Friday Facts #418 - Space Age release date

[aka13]

You have to remember, that the "expensive" mode in general is being moved to a separate mod at minimum, and since there were no further news on it, I could imagine it disappearing completely.

Edit: typo

[BrainGamer_]

You have to remember, that the "expensive" mode in general is being moved to a separate mode at minimum, and since there were no further news on it, I could imagine it disappearing completely.

Expensive "mode" is being removed and turned into its own separate mod that you can enable if you wish to do so (no need to buy any DLC for that one).

[aka13]

You have to remember, that the "expensive" mode in general is being moved to a separate mod at minimum, and since there were no further news on it, I could imagine it disappearing completely.

Expensive "mode" is being removed and turned into its own separate mod that you can enable if you wish to do so (no need to buy any DLC for that one).

It was mentioned in the corresponding bug report tickets in which I participated, but it has not been mentioned in the FFF. Things might have changed since that time.
What does it even have to do with buying, we are talking about balancing.

[Zaag]

Is there any info on release time?
21st October at?

I'm asking because I want to take time off, but if it releases at 1900 cest it's not worth that day off

[HamsterBoo]

> An enigmatic 5th planet - promises some of the most unique gameplay but it remains shrouded in mystery. It's the furthest planet from the sun so it's dark and cold.

I wonder if the last planet's mechanics are based around fluid temperature. It's a practically unused mechanic so far and I assume "dark" means solar panels won't work, so all available methods of energy generation will involve fluids/steam. And normally I'd guess cold=superconducting, but that's already taken by Holmium.

[Panzerknacker]

Well I really hope there will be Marathon mode in the DLC because that's what I usually play. I think normal mode is too easy and does not force you enough into efficient designs or upgrades.

[dr_vm]

Beside the obvious excitement for the Space Age Expansion and its release date i'd like to highlight another important gem in this FFF:

But thats not all. Factorio: Space Age will also coincide with the release of Factorio version 2.0 which will be a free upgrade for all users.

This is a quite gracious gesture of Wube and sets them greatly apart from other publishers which basically drop every bit of support for older releases or non-extra-paid content as soon as they can.

I'm very glad to see that Wube also cares about non-Expansion players.

Back to the Space Age: It there any chance to pre-download the game (or let's say the non-essential 80% of it) a few days prior to the release so that the final download is reasonable fast ?

[Smerf]

I bought game on steam and link it with website, so can download DRM-free version.
Questions:
1. Will it be possible to buy expansion on website?
2. And.. have steam key to activate on steam too?

I prefer DRM-free version from webpage and separate portable installations for different mod sets.. yet still steam version for uin-modded vanilla version.
Not to mention, absurd steam price for Poland.. which is greater than euro

[Loewchen]

1. Will it be possible to buy expansion on website?
2. And.. have steam key to activate on steam too?

The DLC will have the same buying policy as the base game, so buyable both on the page or on the steam, and claimable both ways.

[mmmPI]

You have to remember, that the "expensive" mode in general is being moved to a separate mod at minimum, and since there were no further news on it, I could imagine it disappearing completely.

Expensive "mode" is being removed and turned into its own separate mod that you can enable if you wish to do so (no need to buy any DLC for that one).

It was mentioned in the corresponding bug report tickets in which I participated, but it has not been mentioned in the FFF. Things might have changed since that time.
What does it even have to do with buying, we are talking about balancing.

I almost never play expensive mode, i decided to make a nightmarish game for myself for once , i didn't know it was going to be its separate mod or that it was mentionned in a bug report.
I think the mention of it being a no-need to buy DLC was not meant to emphasize on the buying act, but rather on the similarities with the other mods that will composing the game that can be turned on/off for players that have the space age, at least that'ts how i understand it.

I suppose that can play both in the balancing and purchasing decision as those relate. It seem to me that on the mod portal there exist both mods to increase the difficulty and mods to give QoL or reduce it, and i have use both myself sometimes at the same time. I suppose the difficulty / balancing will be "easy" if you are already (very) familiar with the base game or its most difficult settings. But i suppose there will also be things to make the game "really hard" because both are expected by players.

