What is TFMG?

The Factory Must Grow is a total overhaul mod where you play as SELF, an AI superintelligence whose only purpose is to grow the factory.

Due to SELF's nature as a computer program, you will interact with the world entirely through remote view. Using spidertrons and robots to get the job done. Remember, without a body, there isn't any handcrafting in this mod; everything must be crafted via assembler.

Okay, lore boy, what's the gameplay like?

In TFMG, I intend to expand on the mechanics from Space Age. I felt that mechanics like spoilage and recycling have massive potential, but the devs kept things fairly simple for the sake of new players. Particularly, I found myself wishing there were production chains that combined these mechanics in interesting ways and all around went even deeper than they did.

TFMG intends to provide interesting problems to solve, over adding additional grind. I don't want to waste your time making you craft fifty intermediates which only get used once and never again for the sake of "complexity". I want to put players' creativity and problem-solving to the test, not their patience.

TFMG is a highly challenging mod intended for veteran players, but it should still be approachable enough that you can bring in a "learn on the go" attitude and find success. Just be prepared for things to be different from vanilla Factorio.

Currently includes:

2 Locations:

Space:

Your journey begins in the orbit of a small world called Arrival. You are not yet ready to land on its surface and must utilise the crystaline and ferric asteroids found here to CONSIDER your PURPOSE, develop your first science pack and build Scout'o'trons to fuel your expansion to the surface.

Even from this first location, things get tricky quickly, and spoilage and circuit networks are introduced early on. Though complexity is kept low to avoid an early game slog.

Arrival:

Arrival is a small planet with barely an atmosphere. All but dead on the surface. Its barren surface is scarred by deep trenches containing useful minerals, while ice beds hold the only supply of useful carbon on the planet. Your Scout'o'tron seismometer indicates that the world might not be so dead on the inside... It's time you EXPLORE.

Arrival introduces hydrocarbon slush to the mix, a material used for plastics, power generation, water, and further refinement of Ferric ore, and hydrocarbon slush.

At this stage, the gloves begin to slip off; you are expected to scale up, introduce trains, and watch as your factory grinds to a halt when you mismanage a byproduct.

Music:

3 tracks composed by me, more to come.

Space Platform Thermal System:

All crafting machines on space platforms produce excess heat. Failure to keep your machines cool will result in them shutting down (or worse). Make sure to cool your machines with radiators adequately, and take into account their different heat outputs and operating temperatures.

Science Validation:

Before being used for research, all science packs must first be "validated" by performing calculations on them. Each pack will require solving increasingly complex problems, from simple calculations to Pythagoras and more, requiring players to learn how to build and use combinator computers. This may seem intimidating (because it kind of is), but it's very satisfying.

Story/lore elements:

TFMG includes some story/worldbuilding in a way that is entirely optional and unintrusive to the gameplay.

As you play the game and research new technologies, you'll learn more about your SELF, what your PURPOSE may be, and who your CREATOR is. (more to come in the future) World-building is drip-fed into item and technology descriptions while still retaining function.

Future content/Roadmap

What this mod is not:

Finished:

This mod will get updates, and they will break old saves. Sometimes I have to make significant changes to systems where maintaining save compatibility is simply an unreasonable amount of work. Some things look ugly right now and will probably look ugly for a while. Similarly, optimisation can be a little rough. I endeavour to keep normal gameplay smooth, but no megabasing guarantees at the moment. (though that's the end goal)

Set in stone:

All planned future content is subject to my skill and the phase of the moon. I can't guarantee things will make it in if they prove too difficult to do, or I just decide I don't want to later.

Compatibility:

This mod replaces virtually all vanilla content. This, naturally, will break any mod which relies on that vanilla content to function. So, unless it's a small utility mod, like Rate Calculator, it's probably not compatible unless explicitly stated. I would love to make mods compatible, but my priority at the moment is making this one work.

Credits:

Assets used in this mod:
Krastorio 2
lordMiguel's solar array wings mod
malcolmriley's unused renders.

Have feedback? bugs? Ideas? Want to contribute? Join the foundry discord, I'll be happy to chat!