Upcoming content

[aiat_gamer]

So I heard about the game herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ksf5QHlQWg and after playing the demo I figured this is a game I would like to buy. Now I rarely buy in game in Alpha but seems to be coming along really well with frequent updates. The thing is I never play games in Alpha ever and I don`t mind waiting for the full release and just show my support for the game now( I bought Kerbal Space Program 2 years ago and have not played it once!). I want to know though, what is already in the game? I there a campaign of some sort? Is there any rough outlook on what will be added to the game?

[Choumiko]

There is a roadmap in the Releases subforum. It has a small campaign, though it's more like a tutorial if I remember correctly. It may be labeled alpha, but to be honest: This is in my opinion much less alpha than a lot of early access games and even "finished" games. A big publisher would have sold it for full price a long time ago and delivered the rest as dlc' s. The devs are just being really modest ( my opinion )

[Xterminator]

There is a roadmap in the Releases subforum. It has a small campaign, though it's more like a tutorial if I remember correctly. It may be labeled alpha, but to be honest: This is in my opinion much less alpha than a lot of early access games and even "finished" games. A big publisher would have sold it for full price a long time ago and delivered the rest as dlc' s. The devs are just being really modest ( my opinion )

Pretty much everything I would of said. Lol Take a look at the roadmap to get an idea of what all is in the game, and what is still to come and when. To be honest, I forget Factorio is even in Alpha a lot of the times, as it has more features and plays better than most Alpha stage games, and even some completed games.
As Choumiko said, had this game been made by a big publisher, they would of released as "completed" probably a while ago, and just done the rest of the features as DLCs. So for the price , stability, and features it is 100% worth a buy in my opinion, unless you just dislike this kind of game. :p

[Apotheosis]

The game currently has very little in the way of a real campaign and relies almost entirely on its random map generator to create scenarios to beat. The end goal in a given random map at the moment is a rather tenuous final technology to simply research and build, which ends the game upon doing so. The developers have plans for more (though not a whole lot of concrete plans, according to their proposal forum posts at least). Considering their very slow pace of content addition the last six months now (somewhat understandable considering the hurdle of implementing multiplayer), I have become a bit skeptical as of late that they'll actually be able to raise the game to a completed state by their projected Summer 2015 full release date.

I'm starting to fear that this game might become another Minecraft--namely a game proclaimed as "finished" when it's still barely much of a game instead of a mere set of mechanics. I desperately hope that doesn't end up happening, because this game's concept has so much great potential to tap.

[FishSandwich]

I really hope OP doesn't read the above post and take it at face value, because it is the most rubbish post I have ever read about someone describing Factorio and its devs.

The same as others have said, the game is by far better and more finished than any other alphas I have played. Multiplayer has been a long and arduous task for the devs, but they've already predicted that 0.11 will be stable by the end of february(a prediction I am more than willing to believe, because they have done a good job of meeting deadlines in the past). That gives them a good 6 months to finish of their planned endgame content(spaceships, yay!) and go for the full release in Summer.

If you want to support the devs but don't want to play the game(I don't know why you wouldn't for this game, you'd be missing out on many hours of fun), then by all means buy the game now. You'll get the game anyway when it is released.

[Apotheosis]

I really hope OP doesn't read the above post and take it at face value, because it is the most rubbish post I have ever read about someone describing Factorio and its devs.

Would you mind explaining why you disagree with anything that I've said, specifically, instead of dismissing it outright?

It's unfortunate (but expected) that an official game's forum is naturally going to be a sort of hugbox with little genuine critique for the game. I hope both OP and the developers will appreciate my honesty.

[DaveMcW]

Apotheosis, if I understand correctly, you have 3 criticisms:

• The campaign needs to be expanded.
• The endgame needs to be expanded.
• The game probably won't be released in Summer 2015.

They are all valid, but your tone is so negative that it almost comes across as trolling. You should be more polite in a forum full of fanboys.

I'm starting to fear that this game might become another Minecraft

This is a big compliment.

[cpy]

It is a sandbox game, deal with it.

[Psycho0124]

You should be more polite in a forum full of fanboys.

Hahaha.. It's so true too.

I'm starting to fear that this game might become another Minecraft

I hope so. The devs deserve the success.
They followed the same recipe for a great game; game mechanics first. I for one really appreciate the dedication to good game-play above all else. I'll wear my fanboy badge proudly.

[ssilk]

We should make an own board for posts like "Is it really worth the buy?", or "I would like to buy it, but what do you think?". (*)
If we put also the "I (really (really (really))) like the game" and "Thank you" posts in, it would be a worth a though.

<doing fast search>
About 10 posts like that in the last 2 month.... (I'm sure all of them bought it. ) And some more for the second category, I think it could be really a useful new board. (please take me not really seriously )

(*) Edit: I forgot the "When does it go to Steam?" "Will I be able to use it still with Steam?" "This game must go to Steam". And we should also add players, which like to talk about steam locomotives, just to make the board a little bit more interesting.

[Gregorovitch]

So I heard about the game herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ksf5QHlQWg and after playing the demo I figured this is a game I would like to buy. Now I rarely buy in game in Alpha but seems to be coming along really well with frequent updates. The thing is I never play games in Alpha ever and I don`t mind waiting for the full release and just show my support for the game now( I bought Kerbal Space Program 2 years ago and have not played it once!). I want to know though, what is already in the game? I there a campaign of some sort? Is there any rough outlook on what will be added to the game?

For an alpha release Factorio is of exceptional quality and full of content. You should not worry about that at all if you are considering buying it.

Like most people I believe, I play in sandbox mode because i think it is "better" than playing the current campaigns. The map generator creates a fresh challenge for each game in the same way that Civ5, for example, does in that it affects early- to mid-game considerably, less so towards the end.

The end game "win condition" for sandbox is a bit weak currently, but you should not let that put you off. The process of reaching the "win condition" is very well done, challenging and interesting. It will probably take you several attempts to figure out the various challenges the game throws at you along the way providing I would say well over 50 hours of gameplay before you reach anything like end-game for the first time. Although the are a number of known design patterns that are pretty optimal there is still a large amount of leeway for innovation and creativity in how you approach base design as evidenced by the fact that virtually no two players build their bases the same.

All in all if you've watched some LPs and the game looks like something you'd like to play Factorio will definitely not disappoint you and it is most definitely ready to play now.

[LordFedora]

SSilk forgot the "will sales from steam count on the front page?" posts

[Nova]

The speed at which new features were implemented was pretty high before the multiplayer. I don't see a big reason why this should slow down after it is finished. The devs even hired a new programmer to make changes quicker.

As long as there's no external cause (illness, accident, ...) I'm pretty sure the game will be enhanced in the future with good content; and even if not: The game is already very good. Even if you think there are a few small things which annoy you, you can modify the game.

[hoho]

Main reason why feature-work stalled with MP addition is that the game needs to be REALLY stable to iron out all the desync problems. Adding new content will only make more potential bugs. Once MP is stabilized I would expect features to come in at faster pace

[cpy]

Oh the first MP version was bug,desync crash fest.