Returning to the Prothean stench of 2013, the beast we call Factorio emerged in lowercase Early Access form and began its thorough, voracious conquest of the nascent factory simulator genre. Some claim that Factorio gave birth to this species, although I would point to the Dwarfhold as one of many notable ancestors. Today, the field of factory simulation is hotly contested with stacks of conveyor belt spaghetti. I’m not just talking about Satisfactory or Shapez – they’re even creating philosophical factory simulators these days. Have cozy factory sims now.
As such, the huge, smoke-encased eye of the cyborg Factorio was transformed from depleted soil to relatively untapped heaven. There’s a pristine area up there somewhere. Somewhere there is a land that has never heard the roar of a steel mill – and in Factorio’s massive Space Age DLC, available today, you’ll find it.
Factorio Space Age – Steam page here – is described as an effective sequel, which seems quite fair considering that it adds five novel types of worlds to the game with their own mass of variables. The first of these types of worlds are space platforms, “flying factories that act as means of transportation between planets” that must be equipped with turrets and thrusters. It sounds threatening, but maybe not as threatening as Vulcanus, an ash-covered world where you’ll craft indestructible tungsten and submerge pipes in magma. Or Fulgora, a world of archaic technology where you’ll have to worry about nightly lightning storms (which you can utilize to power your buildings).
Meanwhile, in the Soil, it is possible to perform a little biomechanical engineering by collecting strange flora. Remember to “cook, crush and process produce before it rots and turns into spoilage.” Finally, on Aquilo, freezing conditions oblige you to build a monstrous central heating system to keep the machines running. Those who succeed will “unlock the power of cryogenic technologies and fusion energy.” As with base Factorio, each planet has its own particular menagerie of native species that won’t be thrilled by your attempts to strip the habitat.
All this in addition: over an hour of novel orchestral music by Czech composer Petr Wajsar! Elevated railway tracks that allow you to lay tracks across oceans and set up sophisticated multi-level crossings! Sufficiently high price! I don’t know exactly what the Factorio Space Age review plan is, but Ollie was noticeably absent this afternoon. Behind his door I hear the screech and roar of pistons. Crazy, dancing lithe shines through the keyhole like a comet passing by. Either he’s working on a review for us or he’s having trouble with Prague again.
If you don’t have the pocket money for Space Age right now, the good news is that it’s landing with a major overhaul of the base game that will add, among other things, a novel fluid system and improvements to train controls and robot worker AI. . Read more on the developer’s website blog.
