Version 0.18.0

[Philip017]

Because most mods should work without problems, this is how to "convert" them from 0.17 by yourself.

this method is probably not going to work for many mods, however if this method is confusing for you i have done it with some mods by simply changing the info.json file inside the mod to change the reference from 0.17.xx to 0.18.0 this usually requires the mod to be extracted first.

for windows, use at your own risk.

1. open the mod folder '%appdata%/factorio/mods'
2. open the mod by double clicking (if the mod is already extracted skip to step 7)
3. copy the folder inside the zip
4. up one level (up arrow beside the folder name at top, return to the mods folder)
5. paste the folder from the zip in the mods folder.
6. delete the mod zip or move it to another folder that is not inside the mods folder.
7. open the extracted folder by double clicking.
8. open the 'info.json' file in notepad or notepad++
9. edit the line that shows - "factorio_version": "0.17", - and change 0.17 to 0.18
10. save the file and try to launch factorio.

if it fails to load then you will need to wait for an update from the author, i recommend deleting the extracted folder and attempting to obtain the mod from the portal after it has been updated.

edited for correction

[Squelch]

...
8. open the 'info.json' file in notepad or notepad++
9. edit the line that shows - "dependencies": ["base >= 0.17.1"] - and change 0.17.1 to 0.18.0 - the last number after 0.17 may vary
...

I'm afraid I must point out that that advice is incorrect. The line that must be changed is

Code: Select all

"factorio_version": "0.17"

to

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"factorio_version": "0.18"

The dependency can safely (in most cases) stay as is.

The above is the manual method of @ssilk's script which is targeted for Linux MacOS btw.

[BlueTemplar]

Good catch, these two dependencies & factorio_version threw me off too !

Thanks for this @ssilk it does seem to work for any mods that have no functional disparity with 0.18. There is a caveat of course, and that is that the unzipped mod will loiter after the original mod has been updated and may bring unwanted effects.
[...]

I'm not really aware about any unwanted effects (aside from taking space, but Factorio already keeps old mod versions that it has updated), as if you only change the supported Factorio version and nothing else, the mod will be superseded by a higher numbered version when/if the modder updates it.

[...]
1. open the mod folder '%appdata%/factorio/mods'
2. open the mod by double clicking (if the mod is already extracted skip to step 7)
3. copy the folder inside the zip
4. up one level (up arrow beside the folder name at top, return to the mods folder)
5. paste the folder from the zip in the mods folder.
6. delete the mod zip or move it to another folder that is not inside the mods folder.
7. open the extracted folder by double clicking.
8. open the 'info.json' file in notepad or notepad++
9. edit the line that shows - "dependencies": ["base >= 0.17.1"] - and change 0.17.1 to 0.18.0 - the last number after 0.17 may vary
10. save the file and try to launch factorio.

if it fails to load then you will need to wait for an update from the author, i recommend deleting the extracted folder and attempting to obtain the mod from the portal after it has been updated.

Ugh, right, Windows default extraction makes double-nested duplicate folders... (I highly recommend 7zip, which doesn't have this issue !)

Step 6 is optional, extracted folders take priority.

[BattleFluffy]

There are tons of new features and they're all awesome. However in this post I want to focus on just one thing:
The sound effects.

I love the footsteps.
I LOVE the sound of the tank, although it doesn't seem to rev very much on poor quality fuels.
I love the sound of the trees being smashed by the tank, although the old sound effect for this sticks out in the mix a little bit - maybe just because I'm so used to hearing it.
I love the sound of a chest being opened, that is really cool.

I do not like the sound of a chest being closed - it has some kind of dissonant quality that reminds me of scraping your nails against the inside of the freezer, or biting into an ice cube.

While not new, crashing into a cliff with a vehicle also produces a similar nasty, dissonant sound. I think both of these sounds should be changed to something that is more satisfying to hear and less "shiver-inducing".


I also wanted to raise the issue of the volume changing with zoom level. Once you have a lot of exoskeletons it's normal to spend most of your time zoomed all the way out. This means you can't hear the game properly, unless you turn the volume way up - then if you subsequently zoom in, you get deafened.
I also like to listen to music while I'm playing Factorio, and a volume level that changes so drastically means I can't get the levels right.

