Friday Facts #97 - Greenlight preparations

[Nugetto]

I am so hyped, can't wait to see this game on Steam!

[Jonathan88]

Yay openttd modder!!! Openttd is one of my favorite games so I'm HYPED that he is now doing factorio!!!

[Bytenex]

Is it only me or did they really remove the headless server options in 0.12.2?

Did you try the command? The changelog mentioned allowing dots in the file paths for it now, so it's highly unlikely they removed it. Perhaps they just didn't add it to the help switch output?

On another note, is that some fan art for Majora's Mask?

Yes I tried but it gives me the help output. I can neither create maps nor start the server with version 0.12.2 (linux_x64)

P.S.: Yes this is a Majora's Mask fanart and my terminal background

[prg]

Sure you're actually using the right version then?

Code: Select all

$ ./factorio --version
Version: 0.12.2 (Build 16229, linux64)
Binary version: 64
Map input version: 0.9.0-0
Map output version: 0.12.2-4

$ ./factorio --help

General options:
  -h [ --help ]                     display help
  --version                         show version information
  -c [ --config ] PATH              config file to use

Running options:
  -s [ --map2scenario ] arg         map to scenario conversion
  -v [ --convert ] SAVE[, SAVE...]  convert maps from previous versions to
                                    current version
  --apply-update arg                immediately apply update package
  --create SAVE                     create a new map
  --start-server SAVE               start a multiplayer server                                                                               
  --mp-load-game SAVE               start factorio and load game for
                                    multiplayer
  --mp-connect ADDRESS              start factorio and connect to address
  --benchmark SAVE                  load save and run benchmark
  --benchmark-ticks N (=1000)       number of ticks for benchmarking. Default 
                                    is 1000

Server options:
  --latency N                       multiplayer server latency, in ticks
  --latency-ms N                    multiplayer server latency, in milliseconds
  --autosave-interval N (=2)        server autosave interval, in minutes
  --autosave-slots N (=3)           server autosave slots

[Bytenex]

[Battle] Head hits table critical!

I used the wrong version. Didn't see that. Thanks alot.

[wwdragon]

One problem I've noticed is that the consolidated laser turrets are not capable of dealing with the 50-alien waves as well as the many smaller turrets.
They have a lot of overkill and target newer ones slower, allowing the aliens to get many more shots each wave; this allows turrets to be destroyed every time.

So... when are we getting the big ass aliens, so that their waves shrink considerably?

[Darthlawsuit]

One problem I've noticed is that the consolidated laser turrets are not capable of dealing with the 50-alien waves as well as the many smaller turrets.
They have a lot of overkill and target newer ones slower, allowing the aliens to get many more shots each wave; this allows turrets to be destroyed every time.

So... when are we getting the big ass aliens, so that their waves shrink considerably?

.13 is the combat and balancing alpha. Right now the focus is on fixing multiplayer and other major bugs then putting it on steam.

[genericname1]

You probably should think about expanding the single player campaign before releasing on steam, i'd hate to see complaints that the game was short

[torham]

You probably should think about expanding the single player campaign before releasing on steam, i'd hate to see complaints that the game was short

The game is as long as you want it to be. Sure it ends with the satellite launch, but its entirely up to you when you build it. You can spend hundreds of hours developing your infrastructure, if you want. Even so, in average it takes me about 40 hours to actually end the game ( well it used when there was just the rocket defense, I have no idea how long the satellite takes), even if I just focus on the finish. That is more than many, many other games offer when fully finished.

By now everyone knows what early access means. Incomplete game. There will inevitably be people complaining, there always are. you can have the best idea and gameplay in the universe, there will always be someone who doesn't like it and immediately start telling the devs how they all got it wrong and how they should do it instead. You can never, ever have satisfied customers.

That said, I think the game is in better state at the moment than about 90% of other early access games I have seen/bought. It is also unbelievably stable. Yesterday I bought the Unclaimed world, mainly because I really want to see it finished. It crashed around 20 minutes into the tutorial. And kept crashing...
I think Factorio is in very good shape for steam early access, the only thing that they really need to focus on is presentation and advertisement.


...And maybe sorting the research screen...

[cpy]

Is there a full video somewhere of that paragliding?

[The Phoenixian]

You probably should think about expanding the single player campaign before releasing on steam, i'd hate to see complaints that the game was short

The game is as long as you want it to be. Sure it ends with the satellite launch, but its entirely up to you when you build it. You can spend hundreds of hours developing your infrastructure, if you want. Even so, in average it takes me about 40 hours to actually end the game ( well it used when there was just the rocket defense, I have no idea how long the satellite takes), even if I just focus on the finish. That is more than many, many other games offer when fully finished.
[snip]


...And maybe sorting the research screen...

I think he means that the last thing you do in the base campaign is fly away "somewhere quiet". Certainly that can be a segue into freeplay mode, but in context it feels more like a segue into a final set of campaign missions; It feels incomplete.

