Factorio Forums

I am a new Factorio purchaser on a macOS machine. I want to be able to play the basic Factorio game, and then move on to the Factorio: Space Age expansion. The installation steps are not clear to me.

In particular, the 2.0.15 stable version installer archive named factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg encourages me to drag-copy an app bundle Factorio.app into my Applications folder, while the archive named factorio-space-age_mac_2.0.15.dmg encourages me to drag-copy factorio.app into the same Applications folder. When I attempt to copy the second app bundle, macOS tells me that its name conflicts with the first app bundle.

This leaves me uncertain: should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed? Am I foolish, as a macOS user, for paying for both the basic Factorio website key and the Factorio: Space Age website key?

I would appreciate answers to these questions. Thank you!

I do not see clear instructions on the topic. The basic Factorio game's Buy page says, "Buying the game will give you access to all the Factorio services…". The Factorio: Space Age expansion's Buy page says, "Factorio: Space Age continues the player's journey…". It does not say whether the software you install with a Factorio: Space Age purchase replaces the software installed by the basic Factorio game, or adds to it.

I suggest that WUBE be clear: either include clear installation instructions with the macOS *.dmg archives saying to install Space Age's factorio.app only, or change the names of the two app bundles so that they don't conflict, and instruct us to install both. I also suggest that they clearly say if it is required to buy a website key for the basic Factorio game if one wants to play both the basic game and the Space Age expansion over time, on macOS.

Here is what I have experienced so far. I drag-copied the factorio.app from the factorio-space-age_mac_2.0.15.dmg archive into my Applications folder as-is, and I drag-copied the Factorio.app from the factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg archive into my Applications folder with the modified name "Factorio basic.app".

factorio.app runs just fine, shows the Space Age branding, and does not complain about a missing base game. Factorio basic.app ran fine the one or two times I tried it, and did not complain that its app bundle name was different than expected.

So, I do not see any way in which the Factorio: Space Age app bundle on macOS requires one to buy the basic game. It looks like if one could buy just the Factorio: Space Age website key, then one could download just the Factorio: Space Age app, and play both the basic and the Space Age game. If there is a requirement to buy the website key for the basic game as well, I have not observed it.

JDLH wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:23 am

In order to understand you well:

Did you rename one of the .dmg Container in order being able to install or did you remove the basic game and dragged the space age which contains the basic app?

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:18 pm Did you rename one of the .dmg Container in order being able to install…

No. And the name of the .dmg container seems independent of the app bundle contained inside. The names which conflict are the names of the app bundles inside the two .dmg containers.

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:18 pm … or did you remove the basic game and dragged the space age which contains the basic app?

What I precisely did was:

1. Open the "factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg" archive, revealing an app bundle named "Factorio.app"
2. Drag-copy "Factorio.app" to my /Applications folder
3. Click on the name "Factorio.app" in my /Applications folder, and rename it to "Factorio basic.app"
4. Open the "factorio-space-age_mac_2.0.15.dmg" archive, revealing an app bundle named "factorio.app" (with lower-case "f")
5. Drag-copy "factorio.app" to my /Applications folder
6. Double-click on "factorio.app" in my /Applications folder, running the game, then quitting
7. Double-click on "Factorio basic.app" in my /Applications folder, running the game, then quitting

Does that answer your question?

Space Age work like a Mod.

So you only need to Install the Space-Age Pack and when you want to Play the Basic Game Just disable the Space Age Mod under Mods and you can Play without Space Age

Probably better to install steam and disable/enable the expansion DLC when you want to play one or the other. Though, you never really need to turn off the DLC, since the space age mods can be simply disabled. If there's anything I'm missing, please point it out in a friendly way.

ro011110ot wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:43 pm Space Age work like a Mod.

So you only need to Install the Space-Age Pack and when you want to Play the Basic Game Just disable the Space Age Mod under Mods and you can Play without Space Age

This does not really address my question. Are you considering macOS, not Windows, and a direct install of the game without Steam or any other service, when you give this answer?

My fundamental questions are: "should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed? Am I foolish, as a macOS user, for paying for both the basic Factorio website key and the Factorio: Space Age website key?"

