💨 Real Smoke
Real Smoke adds grounded, industrial smoke ambience to Factorio so your factory feels dirtier, heavier, and more alive.
Instead of everything looking perfectly clean and static, working machines, burner equipment, vehicles, rockets, and explosions can now produce more believable smoke effects that fit the normal Factorio style.
Build dirtier. Feel more industry. Keep your factory looking active without turning the whole map into a giant smoke cloud.
🎬 Demo Video
If the video does not show in your browser, open it here:
▶️ Watch Real Smoke Demo on GitHub
⚙️ What It Does
Real Smoke adds extra visual-only smoke ambience to industrial parts of the game.
Smoke can appear from working boilers, furnaces, burner mining drills, moving vehicles, rockets, and explosions. The effect is designed to feel heavier and more believable than vanilla, while still staying clean enough for normal gameplay.
The goal is not to cover the whole base in thick fog. The goal is to make factories feel more mechanical, more active, and more alive.
This version also supports optional interaction with other compatible mods:
- Real Rain can make smoke feel wetter and slightly thinner during rain
- Real Wind can push and drift smoke more during gusts and storms
- Real Steam can sit alongside Real Smoke for a fuller industrial atmosphere
Real Smoke still works perfectly fine on its own if those mods are not installed.
✅ Features
- 💨 Extra industrial smoke ambience
- 🔥 Darker smoke for hotter, dirtier machines
- 🧱 Furnace smoke
- ⛏️ Burner mining drill smoke
- 🚂 Locomotive exhaust smoke
- 🚗 Car exhaust smoke
- 🛡️ Tank exhaust smoke
- 🚀 Rocket launch smoke
- 💥 Explosion and destruction smoke bursts
- 🌫️ Adjustable smoke density
- 🎞️ Adjustable smoke smoothness
- 🖤 Adjustable black smoke strength
- 📏 Adjustable scan radius
- ⚙️ Runtime settings
- 🧠 UPS-conscious near-player scanning
- 🔗 Optional integration with Real Rain
- 🌬️ Optional integration with Real Wind
- ✅ Visual-only gameplay
- ✅ Factorio 2.0 compatible
- 🛰️ Safe to use by itself or with the other Real mods
🛠️ Settings
Real Smoke includes runtime settings so you can tune the look and performance to match your game.
| Setting | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Enable Real Smoke | Master switch for all Real Smoke effects |
| Smoke Density | Controls how much smoke appears |
| Smoke Smoothness | Controls how often smaller smoke puffs are emitted |
| Black Smoke Strength | Controls how dark and heavy soot smoke appears |
| Smoke Scan Radius | Controls how far around players the mod checks for valid smoke sources |
| Machine Smoke | Enables smoke for working industrial machines |
| Vehicle Smoke | Enables exhaust smoke for moving locomotives, cars, and tanks |
| Rocket and Explosion Smoke | Enables smoke bursts for rockets and explosions |
| Debug Smoke Stats | Prints smoke spawn stats for testing |
🌫️ Smoke Density Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Subtle | Very light smoke, best for large factories or weaker systems |
| Balanced | Recommended default; visible but not messy |
| Heavy | Thicker smoke for a stronger industrial atmosphere |
| Cinematic | Maximum smoke for screenshots and dramatic factory builds |
🎞️ Smoke Smoothness Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Performance | Lowest runtime cost with less frequent smoke |
| Smooth | Recommended normal gameplay setting |
| 120 FPS Style | More fluid-looking smoke with smaller, more frequent puffs |
| Ultra Real | Smoothest visual preset with more layered smoke behaviour |
Note: These are visual smoothness presets only. Factorio still runs at its normal simulation rate.
🖤 Black Smoke Strength Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Soft | Lighter soot for a cleaner look |
| Realistic | Recommended setting; darker smoke without going overboard |
| Strong | Heavier soot for a dirtier industrial style |
⭐ Recommended Settings
For a good all-round industrial look:
| Setting | Recommended Value |
|---|---|
| Smoke Density | Balanced |
| Smoke Smoothness | Ultra Real |
| Black Smoke Strength | Realistic |
| Machine Smoke | On |
| Vehicle Smoke | On |
| Rocket and Explosion Smoke | On |
For large factories or multiplayer:
| Setting | Recommended Value |
|---|---|
| Smoke Density | Subtle |
| Smoke Smoothness | Performance |
| Black Smoke Strength | Soft |
For a stronger cinematic look:
| Setting | Recommended Value |
|---|---|
| Smoke Density | Heavy or Cinematic |
| Smoke Smoothness | Ultra Real |
| Black Smoke Strength | Strong |
🧪 Behaviour Notes
- Machines only emit smoke while they are actually working
- Vehicles only emit exhaust smoke while moving
- Rocket and explosion smoke is short and event-based
- Smoke is spawned near active players to help keep the mod practical
- Rain can make smoke look slightly thinner when Real Rain is installed
- Gusts and storms can push smoke harder when Real Wind is installed
- The mod is visual-only and does not affect recipes, stats, pollution, or progression
🔗 Compatibility
Real Smoke is designed to work well by itself, but it can also optionally interact with other mods in the Real series.
Works on its own
You do not need any other mod installed for Real Smoke to work.
Optional linked behaviour
If other compatible mods are installed, Real Smoke can react to them automatically:
-
Real Rain
Rain can soften or thin heavy smoke slightly so wet weather feels more natural. -
Real Wind
Wind and storms can push smoke harder, adding more sideways drift and movement. -
Real Steam
Pairs well visually with Real Steam for fuller industrial ambience across steam and smoke systems.
This keeps the mod flexible:
great alone, even better together.
🔄 Command
You can run:
/real-smoke
This displays simple runtime smoke stats for testing.
📌 Design Goal
The aim of Real Smoke is to make Factorio feel more alive without going too far.
It is meant to sit somewhere between vanilla Factorio and a more cinematic industrial look:
- More active than vanilla
- More believable than random smoke everywhere
- Still clean enough for normal gameplay
- Tunable for performance or atmosphere
- Stronger when combined with the other Real mods
☕ Support
Enjoying the mod and want to support my work?
You can buy me a coffee here:
Any support helps me keep improving and polishing my Factorio mods.
🙏 Credits
Mod maintained and polished by Squishy1870.
Built using Factorio base-game smoke prototypes as the foundation for custom industrial smoke-style effects.
Factorio is made by Wube Software. This is an independent fan-made mod and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wube Software.
📜 License
GNU General Public License v3.0
