What exactly happens with my vanilla save when i buy the DLC

[Michel_Werner]

I searched the forum, but didn't find a detailed answer to this question:

What exactly happens when i activate the DLC?
I have a save file with over 350 realtime hours played, so obviously I want to be 100% shure that the DLC doesn't kill it.

I have an endgame 2.0 savefile on peacefull.
Will it automaticly switch to non peacefull or will i have the chance to choose the mode it will be running on in the future?

I do have tons and tons of the following:
Space science packs:
While it is clear, that future Space science packs will be produced on the platforms in space, what happens with stored packs. Will they be deleted or simply remain untouched?

Modules:
I use about 200k productivity III modules in my factories. I have read multiple times, that they will all be downgraded to productivity II, is that correct?
Besides the monumental loss in resources and time, I would at least have to make a bunch of blueprints prior to activating the DLC, in order to at least be able to automanticly upgrade all my factories back to lv.III as soon as i have them available again.

Spidertrons:
I have also read, that my present spidertrons would just be deleted, as they would only be available later, is that true?

What else will be happening what don't know about jet?

A detailed List of ALL the things that will happen once I buy the DLC would be increadibly helpful.

What happens with rockets that are in the air while i upgrade on the DLC, should i hold any rocket starts and wait until all satelites have landed?
Basically: How can i prepare my save file optimally for the transition to the DLC?

Thanks and best regards, Michel

[aka13]

You can turn all DLC content on and off like a mod, if you ever did that before. So unless you enable the content, and load the save, wait for the changes to apply, and overwrite the save, nothing will happen.
In general, I would say that the tech tree has changed so radically, that it is somewhat pointless to try and load a pre-dlc save in the dlc. It would be more efficient to start with a cheated in personal roboport, if you dislike the tedium in the beginning.

[Michel_Werner]

Oh, I didn't know that. So basically i can just do two save files, one with vanilla 2.0 and one with the DLC? That would at least be a failsave. Thanks for mentioning that.
Nonetheless, it would be increadibly practical to have something like a complete list of things that will happen as soon as I acitvate the DLC.
I haven't found an FAQ for this, or is there somewhere?

[aka13]

Yeah, exactly as with mods. Sorry I can not help you with the list though, I am unaware of one existing, the changes are just too extensive.

[Kyralessa]

You can download Factorio as a .zip version and install it wherever you want.

The logical consequence of this is that you can also install it as many times as you want.

So you can have an SA version, a 1.1 version, a 1.1 version with an overhaul mod you like that wasn't upgraded to 2.0 yet, and so forth.

For example, in one folder I have Factorio: Space Age installed, and in another folder I have Factorio 1.1 with the Space Exploration mod (and some related mods) installed.

[NineNine]

To be clear:
You can run any version of Factorio separate from any other version. You can run as many different versions as you want on the same computer. They can each live in their own directory. [Note that Factorio Space Age is a different program from Factorio 2.0, altogether. Space Age is NOT a mod.]
Right now on one computer, I run:
- Factorio 1.1
- Factorio 2.0
- Factorio Space Age
They are 3 entirely separate programs, with different saves, different mods, etc.

[IsaacOscar]

What exactly happens when i activate the DLC?
I have a save file with over 350 realtime hours played, so obviously I want to be 100% shure that the DLC doesn't kill it.

As no one else was actually answering your question, I went ahead and tested it myself.
If you try and load a non-space-age save with the space age mod enabled, you get this message:

12-09-2024, 13-43-55.png (374.5 KiB) Viewed 959 times

"Sync mods and load" will simply reload the game with space age disabled.
As near as I can tell "Load and fix" and "Load" do exactly the same thing.

I have an endgame 2.0 savefile on peacefull.
Will it automaticly switch to non peacefull or will i have the chance to choose the mode it will be running on in the future?

Peaceful mode was not affected for me, unfortunately, it only applies to nauvis.

I do have tons and tons of the following:
Space science packs:
While it is clear, that future Space science packs will be produced on the platforms in space, what happens with stored packs. Will they be deleted or simply remain untouched?

Nothing was done to the science packs I had in my test case.

Modules:
I use about 200k productivity III modules in my factories. I have read multiple times, that they will all be downgraded to productivity II, is that correct?
Besides the monumental loss in resources and time, I would at least have to make a bunch of blueprints prior to activating the DLC, in order to at least be able to automanticly upgrade all my factories back to lv.III as soon as i have them available again.

I'm curious where you read this from, but in my test, my productivity 3 modules where not changed. Also you can use an upgrade planer to mark all your modules for upgrading.

Spidertrons:
I have also read, that my present spidertrons would just be deleted, as they would only be available later, is that true?

Again, I observed no difference here.

