Loved DSP. What does 2023 look like for the genre?

[Zen Elan]

First and only factory game I've played. Absolutely loved it. Anything coming up in the same genre that we should be keeping an eye on?

[Stars-N-Stripes]

Check out the News tab, personally I've had this game for a few months despite being tempted to play I'm waiting on the "Combat system Trailer: Rise of the Dark Fog" - this sounds like a big addition to the game and a great time to jump in and see what everyone is raving about.

[Blake]

With the covid crisis in China at the mo there may be a delay before we get anything else

[Dirkels]

I think OP was asking if there are other games in the same genre that might be as good or even better as DSP.

[Zen Elan]

Originally posted by Dirkels:

I think OP was asking if there are other games in the same genre that might be as good or even better as DSP.

Yup. Looking forward to the new combat system in DSP, but curious what else might be coming around the corner.

[Birdorf]

I have high hopes for Foundry.

[Only4u^_^]

More interesting will be!!!!!

[Veleric]

If this is the only one of this genre you have played, you should definitely check out Satisfactory or Factorio if you want a slightly different experience still in the same genre. Shapez is another really cool stripped down version. Astro Colony just entered early access and looks fun.

[Arcane]

I played Factorio and it seems fairly similar to DSP but with enemies. I liked it a lot too.

[Zen Elan]

Originally posted by Veleric:

If this is the only one of this genre you have played, you should definitely check out Satisfactory or Factorio if you want a slightly different experience still in the same genre. Shapez is another really cool stripped down version. Astro Colony just entered early access and looks fun.

Awesome. Satisfactory looks interesting, decent sale right now so will likely give it a shot. AstroColony too. Futuristic setting is my usual genre of choice.

[lokieid]

I would hold off on astro colony for a bit. It's really fun, but buggy and missing a real point. It'll be a gold game i bet by mid year 23.

Foundry looks good. Captain of industry is a lot of fun and just released a huge update.

[dragonsphotoworks]

There are about a dozen or more games like this out there. Each has good points and bad. Factorio is bit complicated for many people. Especially once they start adding mods. Satisfactory is good atm its similar to this with focus only on factory. It doesnt really have combat. Though are a few npc animals that harass you at times. But zero base defense elements.

Astro colony is ok havent played it much as of yet.
Id have to go through my hundred + game list to find the others lol But are a good few to try out there.

[DaBa]

The genre seems to be currently experiencing what Rogue Likes were experiencing right after Binding of Ysaac catapulted them into popularity. Actually, this is the case with most genres of video games if you look into them:

- We're seeing a lot of games be released that are objectively inferior to Factorio, which started this whole thing.

- Very few good games that are worth playing are actually being made, ex: Satisfactory, DSP. The games that are decent often times either directly copy mechanics and concepts from Factorio, or are obviously heavily influenced by it to the point of feeling very similar.

- We have not yet seem any game that is worthy of being called a challenger to the throne Factorio currently holds as the best game in it's own genre.

To compare it with Ysaac, the first game that I'd say came close to challenging it in terms of being the king on the genre was Enter the Gungeon. It was truly an evolution of the genre, it combined the rogue like concept with another genre (twinstick shooter) and wrapped it all in a really high quality package. Before that game we had the exact same situation Factorio and other games that either popularized or started new genres were in. So, if we go by the natural order of things, this is roughly what should be in store for this brand new genre of factory automation games:

1. If we ever see a contender to the throne Factorio holds, it will not be Satisfactory or DSP. They will never be able to reach the heights Facorio did, largely due to engine limitations making anything on the scale of Factorio basically impossible. Also I don't think the devs will update the game that much anyway. Actually, fighting Factorio on the same playing field is basically impossible, it has too many advantages: they made their own engine that works perfectly for what they are trying to do, they have a massive modding scene, they have years of development worth of content AND an expasnion planned, and so on... So I'd say it's almost 100% certain we will not see a game to rival Factorio in what it does, at least not any time soon.

2. What then? Well, the next natural step of the progression is to evolve the genre. Take what makes factory games great and fuse that with something else to make an even better game. It's definitely harder in this case, but not impossible. A few quick examples which may or may not work in practice: a PVE RTS game that swaps the normally trivial resource collection mechanic with something more akin to Factorio, Survival game that's basically factorio but instead focused on better world, combat and smaller scale industrialization, or maybe even just a faster paced factorio but with a rogue like spin where you get to re-use the remains of your previous base to make a new one on a new run.

3. Or maybe nothing will ever happen and the genre will never evolve. Remember, Factorio is still a very niche game, both in terms of popularity and broad appeal. The only reason rogue like games took of so hard was because they were a very malleable as a concept and could be adapted in so many ways to make different games. The inherit ideas behind a rogue like are synergistic, they don't need to be the main attraction of the game to draw players in, so you can make a variety of rogue likes that will appeal to a very wide audience. Meawhile the Factorio genre of video games relies heavily on their core identity to appeal to the player. You play Factorio and all games like it for the exact same reason: to automate, expand, and see your factory grow. Anything else is secondary. I find it very hard to imagine that a game can be made that incorporates such a genre properly, while having other identity be it's main appeal. So, for all of those reason, maybe this genre will never go anywhere, we will never get anything remotely close to Factorio, and we'll just have to be content with it and a handful of other good factory games.

