Friday Facts #406 - Space Age Music

[floven1]

I saw foundries on the space platform, seems obvious to do this in retrospect but it has me immensely excited
the expansion cannot come soon enough

[bnrom]

I really like the full orchestra! It is dramatic but in a good way.

- The Space music is amazing. I really like it.
- Big fan of the Vulcanus music. Dramatic, but I think that kind of classic-esk music can be dramatic while not being distracting.
- The Fulgora theme is cool, but the current tracks are maybe slightly too intense / distracting. The track felt louder than the others.

[rymn]

But I can't resist showing a little bit more, this time without graphics. Listen to this track and imagine a remote and unexplored planet, full of...

Penguins. That hop around and give off essence. There are no useful resources on this planet but penguin powder. Penguin powder is only collected while penguins march, so this planet is a symphony of machine penguins kicking up penguin dust. If this dies goes uncollected it slowly blacks out the sun making solar panels unusable. But you must keep the penguins marching to collect that sweet sweet penguin dust.

[KnightViper18]

Each one of these songs reminds me of a different game.

Space = Final Fantasy 7
Vulcanus = Diablo 2 Act 5
Fulgora = an arcade game
And last song gives sim city vibes

[LiquidInsight]

I'll echo what has already been said: the tracks sound fabulous! I can't wait to get my hands on this expansion. It reminds me positively of Stellaris, which is famous for its use of a full orchestra. I bought and adore the soundtrack from that game, and I am optimistic that will be the case for Factorio as well.

[Rebmes]

Plants? Life? O.o Water makes sense like someone else said.

Anyway, this has got to be one of the most exciting fff's by far. Thanks for sharing such wonder and amazement.

[mmmPI]

But all that said, while I say there is an optimum shape to operate your platform at, I never said it may not be worth diverging from that optimum, despite incurring inefficiencies.

If I did that then I would likely add more speed because wasting time waiting for a platform to travel from one planet to another is more annoying to me than if I have to repair a platform more often. So I would likely also make the platform wider than narrower just to be able to add more thrusters. ^^

Because Kerbal Space Program mentality is never wrong. MOAR BOOSTERS.

If i follow your reasonning, the most optimal shape for a space platform would be actually a sphere, like the death star, in star wars, despite your claim of it not being a valid scientific source. It has the best volume to area ratio which is like the 3D version of the best perimeter for area no ?

With unclear modification so that it takes into acount the generation of asteroids based on the average speed at which the platform would move ? Otherwise it has inefficiencies with a 360° degree turret coverage with the same density.

I will have to try and make the longest platform that the game allows. Obviously to me if you make the sphere hollow, like a donut, you can add additionnal thrusters in the middle, and it become faster than a simple sphere. MOAR BOOSTER ACHIEVED !

Optimum for cargo transfer ? or character planet-to-planet transportation ? and which cargo ? rare goods that need fast delivery or bulk load of things that you can collect during the travel like iron ore ? So many questions for the expansions

[eiis1000]

An idea that I haven't seen mentioned so far (or forgot was mentioned) is this:
I imagine that the various instruments were recorded with individual microphones for mixing/mastering purposes, right? I think that it would be INCREDIBLY cool if (and I recognize this is a pretty big engine change to add so late into the development process but) the game engine could communicate the prevalence various "things" around to the audio engine - e.g., on vulcanus, communicate how much lava there is around, on fulgora, communicate how much "ancient city" there is around, on the probably-existent-and-yet-to-be-unveiled biter-heavy planet communicate what is heavy biter territory, etc. If this could happen, then the various instruments and motifs that represent these aspects of the planets (e.g. the heavy brass in vulcanus, the epic orchestral bits for fight music, etc) could be emphasized post-hoc in the mixing to emulate the e.g. "boss music" effect but subtly
Just a thought!

[Shuisman]

I love the new soundtracks! Really gave me Jesper Kyd (Hitman 1–4) vibes (electronic + orchestra) with a bit of Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross/Nine Inch Nails. Love it! Love it! Love it!

[aka13]

Man, what I thought of, and I hope Kovarex did as well, is how rad it would be to have a remaster of the original theme.
That would be such a cool homage or easter egg

For those who did not hear it at the time, you can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAwPlYtg8GE

[FutureSpec]

I hope everyone at Wube knows that they're not just making a video game, they're bringing joy to people, and offering a wonderful escape in this troubled world.

