truly think Satisfactory has the best model here with the SINK. It also takes much too long to unlock, so you’re going to have too much plant material for a long, long time.
• Sand/Gravel needs a real purpose. Currently two uses, a very complex crafting process for alterative recipe or destroying things. I should not need 5 steps of crafting for an alternate recipe.

I think Techtonica has more potential than other games, if only because the foundation itself seems more sound. Clearer communication and a more firm roadmap can help guide the player feedback for quicker development. It’s clear after playing that there’s a ton of potential here, I really hope the devs are able to focus their efforts and reach it.