WePlay: Robot Bodies
Ever wished you were an octopus with many arms? Now you can be everywhere at once. Build rovers with a manipulator arm, park them anywhere, then slip on a VR headset and take control from the comfort of your base.
Tired of walking to distant outposts? Robot Bodies is a big time saver and a handy convenience. Fix a broken outpost across the map, scout a dangerous planet, or build up a new world without ever leaving home. If a rover gets destroyed, the headset pops off and you wake up safe in your own body. It's immersive, too: rovers ride rockets to new worlds and roll out ready to go.
How it works
- Research Robotics, then Robot bodies.
- Craft a VR headset (2×2 armor equipment) and a Rover.
- Place the rover like a car, or ship it to another planet or lunar surface by rocket.
- Open the VR link from the shortcut bar or with Ctrl + Alt + V, pick a surface and a rover, and hit Connect.
- Start driving! Mine, build and fight with the rover's arm. Press Enter or Disconnect to come home.
Tiered, upgradable rovers
| Rover | Research | Trunk | Equipment grid | Logistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rover | Robot bodies | 20 | 4×4 | No |
| Rover Mk2 | Robot bodies 2 | 50 | 6×6 | Requests + 10 trash slots |
| Rover Mk3 | Robot bodies 3 | 80 | 8×8 | Requests + 10 trash slots |
- A built-in alternator powers the grid, so there's no need for a generator. Add a personal roboport and your rover can build anywhere.
- Quality rovers get more health and a bigger grid (+1 per quality level, up to 13×13 for a legendary Mk3).
- Name your rovers with the pencil button. Names stay with them when packed up or shipped.
- Rovers are VR-only. You can't climb in one yourself.
Ship them by rocket
Rovers unpack themselves when they arrive, keeping their equipment and names:
- Space Age: dropped from a space platform onto a cargo landing pad or onto the ground.
- Space Exploration: delivered by cargo rocket, with or without a landing pad. Found a new planet or moon with your satellites? Send the first rocket there with a rover on board and start exploring the universe right away!
Mod settings
| Setting | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rovers can hand-craft | Startup | Off | Lets rovers hand-craft like the engineer. |
| Rovers need fuel | Startup | Off | Rovers burn chemical fuel like a car. |
| Unpack rovers that arrive by rocket | Map | On | Rovers roll out on their own when delivered. |
| Protect your body while you're away | Map | On | Your real body can't take damage while you're in a rover. |
| List space platforms | Map | Off | Shows Space Age platforms in the VR link. |
| Free rover deployment | Map | Off | Adds a Deploy rover button that drops a rover onto any listed surface, no rocket needed. |
Compatibility
- Factorio 2.1. Space Age is optional.
- Works with Space Exploration and Krastorio 2. In SE, rovers are for planets and moons only, not orbits, asteroid fields or spaceships.
- Multiplayer friendly: each player has their own VR link, and players who leave are sent home first.
Ideas and feedback
On the drawing board, tell me in the Discussion tab what you'd like to see:
- Hover rover: an upgrade that glides over water with omnidirectional controls.
- Orbital robot (Space Exploration exclusive): a rocket-powered robot body built for orbits, asteroid fields and other zones where wheels can't go, so you can work in space without leaving home.
Bug reports and ideas are always welcome there too.
About AI use
This mod was made with extensive help from AI. The code was written with Anthropic's Claude, and the artwork (thumbnail, gallery images and icons) was created with AI image generation tools. Everything was tested and tuned by hand in-game.
More WePlay mods
Check out my other quality-of-life mods at mods.factorio.com/user/afewvowels.