Port vs Factory in OpenFront: Which Economy Should You Build?

Direct answer: Port or Factory?

Build a Port when you already have a valid foreign Port in the same connected water, the route is long enough to pay well, and the sea is likely to remain open.

Build a Factory when it is enabled, protected City or Port stations fit inside the rail ranges, and land routes are safer than the sea.

Build neither when the network cannot operate yet. A Port without an eligible foreign destination can spend spawn chances without launching a ship. A Factory without a connected City or Port has nowhere profitable to send a Train.

The first choice matters because Port and Factory share one cost ladder. If you buy either for 125,000, the first level of the other usually becomes the 250,000 step.

Current constraint	Better first choice	Reason
Safe coast, distant foreign Port	Port	Distance raises each completed voyage payout
Protected inland City cluster	Factory	Trains pay at connected City and Port stops
Hostile sea, stable core	Factory	The land network avoids naval interception
No useful City or Port stations	Port, only with a valid sea partner	Factory alone cannot settle Gold
No foreign Port in connected water	Factory, if stations exist	Port has no eligible destination
Troops repeatedly hit their maximum	City first	Capacity is the bottleneck, not income

The shared Port and Factory cost ladder

Both types use the same effective total of Port and Factory levels:

next Port or Factory level cost
  = min(1,000,000, 2^n * 125,000)

The marginal sequence is 125,000, 250,000, 500,000, then 1,000,000 for every later combined level.

Combined Port + Factory levels already paid	Next level	Total spent after buying it
0	125,000	125,000
1	250,000	375,000
2	500,000	875,000
3	1,000,000	1,875,000
4+	1,000,000	+1,000,000 each

A Port, then Factory, then Port costs 875,000 in total. Reversing the first two types costs the same. Order still matters because the first 125,000 starts one network earlier.

New structures and upgrades both advance the ladder by one level. Captured structures are limited by the player’s constructed-level accounting, so a captured high-level network does not behave like an unlimited lifetime price penalty.

City has a separate cost ladder. Buying a City does not push Port or Factory to the next step.

What a Port actually buys

A completed Port checks for a Trade Ship once every 10 ticks, about once per second. Every Port level makes one spawn trial during that check.

A Trade Ship still needs an eligible destination. The destination Port must belong to another player, share a connected water component, and have no embargo in either direction.

Alliance is not required. In the current trade rule, any different player is eligible unless either side embargoes the other.

Trade Ship payout

On arrival, the ship uses the water tiles it actually traveled:

G(distance) = floor((75,000 / (1 + exp(-0.03 * (distance - 300)))
                    + 50 * distance) * goldMultiplier)

In a normal arrival, the source Port owner and destination Port owner each receive the full G(distance). They do not split one pot.

Actual water distance	Gold to each owner at 1x	Arrivals to cover a 125,000 Port
50	2,541	50
100	5,185	25
200	13,556	10
300	52,500	3
400	91,443	2
600	104,990	2
1,000	124,999	2

The payback column counts only the source owner’s receipts. Counting both owners’ Gold as your return would double the result incorrectly.

Long routes take longer and expose the ship for more time. The table is useful only when the voyage survives.

Global spawn suppression and pity

The spawn system reads the number of active Trade Ships across the whole game:

base = 1 - sigmoid(globalShips, ln(2)/50, 400)
odds = floor((100 / (rejections + 1)) / base)

One trial succeeds with probability 1 / odds. The global sigmoid midpoint is 400 active ships, so spawn pressure becomes more visible as the match-wide fleet grows.

rejections means consecutive failed random spawn trials for that Port. Every failure improves the next chance. It is a pity timer, not an embargo penalty and not a count of players refusing trade.

With a valid destination and a fixed global count, a level-1 Port has a derived expected wait of about 12 seconds at zero active ships, 17 seconds near 400, and 51 seconds near 600 after including pity.

