Live data from Hacker News

Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

factorio.com

181–190 of 366 posts

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strange that nowhere on this landing page does Mindustry advertise itself as "free software". In fact, there is a very prominent link to buy it on steam for $9.99. A bit off-putting. As developers of course we associate GitHub with FOSS, but would a layman? I guess the thinking is anyone who doesn't know to visit the repo and `git clone` probably requires the steam installation? $9.99 however is not cheap many places…

I've seen this pattern before and think it is very interesting. It has the benefit that the people able to contribute get the game for free and the people who cannot contribute have to pay. On the other hand, it is very programmer-elitist.

Isn't the $0 itch.io link placed right next to the steam link in the project homepage? (And it seems it looks even bigger than the steam one)

If you don't want to pay now(for whatever reason) but want to play it. You just do. (And I highly suggest you do it if you haven't)

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DSP’s best feature is that it’s windows only, so playing on a Mac is low key terrible. That’s helped keep me to only 200 hours played.

I played 150 hours of it on Mac through Geforce Now. Used the free tier's 1 hour limit addiction management feature.

+1

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#183
post #130
post #61

There was a funny but insightful take about how Factorio is about a colonizing force going to a planet and taking all of it's natural resources while suppressing all the native inhabitants and how the player identifies with this evil entity as if a good thing.

If I recall correctly, the game does somewhat try to dodge that by having the player crash-land on the planet. Everything they do is, theoretically, in service of building a rocket to get off-planet again. ...now, do players go wildly beyond achieving that victory condition in ways that play into the colonial-exploitation vibe? Perhaps.

Eh, is it really "dodging that"? If an alien landed on our planet, took over our resources, filled our air with mutating pollution, and shot at us anytime we tried to take them back, we wouldn't give them a pass just because they were trying to leave :D

I always kind of embraced the idea of being the bad guy in this game. I find the ease with which I (and others) just kind of shrug it off intersting.

A more stark example would be the movie Starship Troopers: superficially, you might feel like the "bugs" are the bad guys, but take a step back and you realize that the humans are the ones attacking them.

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#184
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, don't worry. The base game is easy to complete in ~20 hours. Nintendo won't allow mods, so you won't have access to the add-ons that boost a single game (Krastorio, SpaceX, Bob's) into the 1000+ hour range.

Although the team currently is working on an expansion of the main content line as well - so that number should be going up! Also, I disagree that it's easy to complete in 20 hours. The speedrun currently sits at 1h25m and while Though, unlike some other games, the progress never slows down - misallocating early skill points in some games causes serious pain making up the same points without the proper tools at an ex…

> a few progress snags.

F... advanced oil processing

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#185

Switch feels like such an interesting platform: not the most powerful out there, not by a long shot, but still has lots of great games on it, perhaps proving that graphics aren't quite everything. At the same time, with some clever optimization, there indeed are great looking games out there as well, in addition to lots of different ones being ported to it! I wonder for how long Switch will remain as a popular platfo…

I agree with most of what you said, but can't think of a single game that looks good on the Switch (by today's standards). Can you name some examples?

Off the top: Monster Hunter Rise, Xenoblade series, Doom 2016 and Eternal, New Pokemon Snap, Zelda BOTW, Luigi's Mansion 3, Super Mario Odyssey, Astral Chain, Crysis, and Alien Isolation.

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#186
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The touch controls on the Steam Controller are excellent though, so I'm not sure how good it will be on the Switch which uses joysticks... Whilst lots of games ignore it, the Switch screen is a touchscreen.

You kinda have to ignore it if you want your game to be playable docked.

I happen to be one of those switch users who almost exclusively use it docked. Initially I thought the concept was great, but the screen is just too small for my eyes on all the strategy games I play, I always defer to my iPad on holidays.

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#187

Switch feels like such an interesting platform: not the most powerful out there, not by a long shot, but still has lots of great games on it, perhaps proving that graphics aren't quite everything. At the same time, with some clever optimization, there indeed are great looking games out there as well, in addition to lots of different ones being ported to it! I wonder for how long Switch will remain as a popular platfo…

I agree with most of what you said, but can't think of a single game that looks good on the Switch (by today's standards). Can you name some examples?

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey look amazing, because the whole art style of the game and everything in it is optimized for that specific console to not overtax its resources. You just don't get photorealism, but that's okay because the art style accommodates for that. There are a few other games I've played that have great ports or don't have high graphics requirements in the first place. Subnautica looked great, and Return of the Obra Dinn and Hades look great too, though those last two games don't have super high graphics requirements in the first place.

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DSP’s best feature is that it’s windows only, so playing on a Mac is low key terrible. That’s helped keep me to only 200 hours played.

I played 150 hours of it on Mac through Geforce Now. Used the free tier's 1 hour limit addiction management feature.

I used Shadow - worked really well, sadly no timer kicking you off tho.

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#189

Switch feels like such an interesting platform: not the most powerful out there, not by a long shot, but still has lots of great games on it, perhaps proving that graphics aren't quite everything. At the same time, with some clever optimization, there indeed are great looking games out there as well, in addition to lots of different ones being ported to it! I wonder for how long Switch will remain as a popular platfo…

> I wonder for how long Switch will remain as a popular platform

2023 will likely bring us the next Switch hardware revision. If backwards compatibility remains, the Switch line will remain relevant for years to come.

> Personally, I just wonder why something like Genshin Impact isn't on Switch yet

Leaks in August reported that Genshin Impact on Switch was delayed because of CPU limitations due to size and regularly updated content.

Re: Factorio is coming to Nintendo Switch

#190
post #145
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah... I hope the Nintendo Switch port is brought to Steam Deck too. I gave Factorio a quick go a few days ago and it was painful to play (at least with the default key config)

The blog post says they will focus on making controller play better on Switch, then make that generic for PC(which implies Steam Deck as well). The PC/Steam Deck version supports mods, which is better than Switch anyway.

Do you happen to know what the status of the Steam Deck ecosystem is? I would be in the market to get a more powerful version of the Switch, which the Steam Deck would be, but it seems to be discontinued.
Post reply on HN