Q: Is this a mod of excellent quality?
A: Possibly! This is my fourth Factorio mod, and although I am not a programmer, I think I have managed to produce something pretty decent.
Q: Why make this mod?
A: My main purpose for this mod is to make the game less tedious and time/space-consuming, without outright destroying game balance. I am all about exploring the relations between machines, but have little interest in long rows of machines that do the exact same, trivial thing, much less commuting over great distances just to inspect my main base. I also dislike having to wait a long time for research to be done to be "allowed" to build even basic factories and infrastructure. This mod helps me focus on what I consider the core gameplay of designing neat, complex factories.
How compatible is this mod with other mods that make changes to labs and technology?
A: That is still hard to say for Factorio 2.0. I expect that the energy use scales whether the lab is powered by electricity, coal, steam etc., since the game has been coded that way (not necessarily pollution rate, though, since it is not a feature of the vanilla lab). If the tech tree is fundamentally restructured, the console commands unlocking technologies may not work as intended and only unlock some of it. At least I am pretty sure there won't be any crashes.
Q: How do you use that command again?
A: You gotta open the console! Check your controls in settings and use the search function to find the entry Toggle Chat (and lua console). That is the key you need to press. While in a game, type e.g. "/cr_unlock rgb" (without the quotation marks) and press Enter. You will receive a message in the console about your action.
Q: How do I find the internal ID of a technology to exclude it from cost adjustment?
A: While in-game, open debug-menu with F4 and enable "show-debug-info-in-tooltips". Go to the tech menu and hover the mouse pointer of the tech. The name will be displayed in the tooltip. This method may not work with some mods that make changes to the tech menu (like Ultimate Research Queue).
Q: Will you make any further changes to the mod?
A: No particular plans right now.