Factorio for Nintendo Switch is now available
factorio.com
factorio.com
This $ invested per hours of good gameplay is extraordinary.
Do note that while Factorio on the Switch is a full game, there is no mod support. It does, however, have cross platform multiplayer.
Kinda, depending on how big factories you build. Right now it has a limitation that makes it like a very large/long demo. From the submission page:
> I'm getting "std::bad_alloc" when trying to load a save file.
> You are trying to load a save file that is too big and the console has run out of memory
Guess at one point, if you keep on expanding the factory, you won't be able to load the savegame anymore. Might get fixed in the future though?
I imagine we'll start seeing a new breed of "UPS saver" alike strategies which optimize for Switch limitations.
That's a crime.
As great as the vanilla game is, mods are half of what makes Factorio worth playing.
You can get "DLC". Theoretically, mods could become DLC, but the road is still pretty long and I'm not aware of anything that has made that leap yet. (Possibly the things in the store for Bedrock Minecraft? I'm not sure how "blessed" the things in the Minecraft store are, nor how deep they can go; do those get to run full code or are they running in some sort of Minecraft-specific VM, which is another layer removed from the CPU code?) Anyone who can name one, I welcome the info.
Your best bet for "Switch + Factorio + Mods" is probably Factorio backporting the controller controls on to the mainline release, then taking that release and running it on a Steam Deck. Which isn't a terrible idea anyhow, as the Deck is substantially more powerful than a Switch (the Deck can mostly emulate a Switch, and emulation generally takes a substantial power delta) so rather than squeezing it on, you should be looking at something that is actually running fairly comfortably.
That is on the roadmap.
> I actually started working on the port for Nintendo Switch before the Steam Deck was even announced, so first I will finish what I started. Currently the controller support is optimized for and built around the Nintendo Switch system, the Joy-Con™ controllers, and their features. There's still more work to be done for generic controller support, such as dealing with the many controller types, handling mods, ability to switch between "keyboard and mouse" and "controller" modes, etc. Also I want to make it a priority to focus on the initial feedback coming from Nintendo Switch players, to make sure any bigger issues are ironed out quickly. So generic controller support is planned, just that like most things, it will take some time.
That said, people are playing Factorio on the deck and liking it as it has enough buttons and additional controls beyond the traditional controller - https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vz5d96/factorio_...
> ...
> For everything else not in the layout specifically, I have no problems just clicking on the UI buttons for what I need, like Rate Calculator or To-do List, as they are less frequently needed.
> I know that when Wube announced Steam Deck compatibility for Factorio, their blog post somewhat doubted the ability to control the game easily using a controller since the game wasn't designed for it - and I'd agree with them for any other console controller I think. But for the deck - the trackpads, back buttons, and grid menus open up tons of potential.
> ...
I am surprised at how deep the Deck's controller customization goes. It goes deep enough I really need to go seek out a tutorial, I've blundered my way through some advanced config but with a lot of clicking around. (Though isn't that ultimately how most of us learn everything anyhow?) It has some amazingly deep options.
If you have such a Switch you can use a tool that overwrites/unions the content of the game cartridge with content of a folder on your SD card. That means you could add some files (e.G. maps) into the game.
From the top of my head you can definitely mod the Skyrim Switch version as well as the Star Wars Jedi Knight Games (at least these were the two games which I've played around it). But I am pretty sure that there are Mods for the mario games.
THE FACTORY MUST GROW
Space Exploration mod
> We have a long history of trying to bring Factorio to other platforms, including consoles and mobile phones (not including April Fools). We even worked with some external companies, but the projects never even got to the point where they would run technically, let alone the complicated part of making the game playable using controllers or touch screen.
> We had some history of starting Factorio-related sub-projects that ended up in development hell for years
This reminds me of their post on good foundations[2].
It sounds like they discovered the pain of growing tech debt and paralysis due to an aging stack, and the lack of results when you throw money at the problem (in other words, contract work to some external entity).
What's also interesting is that this work ended up being a one-person project. It's just too hard to make progress fast when you add people to a project: people don't agree, they need to communicate not to overlap or to understand the changes added by others, this all slow things down. And if the stack is complicated, this can really put a stop to productivity.
