Factorio in 3D.

Project Overview

Launched in January 2023, FUE5 began as a solo endeavor to visualize Factorio in three dimensions. The project quickly evolved when my colleague Nuke (Atria1234) joined and proposed a method to directly export in-game bases into Unreal Engine 5, vastly speeding up our development.

At its core, the system utilizes custom Factorio mods, specifically the FUE5-Exporter. This Factorio mod compiles your factory's layout into a JSON file. Our UE5 blueprints then read this data and dynamically construct a fully textured 3D replica of your base. The majority of the footage featured in the trailer was generated using this pipeline.

Getting Started

1. Ensure you have Unreal Engine 5.1 installed.
2. Acquire the FUE5 project files by cloning the GitHub repository or downloading the pre-packaged .zip archive.
3. Extract the contents and open FUE5.uproject to launch the environment.
4. The engine will initially load a "Welcome" map showcasing a few demo structures.
5. Use the FUE5-Exporter Factorio mod within the game to export your own base, then import it into the UE5 project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this project include actual gameplay?

No. The current scope is purely visual and exploratory. You can freely fly around your imported factory, interact with the environment, and experiment with the provided Unreal Engine blueprints. Users familiar with UE can also dive into the logic powering the conveyor belts, railways, and logistics systems.

How were the 3D models created?

Every asset was meticulously modeled from scratch in Cinema4D, using in-game screenshots as reference material. Achieving a game-ready topology was a significant challenge, but we eventually managed to model up to two distinct structures per day.

Why was Unreal Engine 5 chosen?

UE5 offers stunning visual fidelity, but more importantly, its blueprint system allows for complex logic replication without needing to write extensive C++ code. Its real-time rendering capabilities also make it far superior to traditional modeling software for this specific use case.

What are the hardware requirements?

To comfortably navigate the complex scenes shown in the trailer at maximum settings, a high-end GPU (like the RTX 4090 used during development) is recommended to achieve 30-60 FPS. We are continuously optimizing the assets and blueprints to improve performance on more accessible hardware.

Acknowledgments & Disclaimer

Special thanks to Phorge, Inrixia, and swistak84 for their invaluable contributions.

I do not own the intellectual property rights to Factorio, its assets, or related designs. All credit belongs to Wube Software. Their work on the original game is an incredible feat of engineering and optimization, and we hold it in the highest respect.