Factorio Forums

In the factorio trailer the camera is following items on belts ... how did the devs do it? is there a mod which does just that?
Not sure if dev's can/will help me on that topic but maybe one of u modders could do that for me?

I want to follow a specific item while it goes through my BELT MAZE to make a promotional factorio video.

I think the easierst way to do that would be to allow the player to "get in" the ironplate/sciencepack/green circut or whatever like it was a car or a train ... but since I dont mod myself I have no idea if that would work.

Can any1 help me? Maybe there is a mod that I missed, or maybe somebody could write a mod for it?
Maybe the devs even tell me how they did it in the factorio trailer?

much kudos and thx for any1 helpng me

Thx, Seeno

There was a mod somewhere, that devs used to make that video. Though it is likely outdated. The video was made before the belt optimizations I think.

You make a "camera" by removing player's character, like in sandbox. Then, you could teleport it around a small distance every step to simulate camera movement. Or you could make an invisible character with transparent 1x1 pixel sprites step onto the belt a that character.

I heard about that trailer mod - and I would love is soooo much - would be perfect for what I have in mind ... =/ but devs dont seem to reply ... if the data is still around maybe another experienced moder could give it a polish and update

Well, here's the thread, but the dowload link is broken by now. viewtopic.php?t=4273

Seeing how it was five major versions away, it is unlikely to have any practical value, apart from educating one on some core ideas, that would still be needed to redone with new api.

Have you done anything for the trailer already?
It'd be much more work than making camera following items and stuff: making a map, placing entities, deciding on the plot, what happens where and when and so on.
I could help with scripting, but you should have everything else ready. As in: there should be the map file and a simple video or even a screenshot sequence in which you explain the sequence of the events.

The way the first trailer worked it followed the item entity position. Between the first trailer and the current one the belt optimization happened where items on belts weren't entities anymore. To make the 2nd trailer the game simply followed a pre-programmed path that also happened to be where the item would be.

The API to move the camera isn't MP/replay safe so it's not enabled in the public version of the game.

Sounds to me like you should simply make a small, invisible car. Get in, park it on the belt, and then hit record.

SuicideJunkie wrote:Sounds to me like you should simply make a small, invisible car. Get in, park it on the belt, and then hit record.

It can be without any collision, than you can show how big your factory is. On hotkey you can create it and going in, then you don't need to search it (it's invisible!) anymore.
Another hotkey switches between player controlled and smooth script moving.

i have a feeling Wube will be wanting to make an updated trailer. i would think we will see the return of that mod.