Automaton is an overhaul for playing with friends: belts, drills, inserters, logistic robots and the offshore pump are gone. Their work is done by automatons — machines that run programs you write in a subset of TypeScript, right in the game or in VS Code.
// Mine coal and carry it to the chest at the "depot" marker.
const field = scan.resources().find((p) => p.item === "coal")!.nearest
while (true) {
move(field)
mine("coal")
move(marker("depot"), { radius: 2 })
put(scan.entities({ type: "container" })[0], "coal")
}
What's inside
- Programmable machines. Programs are compiled in the game and shared by the whole team; publishing a new version restarts the machines that run it. Errors are shown with line numbers, types are checked on publish.
- Editor in the game with syntax highlighting, a check without publishing, in-game help (F1), a debugger with breakpoints and variables, and VS Code integration: autocompletion, documentation on hover, publishing on save, a separate program folder per save.
- Sharing: programs as a string (like blueprint strings); blueprints keep the machines' programs and parameters.
- Modules:
import/exportbetween team programs, your own libraries, folders. - Everything automatons do: mining, smelting, crafting, fluids (pumping, crude oil, uranium), building and deconstructing, messaging by subscription, a shared board and task queues, pixel displays, circuit network signals.
- Combat automatons (machine gun, rocket launcher) — biters attack your machines and routes — and flying haulers.
- Progression: worker models Mk1–Mk3, charging stations, research that unlocks API features and more processor time.
- You write the programs: freeplay starts with two automatons and markers and an empty team library; the player guide walks you through your first program, and the repository has examples (miner, smelter, hauler, water carrier…).
- Scales: 10 000 machines with programs run at 60 UPS.
Getting started
Start a new freeplay game: you get two automatons and markers. Click a machine, press "Programs…" → "New", write a program (or paste one from the guide), publish it, assign it to the machine and press Run. Press F1 in the game for help on every function, with examples.
- Player guide — first steps, recipes, progression, debugging
- Writing programs in VS Code
- The language — what is supported and how it differs from JavaScript
Multiplayer is supported: programs run deterministically, saving and loading in the middle of work is tested.
По-русски. Оверхол для игры с друзьями: конвейеров, буров, манипуляторов и логистических роботов нет — их работу делают автоматоны по программам на TypeScript. Программы пишутся в игре (с подсветкой) или в VS Code. Руководство игрока и справка по API — на GitHub.