[Drury]

Sounds to me a bit as if you expected the greenlight part to be difficult, while in reality I don't think a greenlight part is to be afraid of at all, I mean you will get accepted within hours. I'm not exaggerating, Steam accepts 8 new games daily. It's kind of a joke at this point.

The real difficult part is getting noticed among all those (crusty) games getting accepted, then again Factorio is popular enough to manage without much ado. Contacting some media wouldn't hurt, though.

EDIT: Not meaning to say you got a wrong idea about taking Steam seriously though. The game's page should be professional right off the bat.

[kovarex]

Sounds to me a bit as if you expected the greenlight part to be difficult, while in reality I don't think a greenlight part is to be afraid of at all, I mean you will get accepted within hours. I'm not exaggerating, Steam accepts 8 new games daily. It's kind of a joke at this point.

The real difficult part is getting noticed among all those (crusty) games getting accepted, then again Factorio is popular enough to manage without much ado. Contacting some media wouldn't hurt, though.

EDIT: Not meaning to say you got a wrong idea about taking Steam seriously though. The game's page should be professional right off the bat.

Yes, I'm quite aware that the process itself won't be very difficult, but just getting to steam isn't really enough these days

[vampiricdust]

Sounds to me a bit as if you expected the greenlight part to be difficult, while in reality I don't think a greenlight part is to be afraid of at all, I mean you will get accepted within hours. I'm not exaggerating, Steam accepts 8 new games daily. It's kind of a joke at this point.

The real difficult part is getting noticed among all those (crusty) games getting accepted, then again Factorio is popular enough to manage without much ado. Contacting some media wouldn't hurt, though.

EDIT: Not meaning to say you got a wrong idea about taking Steam seriously though. The game's page should be professional right off the bat.

Yes, I'm quite aware that the process itself won't be very difficult, but just getting to steam isn't really enough these days

I think a good investment would be a community coordinator who can work on promoting Factorio by community building events & projects. The influence of community contributions on gameplay is rather great in this game and I think it's an asset that is worth considering how to utilize.

[Peter34]

Sounds to me a bit as if you expected the greenlight part to be difficult, while in reality I don't think a greenlight part is to be afraid of at all, I mean you will get accepted within hours. I'm not exaggerating, Steam accepts 8 new games daily. It's kind of a joke at this point.

Some of the early access games that already are on Steam are or have become ridiculous. Gnomoria has crappy non-animated graphics (the Gnomes freakin' teleport from tile to tile, they don't even as much as glide), and while Planet Explorers started out good although very, very rough around the edges, there's been a veeeery looooong period of complete standstill followed recently by a big step backwards.

I'm not saying that all e.a. Steam games are crappy, only some of them. Compared to those games, already-accepted, Factorio is in all regards admirable.

It's really just a question of a junior employee of the company (I forget what it's called) phoning that Gabe guy, and saying "we have this late alpha e.a. game, plz take a look at it; tell me if it's OK" and after the fat guy spends 20 seconds looking at semi-recent YouTube footage he'll have an orgasm in his pants and then immediately answer: "sure, you're green to go, folks. Pleasure to have you aboard!"

[wwdragon]

One problem I've noticed is that the consolidated laser turrets are not capable of dealing with the 50-alien waves as well as the many smaller turrets.
They have a lot of overkill and target newer ones slower, allowing the aliens to get many more shots each wave; this allows turrets to be destroyed every time.

So... when are we getting the big ass aliens, so that their waves shrink considerably?

.13 is the combat and balancing alpha. Right now the focus is on fixing multiplayer and other major bugs then putting it on steam.

Thanks for the info.

[ssilk]

I think a good investment would be a community coordinator who can work on promoting Factorio by community building events & projects. The influence of community contributions on gameplay is rather great in this game and I think it's an asset that is worth considering how to utilize.

http://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-93
Search for "betka". She's also in the forum.

[Lupoviridae]

I bet we could get factorio on the front page of steam the day it comes out. Maybe send some emails showing the past sales or create a petition of some sort that people can sign. Truly th alpha of this game is already so much farther along than many "released" games. Maybe come out of the gate with 25% off in the next big steam sale. It's such a great game, with a little publicity I'm sure sales will skyrocket.

On a side note, when will factorio be considered in Beta? Will there be a 0.14, or is 0.13 planned to be the last alpha release?

[ratchetfreak]

I bet we could get factorio on the front page of steam the day it comes out. Maybe send some emails showing the past sales or create a petition of some sort that people can sign. Truly th alpha of this game is already so much farther along than many "released" games. Maybe come out of the gate with 25% off in the next big steam sale. It's such a great game, with a little publicity I'm sure sales will skyrocket.

On a side note, when will factorio be considered in Beta? Will there be a 0.14, or is 0.13 planned to be the last alpha release?

or just pay the advertising cost to get into the "promoted" box

[Drury]

Forgot to ask - just who is the OpenTTD modder?