Friday Facts #132 - Side Project

[bobingabout]

It really is a shame that you're not really working on a mobile version.

The rest of the news really is just absurd BS, but the mobile thing...

[bosky2102]

Yeah no, Free to play to ruin this game honestly if your going that route just don't bother porting it to mobile. It takes more resources off the pc copy which is where time is better spent than a bad version of factorio, I get that it would be brilliant to hit a untapped market and get even more people playing but not at the cost of making a bad game due to payment models and limited control methods. However I do like the idea of just letting it play in the background one of my biggest complaints of the game is that there's nothing much to do while your researching things an that would fix it

[prg]

However I do like the idea of just letting it play in the background one of my biggest complaints of the game is that there's nothing much to do while your researching things an that would fix it

If you're waiting for research to finish it just means that you need to build more labs. If you can't keep the labs supplied you need to build more science pack assemblers. If you can't keep those supplied you need to build more mining outposts. There really isn't any reason to just stand around and wait.

[NeoCortex]

First on: Awesome Idea with a Mobile Version! Bye bye real Live

Here my Suggestion.

Take the Focus on a Cooperative Multiplayer Online Game with Global Tasks!

Every Week or Month, there can be a different global Task for the Players, wich must be finished.
All Players must Build and collect the Semi- and End Ressources for a Global Task. Only Collecting Semi-Ressources and manufacturing These or build Maschines.
For Example:
Week A - Task: Build a giant Sattelite or a space platform.
Follow Ressources are needed: 100000 Iron Plates, 100000 Copper Plates, 100000 Stones, 100000 Red Circuits, 50000 Engines and much more or something like that . . .

Every Player must build the factory on his Own and collect the needed Ressources and a Status Notice will Pop up on a Display every time, how much Ressources are missing. He must economize with his Ressources, because there are limited!
There can be different Biomes and landscapes. Areas with limited and unique ressources. Perhaps Player A has more Stone Ressources and less Ore.
In my opinion, it would be an amazing corporate Feeling, when working together with Players, to reach the Goal and finish the Task.
Sending Ressources through Trains. Besides that, Players must be alert because biters attacks the base as is well known.

There can be Trade Requests to other Players. When Player A run out of Stone Ressources, he can Asking a other Player and then sending out a Train full of ressources, to help them out and solve production Problems.Trade routes to the end of the Map must be protecting, otherwise all Work to be a waste of time. Or there can be a Helping Task for NPC colonists. Perhaps they Need many food, for colonisation a Planet. Build Maschines and collect ressources, to help These guys. Or A Task, to Build many Tanks and Wapons, to give them the central galactic Police, to attack a hostile Biter Planet.
Perhaps the Player can create Orders or Tasks by his own and tell them to others.

Regards NeoCortex

[TuckJohn]

OH no. No. The horrors! NO!

*Flashback 30 seconds*
I read the sentence that a mobile version is coming out, then get shouted at by my boss for being too loud.

Then I started to read what the gameplay would be like:
Shake to mine? Really?
It should be just a tap and hold interface to mine and destroy buildings
A D-Pad? Thats such a few years ago.
It should be a "invisible joysick"-like controls. Tap anywhere on the screen and then drag to move. A good example that comes to mind is the game "Oceanhorn"
And then we get to the worst part: "Its not pay to play, just pay to automate"
You guys are kidding right?!
A few points:
1. you are talking about a game ABOUT automation. Paying in order to automate makes you pay to play the core game aspect.
2. You guys talk about it like it wont be pay-to-win or pay-to-play. But if I want to make a larger factory, then do I have to play more?!

The way the mobile version should be done, if you want to continue with the F2P model, is to pay for each level of science. If you think about it, the sciences are already really well layed out for this; Red would be free- you get a good taste of the game; green you unlock many of the core features, would be the first "layer" you would pay for; blue upgrades and improve the gameplay and implementation of the things in green(think oil cracking, logistic network requester chests, etc); and purple is mainly upgrades

I seriously hope that you guys done make a mobile game with "pay to automate" gameplay.

[kovarex]

OH no. No. The horrors! NO!

*Flashback 30 seconds*
I read the sentence that a mobile version is coming out, then get shouted at by my boss for being too loud.

Then I started to read what the gameplay would be like:
Shake to mine? Really?
It should be just a tap and hold interface to mine and destroy buildings
A D-Pad? Thats such a few years ago.
It should be a "invisible joysick"-like controls. Tap anywhere on the screen and then drag to move. A good example that comes to mind is the game "Oceanhorn"
And then we get to the worst part: "Its not pay to play, just pay to automate"
You guys are kidding right?!
A few points:
1. you are talking about a game ABOUT automation. Paying in order to automate makes you pay to play the core game aspect.
2. You guys talk about it like it wont be pay-to-win or pay-to-play. But if I want to make a larger factory, then do I have to play more?!

