Techtonica is a first-person factory automation game set beneath the surface of an alien planet. Work alone or in co-op to build factories, gather resources, research new technologies, mold the destructible terrain, establish a base of operations, and uncover long-forgotten secrets.

Hilight Empty Boxes

In order to improve the gameplay experience, it would be beneficial to highlight empty boxes in a different color from full boxes. This would make it easier for players to identify which boxes they have already emptied and no longer need to interact with.

Hilight Unscanned Equipment on Minimap

Small items like inserters are easy to miss on the minimap, especially if they haven’t been scanned yet. It would be helpful if unscanned equipment could be highlighted on the minimap, allowing players to easily locate and interact with them.

Improved Map Navigation

The current map system in Techtonica is not very helpful for longer-range navigation. Players often find themselves getting lost and struggling to find their way back to previously visited locations. The game should allow players to zoom out and view terrain they have already explored. Additionally, players should have the ability to mark specific locations as points of interest to easily navigate back to them.

HUD for Points of Interest

There should be a way for players to mark locked doors or other points of interest on their HUD. This would allow players to easily see which areas they have the materials to unlock and prevent them from forgetting where these points of interest are located. Without a proper navigation system, players may never find these points of interest again except by chance.

Visual Indicators for Assemblers and Boxes

It would be useful if each assembler and box could visually indicate what they are making or what they contain from a distance. This could be achieved through a highlight hotkey, allowing players to quickly identify the contents without needing to inspect each individual item. Similarly, being able to see the contents of the first slot in a box without interacting with it directly would be a time-saving improvement.

Limitations on Box Capacity

The current workaround for limiting box capacity by stuffing single units of items into undesired slots is inconvenient. There should be a built-in feature that allows players to set a limit on how much a box can hold. This would eliminate the need for workarounds and simplify the gameplay experience. Additionally, it would be helpful if boxes could be configured to only accept specific items using filter inserters for outputs.

Disable Movement on Belts

Constantly being moved when stepping on a belt can become tedious and frustrating, especially in constrained areas where flying is not an option. It would be beneficial to have a way to disable movement when stepping on a belt, allowing players to freely build without being constantly pushed around.

Precise Placement and Belt Level Adjustment

The snapping mechanic for placing items can be problematic, particularly when trying to place waterwheels. Items often snap to invalid locations, causing frustration for players. To improve the building process, items should only snap to valid locations for their current orientation. Additionally, allowing players to explicitly raise and lower belt levels when laying them out would result in cleaner and more efficient layouts. The current process of laying out raised floors, installing the belt, and then deleting the floors is time-consuming and could be simplified.

Improved Mass-Deleting Feature

When mass-deleting objects, it would be beneficial to limit the deletion to a single layer at a time, unless a modifier key is held down. This would prevent accidental deletion of floors or other objects when the intention was to only delete specific equipment. This improvement would make managing and organizing bases less prone to errors and frustration.