Factorio: A game all about automation

[MoRmEnGiL]

A total waste if you ask me..

[FlowerChild]

They started work on MP in like, september and it's now almost april. nearly 8 months of development into MP with next to no new features for anything else.

Yeah...that's what the demanding fans often times don't understand.

It's like "better graphics!". Very easy to demand as it's so obvious to the average player. Comes at huge costs though, especially if a game has been in dev for awhile, and wasn't setup to handle it from the start.

Similar with "Don't Start Together". Fans demanded multiplayer ad nauseum. Turned into a whole other development project, and personally, I highly doubt it will cover its costs.

[MoRmEnGiL]

It's easy to want a multiplayer mode for sandbox or survival games, because the main concept of those games lends well to playing with a friend. But as mentioned, it comes with an obvious cost.

Factorio on the other hand is neither survival really, nor true sandbox. I really can't see why such huge demand for multiplayer..It's not like minecraft for e.g. where multi is a whole different ballgame, where there is strong interaction between players in many different styles (building together, showing off builds, playing minigames or custom maps, even pure old anarchy and pvp servers..) What is the real appeal of multiplayer factorio?

[abculatter_2]

It's easy to want a multiplayer mode for sandbox or survival games, because the main concept of those games lends well to playing with a friend. But as mentioned, it comes with an obvious cost.

Factorio on the other hand is neither survival really, nor true sandbox. I really can't see why such huge demand for multiplayer..It's not like minecraft for e.g. where multi is a whole different ballgame, where there is strong interaction between players in many different styles (building together, showing off builds, playing minigames or custom maps, even pure old anarchy and pvp servers..) What is the real appeal of multiplayer factorio?

As the opinion of someone who's seen Let's Plays of this, but not actually played it, I suppose there is some potential for anarchy servers with scarce resources, but even then the non-renewablity of the game's resources means that such a server will have no longevity. Plus it seems like it would be really easy for one or two people to just make an impenetrable fortress and win the map.

I guess you could make mods to fix a few of the problems, but yeah, I really have to agree that Factorio is not a game for multiplayer.

[AdmiralJonB]

I actually really enjoy playing it multiplayer, and I think it suits Factorio a lot better than other 'sandbox/survival' games. It allows multiple people to bring their own ideas into building the factories. We all have different ways of approaching problems: there are many different ways to build factories, or having to fit things into tight spaces. I know I've learnt a lot of techniques by playing with people, as they have from me. And quite often, the factories we make are very different when combining ideas, and coming up with ideas we couldn't alone.

Plus, I don't like the oil industry, so I get someone else to do that :)

[devak]

I actually really enjoy playing it multiplayer, and I think it suits Factorio a lot better than other 'sandbox/survival' games. It allows multiple people to bring their own ideas into building the factories. We all have different ways of approaching problems: there are many different ways to build factories, or having to fit things into tight spaces. I know I've learnt a lot of techniques by playing with people, as they have from me. And quite often, the factories we make are very different when combining ideas, and coming up with ideas we couldn't alone.

Plus, I don't like the oil industry, so I get someone else to do that :)

It adds something, i agree. But i simply don't think it's worth the cost of half a year. Especially since the major (sales) growth spurt seems to be over now.

[Foxy Boxes]

Well it's a great game and even got me to try my hand at lua. Mainly because I wanted flame turrets.
Shameless plug, but any feedback would be great:
http://www.factorioforums.com/forum/vie ... 14&t=10272

[Taleric]

Now at 1.2 the game is sweet!! The rocket launch animation is gorgeous! I am running a raw 1.2 and think the intensive material costs will force me to build a rail network for once can't wait! :)

[FlowerChild]

Now at 1.2 the game is sweet!! The rocket launch animation is gorgeous! I am running a raw 1.2 and think the intensive material costs will force me to build a rail network for once can't wait! :)

Are there enough significant changes to boot up the game for someone that hasn't played it in a year or so?

I more or less gave up on it with the multiplayer tangent they went on, but if you say there are significant gameplay changes happening again, I'll likely take another look.

[Taleric]

I would say no only to save the experiance planned after the rocket for a whole run.

The rocket is monumental due to the required resources but the plan is to have resources sent into orbit for the end game at that point.

I really had no clue where they were going a year ago so the oil additions, tweaking sizes of turrets and the crazy tech has been an unexpected blast.

Plus I am a sucker for the art style.

I would say wait another 4 months and the while shabang should be ready :)

[FlowerChild]

Thanks for the run down man! I do believe I played previously with oil implemented (I think the last time I played some of the logistic elements were present, which I think happened after oil), so doesn't look like all that much has been added since.

I'm interested in the increased costs thing you mentioned, but think I'll take your advice and hold off a bit longer if it's getting that close to completion. Not sure if I'll be up for another restart in a few months if I do so now :)

[MaxAstro]

I'm still worried that they are biting of more than they will ever chew with their end game plans. But looking at the patch notes they have started to implement code to support the whole orbital platform idea, so maybe I will end up eating my words.

...If nothing else, the new version is wonderful just for gun turrets and laser turrets having the same footprint. Damn that was annoying when changing from one to the other previously...

[MoRmEnGiL]

Just a heads up, Factorio is now on steam in early access. Those who bought the game from the site, do get a steam key (relevant link found in your profile)

Also, here is an amusing little vid, although 2 months late :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=indN4kcshB0

EDIT: also this amusing thing is coming, and will make you forget the other vehicles.