BraveCaperCat wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:54 pm Probably better to install steam and disable/enable the expansion DLC when you want to play one or the other. Though, you never really need to turn off the DLC, since the space age mods can be simply disabled. If there's anything I'm missing, please point it out in a friendly way.

Thank you for reading my message. I am afraid that this answer does not really answer my question. In particular, my question is about the software which WUBE supplies when I buy a website key from them, without Steam. And, it is about Mac, not Windows. If you have a reason to recommend to a new user buying the game through Steam rather than through Factorio.com, that would be interesting to hear. It would still not really answer my question, though.

My fundamental questions are: "should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed? Am I foolish, as a macOS user, for paying for both the basic Factorio website key and the Factorio: Space Age website key?"

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 12:09 am

BraveCaperCat wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:54 pm Probably better to install steam and disable/enable the expansion DLC when you want to play one or the other. Though, you never really need to turn off the DLC, since the space age mods can be simply disabled. If there's anything I'm missing, please point it out in a friendly way.

Thank you for reading my message. I am afraid that this answer does not really answer my question. In particular, my question is about the software which WUBE supplies when I buy a website key from them, without Steam. And, it is about Mac, not Windows. If you have a reason to recommend to a new user buying the game through Steam rather than through Factorio.com, that would be interesting to hear. It would still not really answer my question, though.

My fundamental questions are: "should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed? Am I foolish, as a macOS user, for paying for both the basic Factorio website key and the Factorio: Space Age website key?"

Actually, everyone can get the game on steam if they have the factorio website key, and this goes for space age as well.
I have no idea how you determined that I've never used Mac devices before, but you are correct.
I don't recommend buying the game through steam, as steam takes a cut of all profits earned on their platform.
I was trying to provide an alternative solution to your problem, in this case - downloading the game on steam would help, as the game would be automatically installed for you.
Space Age, as mentioned on the steam store page cannot be used without the base game - and I'm sure this goes for the website copy as well. However, due to the nature of Space Age as a DLC, (very unusual) I recommend you use the space age package, without the base game. Though, as a Windows user, I think in Windows terms and may be wrong. Space Age itself is an engine upgrade allowing space platforms, inter-planetary transport and more, which just happens to come packaged with 3 new mods demonstrating these new features. Of course, the base game without the DLC is still updated with QoL features and improvements, as well as non-space age related bug fixes. In one sense, it's just a DLC. In another sense, it's an entirely new game (with all the features of normal factorio) which can be configured to become the old game.

JDLH wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:37 pm

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:18 pm Did you rename one of the .dmg Container in order being able to install…

No. And the name of the .dmg container seems independent of the app bundle contained inside. The names which conflict are the names of the app bundles inside the two .dmg containers.

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:18 pm … or did you remove the basic game and dragged the space age which contains the basic app?

What I precisely did was:

1. Open the "factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg" archive, revealing an app bundle named "Factorio.app"
2. Drag-copy "Factorio.app" to my /Applications folder
3. Click on the name "Factorio.app" in my /Applications folder, and rename it to "Factorio basic.app"
4. Open the "factorio-space-age_mac_2.0.15.dmg" archive, revealing an app bundle named "factorio.app" (with lower-case "f")
5. Drag-copy "factorio.app" to my /Applications folder
6. Double-click on "factorio.app" in my /Applications folder, running the game, then quitting
7. Double-click on "Factorio basic.app" in my /Applications folder, running the game, then quitting

Does that answer your question?

Thank you!
This was very helpful.
However, it can be challenging for Mac users to fully enjoy Factorio when the installation process is so poorly designed.
Additionally, we might encounter issues with OTA updates not recognizing the application due to the renaming.
Have you experienced any updates since installation? Also, how does Factorio perform on your Mac?
Which model are you using?

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 7:49 am However, it can be challenging for Mac users to fully enjoy Factorio when the installation process is so poorly designed.

Factorio Space Age, right?

BraveCaperCat wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:28 am

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 7:49 am However, it can be challenging for Mac users to fully enjoy Factorio when the installation process is so poorly designed.

Factorio Space Age, right?