I think there's a real case for having one-person teams for the first X months on a new project. As long as the one person understands how they can later scale themselves. (This usually requires documentation, good architecture, good delegation, etc.)
This is where you're losing
That said, they said in their original Switch blog post[1] that they intend to bring these control mappings to PC/Steam Deck
Personally I don't want to make any adjustments. All the steam deck games I've installed so far have worked flawlessly without me doing anything. Inscryption is the only one where I had, at some point in the game, had to pull up the keyboard, but the launcher warned me that I would have to do that (and even told me about the shortcut).
* most people just want to use the defaults
* if you've never played the game before, it's not clear how you should customize the controls
It is amazing that for every game I looked at there was a core of power users who did propose different schemes that you can just adopt. But it does suck that the game does not necessarily show you the steam deck buttons you need to use.
"Even after the [Nintendo Switch] launch, there is much to do. Next to my screen there's a stack of post-it notes with future improvements, possible features and technical debt I need to solve. As mentioned in the announcement last week, after the launch I will also work on controller support for PC and Steam Deck."[1]
I have friends who are engineers who tired of it quickly, and friends who aren't who quickly got drawn in.
I feel that with every single of these factory games from Factorio to Satisfactory, from Dyson Sphere to Shapez.
Interestingly enough I did sink a ton of hours into Rimworld, though, which has some factory like parts but more of a human simulation element to it.
1) learning the game, making spaghetti
2) pulling in other blueprints, reaching the end game
3) creating your own blueprints, reaching the mountains of madness
I also highly recommend playing with a non-engineer friend. It’s an interesting way to watch someone gradually develop an intuition for abstractions and service-oriented design.
I submit that with more useable balancers, importable blueprints never would have made it into the base game.
It was fun to get there and i always had some goals to acheive. But at some point it's done and dusted with 0 replay-ability.
I will never understand the mindset of those that build Megabases.
Fortunately there are mods to fix that.
I had a whole slew of complaints about the vanilla game, but found that mods already existed to fix virtually all of them.
it was fun for like 4-5 hours (I think I got to solar panels? or nuclear power plants? i forgot) but once that simple fact began to sink in, i was never able to pick it up again.
maybe its different if you're playing with other people
Figuring out which parts are worth refactoring into better solutions as demand increases is also quite fun imho.
An endless megafactory is just placing blueprints someone already created for 'optimal X' from online. I could come up with my own but it's not motivating when there's already better out there and it's not motivating to play 'MS paint bucket fill' endlessly.
I launched the rocket. Went "that was fun" and now cannot be bothered to go back.
Currently, you build a base from the very lowest tech all the way up to the highest tech in a single go. What would possibly make the game less tedious for me is if a single play through was split up into different levels with mini objectives. Once you complete the level mini objective you move on to a different map and start a new base at a higher tech level. That way you can just throw away all of the “tech debt” of the old base while starting at a higher tech level.
I imagine this would be a different game mode, but it would make the game more attractive to a wider audience in my opinion.
At higher levels, it gets more challenging and complicated. You need to produce power and coolant, and you need to use a mix of defenses. And you also need to defend vulnerable sectors against counter-attacks, and build offensive units to attack enemy sectors. And it has a cute little system for programming units in "assembly", although the documentation is almost non-existent.
So even if it seems weirdly easy at first, it might be worth playing at least the first few campaign levels. Overall, I'd say it's my favorite mobile factory game, just edging out Refactory.
That's entirely a chore you have decided to do.
It is entirely fine to just leave your spaghetti base producing stuff in its little corner while you go build the next step somewhere else.
I've did that few times, basically leave the old base to act as "mall" (just produce building to furnish the new base) while I build bigger and better, once I hit construction robots and can freely blueprint everything.
Hell, once you get to robots you can "just" erase it entirely easily if it displeases you, blueprints make it easy to change your mind.
> What would possibly make the game less tedious for me is if a single play through was split up into different levels with mini objectives. Once you complete the level mini objective you move on to a different map and start a new base at a higher tech level. That way you can just throw away all of the “tech debt” of the old base while starting at a higher tech level.