Spoiler

Show

[FlowerChild]

Just a heads up, Factorio is now on steam in early access. Those who bought the game from the site, do get a steam key (relevant link found in your profile)

I was just sitting here playing it :)

A few weeks ago I wanted to give it another try after a long hiatus, but noticed the Steam version was coming and decided to wait for it. Been having some good fun with it today. It's a bit of a shame IMO that they poured so much effort into multiplayer and thus the game hasn't evolved all that much since last time I tried it, but it's been long enough that it still feels fairly fresh to me.

[Daisjun]

To be fair the multiplayer is extremely well polished and well worth the investment of time. I've been playing with a friend the last few weeks and we haven't had a single issue with it.

Good to see all the great reviews too. It certainly deserves all the praise it's been getting.

[FlowerChild]

To be fair the multiplayer is extremely well polished and well worth the investment of time.

It saddens me that EA games keep derailing their entire development process in order to jam multiplayer into existing designs, and people still consider it to somehow be "worth it". I'm hoping that the industry eventually gets over that particular trend as it's been incredibly destructive to a number of otherwise excellent games.

[Psion]

To be fair the multiplayer is extremely well polished and well worth the investment of time.

It saddens me that EA games keep derailing their entire development process in order to jam multiplayer into existing designs, and people still consider it to somehow be "worth it". I'm hoping that the industry eventually gets over that particular trend as it's been incredibly destructive to a number of otherwise excellent games.

i suspect its only going to get worse. video games are being seen more and more as a way of socializing with younger generations, and the widespread use of high speed internet has only fueled that. once VR becomes mainstream i suspect there will be even more clamoring for multiplayer, as games become more immersive and the social aspect becomes more prominent. chatting with your friends on teamspeak while playing a game is fun, but with VR you could "see" your friends as well, their reactions and emotions, and physically collaborate with them.

people are social beasts by nature, so as games become more realistic, there's going to be more of a demand for real people to interact with, as pre-programmed AIs make for lonely companions.

[FlowerChild]

people are social beasts by nature, so as games become more realistic, there's going to be more of a demand for real people to interact with, as pre-programmed AIs make for lonely companions.

I have nothing against multiplayer games where it's appropriate, and where a game has been designed to function that way from the very beginning. What I do increasingly have a problem with are indie developers caving to pressure for multiplayer and cramming it into an existing design, essentially putting all other development on hold while they rearchitect a game to support it.

I went through a lot of that garbage first hand back in the 90's when multiplayer became a thing and people suddenly decided to add it to games already in development. It was always a mistake to do so, and I thought the industry had learned its lesson there. What most players (and many devs apparently) don't realize is that single player game architecture and multiplayer game architecture are very very different things. If you don't design and architect for it from the start, it's usually just best to leave it to a sequel or another game, when you intend to start over from scratch anyways.

Anyways, all told when a game like Factorio essentially pauses all development for a year or so, just to add multiplayer in, it's very much a face palm moment for me. It may be fun, it may be well done, but no way can I see it being worth it.

[Psion]

oh, i don't disagree, but you're someone who has developed games and knows exactly what the costs are in exchange for multiplayer being added willynilly. the masses, however, do not. they just know that they want to play with their buddies and share good times with them, and to them the cost is totally worth it- because they don't realize the cost is a lot higher than they think.

unfortunately, the masses are who tend to dictate what gets added, and so i don't see multiplayer-palooza dying down anytime soon.

[Katalliaan]

To be honest, I'm just glad that they did it before going on Steam, when they didn't have as much exposure. Otherwise they'd likely be in a similar position to the Space Engineers team, who are currently trying to turn their bolted-on multiplayer into something more playable while the playerbase is complaining about the multiplayer being broken and a lack of features.

[Daisjun]

I guess it comes down to preference. I find games like BTW and Factorio a lot more fulfilling when playing with others, other people like playing through them alone. In Factorio it doesn't feel 'slapped on' or inappropriate, it acts well as a speed multiplier in that you can have people working on different projects at the same time.

I get the annoyance with how long it took to develop multiplayer, but I think it was the right move in that it's going to capture a much bigger audience on Steam and prevents '...but I wish it had multiplayer.' being tacked on to every second review of the game.

And I've also seen the cases where multiplayer should never really have been attempted. Risk of Rain is one of my all time favourites, and the multiplayer in that is shocking. Buggy, laggy, completely unplayable, poorly implemented and it doesn't fit the nature of the game. It's lost dev time that could've been utilised better in other areas.

[FlowerChild]

I guess it comes down to preference. I find games like BTW and Factorio a lot more fulfilling when playing with others, other people like playing through them alone. In Factorio it doesn't feel 'slapped on' or inappropriate, it acts well as a speed multiplier in that you can have people working on different projects at the same time.

Nothing I am saying is an evaluation of the quality of multiplayer in Factorio. I haven't even tried it, so for the sake of this discussion let's simply assume it is perfection, and even if it is, my argument stands in that I don't think it was worth the development effort or loss of momentum.

I think it was the right move in that it's going to capture a much bigger audience

I seriously doubt it. I know the above is often thrown around by players as an argument to tack on multiplayer, but I've never seen evidence that it's the case. My impression is that players tend to play multiplayer on games they already like, and have bought, rather than it encouraging significant additional sales, unless it it a primary design focus. Maybe you'll have players here and there encouraging friends to pick it up, or gifting it, so that they can play multiplayer with them, but I would think that would tend to be the exception rather than the rule, and for the most part multiplayer largely serves to extend play time for existing customers rather than creating new ones.

[Taleric]

There are tree stubs so I can behold my deforestation and it is glorious :D

[Daisjun]

There are tree stubs so I can behold my deforestation and it is glorious :D

I thought the flamethrower was a godsend for clearing forests, that was until I built a tank...