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Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:43 pm
by JebK_
Is there any chance that Factorio will be ported to the Switch?

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:44 pm
by Jap2.0
They have no plans for any console or mobile versions at the moment, or in the near future.

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:54 pm
by JebK_
Jap2.0 wrote:They have no plans for any console or mobile versions at the moment, or in the near future.
Aw that sucks, (in my opinion) it would be great for the Switch, Portable, probably overkill in terms of performance, doesn't take alot of space, and with the SD card they might be able to keep mod support as well. But they are the devs, and Factory still isn't a full release, so I guess they would need to put all of their resources on finishing the game before considering a port.

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:15 pm
by Jap2.0
JebK_ wrote:
Jap2.0 wrote:They have no plans for any console or mobile versions at the moment, or in the near future.
Aw that sucks, (in my opinion) it would be great for the Switch, Portable, probably overkill in terms of performance, doesn't take alot of space, and with the SD card they might be able to keep mod support as well. But they are the devs, and Factory still isn't a full release, so I guess they would need to put all of their resources on finishing the game before considering a port.
There is a small chance it will happen eventually, but I doubt it will happen soon (or even at all, but I'm not a devs) some of my reasons are as follows:
  • 1. Controls would be difficult - you have dozens of keys, as well as a mouse that you can use on a PC, but maybe 10 buttons on a console.
    2. Most consoles actually don't have very good CPUs - although Factorio is very well optimized.
    3. It's still in early access.
    4. There has been no work to do so so far, so it would be quite difficult with a small team completely inexperienced with consoles and a game not designed for it.
See this post (includes dev saying it's possible after 1.0 - if they ever get to 1.0...), and this FFF which was originally intended as a april fools joke, and it's accompanying thread

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:24 am
by Master
I highly doubt the switch has enough power to run factorio (not even speaking about all the necessary work for a port)

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:52 am
by JebK_
Master wrote:I highly doubt the switch has enough power to run factorio (not even speaking about all the necessary work for a port)
Hmm, I think it does, and Intel Atom N450 (Single Core) W/ 2GB of RAM actually is playable if you can get over lower res textures.

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:28 am
by impetus maximus
there is an interview someone did (two parts with english subtitles) with Kovarex where he talked about console/phone ports.
i tried to find it, but youtube search sucks. results had NOTHING to do with Factorio. :roll:

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:45 am
by Optera
Install Linux on your phone/console, run factorio for linux.
Would be quite the hack :D

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:51 am
by seePyou
Switch is too small to run Factorio. Anything BUT a starter base would drop in UPS too fast. We have all see our bases start to drop from the 60UPS to 58 and 55 and 53 and we know what the point is and it is never enough.
My next computer upgrade is going to also have CAS10 RAM which is almost double the price of normal CAS19 RAM, but it is also remarkably beter at giving me more UPS!

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 11:21 am
by Shaun_das_Schaf
You know there is a mobile version of the game right? :P

https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-132

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:44 am
by wren6991
Optera wrote:Install Linux on your phone/console, run factorio for linux.
Would be quite the hack :D
Unfortunately wouldn't work. The CPU architecture is different, you can't run x86 binaries on ARM. I also don't know if there are OpenGL1.2 drivers for mobile GPUs (which I believe is the version Allegro depends on).

The devs could probably build for mobile devices, but it would be a lot of work. It's not just a matter of using the ARM version of the compiler.

Your best bet is to get yourself an x86 tablet :D

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 12:04 pm
by Caine
wren6991 wrote:Unfortunately wouldn't work. The CPU architecture is different, you can't run x86 binaries on ARM.
Well, you could run it through something like QEMU but then your performance goes out of the window. You might be able to get it to boot Factorio, but I doubt it will be playable.

I hope someone will try :)

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:13 pm
by mp0011
Mobile version is possible, and would be playable ONLY IF all computations are on server side. This could be also an option for low-end computers. It may be "terminal" style gameplay, or something similar to (now dead) OnLive. As a $/month service.

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2018 5:55 am
by GlassDeviant
Mobile devices don't have the power to handle games like Factorio.

There is a big difference between a mobile processor and an Atom, or a laptop or desktop CPU.

It has nothing to do with the textures, either, it's the sheer processing power and memory required to manage the massive amount of objects in a game like this. It's not like the Skyrim port, because only entities in local cells are loaded and performing actions, while Factorio is managing every object in the game at all times, even stuff you are a long train ride away from.

Re: Factorio Port for Nintendo Switch?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 2:00 pm
by seePyou
Shaun_das_Schaf wrote:You know there is a mobile version of the game right? :P

https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-132
Cute... But in case you are serious, this was an April Fools' joke...