Yes

Hi. I'm a fellow Mac player who doesn't use Steam.

JDLH wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:23 amThis leaves me uncertain: should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed?

You don't need both applications; you can use only the Space Age bundle. The Space Age bundle will act the same as the base game when you disable the Space Age-related mods.

Am I foolish, as a macOS user, for paying for both the basic Factorio website key and the Factorio: Space Age website key?

No, you're not foolish. You cannot play Space Age without both keys. However, as a newcomer to Factorio, you probably didn't need to buy the expansion immediately until you were ready to move on from the base game.

Keep in mind that the recommended way to play Space Age is by starting a brand new game with the expansion enabled, rather than continuing from an existing save file. So you would probably want to play the base game for a while, get used to growing and optimizing the factory, and then start a new playthrough with the expansion.

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:49 am Hi. I'm a fellow Mac player who doesn't use Steam.

JDLH wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:23 amThis leaves me uncertain: should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed?

You don't need both applications; you can use only the Space Age bundle. The Space Age bundle will act the same as the base game when you disable the Space Age-related mods.

Thank you for your help. I am glad to have Mac-relevant information. And it sounds like I can delete the Factorio basic.app bundle from my Applications folder.

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:49 am

Am I foolish, as a macOS user, for paying for both the basic Factorio website key and the Factorio: Space Age website key?

No, you're not foolish. You cannot play Space Age without both keys. However, as a newcomer to Factorio, you probably didn't need to buy the expansion immediately until you were ready to move on from the base game.

I love it when people tell me I am not foolish! But if "you cannot play Space Age without both keys", does that mean that the game's app on my computer, when it runs, somehow checks with WUBE that I have bought the right keys?

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:49 am Keep in mind that the recommended way to play Space Age is by starting a brand new game with the expansion enabled, rather than continuing from an existing save file. So you would probably want to play the base game for a while, get used to growing and optimizing the factory, and then start a new playthrough with the expansion.

And thank you for this clarification. I saw a notice somewhere that Space Age has different game play than the base game in the early stages of the game, so they recommended that new players start by buying the Space Age key as well. Your phrasing of it, that one should play the Space Age part of the game by starting a new game rather than resuming a saved world from the base game, makes more sense to me.

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 6:36 pm

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:49 am Hi. I'm a fellow Mac player who doesn't use Steam.

JDLH wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:23 amThis leaves me uncertain: should I have both app bundles in my Mac's Applications folder? Should I just have the factorio Space Age app bundle installed?

You don't need both applications; you can use only the Space Age bundle. The Space Age bundle will act the same as the base game when you disable the Space Age-related mods.

Thank you for your help. I am glad to have Mac-relevant information. And it sounds like I can delete the Factorio basic.app bundle from my Applications folder.

It seems to me—please correct me if I'm wrong—that if you have an active Factorio basic.app game,
you must remove the Factorio basic.app before installing the space age add-on to avoid the name conflict you encountered.
Is that correct?

That's (besides, with all due respect, that is lousy programming) should be all least being mentioned to the customer beforehand.

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:11 pm "It seems to me—please correct me if I'm wrong—that if you have an active Factorio base game,
you must remove the Factorio basic.app before installing the space age add-on to avoid the name conflict you encountered. Is that correct?"

Basically, yes.

However, I should clarify some details. I am not sure what you mean by "an active Factorio base game". We are talking here about app bundles installed in the macOS /Applications folder, not a Factorio world currently playing. If one has the Factorio.app bundle from the base game's installer archive named factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg present in the /Applications folder, then tries to also add the factorio.app bundle from the Space Age installer archive named factorio-space-age_mac_2.0.15.dmg, then yes macOS complains about a name conflict between uppercase-F Factorio.app and lowercase-F factorio.app. One needs to resolve the conflict somehow. Deleting the base game's app bundle is one way. Renaming the base games app bundle to Factorio basic.app also resolves the conflict.

