factorio-timelapse

Timelapse is a mod for Factorio that takes screenshots of the world at the specified interval.

The screenshots are written to:

• __PATH__system-write-data__/script-output/timelapse
• /home/user/.factorio/script-output/timelapse on Linux
• Users/Name/AppData/Roaming/Factorio/script-output/timelapse on Windows

Attention

The output of this mod can grow into GBs quite quickly! Keep an eye on the script-output/timelapse folder!

Installation

0. Download the latest release.
1. Extract the folder in the archive to:
   • __PATH__system-write-data__/mods
   • /home/user/.factorio/mods on Linux
   • Users/Name/AppData/Roaming/Factorio/mods on Windows
2. Rename the folder from factorio-timelapse-x.y.z to timelapse_x.y.z.
   For example, factorio-timelapse-1.2.3 would become timelapse_1.2.3.
3. The next time Factorio is started it should automatically detect and enable the mod.

Usage

Timelapse is controlled via the in-game console.

Activating Timelapse

Timelapse is deactivated by default when starting a new world or loading an old world with the mod for the first time.

To activate Timelapse, use:
/c remote.call("timelapse", "active", true)

To deactivate Timelapse, use:
/c remote.call("timelapse", "active", false)

Controlling Timelapse

In extension to active, several other functions are provided:

• light_mode: to set the light mode, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "light_mode", "mode")
  [Note: Valid lighting modes are "fixed" or "none", default is "fixed"]
• fixed_light: to set the fixed light value, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "fixed_light", light_value)
  [Note: the time of day to switch to before taking the shot, a float between 0 and 1.0]
• interval: to set the interval, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "interval", interval_in_seconds)
• position: to set the position, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "position", {x=xpos, y=ypos})
  [Note: a Lua array {x, y} will also be accepted by the interface]
• resolution: to set the resolution, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "resolution", {x=xres, y=yres})
  [Note: a Lua array {x, y} will also be accepted by the interface]
• zoom: to set the zoom, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "zoom", zoom_level)
• show_entity_info: to set show_entity_info, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "show_entity_info", boolean)
• data: to get a summary of the current Timelapse configuration, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "data")
• reset: to reset the Timelapse configuration back to the default settings, use:
  /c remote.call("timelapse", "reset")
  [Note: resetting the configuration will set active to false i.e. deactivate Timelapse]

With regards to position, centre on your current position by using:
/c remote.call("timelapse", "position", game.player.position)

The active, light_mode, fixed_light, interval, position, resolution, zoom, and show_entity_info functions can also be called without an argument to get their current value.

The mod attempts to provide helpful messages if you provide invalid input to the interface. In the event that you do manage to gum up the mod with some funky input, calling the reset function to restore the configuration to the default state is the best recourse.

Lighting

The mod runs in "fixed" light_mode by default. This means that the mod will change the time of day to the fixed_light value, take the shot, and then return the time of day to the original value. This mode produces easier to watch videos as the day-night cycle oscillation is not present in the output video.

However, if you want the day-night cycle visible in the output imagery, you need only change the light_mode to "none" by using:
/c remote.call("timelapse", "light_mode", "none")

Making a video from the Timelapse images

Linux

Use the make_timelapse.sh script to command ffmpeg to stitch Timelapse images into a video.

<img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/VXIPNKQAPBQ/0.jpg" alt="factorio-timelapse example" width="320" height="180" border="10" />