Tying the volume to the zoom level means I'm forced to keep the game sounds so low that I basically can't hear the Factorio game sounds at all.

I've been meaning to mention this for a long while now, but a good opportunity never arose. Now that a bunch of work on the sound is occurring, please will you guys consider making it so that the sound volume is controlled purely by the player's proximity to the sound source? :>
If anyone else has an opinion about this subject, please speak up !

[FasterJump]

Thanks for the water, trees, fixed color (+sliders), Inserter/belt performance, heat pipe performance, fluid pipe performance (even though I'm a bit confused about what is already updated, what will be updated soon/later/never)

Can't wait to get in the game again!

I also wanted to raise the issue of the volume changing with zoom level. Once you have a lot of exoskeletons it's normal to spend most of your time zoomed all the way out. This means you can't hear the game properly, unless you turn the volume way up - then if you subsequently zoom in, you get deafened.
I also like to listen to music while I'm playing Factorio, and a volume level that changes so drastically means I can't get the levels right.

Tying the volume to the zoom level means I'm forced to keep the game sounds so low that I basically can't hear the Factorio game sounds at all.

I've been meaning to mention this for a long while now, but a good opportunity never arose. Now that a bunch of work on the sound is occurring, please will you guys consider making it so that the sound volume is controlled purely by the player's proximity to the sound source? :>
If anyone else has an opinion about this subject, please speak up !

Yes please, just an option to make ambient sound and zoom level independent. I also noticed that the UI sound (like assembler windows openning) doesn't decrease at max zoom level, which results on sporadic unpleasant loud sounds.

[Lubricus]

One nitpicky complaint is that the fountains of water that erupts when you cut down trees close to the water is a little bit to much.
New trees and colors looks great. The moving trees and water is subtile you have to stare at it for a while to see it and I am rarely fully zoomed in. In streams with video compression it's almost impossible to see.
The sounds feels better it makes it more nice to just shop down trees, i think the footsteps on landfill sticks out a little bit to much.
For all efficiency geeks out there who want to push the speed of C++ code further I recommend watching "Parsing json really Quickly" I learned a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlvKAT7SZIQ

[BrainlessTeddy]

Just some feedback for you: I like the update. Especially the new main menu and the grafics. There's now a real difference between the nature which is bright and colourful and the factory which is dark and grey. I also really like the new map.

[eradicator]

Added generic support for rendering radius visualisations on entities through radius_visualisation_specification

Me waits for Master Bilka to update the wiki while hoping it supports both squares and circles.

[DanGio]

Thank you for sharing these new features & optimizations with us. 0.18 feels great.

The universal explosion on destruction confuses me a bit tho. Why would a wooden pole/rail/stone furnace explode when ripped apart by biters ?

[conn11]

Oh wow, I didn‘t expect this and missed the launch completely.
Great features, I embraced the nature and colors around my factory again, wich I didn’t do like for ages. In the factory the sounds are somewhat refreshingly different. To sum it up this is really great. Even greater all the new customization options. Purely gameplay speaking the new map is as helpful as hinted in the fff.
Amazing job guys (as always)!

[BlueTemplar]

Thank you for sharing these new features & optimizations with us. 0.18 feels great.

The universal explosion on destruction confuses me a bit tho. Why would a wooden pole/rail/stone furnace explode when ripped apart by biters ?

0.18 was directed by Michael Bay ?

Thanks for the water, trees, fixed color (+sliders), Inserter/belt performance, heat pipe performance, fluid pipe performance (even though I'm a bit confused about what is already updated, what will be updated soon/later/never)

It seems that going from 0.16 to 0.17 we mostly got huge improvements for empty pipes ?
https://mulark.github.io/tests/test-000 ... 00017.html
And maybe with 0.18 pipes with fluid in them also got huge improvements ?

[Hadramal]

The color fixes are amazing and so far the biggest positive for me. Granted, I haven't tried it much yet because my current game is very mod-heavy. It does make the remaining lo-res assets (assembler!) stand out more. Together with the (too?) subtle animations the world feels much more alive.

Small idea for a change is making the "Continue" button (which is great) ignore _autosave files, perhaps with a additional text warning there are newer autosaves. If I haven't saved so the autosave is newer I most likely did that for a reason and most often want to continue my regular save file.

