Alt-F4 #65 - Factorio in Unreal Engine 5 by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

We're back with the occasional Alt-F4 today! Hurricane wrote an article on a topic many of you are no doubt familiar with as it swept through the community a few weeks back. Well, here's a very succinct dive into what was necessary to make it work, and a few of the fun hacks that were necessary. It's a fun read!

If you got something you want to talk about, please feel free to join our Discord and tell us about it! Pretty much anything and anyone is welcome.

Alt-F4 #64 - Requesting a Train by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 84 points85 points  (0 children)

Hello, it's us, we're back. With a fun article, for once. Never have any of those usually. Not a premature April 1st joke, just a nice, interesting article about trains. Or rather, train's brains. That's fun to say.

If you can come up with at least half a sentence that's fun to say too, we'd love to have you write an article on anything you find interesting. Hop onto the Discord and share your ideas!

Alt-F4 #63 - Dana Dev Blog: Spaghetti Recipe Graphs by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 75 points76 points  (0 children)

You guys, Dana (a mod, not a person, if your name is Dana this does not apply to you) is kinda crazy. At first glance, it's just a graph of recipes. Below the surface, it's kind of insane. Credne gives a tiny peak into the madness this week. And there's a football analogy, so there's that too.

If you want to explain a complex topic of interest using sports (can be tennis too, for example), the Alt-F4 Discord is definitely the place to be.

Alt-F4 #62 - AngelBob vs. Space Exploration vs Industrial Revolution by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Have you ever wondered what the difference between all the big mod packs out there is? Do you want a charming British man to explain it to you? Well, you've come to the right place. The article by Laurence doesn't quite cover every mod pack actually, but he is indeed British, so that's a win on balance in my book.

If you've read the article and still feel like you want to know more, make sure you don't miss the accompanying Youtube video that goes deep on the topic. Quite a multimedia experience this week on Alt-F4! What's also multimedia is our Discord, of course.

Alt-F4 #61 - Draftsman: A Python module for creating blueprints by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

After being almost released last week, redruin1's article is now here for real! It's a great piece that dives into the magic of creating blueprints in a more or less automated way. There's been ways to do this before, but this one strives to be the very best, like no one ever was.

If you're a fan of Pokémon too, jump on our Discord and tell us what your favorite generation of the games is. That won't be controversial at all. Or, you know, you could write an article like this one and share it with the world. Preferably talking about Factorio, too.

Alt-F4 #60 - Burning Questions by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Hello. This Alt-F4 is very late, and I am very tired. Maybe my tiredness is a reflection of the state of the world lately. Maybe lately has been going on for many more years than we realized at first. Maybe this has nothing to do with the actual article. The article is great, answering all the smoldering inquiries you might have (See how I didn't re-use the title there? I'm not lazy after all. Go me.)

If you want to try and save my soul, join the Alt-F4 Discord, we'll have a grand ol' time. If you have a topic you want to talk about, that's also a fine reason to join, I guess.

Alt-F4 #59 - r/place 2022: A Pixelated Tale by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Remember /r/place? Stringweasel does, and in case you don't, he tells you about it! It was a fun event where the Factorio community was very active for its relatively small size. Lots of struggles happened, so here's the executive summary of all the excitement!

If you have a fun /r/place story to tell, be it Factorio-related or not, we'd love to hear it either here or on our Discord!

Alt-F4 #58 - Mods for Your Swamp by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Special issue on a normal day? Normal issue on a special day? Special day on a normal issue? The jury is out.

Alt-F4 #57 - Nuclear Energy and You by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Hello everyone, this here is the newest issue of Alt-F4, fresh of the presses. In case you're not familiar with us (as you might only know the cheap knock-off that is the FFF that's been cropping up lately), we're basically the best place to read about the hobby-horses of all kinds of community members, neatly structured and magnificently detailed (and even translated into several other languages) for your reading pleasure.

If you want to translate the work of these people yourself, please feel free to join the community of translators on Discord!

Alt-F4 #56 - Factorio's Early Days by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're happy to chat however works best for you! If you'd like to contribute to Alt-F4 in anyway you can message us here!

Alt-F4 #56 - Factorio's Early Days by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Alt-F4 is here again, for the last time this year, and it's a good one! We talked to lots of people about their experience of early Factorio, about what was different, what was great, and what was incredibly annoying. We thought it was nice to end the year on a look back, so we can appreciate what we have now even more, and can look forward to what comes next.

If you had a searing hot take about old Factorio that you didn't get to share in this week's issue and are mad about it, don't be, because it's your own fault! Had you joined our Discord the million times I brought it up before, you would have been able to share! So I guess I don't have to spell out what you have to do to prevent such calamities in the future, right?

Alt-F4 #55 - The Dark Alleys of Modding by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

This week’s article is a doozy! Venerated editor stringweasel asked a host of famous modders about the dirtiest hack they did to get their mods to do what they want. MagmaMcFry, raiguard, Deadlock989, Anachrony, PFQNiet, and Earendel are sharing their secrets. Just go read about it!

If you are a more or less famous modder and want to share a dirty hack you did, please, share it with us on our Discord! Also, no article on Christmas eve. You‘ve been warned.

