Factorio
| Factorio | |
|---|---|
 The Factorio logo | |
| Developer(s) | Wube Software |
| Publisher(s) | Wube Software |
| Distributor(s) | Steam |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Genre(s) | Action, real-time strategy, survival |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Factorio is an upcoming real-time strategy video game in development by Wube Software. The completed version is scheduled to be released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux.[1][2]
Development
The game has been developed by a team of developers from Prague since mid 2012. The team originally consisted of one developer but has grown bigger since. To fund the game, they started an Indiegogo campaign, which started on 31 January 2013 and finished on 3 March 2013. The campaign raised €21,626 of the €17,000 goal.[3][4][5] Following the crowdfunding success, Wube sold early access editions of the game to raise further funds. The developer credits the April 2014 release of the game's trailer as a significant driver of those sales.[6]
One of the game's designers cited Minecraft mods as an inspiration during the game's development.[7]
The game was released on Steam Early Access on 25 February 2016, and its developers aim for a full release in late 2017.[8]
Plot
The game follows the story of a spaceman who crash landed on an alien planet. As the only survivor, he has to harvest his resources by hand in order to build up an industrial infrastructure to eventually build a rocket and escape back to space, while facing inhabitants of the planet who defend their native environment.[9]
Gameplay
Factorio is a resource gathering game with real-time strategy and survival elements, with influences from the BuildCraft and IndustrialCraft mods for the Minecraft computer game.[7] The player has to survive by finding and harvesting resources to build tools and machines, which can then create more advanced materials to allow for the creation of more sophisticated technologies. As further depth into the game is reached, the player may be building and managing an automated factory-style system, which can mine, transport, process and assemble resources. Players research advanced technologies that allow them to create new structures and items, starting with basic automation and leading to drones and exoskeletons.[10][11]
The game is formally "won" by launching a rocket with a satellite, though many breakthroughs ignore this goal and just build interesting factories instead, as Factorio is an open world game. Constructing the rocket takes massive amounts of resources, forcing the player to set up an sizable effective factory to complete the game. There are achievements for finishing the game in under 15 or under 8 hours, which indicates the expected completion time for a skilled player. The any% speedrunning world record is 1 hour 52 minutes, but that is with a favorable map seed and aliens set to peaceful.[12]
Combat
The player is concerned with defending themselves and their factory from the planet's increasingly aggressive indigenous fauna, who react with hostility to pollution created by the industry, necessitating the player to consider the balance between their production and the enemy's aggressiveness.[13] There are three types of enemies; biters, spitters, and worms which spawn from bases that are generated randomly. Combat can be done in the early game with a pistol, which then leads to a sub-machine gun, a shotgun and finally the combat shotgun. Ammunition also has multiple types, including 'penetrating' rounds which can pass through enemies and do damage to anything on the other side.
Early on, turret technology is available to the player, giving access to the construction of automated sub-machine gun turrets. These turrets will auto-fire at enemies and are great for setting up an early-game automated defence. Mid-game technology gives access to laser turrets which, unlike the sub-machine gun turret, do not consume ammunition, and instead consume electricity. They do more damage, and do not require re-loading, so they are ideal for a mid-to-late-game defence system.
The rest of the mid-to-late game brings 3 types of vehicles: cars, tanks and trains. The car is fast, lightly armoured, equipped with a single sub-machine gun, has a large inventory space, and is helpful not only for combating the natives but also for transporting the player and large quantities of items from place to place. The tank is heavily armoured, equipped with a cannon and a sub-machine gun, and is much slower than the car. The tank excels at attacking native colonies from a distance to reduce the amount of local hostiles.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer mode allows people, both locally and via the internet to play together cooperatively.[8][14]
Downloadable content
The game was designed to be customisable via mods to create additional content, such as modifications to gameplay or re-texturing of visual elements.
References
- ↑ "Factorio". Indie DB. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ Kozelek, Tomas. "Friday Facts #59 – The new office". Factorio blog. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ↑ Smith, Graham. "Factorio Trailer Looks Like A Fun Factory, Has Demo". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ "Factorio". Indiegogo. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ Kozelek, Tomas. "Here we are". Factorio blog. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ Mike Rose (27 May 2014). "How a single game trailer turned the tide for Factorio". Gamasutra. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- 1 2 "kovarex comments on Nerd³ FW – Factorio". Reddit. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- 1 2 "Factorio FAQ". www.factorio.com. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ↑ Dobrovský, Pavel. "Zabijte planetu průmyslem v české budovatelské strategii Factorio". Games.cz. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
- ↑ Jauch, Daniel. "Our Nation's Factorio Review". APGNation. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ Priestman, Chris. "Factorio Is A Machine-Fetishist's Best Friend". Indie Statik. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ↑ https://www.speedrun.com/Factorio
- ↑ "Factorio – Content". www.factorio.com. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
- ↑ Rogers, Tristan (1 November 2014). "Factorio Gets Multiplayer". SandboxDB. Retrieved 21 November 2014.