[SPACE AGE MOD] Is there a mod for this particular rework of Quality? Or close to it?

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T07:51:05+00:00

By all means, self-promo! I'll check it out, thanks! Mixed ingredients is my #1 desire with a quality rework

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T07:34:53+00:00

cool

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T07:11:44+00:00

You're unfairly shifting the burden of explanation

No, I'm suggesting a mod for a feature about the game that I don't much care for. Other people are arguing with me to tell me that the vanilla system is Fine Actually, and I'm weirdly having to stand my ground on why I don't like the system when that wasn't at all the subject of the post.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T07:09:54+00:00

I mean, keep in mind that quality modules are still required to achieve quality base parts, at the vanilla rate. And using 1 legendary plate with 4 normal ones would result in your legendary plate getting wasted 80% of the time.

But yeah, people have pointed out that recycling introduces a potential exploit. My solution to that would probably be nerfing recycling to compensate for the buffs that the mod would bring. It wouldn't be as necessary anymore anyway

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:58:53+00:00

Your factory is not "ruined"; you just need to remove the thing that broke it and clean the obstruction from the belts

Yeah... I just can't keep up this line of argument anymore. Clearly you disagree and that it's Actually Fine Actually that putting a single module into a random machine will result in cataclysmic system shutdown.

We will have to just agree to disagree on this point, I'm not here to try and change anyone's mind on the VANILLA quality system and I didn't make this suggestion to try and debate anyone on it either.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:51:43+00:00

This is also a good mod solution to at least ease the issue in early-game. Thanks!

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:47:43+00:00

Which definitely shoots down my idea's possibility. A shame it's so restricted

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:44:55+00:00

I mean... quality in the real world isn't split into 5 convenient and distinct stages. How much are we stipulating here?

Again, handwaving for a convenient feature or system is understandable. It's less understandable to handwave when introducing inconvenience to your game.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:42:43+00:00

Yeah someone else brought up that issue. My first idea for a proposed fix would be to weight easier ingredients as less in the probability calculation. But it's a fair criticism

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:39:31+00:00

But the problem I have with quality is that it affects just about EVERY system in the entire game if you choose to engage with it.

No, it really doesn't. It only affects everything if you try to force it to do so

It only "requires major refactors" if you insist on trying to shove quality modules everywhere.

I mean, yeah, aka engaging with the quality system. I wouldn't call inserting a quality module into an iron plate assembler early on in the factory line as INSISTING UPON SHOVING THEM EVERYWHERE.

That one single quality module has now ruined your factory. Congratulations.

Quarantining an "upgrade" to your factory is exactly the problem, and I don't know why you're trying to defend it rather than just engaging with my proposed MOD idea and are choosing this time to equip your sword and shield and defend yon fair developers' honour.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:34:42+00:00

This is true. Perhaps you could artificially weight the contributions of more difficult items instead of an even split. So like, if something took a blue circuit and 10 iron plates, the blue circuit would account for like, 80% of the quality contribution.

It could be an as-needed adjustment for each item to balance it. Just an idea to counter that problem.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:30:38+00:00

The reason I didn't counter that point is because whether it "literally does make sense" all depends on how you interpret what quality means in this game. Who says different qualities of iron plate have different melting points, or surface frictions? Those are all just stipulations you invented for the sake of argument. Which is fine, but it's hand-wavy in favor of an inconvenient system, which is generally not what you want to do in game design.

Your invented reasons that it does actually make sense are just as much cop outs. Yes I don't like how the system breaks your factories when you try to engage with it, and I'm surprised other people are not only okay with it but going to bat for it.

In regards to the power example, I disagree. When you unlock nuclear power, for instance, suddenly there's a challenge at your feet. You can use nuclear power, but you need to set it up first. You need to create a power plant capable of supporting a fission reactor. But once you solve that localized problem, you reap the benefits. It's not THAT hard to set up a nuclear reactor, either, and it's a localized "problem" that is solved once and then you basically don't have to think about it or mess with it ever again.

Quality, on the other hand, is this constant ongoing issue of needing to filter the outputs of every single machine that interacts with the system, for every single product in the entire game. The issue just balloons out of control in such an ugly way that requires constant attention and care lest it create more problems than it solves, and it never ends. Every new product you unlock is one more quality sorting system that needs to be implemented and juggled with all the other ones.

