Didn't see an issue for this already, and you mentioned in a comment on Dosh's video:
It's on my list to try make the module tiers feel more unique. The first tier will probably get easier.
So I thought I would open this to track and allow a bit of discussion.
I personally have no explicit recommendations on recipe changes, just general vibes of when/where. Sort of like what DoshDoshington said that at least tier 0 should be far more usable. Vanilla factorio, and even BA runs with bob's modules has the first tier fairly usable. Sure most builds quickly want to use the best they can later, but even a few prod modules with +4% adds up, plus speed +20% (vanilla numbers) easily let players start using modules where the most critical/important with the downside being the cost of red circuits and power. SeaBlock runs I would think still have significant scaling challenges with respect to number of red circuits or total power at the time T0 modules unlock that merely consuming the red circuits and powering them is a significant roadblock itself.
Thus the idea of removing the need for crystals/gems for T0, at least. There may be reasons to make it even easier/less complex, but starting there makes sense to me. The step further would be to move the (Prod|Speed|Efficiency) Circuit Boards all "up" one level so that they are used in T1/T2/T3 vs T0/T1/T2, but I am unsure if this would be "too far", especially considering the efficiency modules would moot most of the power concerns.
It is also worth mentioning the T1 beacon which uses a Harmonic Crystal Splinter, I am actually unsure if this one should change at the same time or not. The idea being that modules-in-machines earlier is probably worth doing, but beacons as well are a whole new build type. I think beacons should start being used around T1/T2, but with the higher tier beacons should there also be a matching usage of the lower-tier beacon is an interesting question.
I know that I myself followed in Dosh's steps of not bothering with any modules until T3's because the complexity wasn't worth it vs building more and more elsewhere.
Proposed changes:
Remove need for Crystal Splinters from T0 modules
Potentially via removal of need for the (Prod|Speed|Efficiency) Circuit Boards for T0? This would move them all "up" one recipe to T1/T2/T3
Remove need for Harmonic Crystal Splinter from Beacon
Again, unsure on this one being done at all. There are pros/cons of this, and maybe there is a better balance/recipe change to encourage use that isn't to the point of "so easy every SeaBlock run now always rushes to T0 modules/beacons"
Didn't see an issue for this already, and you mentioned in a comment on Dosh's video:
So I thought I would open this to track and allow a bit of discussion.
I personally have no explicit recommendations on recipe changes, just general vibes of when/where. Sort of like what DoshDoshington said that at least tier 0 should be far more usable. Vanilla factorio, and even BA runs with bob's modules has the first tier fairly usable. Sure most builds quickly want to use the best they can later, but even a few prod modules with +4% adds up, plus speed +20% (vanilla numbers) easily let players start using modules where the most critical/important with the downside being the cost of red circuits and power. SeaBlock runs I would think still have significant scaling challenges with respect to number of red circuits or total power at the time T0 modules unlock that merely consuming the red circuits and powering them is a significant roadblock itself.
Thus the idea of removing the need for crystals/gems for T0, at least. There may be reasons to make it even easier/less complex, but starting there makes sense to me. The step further would be to move the (Prod|Speed|Efficiency) Circuit Boards all "up" one level so that they are used in T1/T2/T3 vs T0/T1/T2, but I am unsure if this would be "too far", especially considering the efficiency modules would moot most of the power concerns.
It is also worth mentioning the T1 beacon which uses a Harmonic Crystal Splinter, I am actually unsure if this one should change at the same time or not. The idea being that modules-in-machines earlier is probably worth doing, but beacons as well are a whole new build type. I think beacons should start being used around T1/T2, but with the higher tier beacons should there also be a matching usage of the lower-tier beacon is an interesting question.
I know that I myself followed in Dosh's steps of not bothering with any modules until T3's because the complexity wasn't worth it vs building more and more elsewhere.
Proposed changes: