Rseding, V453000

Lua Mod GUI additions Rseding

Mod GUIs have been an interesting part of Factorio modding since I started working at Wube. They allow scenarios and mods to add GUIs that look and feel like the base game.

When someone new to Factorio modding is introduced to how they function, they almost always have the same questions:

• Why is mod GUI part of the game state?
• Why do mod GUIs need to be deterministic?
• How can I edit the base game GUIs?

And then comes the explanation:

The actual widgets are not part of the game state and are not deterministic. The part that mods have access to however is. In an environment where mods have to operate deterministically, if a mod is allowed to read some data that data must be deterministic. In that simple bit of logic; if a mod can read the checked state of a checkbox then that checked st...