[dragonsphotoworks]

I am to lazy to do the hunt. BUT there are bunch of games coming or out in EA that are good contenders for factorio. Factorio is good. But lot of it have to admit is due to mods. I love Factorio. But DSP once adds combat it will be close to par. True factory aspect would need to "just guessing" double in scope though to match Factorio.

But no its not at same level. BUT it does have its place as well. This games big section is the Sphere. Factorio is its factory lines with some tower defense built in.. Satisfactory is all factory focused.

Now you said Factorio getting a DLC?? I have not see any news on that yet. Would be awesome if did. But only thing i see them being able to add is underground features and space station construction. That be awesome if they added space instead of needing that guys mod. The mod dev hates if people use other mods with his mod. "Can be done but need unlock his blocks".

Now memory failing but i found 3 or 4 other good factorio themed games.

[DaBa]

Originally posted by dragonsphotoworks:

I am to lazy to do the hunt. BUT there are bunch of games coming or out in EA that are good contenders for factorio. Factorio is good. But lot of it have to admit is due to mods. I love Factorio. But DSP once adds combat it will be close to par. True factory aspect would need to "just guessing" double in scope though to match Factorio.

But no its not at same level. BUT it does have its place as well. This games big section is the Sphere. Factorio is its factory lines with some tower defense built in.. Satisfactory is all factory focused.

Now you said Factorio getting a DLC?? I have not see any news on that yet. Would be awesome if did. But only thing i see them being able to add is underground features and space station construction. That be awesome if they added space instead of needing that guys mod. The mod dev hates if people use other mods with his mod. "Can be done but need unlock his blocks".

Now memory failing but i found 3 or 4 other good factorio themed games.

Sure, if DSP's combat update is ridiculously good, then they optimize the game so it doesn't slow down to a crawl when people try to build things on a large scale, then they add a few more materials and production buildings, and finally they implement a proper modding support to make it possible to create even more complex modifications, then yeah I can see the game rival Factorio. But that's A LOT of big "Ifs", and I really do not see all of them happening, especially when they are already getting strangled by the engine of their choice.

As for Satisfactory, I'd say it has a much better show, mainly because it doesn't straight up copy many aspects of Factorio and actually has some good things that the former does not (ex: really great 3D visuals, enjoyable exploration of a beautiful map). But it still isn't even half the game in the most important places. What Satisfactory would need to be seriously considered a competitor for the throne:

- PROPER modding support, for the love of god. Mods can add whatever the game is missing, without this it will never compete with Factorio. We already have a fantastic modding community, the only thing it needs is tools to make their work easier.
- Make large scale building a less tedious process, currently doing anything on a large scale is literally a chore that is not fun at all. This is the second biggest problem of the game.
- A proper blueprint system, not an excuse they came up with recently
- An interesting challenge at the end of the game. This is where Satisfactory has a chance to 1 up Factorio. Instead of just producing an X number of items and launching them into space, give us a final goal that is a bit more involved than this, and draws on everything the player has done so far.

So yes, in theory it's possible the game will become amazing enough to be considered a proper rival, but having seen CSS and their mindset, what they care about and where they are trying to take their game, I do not have any trust in them to be able to pull this off. They aren't even trying to compete with Factorio and are trying to make a game that they wanted, which is a good and a bad move at the same time. Good because it's really hard to compete with Factorio, so it's a good idea to make something different that attracts different people. Bad because inevitably they still made a game that appeals to the same demographic Factorio does, and a lot of their design choices and shortcomings are really off putting to people who already played the greatest game in this genre.

And all of this isn't even accounting for the fact Factorio is going to get an expansion, and knowing the devs it will make the game even better and propel the genre forward yet again. In the devs own words they are "trying to add things to the game that are either really hard to add for modders, or things we've never even seen before even from mods". So yeah, once they are done with that, probably somewhere in the next year I'm guessing, the game will get EVEN BETTER and EVEN HARDER to match for anybody else. I will repeat what I already said:

Originally posted by DaBa:

fighting Factorio on the same playing field is basically impossible, it has too many advantages: they made their own engine that works perfectly for what they are trying to do, they have a massive modding scene, they have years of development worth of content AND an expasnion planned, and so on... So I'd say it's almost 100% certain we will not see a game to rival Factorio in what it does, at least not any time soon.

As for other games, I literally have not seen a single one that would even be in the same dimension those three are right now. They all look like either clumsy attempts at making something interesting with the same ingredients, cheap knock-offs not worth your time, or actually good games but nowhere near the scope and quality of those three. If you have any concrete examples to prove me wrong, please do list them. I am always looking forward to new factory automation games.

[Cat Burger]

I play as many of these games as I can, and while I know a ton of the other games are super popular, the only one that I feel like came as close to DSP was Satisfactory. I never felt like i was fighting having to place everything. In some respects I feel like first person is much better for this genre, but then again, I think if DSP had it, it might lose the charm somehow. So, I'm glad both games exist. For Satisfactory, ultimately I'd like a fully randomized solar system to start out in and be able to move around in.

I never caught on to Factorio, the interface just drove me insane.