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Going to give a shoutout to https://anuke.itch.io/mindustry https://anuke.itch.io/mindustry and https://songsofsyx.com/ https://songsofsyx.com/ In particula

Going to give a shoutout to https://anuke.itch.io/mindustry https://anuke.itch.io/mindustry and https://songsofsyx.com/ https://songsofsyx.com/ In particular, mindustry can actually run scripts within the game to automate a lot of things. If you like factorio you're going to like these 2 games.

Malic 5y ago
Let's add https://shapez.io/ https://shapez.io/ to that list!
pwillia7 5y ago
Obligatory Zachtronics and Screeps links. TIS and Shenzen are my favorites of the zachtronics series. I've never really gotten into screeps but it always looks so cool. https://www.zachtronics.com/ https://www.zachtronics.com/ https://screeps.com/ https://screeps.com/
- iszomer 5y ago
  SpaceChem is where it started for me.
iliketrains 5y ago
Me and my friend are actually working on a somewhat similar game called Captain of Industry [1]. The game is less about automation and scaling and more about realistic processes, mining with excavators, trucks logistics, and taking care of your workers. It's not done yet but we are quite close! [1] https://www.captain-of-industry.com/ https://www.captain-of-industry.com/ PS: To my surprise, simulation games are a lot of very technical work full of algorithms and optimizations, compared to an average SWE work in a tech company.
- Kaytaro 5y ago
  I mean this as a compliment when I say I hope this never gets released.
- eezurr 5y ago
  Just curious, if you're focusing on realistic processes, how come that excludes realistic spacing/placement of structures (based on your websites background video/image)? Wouldn't the two go hand in hand for the feeling of the game you're trying to build?
  - iliketrains 5y ago
    I am not sure what do you mean by "realistic spacing/placement of structures", could you elaborate? Do you mean that in reality you would not build a farm next to a blast furnace? That's true, we did not implement any mechanics regarding building proximity to others, but that is certainly an interesting idea! When I mentioned our focus on reality, I meant that the mechanics and processes are mostly driven how things are done in the real world and by playing the game you can even learn something new (e.g. steel production needs oxygen). However, it is a game and this can be done only to a certain degree, especially the early game has a lot of "shortcuts". As an example of realistic mechanics and processes, you build excavators that mine ores and coal, trucks haul materials around the factory, terrain collapses as it is being mined, iron and steel smelting produces slag that needs to be disposed, fertilizer for farms is made from ammonia (synthetic process) or from compost (natural process), etc. (see our wiki for more https://wiki.captain-of-industry.com/ https://wiki.captain-of-industry.com/ ).
    - eezurr 5y ago
      Sure, I'll try. The structures are all lined up and flush up against each other, and the buildings are bunched up. There's nothing wrong with that, I was just confused by "realistic processes". To me that also means (closer to) realistic functionality at the structures too, both in placement and functionality. Since you mentioned it, it seems like a key part of your game but to me that isn't communicated in the video sample. Im working on a video game too so I understand the necessity of limitations and shortcuts. And your point could be entirely clear if I were to play the game. I'm just pointing out, IMO, there's a disjoint between what I see and what you say. Edit: I'll add, I believe the communication and interpretation of game functions is extremely important. Im creating a city builder/simulation game, but the depth of the simulation is determined by what's communicated to the player, not what the code does. I could create an intelligent game AI and a sophisticated economy, but if it doesn't communicate that to the player in any way, then it's no different than RNG to the players eyes.
- _9omd 5y ago
  Wow, this looks really good, nice work.
fragmede 5y ago
Also http://factoryidle.com http://factoryidle.com. There's no "person" that you're in control of and it plays different for other reasons, but it's definitely in the same category. There's also Satisfactory if you like a 1st person view of things.
- Matheus28 5y ago
  Thanks for the recommendation! I loved that game
qudat 5y ago
I had more fun with mindustry than factorio. IDK why but I just felt it more approachable
valyagolev 5y ago
Bitburner is a pure coding factory-must-grow game. it's like your "run scripts to automate things in the game" without anything else
louwrentius 5y ago
Mindustry is highly recommended for sure.
sundarurfriend 5y ago
I tried Mindustry a bit and found it not very appealing, but looking back at it I realize a big part of that is just the visual appeal - or the lack of one. Song of Syx looks interesting though, definitely worth at least a try. Thanks for the recommendation.
- Aperocky 5y ago
  Personally I put songs of syx above that of mindustry. But Mindustry is more closely related to Factorio. Songs of syx is very fun.
MayeulC 5y ago
I haven't tried factorio yet, but it seems very similar to mindustry, except that mindustry is also a mix of "real" tower defense and RTS. I really like mindustry. It's open source, available for free on multiple platforms (it's java), and paid on others. It constantly gets updated, and has a nice progress curve. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the recent addition of processors. It breaks the balance of the game a bit, as you can basically program your own AI for it, and do stuff like smart electric grid load balancing, shutting down reactors before they overheat, and use units as resource transports. On the other hand, it's fun to play with, and with a bit of automation you can save a lot of space. As an electronics engineer, that game is quite appealing to me, and nicely illustrates some of the challenges we face everyday in engineering: refactoring, dependencies, synchronization, modularity vs optimization, "security", etc. I feel like a better link might be the official website at https://mindustrygame.github.io/ https://mindustrygame.github.io/

