Hi All,
I have just released V0.0.3 with many changes you will see in the readme or change log of the mod but...here they are again.
I noticed on play through again with it it was a bit confusing so i think ive improved a whole lot
Id really appreciate any and all feedback, requests etc.
Chris
## What's New in v0.0.3 Beta
Captain's Log v0.0.3 Beta adds a much smarter factory diagnostics layer, with a focus on making shortages easier to trace and large product lists easier to work through.
---
### New: Input Dependencies Tab
A new **Input Dependencies** tab has been added to help trace upstream production issues.
Instead of only showing whether a product is short or surplus, Captain's Log can now help answer:
> Why is this product not producing properly?
Select a product in **Factory Balance**, open **Input Dependencies**, and the dashboard will show:
- Producer groups making that product
- Required direct inputs
- Total factory demand for each input
- Factory production capacity
- Current production
- Net capacity
- Status for each upstream input
You can click upstream inputs to keep tracing the chain back step by step.
This is especially useful for products like Lab Equipment, Electronics, Vehicle Parts, and other multi-stage items where the real bottleneck may be several layers upstream.
---
### New: Dependency Breadcrumb Trail
The **Input Dependencies** view now includes a breadcrumb trail, so you can see the path you have followed through the factory.
Example:
```text
Lab Equipment IV > Electronics III > Microchips
Breadcrumbs can be clicked to jump back to earlier products in the trace, and a Back up chain button lets you step backward one level at a time.
Improved: Factory Balance Product Grouping
The Factory Balance table now visually groups related products together, making the large product list much easier to scan.
Examples include:
- Lab Equipment
- Microchips
- Maintenance
- Vehicle Parts
- Construction Parts
This helps keep related product tiers together instead of scattering them through one giant flat list.
Improved: Product Group Filter
A new product group filter has been added to Factory Balance.
The dashboard uses exported game product types to help narrow the table, with cleaner display names. For example, internal labels like Countable Product Proto are displayed more cleanly as Countable Product.
Improved: Paused Machine Handling
Paused machines are now shown instead of being hidden.
This is useful when a factory area has machines assigned to a recipe but currently paused.
Paused machines now:
- Appear in Factory Balance
- Are clearly flagged as paused
- Keep their production capacity visible
- Contribute
0to current production and consumption
This gives a better picture of installed capability without pretending paused machines are actively running.
Improved: Air Pollution Handling
Air pollution has been moved out of the normal product balance table and into a top-level Factory KPI.
Instead of showing confusing values like Can Produce and Net Supply for pollution, Captain's Log now shows current air pollution as a simple top-card metric:
Air Pollution: current rate per minute
This better reflects what matters: what your factory is emitting right now.
Improved: Factory Balance Detail View
Factory Balance product details now better highlight producer, consumer, and disposal contributions, including paused machine badges and issue diagnostics.
This makes it easier to tell whether a product is short because of:
- Missing input
- Blocked output
- Paused producers
- Not enough active production
- Disposal or sink issues
Quality of Life Improvements
This release also includes several smaller dashboard improvements:
- Cleaner tab structure
- New Input Dependencies navigation
- Better wording around included machines
- Improved scope note explaining paused machine behaviour
- More useful top summary cards
- Better status visibility in dependency tracing
- Cleaner product group labels
- Factory Balance remains separate from dependency tracing, so the original view is not cluttered
Short Version
Captain's Log v0.0.3 Beta adds a new Input Dependencies view for tracing upstream bottlenecks, plus product grouping, paused machine visibility, breadcrumb navigation, cleaner pollution handling, and several quality-of-life improvements to make large factories easier to diagnose.
The big new feature is dependency tracing: select a product, see what it needs, check total factory demand, and click upstream inputs until you find the real bottleneck.