At first, I want to thank Xalos for making this mod. It fits into the vanilla game like a missing piece of a puzzle. It greatly improves the gaming experience by removing that ridicules waiting for batteries to charge from freaky solar panels while standing in the middle of the fully powered base overflowing with electricity. Very straightforward and logical idea to give armor a plug for charging. Long live Tesla armor! :)
Yet, at current stage (version 1.3) it feels kinda raw with image placeholders and broken balance. The idea is perfectly right, but the implementation seems a bit too rushed. So I wish to suggest few things.
1) Graphics. Please, Xalos, invest some time to search for cool images for the devices and techs.
2) Balance. Please, Xalos, keep in mind the vanilla system and try to merge with it smoothly. Your mod compliments it perfectly and certainly may fit into this system without breaking balance, so there is no reason make the PT cost more than it should in terms of recipe and prerequisites .
The role the personal transformer should have is to quickly charge the armor to get things ready for the next trip into the wilderness. Understanding the role of PT suggests that it's power output should be tied to the level of the personal battery: the MK1 has a capacity of 20 MJ, so with 200KW the PT MK1 will charge it in 100 seconds. I can hardly call it a quick charging, since the player will not stand still for so long, and given that a single exoskeleton consumes exactly 200 KW, the charging may take forever. Therefore I suggest buffing the PT MK1 to 500 KW to let it charge the battery in a minute term without forcing the player to idle. However, with grid size 2x2 the PT is equivalent in size to 4 personal solar panels providing only a 84 KW average output. Even that the PT only outputs while at the base under the E-grid coverage, and does not help while not at the base, the suggested 500 KW seem to be OP for such a small size to not break the balance. So the second suggestion is to increase the grid size to 3x3.
As for the tech prerequisites, I see no reason for PT MK1 to require neither a blue science pack nor anything except modular armor tech & personal battery. Just those too will be fine.
As for the recipe cost, IMO, it should NOT include batteries, since a battery component does not seem logical considering the device name and purpose. I have some knowledge in electronics, so to make things logical I suggest the following recipe for the PT MK1:
50 Copper cable,
25 Iron plates,
10 Electronic circuits.
Now let's move to the PT MK2. IMO, it should be tied to the personal battery MK2, therefore the tech prerequisites should be constrained to the next tier of armor and battery - the Power armor and Personal battery MK2 (and PT MK1, of course). Both require just red, green and blue science packs, so I see no reason for the PT MK2 to differ there.
As for the power output of PT MK2, it will be OP to increase it 5 times following the capacity change of personal battery MK2 vs MK1, so I suggest to stop at 1.8 MW.
As for the recipe cost for PT MK2, I suggest the following:
4 Personal transformers MK1,
80 Steel plates,
10 Advanced electronic circuits.
Now to the PT MK3. There is no personal battery of third tier in vanilla, so the prerequisite should only be the Power armor MK2. Therefore, to blend seamlessly with the system, the science pack requirements should include the same set as power armor MK2 - the red, green, blue and yellow science packs.
As for the power output of PT MK3 to choose, the late game conditions should be considered - it is the massive construction tasks via personal roboports consuming 4 MW max each are a typical tasks for the player to be busy with. So at that game stage the role of PT MK3 switches from quick charging of personal batteries to the constant provider of power for the personal roboports during massive construction projects. Therefore I suggest the PT MK3 output to be 4 MW.
As for the recipe cost of PT MK3, the following is my suggestion:
3 PT MK2,
15 Low density structure,
60 Processing units.
3) By default both charging and and power providing modes of operation are switched off, which is confusing for a new user which may install the PT and see no any effect. Is it possible to make the charging be "on" by default?
4) Thank you again, Xalos, for the time you spend on this great mod. I consider to include it into my core mod set when it get some more polish. Please do not abandon it and don't lose inspiration - you are making the Factorio better, so have a sip of science pack and good luck with further development! :)
