8 ms·

Well, we have https://mindustrygame.github.io/ https://mindustrygame.github.io/ that it is free software. And IHMO it is best that Factorio.

jader201 4y ago
I've been playing Mindustry a lot lately, and while I've been enjoying it, it's just a different game than Factorio -- they scratch different, but similar, itches. Factorio is about the long game, and your designs have to be able to scale, especially if you're going for mege-base scale. It's more about complex designs and a very deep tech tree and dependency hierarchy. It's about factory automation at its core, with some PvE/tower defense (optionally) thrown in. Mindustry is mostly a tower defense game at its core that uses automation/factory building to accomplish that goal. It simplifies a lot of things that are more of a challenge in Factorio. E.g. not needing inserters makes optimizations much easier. Also, the way building happens almost immediately and you don't need bots makes construction much easier. I like both quite a bit, but depending on what you're looking for, either game could be more enjoyable for you.
- mmastrac 4y ago
  > you don't need bots makes construction much easier I loved that part of Satisfactory as well. The more I play with instant building, the more I think it just makes sense.
chitowneats 4y ago
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? $9.99 however is not cheap many places on Earth.
- ihuman 4y ago
  It's under the GPL 3 license, so it's free software. Click the GitHub link on top for the source code. It's also free on itch.io. There's a link to that below the Steam link.
  - chitowneats 4y ago
    I understand that. This is a very highly rated game on Steam. Clearly, many have come across it without realizing it is, in fact, free. Even as a developer, if Steam were to recommend this game to me, I have no way of knowing it's FOSS. Very interesting strategy. I'll give them that. I have enough misgivings about it though that I probably won't be playing it. Feels scammy. Like they are trying to essentially release a paid game, but with the support and goodwill of the FOSS community at their disposal. I certainly hope all of the contributing developers are getting a cut...
    - NathanielK 4y ago
      The steam one also makes multiplayer much more convenient. Just click on your buddy and join their game. The open source release is a bit trickier and has you hosting and typing in IP addresses.
    - mmis1000 4y ago
      I bought it even I know it is. 10$ isn't expensive for that size of a game. Would you call it a steal if the man maintaining it basically work full time on it and live on it? I think play it for free feels more like a steal instead. (And technically, this is one man project that accepts contribution, most work are done by himself, includes game mechanism and maps)
- falcolas 4y ago
  $10 is an absolute steal for a fully featured game with hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of play time in it. FOSS or not.
  - 4y ago
Aperocky 4y ago
Can you write scripts in factorio? You can do that in mindustry.
- falcolas 4y ago
  Better, you can (effectively) build logic with gates directly.
  - Aperocky 4y ago
    Unsure, never played factorio before, but in mindustry each different "CPU" can execute different scripts to utilize their surroundings. I'd imagine that's more "efficient" than eking out a logic using gates?
    - falcolas 4y ago
      Depends on your persistence. I've seen a full "mall" (factories building factory items) that dynamically built requests from scratch; no queued items. I've also seen delivery systems which will send a train with the requested items from your central base to your current location.
- thenipper 4y ago
  As the other comment said you can do gates. You can also write lua mods. I’ve done that for some stats/dashboarding.
- dexwiz 4y ago
  Within the game, Factorio has basic logic circuits that have ladder logic qualities. The circuits only have a few primitives: constants, comparators, and basic math. You don't ever have to use circuits to complete the base game, and most use cases can be solved with only a few circuits. But of course people have used them to write full graphics pipelines like any programmable game system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_logic Outside the game, Factorio also has full support for mods written in LUA. I am not a modder, so I can't comment on its relative power versus other mod systems, but Factorio has a handful of overhaul mods that change the entire game. Since its moddable, people have created mods that allow you to write LUA logic for the circuits instead of the basic math operations/comparators. https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Moon_Logic https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Moon_Logic
louwrentius 4y ago
Please don't tell people, It's so addictive to "factorio people", I loved this game.

jader201 4y ago

I've been playing Mindustry a lot lately, and while I've been enjoying it, it's just a different game than Factorio -- they scratch different, but similar, itches. Factorio is about the long game, and your designs have to be able to scale, especially if you're going for mege-base scale. It's more about complex designs and a very deep tech tree and dependency hierarchy. It's about factory automation at its core, with some PvE/tower defense (optionally) thrown in. Mindustry is mostly a tower defense game at its core that uses automation/factory building to accomplish that goal. It simplifies a lot of things that are more of a challenge in Factorio. E.g. not needing inserters makes optimizations much easier. Also, the way building happens almost immediately and you don't need bots makes construction much easier. I like both quite a bit, but depending on what you're looking for, either game could be more enjoyable for you.

mmastrac 4y ago
> you don't need bots makes construction much easier I loved that part of Satisfactory as well. The more I play with instant building, the more I think it just makes sense.

chitowneats 4y ago

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 on Earth.

ihuman 4y ago
It's under the GPL 3 license, so it's free software. Click the GitHub link on top for the source code. It's also free on itch.io. There's a link to that below the Steam link.
- chitowneats 4y ago
  I understand that. This is a very highly rated game on Steam. Clearly, many have come across it without realizing it is, in fact, free. Even as a developer, if Steam were to recommend this game to me, I have no way of knowing it's FOSS. Very interesting strategy. I'll give them that. I have enough misgivings about it though that I probably won't be playing it. Feels scammy. Like they are trying to essentially release a paid game, but with the support and goodwill of the FOSS community at their disposal. I certainly hope all of the contributing developers are getting a cut...
  - NathanielK 4y ago
    The steam one also makes multiplayer much more convenient. Just click on your buddy and join their game. The open source release is a bit trickier and has you hosting and typing in IP addresses.
  - mmis1000 4y ago
    I bought it even I know it is. 10$ isn't expensive for that size of a game. Would you call it a steal if the man maintaining it basically work full time on it and live on it? I think play it for free feels more like a steal instead. (And technically, this is one man project that accepts contribution, most work are done by himself, includes game mechanism and maps)
falcolas 4y ago
$10 is an absolute steal for a fully featured game with hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of play time in it. FOSS or not.
- 4y ago

Aperocky 4y ago

Can you write scripts in factorio? You can do that in mindustry.

falcolas 4y ago
Better, you can (effectively) build logic with gates directly.
- Aperocky 4y ago
  Unsure, never played factorio before, but in mindustry each different "CPU" can execute different scripts to utilize their surroundings. I'd imagine that's more "efficient" than eking out a logic using gates?
  - falcolas 4y ago
    Depends on your persistence. I've seen a full "mall" (factories building factory items) that dynamically built requests from scratch; no queued items. I've also seen delivery systems which will send a train with the requested items from your central base to your current location.
thenipper 4y ago
As the other comment said you can do gates. You can also write lua mods. I’ve done that for some stats/dashboarding.
dexwiz 4y ago
Within the game, Factorio has basic logic circuits that have ladder logic qualities. The circuits only have a few primitives: constants, comparators, and basic math. You don't ever have to use circuits to complete the base game, and most use cases can be solved with only a few circuits. But of course people have used them to write full graphics pipelines like any programmable game system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_logic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_logic Outside the game, Factorio also has full support for mods written in LUA. I am not a modder, so I can't comment on its relative power versus other mod systems, but Factorio has a handful of overhaul mods that change the entire game. Since its moddable, people have created mods that allow you to write LUA logic for the circuits instead of the basic math operations/comparators. https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Moon_Logic https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Moon_Logic

louwrentius 4y ago

Please don't tell people, It's so addictive to "factorio people", I loved this game.