Not exactly that but look up at Warptorio 2 mod. You basically have limited sized base that teleports every XX minutes to a new planet, so you carry a small base with you but have to rebuild every warp. It is pretty hectic on default settings tho
The classic way to do this is to load up a train full of supplies and drive somewhere further from the start, with more enemies and better ore patches. Or if you don't have trains yet, take the car.
You can add a lot of variety and interest through Factorio's mods (there are hundreds of them).... however, eventually even that may not enough to stave off boredom because ultimately Factorio is just one game.
Still, I encourage everyone to try some of the mods. I'd personally never play unmodded Factorio after my first playthrough. They make this great game so much better.
Assign leaders and have people responsible for raw resources, transport, power infrastructure, advanced production and fighting off biters
Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32825543 - Sept 2022 (359 comments)
Might sound silly but Factorio's tutorial/learning curve complexity has intimidated me, so I started w Shapez, as easy mode Factorio. Liking Shapez so far.
Mindustry is simpler in complexity but much more aimed at "tower defense" style game play.
Satisfactory is like the child of Factorio and Subnautica, with a little of both games but not as deep as either.
Dyson Sphere Program is probably the truest successor to Factorio, but it's still very early access and just now adding combat.
With Factorio you have options for transport (belts, trains, bots) each with their own setup and maintenance challenges, and you have incentive to centralize production of an intermediate and then figure out how to distribute it to many other places which need it. With shapez you just set up new factories from scratch every time because there's only a handful of resources and they're all available everywhere in close proximity to each other.
Also the circuit stuff in Shapez is completely unnecessary unless you go for the goal of building an all-in-one (a single factory setup which can rearchitect itself to build any kind of shape you tell it to). In Factorio you use circuit stuff all the time even for basic tasks, like balancing belts or prioritizing resources to different parts of the factory or turning off parts of the factory to save power or...
I finished Shapez and then had no reason to pick it back up because there's basically only one way to finish the game. With Factorio I not only had variations in the base game I could explore (train bases vs bot bases vs spaghetti belt bases, electric furnaces vs staying with steel furnaces forever, not bothering with solar and nuclear and just staying with steam power forever, etc), I also have mods. With Shapez I have... a DLC that adds puzzles.
But yes, every pro of Factorio and con of Shapez that I listed could be the opposite for someone else. So if you like the low complexity of Shapez then you may not like Factorio.
Another commenter mentioned Dyson Sphere Program, which is quite similar and also an impressive effort from its team. It introduces some refreshing differences for a seasoned Factorio player but doesn't yet have enough content/longevity.
The other part there is the mod support. There are a number of quality of life things that mods can do (such as https://mods.factorio.com/mods/Supercheese/Squeak%20Through ) which become more important as the factory grows and the "physical" constraints of the game make it difficult to play at the extreme ends.
Continuing on the mod theme, there is also the "once you feel that you have sufficiently beaten the vanilla game, there are a number of ways to mod the game that add complexity or other challenges." I am personally fond of Seablock where the game is a vast ocean with a few small scattered islands. Everything is then made from water. Water -> electrolysis (H and O are vented initially) -> slag -> crushed stone -> (+ water) -> mineralized water -> ore... and that gets you started.
https://factorio.com/blog/post/factorio-on-nintendo-switch
Factorio was developed for 10 years with only keyboard and mouse in mind, so making sure the game is fully playable with controllers was no easy task. Playing with a controller is slightly slower, and will take some getting used to (just as it does when playing with keyboard and mouse for the first time). After becoming familiar with it, I find it very comfortable. I recommend everyone to play through the first levels of our tutorial campaign, as it's a great way to get acquainted with playing Factorio with a controller.
I would pay another 20 dollar straight up for more to do.
(from the previous blog post on the switch - https://factorio.com/blog/post/factorio-on-nintendo-switch but not mentioned in this one)
Some of the other reviews look like they might be referring to an old business model the game was sold under where there were multiple different "packages" containing different features (e.g. a couple of puzzle scenarios). This model was abandoned in 2016 when the game was released on Steam; all features are now included in all versions of the game.