GamesSimulationFactorio8 years later, Factorio finally adds a feature initially dubbed “too hardcore” as the management game’s lead says “it is usually a mistake to underestimate the players"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesSimulationFactorio8 years later, Factorio finally adds a feature initially dubbed “too hardcore” as the management game’s lead says “it is usually a mistake to underestimate the players"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Wube Software LTD.)
Hit management game Factorio has finally added a feature that its developers held off on for years because they considered it “too hardcore.”
That feature would be Parameterized Blueprints. In a newFactorio development blog, lead designer and original studio founder Michal Kovařík got pretty candid about the new feature, writing that he was “thinking about this idea for years already,” and that he “always thought the feature is too hardcore to be included.”
What changed his mind? Kovařík has since realized it is “usually a mistake to underestimate the players,” and so decided to share the Parameterized Blueprints feature straight away.
Kovařík gives the example of an unloading station, a crucial means of moving goods in Factorio. Typically you’d need rails, a station, and special inserters designated to correctly unload set cargo from trains. However, when you want to reconfigure the target cargo, you need to manually reassign all the inserters so they know what to look for.
What Kovařík wanted was a “blueprint which doesn’t have a specific item configuration, but rather is generic, and allows you to configure it differently each time you build it.” Enter Parameterized Blueprints: with these, you can assign the parameters you want for a building or combination of buildings whenever you want, and you can also set them up to be dependent onotherparameters for consistency.
So, if the target cargo coming into an unloading station changes, the unloading station can change the cargo it’s assigned to automatically, without you having to do anything extra. Previously you would’ve had to go into every unloading station and change the target cargo manually, but Parameterized Blueprints let you link the two together.
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It’s a lot to parse, and Kovařík “would love to hear your feedback about this feature” via the “usual channels.” He acknowledges the way Factorio logic is compared to programming and says these blueprints are “just another part of the analogy” in the way they mirror “the compile time function execution versus runtime function execution.” A lot to parse, indeed.
You can head over to our guide on all theupcoming PC gamesyou should be keeping an eye on over the coming year.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5
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