Is this safe for my save? Will anything break?
Yes. Your real character never moves and is never altered — the mod simply
detaches you from your body (character = nil) and drops you onto the
built-in "god" controller on a separate, private planning surface. Your body
stays exactly where you left it, and becomes yours again the moment you
leave.
Does the planning room affect my real research?
No. Every recipe is available to build inside the planning room, but that's
achieved through a separate, dedicated "force" that has every recipe
unlocked and research completely disabled. Your real force and its
technology tree are never touched -- nothing is ever marked as researched
unless you actually researched it for real.
Does my factory keep running while I'm planning?
No (unless you turn this off in settings). Every production, logistics and
combat building on your real surface is paused (active = false) for the
duration of planning, and resumes the instant you leave. This can be
disabled via the mod setting ("Freeze factory") if you'd rather your factory
keep running in the background.
Does enemy evolution get frozen too?
Yes, if the "Freeze evolution" setting is enabled (on by default). While
you're inside the planning room, the biter evolution factor doesn't
increase at all -- not from time, not from pollution. It resumes normally
the moment you leave. The freeze is applied on the very same tick you click
the button to enter -- there's no way to make it happen any faster than
that.
Why is there no "Technology" button inside the planning room?
It's hidden on purpose -- that's just how Factorio behaves when research is
disabled for a force. It's not a bug; it's a side effect of making items
available through recipes rather than "researching everything", which is
what keeps your real force's technology tree completely honest.
Can I see my real character while I'm planning?
No -- the planning surface and your real surface are rendered completely
independently; the Factorio engine has no way to overlay one surface's
render on top of another's. Your character stays visible and unharmed on
the real surface, you simply can't physically see it while you're standing
on a different surface yourself.
What happens if I die while planning?
This can only happen if something attacks your undefended body while you're
away (the planning room itself is completely safe). If your body was killed,
leaving the planning room drops you back into the real world at the spot you
stood in before entering, and you'll be prompted to respawn as normal.
Does this work in multiplayer?
Yes. Each player gets their own personal planning surface and their own set
of sheets. The factory/evolution freeze is shared: if several players are
planning on the same surface at once, it only actually unfreezes once the
last one leaves.
Do my sheets (layouts) persist between sessions?
Yes, sheets are tied to the player and saved inside the save file itself --
they survive both leaving the room and reloading the game.
Can I bring a finished layout back to my real factory?
Yes, via the export button -- it turns the current sheet into a regular
blueprint item, which lands in your cursor or inventory, and from there
works just like any other blueprint.
Does the mod change the whole game's language?
No, the EN/RU button only switches the mod's own text (messages, tooltips,
HUD) -- independently of your Factorio client's language.