The way the mobile version should be done, if you want to continue with the F2P model, is to pay for each level of science. If you think about it, the sciences are already really well layed out for this; Red would be free- you get a good taste of the game; green you unlock many of the core features, would be the first "layer" you would pay for; blue upgrades and improve the gameplay and implementation of the things in green(think oil cracking, logistic network requester chests, etc); and purple is mainly upgrades

I seriously hope that you guys done make a mobile game with "pay to automate" gameplay.

Check the date of the post

[TuckJohn]

Check the date of the post

Now I feel like an idiot
Whats worse is I even knew that it was the first, I just didnt think you guys would make a prank this good

[n7m6e7]

you may as well sell beer to an alcoholic.

Well, somebody's gotta do it!

In other news: Check the date it was posted, bro.

well played.... I am truly deserving of my noob "manual inserter" rank XD

[Smarty]

Realized after 3 days that it is a joke
You really got me on this one. Most of the time people cant fool me.


Gonna cry now

[bokke1010]

I had some ideas for the Pay2Play / Pay2Enjoy idea:
- maybe make the free version an extended demo.
- make research cost money to unlock and science packs to activate . it would make the game fun, but would make people want the full game or to buy resources.
- only allow 1-2 save slots and no multiplayer.
- only allow a very strict demo and some scenarios in the begin.
- make a seperative creative mode, and don't allow survival for the free users.

[vedrit]

The worst part is that there isn't a real FFF

[Klakh]

The worst part is that there isn't a real FFF

Came here today to say exactly that.

[Khaylain]

The worst part is that there isn't a real FFF

Came here today to say exactly that.

Came here to think that.

[mngrif]

The worst part is that there isn't a real FFF

Came here today to say exactly that.

Came here to think that.

The first paragraph was the real FFF. Bugs got fixed. Woohoo.

[slpwnd]

Ok, to avoid further confusion we have added a short "this is april fools' day" disclaimer at the bottom. Just one more remark. Even though, in reality there is no Factorio-X (while Robert is certainly here) working on secret projects, all the discussion here definitely got us thinking about mobile possibilities for the future.

[Tepalus]

Ok, to avoid further confusion we have added a short "this is april fools' day" disclaimer at the bottom. Just one more remark. Even though, in reality there is no Factorio-X (while Robert is certainly here) working on secret projects, all the discussion here definitely got us thinking about mobile possibilities for the future.

Before a full game on phones, think about a "Map App"!

I have no idea of how to implement this feature, but it would be extremely nice, if we could check the map of our game on the phone and see how our factory does while we are playing. We could plan easier, see where enemies attack, see how the polution is going and so on.

[buc01]

Thank god lol, ill be honest i dreaded the idea. For a couple of reasons, but the main one being a small team splitting their efforts between 2 platforms made me think the pc version would become abandoned on the development front.

ya got me, i aint even mad

[Original]

I wish there was a real FFF on Saturday. I know it wouldn't be Friday facts but at least we would have known some updates about the people we care about.

[Impatient]

ok, when 0.12.30 was installed automatically by steam, i rushed over to the news-section to see whats going on. ... and then i read the mobile story. ... and just kept thinking "how lucky i am, that i play this game on pc and don't even play games on mobile. mobile users sometimes don't even know how bad it is for them in comparison." and f2p, credit model, and that stuff ... this came to my mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpdoBwezFVA
and i thought "i have no time now, i need to go to work, i need put it on my todo list to write them my opinion."

you totally got me.

btw because you wrote " ... thinking about mobile possibilities for the future" and regarding the link i included: one of the users comments summarizes it perfectly "i have a policy of never paying microtransactions. ever." same is true for me. i personally maybe would have paid 30 eur for factorio too. but never ever even installed it, if it had microtransactions. imo make a full priced arcadish-er version of factorio for the mobile platforms. and include the arcadish version as different game mode in the pc-version. maybe the empire builders on pc are interested.

[Nova]

Sorry to say that, but I have to throw very big snowballs at you if you ever try to be something like "EA 2" for mobile games. If you don't have financial problems, don't spend much time thinking about how to make the most money out of a product. That kind of thinkings destroys the gaming environment. Mobile gaming is okay, but most games are just a desperate cry for every single dollar out of the purses of players...