Too many last minute changes

[NineNine]

I think it's great the Wube has decided that it's time to wrap up Factorio. At some point, software should be complete. But the number of last minute changes they're making right now is sort of ridiculous. All of these significant changes are going to introduce a not insignificant number of bugs, too. And, considering that some of the Factorio staff has already left or is already working on their next projects, fixing all of these new bugs is going to fall onto the shoulders of fewer people. I'm worried that Wube is biting off more than they can chew to try to shoehorn so many changes at the last minute, and they're going to damage their reputation for making really good software, and damage the reputation of Factorio being such a relatively bug-free game.

I'm holding off on applying any more updates for the time being, and probably will do so until after 2.1 has been out for a while, and they've been able to squash most of the bugs.

[Loewchen]

This has always been the factorio update cycle, it's a new major release so for now it's experimental so those who want a stable build will get that later.

[Rseding91]

What changes do you believe were last minute and or what changes do you think are buggy and will need fixing?

[NineNine]

What changes do you believe were last minute and or what changes do you think are buggy and will need fixing?

I don't have any specific bugs right now. If I did, I'd file bug reports. It seems like there a lot of new QOL things that are probably quite complex to program that are being pushed out quickly, such as: multiple things in rockets, the new multi-position pumps and train connections, platform-to-platform transfers, drop arrows on belt lanes, fluid passthrough, lab research controls, and landing pad unloading bays.

It seems like these are a LOT of changes happening very quickly. I don't know how these could all be tested thoroughly in such a short period of time. And, as always, there will be situations that players will run into that developers haven't considered, which will inevitably require tweaks/fixes.

[Nova]

What are you talking about? How do you want to even know how quick these changes are pushed out except if you were a private tester for Wube?
What do you define as "short amount of time"? The time between announcing the changes in the FFF and the release? The changes were already internally tested by Wube and closed beta testers before being announced / released. 2.1 is in development for quite some time, and Wube has quite a bit more people than in the early days of Factorio.
Even if they were not tested: 2.1 is released as an experimental update, not a stable. You don't even get the update except if you explicitly enabled experimental updates, knowing that they will have more bugs than a stable version. If you download 2.1, you do that currently as a public beta tester, expect the software is probably more stable than many finished releases of other companies. (Just my guess)

[Tertius]

It seems like these are a LOT of changes happening very quickly.

We saw the announcements, and we saw the "this has been fixed for 2.1" in many bug reports.
But we didn't see what has been going on behind the scenes. We just see the final result - when an implemented change was actually released and confirmed internally to go out to the release.

So it could happen some suggestion was raised 01.01.2025, then being picked up at 02.01.2025 as "we want this" internally without telling the players. Actual planning seems to have started Q3 or Q4 2025, so then this was brought up and discussed internally. Implementation, testing, evaluation (should we really do this now we see how it worked out?).

Finally it was decided, probably 1 or 2 months ago, what from all the implemented items to actually put into 2.1 and may be what implemented changes will not be in the release. Some of these changes were marked visibly in the forum as such by the dev who took care of it (mostly bug fixes where it was sure right from the start to include it), some just showed up on the changelog we got in the 2.1 announcement.

And so we got what we got: relevant is what we see in the changelog. At no time we know when some item was actually worked on, finished, and decided to put into the game. And that's completely fine, that's how software development works.

[sarge945]

To me, if things WERE rushed (no proof of that), I'm more worried about things being missed rather than bugs.

Like adding wire connections for underground pipes but not underground belts.

[Rseding91]

To me, if things WERE rushed (no proof of that), I'm more worried about things being missed rather than bugs.

Like adding wire connections for underground pipes but not underground belts.

Underground belts have many issues related to wires and belt contents. They were discussed and rejected.

[Rseding91]

... It seems like there a lot of new QOL things that are probably quite complex to program that are being pushed out quickly, such as: multiple things in rockets, the new multi-position pumps and train connections, platform-to-platform transfers, drop arrows on belt lanes, fluid passthrough, lab research controls, and landing pad unloading bays.

It seems like these are a LOT of changes happening very quickly. I don't know how these could all be tested thoroughly in such a short period of time. And, as always, there will be situations that players will run into that developers haven't considered, which will inevitably require tweaks/fixes.

• Multiple things in rockets was done and merged Apr 29, 2026.
• The new multi-position pumps and train connections was done and merged Mar 3, 2026.
• Platform-to-platform transfers was done and merged Mar 28, 2026.
• Drop arrows on belt lanes was done and merged Apr 10, 2026.
• Fluid passthrough was done and merged Nov 6, 2025.
• Lab research controls were done and merged Nov 4, 2025.
• Landing pad unloading bays were done and merged May 5, 2026.

Every one of these features has had automated tests for them as well as weeks to months of play testing to find and fix any issues.