Biters being one very crucial part of that and yet the most mysterious so far. I would be curious to read players speculations or expectations for what could be the new biters.
The picture we were shown long time ago i remember it had droplets of water, i remember that now, because on the screenshot that was mentionned with the turrets in the middle of the base there was some water next to it, so maybe there will be some ennemy that lives only in the water ? or that can swim ?

I wonder if it would make sense that Nauvis gets new biters, or only the new planets.

I think it would be fun if there was a rare aquatic biter in nauvis, that is present in large number in another planet

[Simosek]

If I want to play with my friend, do we both have to own the dlc to play the game ?

[FuryoftheStars]

Beside the obvious excitement for the Space Age Expansion and its release date i'd like to highlight another important gem in this FFF:

But thats not all. Factorio: Space Age will also coincide with the release of Factorio version 2.0 which will be a free upgrade for all users.

This is a quite gracious gesture of Wube and sets them greatly apart from other publishers which basically drop every bit of support for older releases or non-extra-paid content as soon as they can.

I'm very glad to see that Wube also cares about non-Expansion players.

I mean, this has been known for quite a while, back when they were still calling it "1.2".
https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-367
And again when they officially called it 2.0:
https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-373

[Loewchen]

If I want to play with my friend, do we both have to own the dlc to play the game ?

You will both need licenses for the Expansion and the base game if you want to play the Expansion together, you only need base game licenses to play 2.0 without Expansion content.

[AileTheAlien]

elevated rails will only be for the expansion, whereas the new rail corners will be free with 2.0. I had initially thought that all the rail improvements would be in 2.0

I actually think the elevated rails should just be in the base game with 2.0; Everything else is new gameplay, but the elevated rails just make it possible to reduce the mess that train-stops and intersections give you. I guess I could probably make do with just the new S-bends and different blueprints, but as another example, the improvements to make robots smarter are just in 2.0. (Unless those are gated behind DLC, too! )

[Koub]

I actually think the elevated rails should just be in the base game with 2.0; Everything else is new gameplay, but the elevated rails just make it possible to reduce the mess that train-stops and intersections give you. I guess I could probably make do with just the new S-bends and different blueprints, but as another example, the improvements to make robots smarter are just in 2.0. (Unless those are gated behind DLC, too! )

It would make sense that new content stays in the expansion, while the rework on the old content only goes into the free update. At least, it makes sense to me.

[luckymike11]

Will travel between planets take place using portals?

[FuryoftheStars]

elevated rails will only be for the expansion, whereas the new rail corners will be free with 2.0. I had initially thought that all the rail improvements would be in 2.0

I actually think the elevated rails should just be in the base game with 2.0; Everything else is new gameplay, but the elevated rails just make it possible to reduce the mess that train-stops and intersections give you. I guess I could probably make do with just the new S-bends and different blueprints, but as another example, the improvements to make robots smarter are just in 2.0. (Unless those are gated behind DLC, too! )

Technically, elevated rails is new gameplay, but it's also new content & assets with supporting code that took a lot more time and work. It's also something that is necessary for the Expansion (Fulgora).

I get that some people have difficulty with the logic behind trains, crossings, and the like, but this isn't really an "improvement" on that like tweaking bot AI logic is for bots.

Not everything that could have a non-Expansion application (recycler, rocket turret, etc) needs, or should, be given for free.

--------------------------------------

Will travel between planets take place using portals?

No. Space platforms. That's the whole point of those and portals I feel would make them obsolete/pointless.

That said, they've greatly improved the remote management via the map so that you (typically) don't need to have your character physically present.

[Terrahertz]

THIS answers the question whether the ground storage expanders can be inserter accessed!

Good Eye

[Tertius]

Will travel between planets take place using portals?

See FFF-373, first section, how Space Age will look like in general.

[gnutrino]

One question I don't think I've seen answered is roughly how long travelling between planets is going to take. Obviously it's going to depend on the design of the space platform used (and I'd assume on which planets we're travelling between) but for a travel optimized platform are we talking 10s of seconds? minutes? 10s of minutes?