As I said in my original post,

JDLH wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:23 am the 2.0.15 stable version installer archive named factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg encourages me to drag-copy an app bundle Factorio.app into my Applications folder, while the archive named factorio-space-age_mac_2.0.15.dmg encourages me to drag-copy factorio.app into the same Applications folder. When I attempt to copy the second app bundle, macOS tells me that its name conflicts with the first app bundle. This leaves me uncertain….

The questions I ask in this thread are an attempt to clear up the uncertainty, for me and for future readers. And perhaps WUBE will notice, and change things to prevent the confusion in the first place.

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:28 pm

brunzenstein wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:11 pm "It seems to me—please correct me if I'm wrong—that if you have an active Factorio base game,
you must remove the Factorio basic.app before installing the space age add-on to avoid the name conflict you encountered. Is that correct?"

Basically, yes.

However, I should clarify some details. I am not sure what you mean by "an active Factorio base game". We are talking here about app bundles installed in the macOS /Applications folder, not a Factorio world currently playing. If one has the Factorio.app bundle from the base game's installer archive named factorio_mac_2.0.15.dmg present in the /Applications folder,...

.dmg's are (in my humble view) just containers containing in that case an app.
Normally I open the .dmg container and drag/copy the app from within into the App folder.
I mean that I don't have a dmg. present but an Factorio.app in my App folder as shown

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 6:36 pm I love it when people tell me I am not foolish! But if "you cannot play Space Age without both keys", does that mean that the game's app on my computer, when it runs, somehow checks with WUBE that I have bought the right keys?

I'm not 100% sure how this is implemented, but I believe that the Factorio.com website would not allow you to download the Space Age bundle at all without having your account "upgraded" with both keys. I don't know and can't comment on how any runtime license checks would work. Factorio doesn't have DRM, but I think it does check that your account has purchased Factorio when contacting the servers for updates or when joining multiplayer servers.

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 6:36 pm

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:49 am Keep in mind that the recommended way to play Space Age is by starting a brand new game with the expansion enabled, rather than continuing from an existing save file. So you would probably want to play the base game for a while, get used to growing and optimizing the factory, and then start a new playthrough with the expansion.

And thank you for this clarification. I saw a notice somewhere that Space Age has different game play than the base game in the early stages of the game, so they recommended that new players start by buying the Space Age key as well.

I think you're probably referring to a sentence in this blog post: https://factorio.com/blog/post/factorio ... ge-release

Your phrasing of it, that one should play the Space Age part of the game by starting a new game rather than resuming a saved world from the base game, makes more sense to me.

I'll take back what I said a bit—if you're specifically interested in the Space Age content as a new player, you probably should start your first game with the Space Age mod enabled, rather play the basic game first and then move onto the expansion. You'd find that the first several hours (probably at least 10, possibly more) of a Space Age playthrough would feel very similar to the base game and it may be frustrating to go through such a similar playthrough again immediately after finishing a non-expansion game. (The main differences are that building rockets is easier and cheaper in the expansion, and some base game technologies have been changed to being unlocked on different planets instead of the starting planet.)

I would recommend doing the tutorial levels if you haven't already to give you a feel for how to play the game. (There is no Space Age-specific content for those.)

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:40 pm

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 6:36 pm I love it when people tell me I am not foolish! But if "you cannot play Space Age without both keys", does that mean that the game's app on my computer, when it runs, somehow checks with WUBE that I have bought the right keys?

I'm not 100% sure how this is implemented, but I believe that the Factorio.com website would not allow you to download the Space Age bundle at all without having your account "upgraded" with both keys. I don't know and can't comment on how any runtime license checks would work.

Yeah, IMHO, that's exactly the case and the reason behind the 'lock key' implementation—besides the clever move of using GOG as a subcontractor to avoid crooks trying to steal accounts. I’m pretty sure Factorio creates a special user 'account' to check whether you’ve purchased both keys for the base game, and it acts accordingly.
A Space Age without the base game just wouldn't work that way.

mwls wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:40 pm

JDLH wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 6:36 pm … I saw a notice somewhere that Space Age has different game play than the base game in the early stages of the game, so they recommended that new players start by buying the Space Age key as well.

I think you're probably referring to a sentence in this blog post: https://factorio.com/blog/post/factorio ... ge-release ….

Yes! That's what I remember reading.