Factorio Forums

This is a rehash of things that were asked for years ago over at viewtopic.php?p=140875, but I think the landscape has changed enough to make this worth asking for again. I apologise if I didn't find the most recent time this was asked for in the forums.

Zooming in on a 4K screen is quite pixelated. Highly detailed textures would alleviate this, and importantly, would be very pretty.

A couple of important things have changed since the last time I can see this was asked for:

• GPUs with more than 2-4GB of VRAM are significantly more commonplace than they were a decade ago.
• With the release of Space Age, optional first-party mods (Quality, Space Age) are a shipped thing. That is, if a terrible startup penalty existed it would only be to those who wanted to pay it, not to the Average Factorio Enjoyer.

Essentially, what was teased in https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-64, except first party so I don't have to choose between achievements and a community-developed AI-upscaled travesty*.

*This is a damnation of AI, not of the people who worked on the HD texture packs. I think you're cool people.

This seems unlikely with Space Age, because it’s no longer just the Base Game assets that would need to be doubled - it’s everything. Using the existing third party mod as a baseline for Sprite sizes & VRAM usage suggests that “4GB” is nowhere near enough to see everything in HD - 16GB or 20GB is the recommendation…. Even assuming that Wube can compress down to 10GB while still exceeding the existing Quality be enough to make it worth it, how are you planning to run this texture pack? The game (for better or worse) does not support dynamically un/loading Textures to prevent Stutters while reloading Assets.

The number of reasonable consumer GPUs priced under $1,000 which meet this specification in 2025 is approximately zero (this statement guarantees that somebody will cherry-pick a $899 RTX 3090 listing to prove me wrong, why?). Who is buying that to play Factorio? What about all the Integrated GPU users who try to turn on “HD Mode” because the sticker on their laptop says it supports 4K (“ *when connected to an external monitor, internal screen at 720p”, of course), then get an immediate Out of Memory crash, angrily post a Bug Report on the forums, and then Refund the game on Steam? No, it’s not a sane or reasonable response; but the “average minimum computer user” is still on Windows 7 to avoid security updates….. It’s a no-win scenario, sadly.

I do know what it is like to have the game be “big” - I personally have a 8K panoramic multi-monitor setup so that I can see large parts of the Factory without having to scroll or use Map view, or “zoom in” to try to find problems in a large block of machines. But I disagree that more Pixels are needed - I think the game looks great for its art style (2D rectilinear sprites); maybe try Satisfactory is 3D smoothing is your thing.

Who is buying that to play Factorio? What about all the Integrated GPU users who try to turn on “HD Mode” because the sticker on their laptop says it supports 4K (“ *when connected to an external monitor, internal screen at 720p”, of course), then get an immediate Out of Memory crash, angrily post a Bug Report on the forums, and then Refund the game on Steam?

I didn't make any statements about who purchases what specific computer to play which specific game, and as mentioned before, I don't expect everyone (or even many!) people to run such a thing. In fact, I mentioned that it's likely such a consumer wouldn't run into these problems anymore, because first party mods.

But also, some of us have like 16G+ of VRAM. The option for super pretty graphics would be nice!

maybe try Satisfactory is 3D smoothing is your thing.

What a strange thing to say. I like Factorio?

jbirch wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 4:46 pmI don't expect everyone (or even many!) people to run such a thing. In fact, I mentioned that it's likely such a consumer wouldn't run into these problems anymore, because first party mods.

But also, some of us have like 16G+ of VRAM. The option for super pretty graphics would be nice!

maybe try Satisfactory is 3D smoothing is your thing.

What a strange thing to say. I like Factorio?

The Effort:Benefit for something that is not for “everyone (or even many!)”, and which will generate Bug Reports from users who should not turn it on but will do so anyway is exactly why I don’t think this would be worth a Wube Dev’s time to take on as a first-party project. I am sure that they had endless discussions on the benefits of various Sprite sizes before settling on what was shipped with the Game in 2.0. Having it available as a 3rd Party Mod for those who can run it is great - and clearly sets the Expectations with users that it is not Officially Supported. I’m unsure if a Staff member could package it themselves as a “part time” project, similar to the rumored origins of the Switch build?

There are many Factory games out there; I am simply saying that you should explore others if you’re looking for “fancier graphics”. Keep playing Factorio by all means - but I don’t see a 3D engine change or a switch to “Hello Kitty” cartoon graphics coming anytime soon. The game is basically “Finished, with patches”.

jbirch wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 10:13 am Essentially, what was teased in https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-64, except first party so I don't have to choose between achievements and a community-developed AI-upscaled travesty*.

This particular FFF mentions the idea of space platforms and a good bit of the functioning as we now have them, way back in 2014!

This already exists, every texture in the game is the official HD texture. If you want to see non-HD ones, go back to 1.1 and select "normal resolution" textures.