Those are estimates, not timers. Global count changes, higher levels add trials, and a Port can fail to find an eligible destination after a successful spawn check.

What a Port upgrade changes

Each Port level adds another chance trial per check. A destination Port also appears in the weighted candidate list once per level.

Port level does not enter the per-ship Gold formula. Upgrading raises expected network throughput and destination weight, not the payout of the same completed voyage.

Upgrade a Port when the current water component and partners are already useful. Build another Port when a different coast, lake, or water component creates a genuinely different route.

What a Factory actually buys

A completed Factory becomes a Train station and pulls nearby City, Port, and Factory structures into a rail network. City and Port are trade stations; Factory is the Train source and does not pay Gold at its own stop.

The current limits are:

• station search range: 110 tiles;
• minimum direct station spacing: more than 15 tiles;
• railroad path length: less than 110 * 1.4142, about 155.562 tiles;
• Train speed: 2 path tiles per tick.

A visible straight-line gap can still fail if the pathfinder cannot produce a route below the path limit.

Train generation

Let F be the owner’s total Factory levels. The chance denominator is:

R(F) = (F + 10) * 15

Every Factory level makes one 1 / R(F) trial per tick at its Factory. One physical Factory can create at most one Train in a tick, and each success starts a 10-tick minimum cooldown for that Factory.

When all Factories are level 1, the low-density expected whole-network rate is approximately F / R(F):

Total Factory levels F	Approximate average interval
1	16.5 seconds
2	9.0 seconds
3	6.5 seconds
5	4.5 seconds
10	3.0 seconds

Concentrating levels in one Factory gives a slightly lower exact rate than this approximation because multiple successful trials in one tick still create only one Train.

Train destination and stop payout

The Factory randomly chooses an eligible City or Port in its connected cluster. Eligible stations are sampled evenly; City or Port level does not make a Train destination more valuable or more likely.

The Train can pass intermediate stations. Every City or Port stop pays before the stop counter increases:

Station relation to Train owner	Base Gold to Train owner
Ally	35,000
Teammate	25,000
Other non-embargoed player	25,000
Self	10,000

The first ten trade stops, indexed 0 through 9, have no penalty. Starting with the eleventh, each later stop subtracts 5,000, with a 5,000 floor.

If the station belongs to another player, that station owner also receives the full stop amount. At a self station, only the one shared owner is credited.

Train payout has no direct distance bonus. More distance means more travel time. A longer route earns more only if it passes additional useful trade stops, and the stop penalty eventually reduces that value.

What a Factory upgrade changes

An upgrade increases total Factory levels and gives that Factory another spawn trial. It does not add a second station location.

Upgrade when topology is already good and throughput is the bottleneck. Build another Factory when a different location connects a new protected station cluster or reduces single-point risk.

Factory availability in current games

Factory is a configurable unit. A lobby can include it in disabledUnits, and the engine disables rail-cluster execution when Factory is disabled.

The formal v0.33.7 public playlist configurations use an empty disabled-unit list by default. Therefore, the old claim that Trains exist only in single-player and private lobbies is no longer accurate.

Check the actual lobby modifiers. “Available in public defaults” does not mean every custom lobby enables it.

Four realistic investment comparisons

1. First Port with a 100-tile route

The Port costs 125,000. Each successful normal arrival returns about 5,185 to its owner, so it takes 25 arrivals to pass the static cost.

This is a weak route unless it has exceptional safety or strategic naval value. A longer safe destination can change the decision dramatically.

2. First Port with a 400-tile route

Each arrival returns about 91,443. Two completed voyages pass the Port’s static cost.

The real decision is whether ships survive, how long they travel, and whether the partner remains non-embargoed.

3. First Factory with an existing self City

The Factory costs 125,000. A one-stop self Train pays 10,000, so the thirteenth completed Train passes the Factory cost.

A level-1 Factory takes about 16.5 seconds per Train in the low-density approximation. Thirteen launches take about 214.5 seconds before adding the route’s travel delay.

