Factorio

Factorio
File:Factorio logo.jpg The Factorio logo
Developer(s)	Wube Software
Publisher(s)	Wube Software
Engine	Allegro
Platforms	Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
Release date(s)	TBA 2016
Genre(s)	Action, real-time strategy, survival
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Factorio is an upcoming real-time strategy video game in development by Wube Software. The completed version is scheduled to be released in 2016 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux.

Development

The game has been developed by a team of developers from Prague since mid 2012. The team originally consisted of one developer but has grown to six. To fund the game, they started an Indiegogo campaign, which started on 31 January 2013 and finished on 3 March 2013. The campaign raised € 21,626 of the € 17,000 goal. Following the crowdfunding success, Wube sold early access editions of the game to raise further funds. The developer credits the April 2014 release of the game's trailer as a significant driver of those sales.

One of the game's designers cited Minecraft mods as an inspiration during the game's development.

The game was released on Steam Early Access on 25 February 2016, and will be fully released later in 2016.

Plot

The game follows a spaceman who was sent to an alien planet ahead of colonists from Earth. He and his crew were to set up a base equipped with missile defense to defend the landing of earth's colony ships. Not everything goes according to plan as the protagonist crashes on the planet. Because of this he has to first harvest his resources by hand in order to build up an industrial infrastructure, and face inhabitants of the planet who defend their environment.

Gameplay

Factorio is a resource gathering game with real-time strategy and survival elements, with influences from the BuildCraft and IndustrialCraft mods for the Minecraft computer game. The player has to survive by finding and harvesting resources to build tools and machines, which can then create more advanced materials to allow for the creation of more sophisticated technologies. As further depth into the game is reached, the player may be building and managing an automated factory-style system, which can mine, transport, process and assemble resources. Players research advanced technologies that allow them to create new structures and items, starting with basic automation and leading to drones and exoskeletons.

Combat

The player is concerned with defending themselves and their factory from the planet's increasingly aggressive indigenous fauna, who react with hostility to pollution created by the industry, necessitating the player to consider the balance between his production and the enemy's aggressiveness. There are three types of enemies; biters, spitters, and worms which spawn from bases that are generated randomly. Combat can be done in the early game with a pistol, which then leads to a sub-machine gun, a shotgun, and finally the combat shotgun. Ammunition also has multiple types, including 'penetrating' rounds which can pass through enemies and do damage to anything on the other side.

Early on, turret technology is available to the player, giving access to the construction of automated sub-machine gun turrets. These turrets will auto-fire at enemies and are great for setting up an early-game automated defence. Mid-game technology gives access to laser turrets which, unlike the sub-machine gun turret, do not consume ammunition, and instead consume electricity. They do more damage, and do not require re-loading, so they are ideal for a mid-to-late-game defence system.

The rest of the mid-to-Late game brings 2 types of vehicles: cars and tanks. The car is fast, lightly armoured, equipped with a single sub-machine gun, has a large inventory space, and is helpful not only for combating the natives but also for transporting the player and large quantities of items from place to place. The tank is heavily armoured, equipped with a cannon and a sub-machine gun, and is much slower than the car. The tank excels at attacking native colonies from a distance to reduce the amount of local hostiles.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer mode allows people, both locally and via the internet to play together cooperatively.

Downloadable content

The game was designed to be customisable via mods to create additional content, such as modifications to gameplay or re-texturing of visual elements.