What else will be happening what don't know about jet?

My satellite got deleted in my test.

A detailed List of ALL the things that will happen once I buy the DLC would be incredibly helpful.

I agree, sadly I don't know where to find this information other than by testing. I didn't notice any other changes. In particular, all my research stayed researched (including spidertrons and space science). This however results in some technologies not having their prerequisites researched.

What happens with rockets that are in the air while i upgrade on the DLC, should i hold any rocket starts and wait until all satellites have landed?
Basically: How can i prepare my save file optimally for the transition to the DLC?

In my test, an empty cargo pod just landed in the landing pad. (i.e. with no space science).

[Dixi]

Short answer: nothing happens with save files until you try to load them.

If you want to play 1.1 save, you can just make a separate folder with Factorio 1.1

But if you want to load same save (likely megabase, right?) in 2.0.
Turn Space Age mod off. You can turn off or keep Quality and Elevated Rails mods.
After loading the game:
- Remove all output inserters from rocket silos. The do not output space science packs anymore.
- Build somewhere one Cargo Landing pad for all your space packs.
That's all, except the problem, that some mods are not updated to 2.0 and will not work anymore.

[NineNine]

What exactly happens when i activate the DLC?
I have a save file with over 350 realtime hours played, so obviously I want to be 100% shure that the DLC doesn't kill it.

As no one else was actually answering your question....

I don't understand what this situation is where somebody would "activate" the DLC. I was under the assumption that somebody would just install the two different programs in different places on a computer. I have no idea what this situation is that is being described, or what you did.

[Kyralessa]

I was under the assumption that somebody would just install the two different programs in different places on a computer.

This is what I was referring to. You can have multiple copies of Factorio on your system in different places, with different settings, such as 1.1, 2.0, 1.1 with an overhaul mod, 1.1 with a different overhaul mod...

[robot256]

After loading the game:
...

Also, some types of train setups that rely on skipping disabled stations or traveling between stations with the same name will break because of bugs/features in 2.0

Also inserters side-loading splitters are nerfed. And a few other little things like that.

[Heckett]

Another thing is Rocket Control Modules are gone, and now you just need processing units for rocket parts, so that production chain is gone as well.

[bombcar]

If you already loaded your save in 2.0 the biggest change has already happened - your rail curves changed. Old ones continue to exist but I don’t think you can build them anymore.

If you then enable space age, some tech will move around. There are rumors that it would delete some items you “shouldn’t have” like cliff explosives or artillery. But I’ve not seen that though I’ve not tried.

[Gummiente27]

If you already loaded your save in 2.0 the biggest change has already happened - your rail curves changed. Old ones continue to exist but I don’t think you can build them anymore.

If you then enable space age, some tech will move around. There are rumors that it would delete some items you “shouldn’t have” like cliff explosives or artillery. But I’ve not seen that though I’ve not tried.

You can build old rails with old blueprints and/or copy/paste and you can also create new blueprints cfrom alreadyplaced old rails and they'll stay old rails.

[Xorimuth]

What exactly happens when i activate the DLC?
I have a save file with over 350 realtime hours played, so obviously I want to be 100% shure that the DLC doesn't kill it.

As no one else was actually answering your question....

I don't understand what this situation is where somebody would "activate" the DLC. I was under the assumption that somebody would just install the two different programs in different places on a computer. I have no idea what this situation is that is being described, or what you did.

If you are already playing on 2.0, there's not much reason to install 2.0+DLC separately. Just upgrade your existing install and you can turn Space Age on/off like a mod.

So, to answer the original question:

Since your save is already on 2.0, if you disable Space Age, Quality, and Elevated Rails mods in the mods menu, then load your save, nothing will have changed.

If you enable Space Age mod in the mods menu (which will automatically enable Quality and Elevated Rails as they are required) and then you load your save, you'll get the warning that someone posted above, with the option to "Load and fix" or simply just "Load".
No matter which you pick, as long as you don't save your game to the same filename, then your old untouched save will still be there. I'd suggest copying it beforehand to be safe.
If you pick "Load" then it will load the game with minimal migrations. You might have some techs/recipes/items/machines unlocked that shouldn't really be unlocked based on SA progression, but since their recipes have changed, you might not be able to craft more.
If you pick "Load and fix", then the game will make some more 'invasive' changes to your save. All techs/recipes that shouldn't be unlocked based on SA progression will become locked, and the game will remove all items/entities of the following from your save: artillery-turret, artillery-wagon, artillery-shell, cliff-explosives, spidertron.
The game will also convert all module-3s into module-2s, and it will convert MK2 batteries and MK2 personal roboports into MK1 batteries and MK1 personal roboports.
You'll have to go to the new planets to re-unlock these things.