[feng]

This is the first bigger patch with new features after nearly 2 years from space age release and you are really talking about things being rushed?

[MechBFP]

I think it's great the Wube has decided that it's time to wrap up Factorio. At some point, software should be complete. But the number of last minute changes they're making right now is sort of ridiculous. All of these significant changes are going to introduce a not insignificant number of bugs, too. And, considering that some of the Factorio staff has already left or is already working on their next projects, fixing all of these new bugs is going to fall onto the shoulders of fewer people. I'm worried that Wube is biting off more than they can chew to try to shoehorn so many changes at the last minute, and they're going to damage their reputation for making really good software, and damage the reputation of Factorio being such a relatively bug-free game.

I'm holding off on applying any more updates for the time being, and probably will do so until after 2.1 has been out for a while, and they've been able to squash most of the bugs.

It case you haven’t noticed, the released version is 2.1.7, not 2.1. That should tell you something.

[eugenekay]

It case you haven’t noticed, the released version is 2.1.7, not 2.1. That should tell you something.

The first (publicly!) released version of the 2.0.X branch was 2.0.7. This indicates to me that Wube takes their time by iteratively applying fixes during internal testing before release, rather than rushing them at the last minute.

2.1.7 is an experimental release for a reason.

[NineNine]

This is the first bigger patch with new features after nearly 2 years from space age release and you are really talking about things being rushed?

I'm not concerned that they're rushed, per se. I'm more concerned that Wube has announced that further development on Factorio has largely stopped, and they've already cut down the development team. It just seems to me to be a lot of new code to support that's all coming out at the end of the life cycle of the product, and I hope that Wube will keep enough people on it to maintain the bugs and unforeseen fixes that all of these changes will inevitably bring.

[MechBFP]

This is the first bigger patch with new features after nearly 2 years from space age release and you are really talking about things being rushed?

I'm not concerned that they're rushed, per se. I'm more concerned that Wube has announced that further development on Factorio has largely stopped, and they've already cut down the development team. It just seems to me to be a lot of new code to support that's all coming out at the end of the life cycle of the product, and I hope that Wube will keep enough people on it to maintain the bugs and unforeseen fixes that all of these changes will inevitably bring.

Define “new”.

[NineNine]

Define “new”.

New to the public. It seems like the public finds lots of bugs.

bugs1.png (13.6 KiB) Viewed 322 times

This seems like a new of new software being released at the end of the development lifecycle for Factorio.
But, really, so long as Wube is committed to continue to fix bugs as well as they do now (I think they do a great job right now), for the forseeable future, then it's not really a big deal.

[feng]

This is the first bigger patch with new features after nearly 2 years from space age release and you are really talking about things being rushed?

I'm not concerned that they're rushed, per se. I'm more concerned that Wube has announced that further development on Factorio has largely stopped, and they've already cut down the development team. It just seems to me to be a lot of new code to support that's all coming out at the end of the life cycle of the product, and I hope that Wube will keep enough people on it to maintain the bugs and unforeseen fixes that all of these changes will inevitably bring.

Well, then your concerns are a little bit rushed
As others already mentioned, it's version 2.1.7 on the experimental branch. Wube is clearly taking their time to polish things and squash the remaining bugs.

It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a nice steak… you don’t run into the kitchen, grab it straight from the pan and then complain about it. You wait until it’s properly served at your table.
So… grab a glass of wine and let it cook.

[MechBFP]

Define “new”.

New to the public. It seems like the public finds lots of bugs.

bugs1.png



This seems like a new of new software being released at the end of the development lifecycle for Factorio.
But, really, so long as Wube is committed to continue to fix bugs as well as they do now (I think they do a great job right now), for the forseeable future, then it's not really a big deal.

The public generally doesn’t find many bugs that the vast majority of the player base will run into.
Lots are mod related, lots are very specific and niche edge cases, lots are cosmetic/convenience related, and some are just minor annoyances that can be easily worked around or avoided.

The average player could play the experimental version right now and likely wouldn’t run across a single problem (assuming no critical issues/oversights pop up of course).

[h.q.droid]

In my opinion, the "last minute changes" are mostly things not mentioned in FFF:

- Basic asteroid crushing change
- Hazard concrete change
- Railgun shooting speed change
- etc.

Since there wasn't an announcement in the previous FFF, I expected there will be another FFF before beta release, which made the changes "feel" last minute, even if some of them could have been merged a long time ago.

Anyway, it will take some play testing to really comprehend.

[Rseding91]

Railgun shooting speed fixes was done and merged 3/3/2026.

[h.q.droid]

Railgun shooting speed fixes was done and merged 3/3/2026.

Well, we can't really `git log` or `git checkout` it so the merge time doesn't matter. I said the last minute thing is mostly a feeling caused by the FFF-beta-release timing. It's more "unprepared for" than "last minute".