Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Regular reports on Factorio development.
ezekiel
Burner Inserter
Burner Inserter
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:01 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by ezekiel »

ptx0 wrote: Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:58 pm I don't think they ever found one. it doesn't support the Metal API etc.
They don't have any active job listings, at the moment. That being said, Metal API isn't needed to support Apple Silicon, since the issue is the CPU – not the GPU (although yes, Apple Silicon does replace the GPU as well).

Typically, if they're using a backend (I've heard they use SDL?) that supports Metal, they get it "for free." For example, Minecraft uses Metal because LWJGL supports it.
posila
Factorio Staff
Factorio Staff
Posts: 5379
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by posila »

ezekiel wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:48 pm Typically, if they're using a backend (I've heard they use SDL?) that supports Metal, they get it "for free." For example, Minecraft uses Metal because LWJGL supports it.
We don't use SDL for any rendering and have our own D3D and OGL rendering backends. At the time we were migrating to SDL2, it didn't even have all capabilities of Allegro 5 (which we used before) and they were just working on batching draw calls. It seems they added some features since then, but the whole point of creating our own rendering backend was to get access to shaders (which are still not available in SDL) and be able to optimize for exactly what Factorio needs.
ezekiel
Burner Inserter
Burner Inserter
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:01 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by ezekiel »

posila wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:21 pm We don't use SDL for any rendering and have our own D3D and OGL rendering backends.
Gotcha - yeah I wasn't sure about my assertion there...Good to know.
Sopenas
Inserter
Inserter
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:48 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by Sopenas »

I agree to wait for expansion 1.5 years and pay in advance 30-40$ if you promise that there will be train tunnels or ramps in the expansion.
User avatar
Gergely
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 616
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by Gergely »

Sopenas wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 3:15 pm I agree to wait for expansion 1.5 years and pay in advance 30-40$ if you promise that there will be train tunnels or ramps in the expansion.
Slopes!
KatherineOfSky
Fast Inserter
Fast Inserter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:54 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by KatherineOfSky »

I was really disturbed to see the additional of custom "rumbles" added to "enhance the experience".

I can't deal AT ALL with rumble. Because of my neuropathy in my hands, it feels like an electric shock :o It literally hurts, and I drop the controller.

So I ask please that you put in an option to turn it off completely.
Tutorials, wild playthroughs, and more! https://www.youtube.com/@KatherineOfSky
Loewchen
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 9343
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by Loewchen »

KatherineOfSky wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:21 pm I can't deal AT ALL with rumble.
You can disable it generally in System settings.
KatherineOfSky
Fast Inserter
Fast Inserter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:54 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by KatherineOfSky »

Thanks,
Yes, you're right, there is a setting there. Just used to PC games where they have to be disabled individually for every game... >.>
Tutorials, wild playthroughs, and more! https://www.youtube.com/@KatherineOfSky
KatherineOfSky
Fast Inserter
Fast Inserter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:54 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by KatherineOfSky »

Question:
Will Switch users be able to use shared blueprints?

I donät know of a copy & paste function, but there is the removable SD card where files have the potential to be transferred.
Tutorials, wild playthroughs, and more! https://www.youtube.com/@KatherineOfSky
User avatar
Alan T Wolf
Manual Inserter
Manual Inserter
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2022 12:01 am
Contact:

Crossplay LAN between PC and Nintento Switch???

Post by Alan T Wolf »

So let me get this straight... Using individual player profiles, you can have a LAN game between PCs and Switches???
Twinsen
Factorio Staff
Factorio Staff
Posts: 1355
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:10 am
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by Twinsen »

KatherineOfSky wrote: Thu Oct 13, 2022 12:34 am Question:
Will Switch users be able to use shared blueprints?

I donät know of a copy & paste function, but there is the removable SD card where files have the potential to be transferred.
The SD Card can not be used directly by the game. It can only be used by the Nintendo Switch operating system to add extra storage.
factoriouzr
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 689
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:23 am
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by factoriouzr »

The expansion has taken more than a year to this point, hasn't it? Wasn't it promised to be done in about 1 year from initial announcement? Now it's going to be at least another year.

This is disappointing. No news on the expansion, just delays.

You would think that will all the resources spent on porting this game to other platforms like switch (much different than pc, different control scheme, less powerful, architecture, etc) and mac, that could have been spent working on the actual expansion. Don't get me wrong, it's nice for the people on those platforms who were not able to play the game to play it now if they actually want to on those platforms, but it's hard not to think that they could have had the expansion done or closer to finished with more resources on it.
FuryoftheStars
Smart Inserter
Smart Inserter
Posts: 2768
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:01 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by FuryoftheStars »

factoriouzr wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:45 am The expansion has taken more than a year to this point, hasn't it? Wasn't it promised to be done in about 1 year from initial announcement?
No, it wasn't. I made a similar mistake with the timeline, but if you reread the FFF, they said it wouldn't take less than a year.
My Mods: Classic Factorio Basic Oil Processing | Sulfur Production from Oils | Wood to Oil Processing | Infinite Resources - Normal Yield | Tree Saplings (Redux) | Alien Biomes Tweaked | Restrictions on Artificial Tiles | New Gear Girl & HR Graphics
User avatar
Silari
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 535
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 10:04 pm
Contact:

Re: Friday Facts #370 - The journey to Nintendo Switch

Post by Silari »

factoriouzr wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:45 amYou would think that will all the resources spent on porting this game to other platforms like switch (much different than pc, different control scheme, less powerful, architecture, etc) and mac, that could have been spent working on the actual expansion.
If you actually read the FFF you'd know that 'all the resources' was one guy. Rest of the team was still working on other stuff minus the occasional playtesting and random help here and there, and he specifically calls out not wanting to distract people from their work on the expansion.


And as mentioned 'won't take less than a year' does not in any way mean 'done in one year'. The exact opposite really.
Post Reply

Return to “News”