Upcoming features

This is a list of planned additions and changes for Factorio's next major release 0.15.

Additions

Liquid wagon

The liquid wagon, also known as the rail tanker, will be able to transport liquids by rail. It is currently only possible to transport oil by rail, by putting it into barrels first. To insert liquids into and extract liquids from the liquid wagon, a new pump is also being added.

Liquid wagon pump

A new pump will be added that can extract liquids from and insert liquids into the new liquid wagon. The pump will be folded when no train is present, and unfold and extend its arm above the liquid wagon to insert or extract liquids. It is not currently known whether liquids will be both inserted and extracted through the top side of the liquid wagon using this pump.

Research

Three new science packs will be added to make research less linear and to decrease the large jump in complexity between the different science packs (as there is currently a large jump between science pack 2 and science pack 3.

Military science pack.

Will be used for technologies about military and combat.

Will be available right after science pack 2.

Crafting it requires 1 piercing rounds magazine, 1 grenade and 1 gun turret, and will yield 2 military science packs.

Crafting time is 10 game-seconds.

Production science pack.

Will be used for technologies about higher tier production.

Will be available right after science pack 3.

Crafting it requires 1 pumpjack, 1 electric engine unit and 1 electric furnace, and will yield 1 production science pack.

Crafting time is 15 game-seconds.

High tech science pack.

Will be used for technologies about high tech items and concepts.

Will be available right after science pack 3.

Crafting it requires 1 battery, 3 processing units, 1 speed module and 30 copper cable, and will yield 1 high tech science pack.

Crafting time is 15 game-seconds.

Science pack 3's crafting recipe will be made simpler.

Crafting time will remain at 12 seconds, but the recipe will change to 1 advanced circuit, 1 engine unit and 1 assembling machine 2, creating 1 science pack 3.

Alien science packs will be removed.

In the research menu, every research icon will now display what science packs are needed for that research on the bottom of the icon.

Infinite research.

Research that will give smaller and small gains, to spend your resources on after finishing all the regular research.

PvP scenario

Player versus player experience in Factorio

• The first player to create the scenario will be the gamemaster. He he can configure the game, i.e. determining the number of teams, starting tech level etc.
• Every team will have the same starting area, it will be copied from the original spawn.
• Each starting area will contain a rocket silo.
• If your rocket silo is destroyed, your team has lost.
• If you launch a rocket, your team wins.
• If all other teams' silos have been destroyed, you win.
• Destroying another team's silo will make their base yours.

Other additions

• Low level construction robots for early on.
• Personal roboport MK2.
• Boiler MK2.
• Steam engine MK2.

Interactive tips

Because the game has many intricacies about it, and to not overwhelm the player with tutorial upon tutorial at the start of the game, interactive tips will be shown as the game progresses. Small tutorial screens will pop up when a certain task is performed, to show the player what to do next. Examples, though not finalised:

You build the first locomotive

Tutorial to setup a train schedule unlocked.

You build a second locomotive

Tutorial of rail signals unlocked.

You build 50 rail signals

Tutorial of chain signals unlocked.

Changes

• Bounding boxes of burner mining drills, chemical plants and pumpjacks will be decreased so walking in between them will be possible.
• Stack sizes of transport belts, stone walls and pipes will be increased from 50 to 100.
• Crafting time of some items will be decreased.
  • Engine units, from 20 to 10.
  • Pumpjacks, from 20 to 10.
  • Advanced circuits, from 8 to 6.
• Crude oil yield will be dependent on the starting yield so better fields will be better later on.
• Fewer oil fields with better yield will be generated.
• Electric furnace's recipe will be made easier to craft.
• Shift clicking (ghost placement) will go through trees and rocks, similar to blueprints.
• Drag building with belts will be enhanced to allow building continuous belt.
• Turret creep will be limited.
• Resource growth from the center will be higher.
• Items with different health will be merged.
• The small pump's size will be increased to 1x2 tiles. Its texture will also change because of this increase in size.

Technical

• High resolution textures
  • Rails will look less flat and will get high resolution textures.
  • Pipes and transport belts will get high resolution textures.
• Decorative entities will not be saved in the map anymore but instead will be saved per chunk in a very compressed format to improve performance.

Support

• The game will no longer support 32-bit systems, as this limited further progress of developing Factorio.

Other

• Nuclear power
• Dirty mining
• Artillery train
• UI rewrite
• Blueprint library
• Terrain changes
  • New "red desert".
• Circuit network optimizations for 0.15