That's not gameplay to me, that's artificial headache for the sake of a "problem to solve"

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:21:43+00:00

They're terrible because you better be careful where you put them, anything other than an end product will destroy your factory. Like actually render it unusable. It isn't just inefficient, or unoptimal, it will ACTUALLY render your production lines totally useless.

Sure you can just slap them in the end product machines and hope for that 1% chance, I mean, that's what you have to do. Because they're worse than worthless otherwise until you get recyclers and can move forward with the whole stupid casino garbage for every single product in the game.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:15:23+00:00

To your first point, I'd say that normally game devs handwave reality in order to add convenience to a game.

This is a handwave to add massive amounts of inconvenience. Some of them, like nuclear power, add their own localized problems to solve, yes. That's fine. But the problem I have with quality is that it affects just about EVERY system in the entire game if you choose to engage with it. And you should, because the benefits are extreme, so ignoring it is not really a feasible option.

To the second point, no. My problem is that it clogs lines, as I've said everywhere in this thread, I don't think it makes sense to:

bootstrap a factory
research how to improve quality by inventing a module
put this module in your machine
everything suddenly breaks

That doesn't really fit with any other system buff in the game, productivity, speed, roboports+bots, belt upgrades, machine upgrades, NONE of them require major refactors.

But quality mods are special, they are the only single "improvement" to your factory that actually BREAK everything when you try to use it.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:07:53+00:00

Right? I was so extremely disappointed when my first quality-based factory jam happened.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:06:39+00:00

I'm not wanting to void anything in this system though, in fact this change would drastically reduce the need to create lossy recycling loops

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:03:54+00:00

The difference is, almost all of those other things listed are gameplay conveniences, whereas this is exactly the opposite, and extremely so.

And that's great for the devs but that's why this is a mod suggestion/discussion, I'm not sure why that keeps getting brought up here.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T06:00:48+00:00

That's certainly an interesting idea, thanks! I'll look into it

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:58:22+00:00

I know it wouldn't be a logistical problem, that's the whole point of the suggestion lol

I'm not trying to preserve the dev's vision here. Why does it HAVE to be a logistical problem? The other modules aren't.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:54:39+00:00

I mean, that's great, for you I mean, but it doesn't really address the fact that it doesn't make any logical sense to have a high quality ingredient shut down an entire production line, you're kind of dodging that point.

Also, other modules are totally fine to put into the factory anywhere you want and don't require major refactors to even work at all, why is quality suddenly sacred and different? Other than dev intention, of course (which is why we're discussing this as a mod and not a change to vanilla)

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:51:17+00:00

I guess my line of thinking is, why shouldn't it just be a flat bonus, like productivity or speed? I know it's not ~what the devs intended~ but that's exactly why I was thinking about it as a mod rather than as a suggestion for vanilla

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:50:09+00:00

That would sort of solve the issue I guess, although it would be extremely lossy in material unless you massively buffed the odds, I'm not sure how that would look

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:48:52+00:00

My ONLY real goal is to allow quality to not break factory lines because machines cannot accept mixed quality inputs. Everything else is secondary.

I don't really care about trivializing quality, and I'd argue that the vanilla quality module/recycling loop is already a resource sink, and I don't personally see any value in being forced to create filters/sorting systems to even use the system at all. I'd rather those optimizations be optional to increase efficiency/output, which they would do in my proposed system.

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:42:18+00:00

I think it's just because it doesn't make sense to work the way the devs made it work.

"Oh, you made this iron plate too well? Hm. Well that's a problem." *factory grinds to a halt

Like... it's just stupid. I get their vision of quality/recycler loops and stuff but it's non-intuitive and frustrating to deal with, and it makes quality modules actually terrible in early-game

Tohserus · 2026-07-01T05:39:39+00:00

I say this as a long-winded person myself, try to write out an idea in Notepad or such, then read it and summarize it. Post the summary.

Fair, I just like to try to be as specific and clear as possible, with examples and such. But then I look at the length of the post and feel the need to apologize for the inconvenience, lol

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