Malic 5y ago

Let's add https://shapez.io/ https://shapez.io/ to that list!

pwillia7 5y ago

Obligatory Zachtronics and Screeps links. TIS and Shenzen are my favorites of the zachtronics series. I've never really gotten into screeps but it always looks so cool. https://www.zachtronics.com/ https://www.zachtronics.com/ https://screeps.com/ https://screeps.com/

iszomer 5y ago
SpaceChem is where it started for me.

iliketrains 5y ago

Me and my friend are actually working on a somewhat similar game called Captain of Industry [1]. The game is less about automation and scaling and more about realistic processes, mining with excavators, trucks logistics, and taking care of your workers. It's not done yet but we are quite close! [1] https://www.captain-of-industry.com/ https://www.captain-of-industry.com/ PS: To my surprise, simulation games are a lot of very technical work full of algorithms and optimizations, compared to an average SWE work in a tech company.

Kaytaro 5y ago
I mean this as a compliment when I say I hope this never gets released.
eezurr 5y ago
Just curious, if you're focusing on realistic processes, how come that excludes realistic spacing/placement of structures (based on your websites background video/image)? Wouldn't the two go hand in hand for the feeling of the game you're trying to build?
- iliketrains 5y ago
  I am not sure what do you mean by "realistic spacing/placement of structures", could you elaborate? Do you mean that in reality you would not build a farm next to a blast furnace? That's true, we did not implement any mechanics regarding building proximity to others, but that is certainly an interesting idea! When I mentioned our focus on reality, I meant that the mechanics and processes are mostly driven how things are done in the real world and by playing the game you can even learn something new (e.g. steel production needs oxygen). However, it is a game and this can be done only to a certain degree, especially the early game has a lot of "shortcuts". As an example of realistic mechanics and processes, you build excavators that mine ores and coal, trucks haul materials around the factory, terrain collapses as it is being mined, iron and steel smelting produces slag that needs to be disposed, fertilizer for farms is made from ammonia (synthetic process) or from compost (natural process), etc. (see our wiki for more https://wiki.captain-of-industry.com/ https://wiki.captain-of-industry.com/ ).
  - eezurr 5y ago
    Sure, I'll try. The structures are all lined up and flush up against each other, and the buildings are bunched up. There's nothing wrong with that, I was just confused by "realistic processes". To me that also means (closer to) realistic functionality at the structures too, both in placement and functionality. Since you mentioned it, it seems like a key part of your game but to me that isn't communicated in the video sample. Im working on a video game too so I understand the necessity of limitations and shortcuts. And your point could be entirely clear if I were to play the game. I'm just pointing out, IMO, there's a disjoint between what I see and what you say. Edit: I'll add, I believe the communication and interpretation of game functions is extremely important. Im creating a city builder/simulation game, but the depth of the simulation is determined by what's communicated to the player, not what the code does. I could create an intelligent game AI and a sophisticated economy, but if it doesn't communicate that to the player in any way, then it's no different than RNG to the players eyes.
_9omd 5y ago
Wow, this looks really good, nice work.

fragmede 5y ago

Also http://factoryidle.com http://factoryidle.com. There's no "person" that you're in control of and it plays different for other reasons, but it's definitely in the same category. There's also Satisfactory if you like a 1st person view of things.

Matheus28 5y ago
Thanks for the recommendation! I loved that game

qudat 5y ago

I had more fun with mindustry than factorio. IDK why but I just felt it more approachable

valyagolev 5y ago

Bitburner is a pure coding factory-must-grow game. it's like your "run scripts to automate things in the game" without anything else

louwrentius 5y ago

Mindustry is highly recommended for sure.

sundarurfriend 5y ago

I tried Mindustry a bit and found it not very appealing, but looking back at it I realize a big part of that is just the visual appeal - or the lack of one. Song of Syx looks interesting though, definitely worth at least a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Aperocky 5y ago
Personally I put songs of syx above that of mindustry. But Mindustry is more closely related to Factorio. Songs of syx is very fun.

MayeulC 5y ago

I haven't tried factorio yet, but it seems very similar to mindustry, except that mindustry is also a mix of "real" tower defense and RTS. I really like mindustry. It's open source, available for free on multiple platforms (it's java), and paid on others. It constantly gets updated, and has a nice progress curve. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the recent addition of processors. It breaks the balance of the game a bit, as you can basically program your own AI for it, and do stuff like smart electric grid load balancing, shutting down reactors before they overheat, and use units as resource transports. On the other hand, it's fun to play with, and with a bit of automation you can save a lot of space. As an electronics engineer, that game is quite appealing to me, and nicely illustrates some of the challenges we face everyday in engineering: refactoring, dependencies, synchronization, modularity vs optimization, "security", etc. I feel like a better link might be the official website at https://mindustrygame.github.io/ https://mindustrygame.github.io/