Factorio graphics engine

[StorM]

In which graphics engine is this game built and what are some of the features of it? I'm very interested in graphics engines in general so if you know any details I'd appreciate it very much.

[Mazian]

I believe it is a custom engine, not licensed.

[StorM]

Originally posted by Mazian:

I believe it is a custom engine, not licensed.

I assumed it is, thanks, but I'm more interested in some of its specifications and features of it. From the developer if possible if nobody else knows. I don't own the game (I've seen many gameplay videos), but I'm planning to buy it when it leaves early access. What amazes me the most is how stable the game is even in early access, much more stable than the Prison Architect which I love very much.

[Mazian]

I don't know that the developers monitor the this forum space-- you'd probably have better luck posting your question to http://forums.factorio.com/

A moderator might comment-- they do seem to have special insights of things going on behind the scenes.

[StorM]

Originally posted by Mazian:

I don't know that the developers monitor the this forum space-- you'd probably have better luck posting your question to http://forums.factorio.com/

A moderator might comment-- they do seem to have special insights of things going on behind the scenes.

Thank you for the info, I'll check there.

[NimrodAbsolution⁧⁧98]

Originally posted by StorM:

Originally posted by Mazian:

I believe it is a custom engine, not licensed.

I assumed it is, thanks, but I'm more interested in some of its specifications and features of it. From the developer if possible if nobody else knows. I don't own the game (I've seen many gameplay videos), but I'm planning to buy it when it leaves early access. What amazes me the most is how stable the game is even in early access, much more stable than the Prison Architect which I love very much.

You might k is this already but it has a demo if you want a glimpse of its current gameplay

[<unknown>]

They use allegro engine library.

source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorio

[StorM]

Originally posted by Tacomancer:

Originally posted by StorM:

I assumed it is, thanks, but I'm more interested in some of its specifications and features of it. From the developer if possible if nobody else knows. I don't own the game (I've seen many gameplay videos), but I'm planning to buy it when it leaves early access. What amazes me the most is how stable the game is even in early access, much more stable than the Prison Architect which I love very much.

You might k is this already but it has a demo if you want a glimpse of its current gameplay

Yup, I've downloaded it and I'll try it these days when I'll have enough time, thanks.

Originally posted by <unknown>:

They use allegro engine library.

source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorio

Thank you for the info.

[Zaflis]

If you want to make a new game, you should look into Unity. You can even publish commercial games for free with it, until certain point of profit. There is an immense community to help in every issue too.

[StorM]

Originally posted by Zaflis:

If you want to make a new game, you should look into Unity. You can even publish commercial games for free with it, until certain point of profit. There is an immense community to help in every issue too.

Thanks, but I'm not interested in game development right now :P Also I don't like unity as an engine for PC games at all because every unity game that I've played has a very limited options menu (resolution option, graphics: low,med,high, sound options and that's all) and that doesn't belong on PC because on PC I'm used to have a lot of different options for my games. For mobile games I think it's a great starting engine since you don't need that many options on a mobile device. Generally I'm just interested in technology and game engines :)

[Zaflis]

Ah, those options are generally done by programmer not engine. As he's the one who chooses how many objects to show at the same time, and what method to use for them, and same for sounds. Unity is your cutting edge tech game engine in any case. Support for VR and every other bell and whistle.

[StorM]

Originally posted by Zaflis:

Ah, those options are generally done by programmer not engine. As he's the one who chooses how many objects to show at the same time, and what method to use for them, and same for sounds. Unity is your cutting edge tech game engine in any case. Support for VR and every other bell and whistle.

Yes I agree, but then in my experience most developers who use unity are obviously lazy and don't care much about PC because I've played more than 30 unity games (check my library if you want) and every single one of them had a terrible options menu and problems with key bindings/controller configurations. They also weren't the most stable games and you couldn't do much about it since there are not that many options in the menu and developer console doesn't exist. Unreal engine 4 now blows it out of the way not only by the looks and options, but also by possibilities and versatility on all platforms. Unity is still a great engine for mobile platforms, I don't like it on PC. But let's leave it for now, I don't want this to turn into some general thread about engines.

[Enzi]

Originally posted by StorM:

But let's leave it for now, I don't want this to turn into some general thread about engines.

Then don't write a lengthy bash to an engine because of bad game developers and uninformed misconceptions. You can take Unity pretty far. This is a blogpost I wrote some time ago:
https://enzisoft.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/factorio-in-unity-part-1/

Back to topic, Allegro is used for 2d rendering and collision checks. It has more features, for example a sound library but it's unclear how much is really used. The factorio devs tend to write most of their stuff from scratch. Thing is, allegro is really basic and all the stuff that makes Factorio, Factorio won't be found built-in in any engine.

[StorM]

Originally posted by Enzi:

Originally posted by StorM:

But let's leave it for now, I don't want this to turn into some general thread about engines.

Then don't write a lengthy bash to an engine because of bad game developers and uninformed misconceptions. You can take Unity pretty far. This is a blogpost I wrote some time ago:
https://enzisoft.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/factorio-in-unity-part-1/

Back to topic, Allegro is used for 2d rendering and collision checks. It has more features, for example a sound library but it's unclear how much is really used. The factorio devs tend to write most of their stuff from scratch. Thing is, allegro is really basic and all the stuff that makes Factorio, Factorio won't be found built-in in any engine.

Where did I bash the engine? I didn't bash it at all, I bashed the lazy way it's being used in PC gaming by the majority of the developers who use it and said that it's the main reason I don't like it on PC. Also I'm not the only one who thinks like that btw. I didn't make my opinion about it by "uninformed misconceptions", I made it with experience with many unity games that I own.

I assumed Factorio is the combination of both, libraries and developer personal tools.

[daniel0674]

Factorio is written using the Allegro[liballeg.org] library, but it is only used for cross-platform availability, sprite handling and audio output. The game engine itself is pure C++ because of (1) performance reasons and (2) it's the programming language the devs are most familiar with.

The graphics themselves are 3D models created in Blender, rendered in a 45° angle to match Factorio's isometric view.

[StorM]

Originally posted by daniel0674:

Factorio is written using the Allegro[liballeg.org] library, but it is only used for cross-platform availability, sprite handling and audio output. The game engine itself is pure C++ because of (1) performance reasons and (2) it's the programming language the devs are most familiar with.

The graphics themselves are 3D models created in Blender, rendered in a 45° angle to match Factorio's isometric view.

Thank you for the information, that's the answer I was looking for.