[wobbycarly]

Thank you for sharing these new features & optimizations with us. 0.18 feels great.

The universal explosion on destruction confuses me a bit tho. Why would a wooden pole/rail/stone furnace explode when ripped apart by biters ?

Or driving into a roboport with a tank, and little pieces come flying off... doesn't feel quite right.

[5thHorseman]

The universal explosion on destruction confuses me a bit tho. Why would a wooden pole/rail/stone furnace explode when ripped apart by biters ?

They're made out of the same material that movie cars are made out of.

[Twinsen]

Me waits for Master Bilka to update the wiki while hoping it supports both squares and circles.

Bilka is not at work at the moment, so it will take a couple of weeks for the wiki to be updated. Sorry for the inconvenience to mod authors but we didn't want to delay the update further just because of this.

[eradicator]

Me waits for Master Bilka to update the wiki while hoping it supports both squares and circles.

Bilka is not at work at the moment, so it will take a couple of weeks for the wiki to be updated. Sorry for the inconvenience to mod authors but we didn't want to delay the update further just because of this.

Would you be so nice and post a small example code snippet then? Or is there one hidden in the base files?
(Not technically in a hurry, but if that feature is what it sounds like it might make me kinda happy :).

[dmsilev]

Oooh, shiny,..

Could we, perhaps in a forthcoming FFF or similar, get an update on the roadmap? I'm thinking mostly about the big features in-progress such as revamping the blueprint library and reworking the physics engine for fluids. Obviously "it will be done by $DATE" is unrealistic to ask for, but more "we're working on it, here's where we are now, and here's what we still have left to do before we can think of rolling it out".

[scooter010]

I have the assumption, that the minimal requirements for the GPU increased, am I right. My notebook has enough UPS but FPS are dripping now if I have smoke activated and zoom out.

[Impatient]

Hey guys,

thanks for that new release. I am looking forward to see what ups impact all the optimizations have on my potatoe pc.

Now some feedback (in chronological order as I experienced the new graphics and menu style):

- The new Main Menu style is uglyyyyyyyyy, just ugly. Everything embedded in this thick frame and the button spacing that large .... ? It feels heavy. Far too heavy. Isn't that style something that was long abandoned by most GUI systems - in fact, by all of them? It feels like a blast to the past, but without nostalgia and only relief that those times were over. And now they are back in factorio. It reminds me of some ... I don't know (?) ... some linux GUI systems from the 2000s gone rogue. I do not intend to insult. Please, please revert to the lightweight pre-0.18 style in the next version.

- Thanks for all the options in the graphics menu. Including, that you added sliders for saturation and brightness. That is a big plus. Apart from being able to help out my potatoe system, I personally am not a fan of the "candycrush color overload", so I immediately tuned down the saturation. Btw ... the new water color coming with the default settings reminds me of this: https://www.boredpanda.com/influencers- ... ake-spain/ (poor bastard influencers, hrrr, hrrr).

- I also was puzzled by, what others already pointed out:

Code: Select all

    Single Player
        New Game
        Load Game

was kind of very surprising after all the time I just had to use "Play Game", which was perfectly fine by me.

- BTW something I just noticed is that the seed does not automatically change between new game starts. I would have expected otherwise. New Game -> new map. But maybe that is intentional?

[Jon8RFC]

Is the data caching going to be implemented in 0.18?

I love the immersion changes--new/tweaked/higher-fidelity background music when loading the game, various sound effects, and the moving trees and water! The trees really make the game seem less static and more alive. The color changes look nice, and I'm glad that I can also drop the saturation a little bit.

One thing that really stands out is the chopping of trees. The sounds don't seem to fade out at all. The pick axe on rocks fade together nicely and sound great, but on trees it's very harsh between sounds. I guess it's not a bug, so I'll just leave it here as feedback.

Some pneumatic and clanking sounds could be nice for deconstruction/removal of entities. Maybe that would get annoying if it's too prominent for how regularly things are removed. I think the "placing office" sound from Sim Tower could be a good one to model placing entities after. The sound with the clunk at the end:
https://youtu.be/gfirgnXoXFw?t=41

This was a fun surprise to see 0.18 released!