[superhippie]

My first impression of the mystery track was an Ice world which would combine both the water/rain and the crystal ideas others have floated. The high strings and rapid tinkling like sound of the first section remind me of other pieces depicting snowfall and winter.

Overall while I generally like all the musical ideas presented, the space one sounds the most like Factorio to me.

Vulcanis was instant LOTR to me, though as I love the LOTR soundtrack, no complaints there. The deep brass is a good fit with the landscape.

Fulgora was interesting conceptually but was a bit too stressful in current form and didn't give me any of the ancient civilization vibes though other tracks may give more of that.

[luckymike11]

Great soundtrack! Congratulations

[Ohz]

"Pauza na obed", new planet confirmed

[Drury]

"Pauza na obed", new planet confirmed

That's the biter planet.

Plot twist: you are the lunch.

[CaseyFox]

Never before have a listened to music for a game and got chills because it was so beautiful and impactful. The music sounds like it fits right along side some of the best soundtracks I have ever heard from movies with billions of dollars at their disposal for production. I can't believe how good it is.

I had to stop myself a minute in on the last sound clip because I felt like I wanted to wait to fully experience it from within the game itself for maximum effect. To me, the sound brings to mind a rainforest. The bright but also complex and layered sounds combine with what gives the feel of continuousness like rain as far as you can see.

This game, now has 1,403 hours of my time (at least that Steam has logged), and with the expansion plans I am slightly concerned for my future health as I am likely to exceed that number by multiples...

[Terrahertz]

I noticed something odd in the Fulgora Video, yeah yeah there are a lot of weird things in that base, but one sticks out:
The trainstop seen at 1:13 has not only some Requester-Chests with Inserters pointing towards the Locomotive, but also some Active-Provider-Chests with Inserters coming from the Locomotive.

So either we have to recycle empty rocket fuel canisters from now on, or they put Battery-Electric-Locomotives in the game that were switched out for regular ones for the video.

Or are there options I'm missing why someone would need this setup?

[BEEFE]

I doubt it's intentional because the resemblance is pretty slight, but the first half of the mystery planet music reminds me of the title theme to Ecco: the Tides of Time but in a major key. Maybe I'm just Ecco-brained, though. Even stronger vibes of Glassworks, particularly Island and Facades but with some of the energy of Floe and Rubric.

Very pleasantly surprised with this update tbh. I'm one of those people who turned off the ingame music after playing for some 40 hours, and this definitely has me wanting to turn it back on once I get the expansion. It'll be great to have hours and hours of new music, let alone such atmospheric stuff as this.

[Kadet123]

I noticed something odd in the Fulgora Video, yeah yeah there are a lot of weird things in that base, but one sticks out:
The trainstop seen at 1:13 has not only some Requester-Chests with Inserters pointing towards the Locomotive, but also some Active-Provider-Chests with Inserters coming from the Locomotive.

So either we have to recycle empty rocket fuel canisters from now on, or they put Battery-Electric-Locomotives in the game that were switched out for regular ones for the video.

Or are there options I'm missing why someone would need this setup?

Could be something like that, canisters to empty canisters, or batteries to empty batteries. Which might make sense on a planet with near unlimited electricity.

Or, could be a way to upgrade fuels, for example taking out coal or solid fuel or rocket fuel to put in nuclear fuel.

[spiro9]

I have a fondness for orchestral/classical-style music, but I find myself not liking the examples shown. Taylor's work on the pre-existing Factorio soundtrack set a tone for the whole game that, musically speaking, the new tracks don't exactly compare to; this not to say the new work is bad, just that there is a noticeable contrast in the mood that doesn't quite fit right.

That opinion out of the way, I do believe it prudent to suggest for a future update that perhaps the gap could be bridged by having both composers (Petr and Taylor) flesh out the soundtracks for all surfaces, so that each surface has a blend of the two composers' work, giving some more stylistic consistency while also providing the needed contrast between surfaces.

Of course, take this with a grain of salt. Y'all are the Factorio devs, not me, and I'm a (biased) musician/composer myself. Don't let my stylistic/compositional tastes define your vision for the game! Keep up the good work.