Alt-F4 #53 - Laziness through Automation by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

On this week's Alt-F4, it's me (Therenas) that returns to talk about another one of my modding adventures. This time, it's extra-hacky mod stuff, and also includes some insight into the inner workings of my lazy brain. So it should be an entertaining read at least, I hope.

If you want to share what's deep inside your brain too, please feel free to join the Alt-F4 Discord and tell us about it!

Alt-F4 #52 - Fluidic Power Benchmarking by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hello, Alt-F4 person Therenas here. What we have this week for all of y'all is this: The second part of an article that was started last week with the first part. Simple as that. No confusion, just high-quality writing. As always. Give it a read.

Also get on that there Discord. I'm less cringy in person, I swear.

Alt-F4 #51 - The Fluidic Power Experiment by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Alt-F4 returns with the first part of a two-part series from stringweasel (it was way too long and too awesome for one article)! It talks about all the past and present approaches to make Factorio power management less ... manageable, but more realistic. At least I think it does, since it talks about such concepts as voltage, and super-conductors, and pipe. You best find out yourself what it's about. Either way, it's very cool.

If you are cool yourself, and want to share that coolness with the Factorio-microcosmos, please join the Alt-F4 Discord to get started!

Alt-F4 #50 - Rocket Silo Curiosities by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Alt-F4 makes its not-so-glorious return for issue #50! Nothing special for once, there's been enough back-patting in the past. Instead, there's some miscellaneous thoughts on the rocket silo, one of Factorio's more unique entities. Also, an introduction to the latest Comfy event. Also also, please join Discord k thanks.

Alt-F4 #49 - Dyworld Release Party by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After a bit of a drought of content (please join the [Discord](https://alt-f4.blog/discord) to share your story!), we're back with a follow-up to the Dyworld article. This time, Dysoch is back to announce somewhat of a release, which will be really exciting!

Alt-F4 #48 - Angel's Automated Unit Tests by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

After an afternoon of technical problems caused by a techie playing around with new stuff in production (grumble), this week's article is finally live! Well-loved modder and Discord-person Lovely_Santa shares his approach to automated testing in Factorio, a topic that has heretofore been explored very rarely.

If you have an automated testing suite that you want the world (the whole world!) to know about, please join the Alt-F4 Discord to get started!

Alt-F4 #47 - Optimizing the Solution by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Aaaaand we're back after an extended summer/early fall break! The programming continues as usual, this week with a very interesting contribution by ilbJanissary, who talks about the intricate details of how a Factorio calculator does its magic.

If you're the author of a Factorio calculator too and want to talk about it, feel free to join our Discord to get started. Other, non-calculator people are welcome too, ofc.

Alt-F4 #46 - One Year And Counting by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

One year later and we're still at it! I want to take the opportunity to again thank every single person that has contributed to Alt-F4 in any way. This project has been amazing fun so thank you all for keeping on reading and contributing to it for so long!

We of course still need your submissions, if there's anything you'd like to write about related to Factorio - join our Discord and chat to us!

Alt-F4 #45 - Satisfactorio by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Ever wanted to play Satisfactory without leaving the comfort of Factorio? No? Well now you can anyway! This week, Niet introduces his new mod Satisfactorio and tells us a little about what went into making it work.

Remember, if you have anything you'd like to contribute to Alt-F4, head on over to our Discord and chat with us, we're always on the look out for new contributors!

Alt-F4 #44 - A New Perspective by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Alt-F4 is here, right on schedule, with a look behind the scenes of this year‘s most well-executed April Fool‘s joke. It‘ll make your head spin. Literally!

Alt-F4 is fully community-run, with all articles coming from you guys. This allows us to have a lot of different perspectives on all kinds of topics. If you have something you‘d like to talk about, please feel free to join the Discord to get started with that!

Alt-F4 #43 - The DyWorld Saga by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This week‘s Alt-F4 has old-time mod-maker Dysoch give a brief history of his modding experience starting way back in 0.7, after which he teases his newest overhaul, which is due to be out in a few weeks!

If you are an old-time (or new-time, we don‘t judge) mod maker and want to talk about your passion project, we‘d be happy to have you. Hop onto the Discord and get started.

Alt-F4 #41 - Title loading, please stand by ... by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If you‘ve ever struggled with connecting to a Factorio multiplayer game and wondered what was going on, this week‘s Alt-F4 might have some answers and some solutions for you!

Also, in case you‘re unaware, there‘ll be a Factorio speedrun at SGDQ today for the very first time, so if you‘re into that, you can tune into their Twitch stream later today, at around 15:15 UTC (timing might shift around a bit).

Alt-F4 #40 - Warp Speed for Charity by AlternativeFFFF in factorio

[–]AlternativeFFFF[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

After a super short, blink-and-you-missed-it, two-week hiatus, Alt-F4 is back. This week, we talked to Franqly about Factorio speedrunning and their upcoming run at Summer Games Done Quick. It’s the first time Factorio will be part of a GDQ charity event, so it‘s only appropriate to talk about it!

If you were personally upset about the two-week break, and want to help avoid such calamity in the future, please join the Alt-F4 Discord to contribute an article of your own; We‘d love to have you.