Trains can overlap, so travel time shifts completion later but does not necessarily serialize the whole network.

4. First Factory with an allied stop

One allied stop pays 35,000 to the Train owner and 35,000 to the station owner. Four completed Trains pass the Factory owner’s 125,000 cost.

This is strong shared growth, not private arbitrage. Your ally compounds too, and an embargo or relationship change can alter future eligibility or payout.

Port vs Factory decision sequence

Step 1: verify the network can settle Gold

For Port, find a foreign non-embargoed Port in connected water. For Factory, find at least one protected City or Port that can join the rail cluster.

If the answer is no, do not buy the engine yet.

Step 2: price the shared next level

Count Port and Factory levels together. Do not budget from the database’s 125,000 base row if you already own or upgraded either type.

Step 3: estimate one completed payment

For Port, use actual water distance and count only your receipt. For Factory, use station relationship and the number of earlier trade stops.

Step 4: add timing and survival

A static number of arrivals is not a time guarantee. Add spawn waiting, travel length, route changes, capture risk, and the lobby Gold multiplier.

Step 5: compare protection cost

Sea trade may need Warships or a safer Port. Rail trade may need a deeper core or another route. The cheapest gross formula can lose after protection and replacement costs.

Step 6: decide upgrade or expansion

Upgrade a proven network for throughput. Add a new structure when its location creates a new route, connection, or redundancy.

When City should come first

Port and Factory answer a Gold-flow problem. City answers a troop-cap problem.

If current Troops repeatedly sit near maximum, a City level may restore growth headroom before another income node matters. If Troops are far below cap, income or survival may be the stronger constraint.

Read the Population Growth guide before treating every 125,000 balance as a trade purchase.

Counterplay and failure modes

Short-route Port spam

The income sigmoid heavily punishes distances below 300. More Ports also advance the shared cost ladder and contribute ships to the global environment.

Calling pity an embargo penalty

Embargo removes destinations. Failed random trials increase pity. They are separate mechanisms with opposite effects on later spawn chance.

Expecting Port level to multiply payout

The same voyage pays from distance, not Port level. Upgrade for more attempts, not a larger settlement number.

Building a Factory without a trade station

A Factory can draw rails, but Gold appears only at City or Port stops. Confirm the cluster before paying.

Extending rail purely for distance

Train Gold has no distance term. Extra path length is a cost unless it reaches more useful stops.

Counting both sides’ revenue as yours

Sea and external rail trade create Gold for both owners. Your ROI uses only the amount credited to your player.

Concentrating every node

One compact core is easy to defend conventionally but vulnerable to capture and nuclear loss. Balance route efficiency with redundancy.

Repeating an obsolete mode restriction

Factory can be disabled, but v0.33.7 public defaults do not disable it. Inspect lobby settings instead of assuming the game type.

Frequently asked questions

Does the first Factory always cost 125,000?

No. If you already have one Port or Factory level, the next shared level normally costs 250,000.

Does upgrading a Port increase Trade Ship payout?

No. It increases spawn trials and destination weighting. Payout reads actual traveled distance and Gold multiplier.

Does an embargo increase pity?

No. Pity counts failed random spawn trials. Embargo changes whether a destination is eligible.

Can Trains run in public games?

Yes under the v0.33.7 public defaults. A custom lobby can still disable Factory.

Are longer Train routes more profitable?

Not directly. Train settlement depends on relation and stop count, not distance.

Which is safer, Port or Factory?

It depends on the map. Warships can attack sea traffic; land stations can be captured or nuked. Choose the route your current position can protect.

Should I build a second node or upgrade?

Upgrade when the route already works and only throughput is missing. Build another node when location unlocks a new connected water, station cluster, or redundancy.

When a Port is also your Warship repair anchor, use the Warship veterancy and repair guide to decide whether a veteran should patrol, dock, or yield the route to a fresh hull.

When a profitable Port becomes a target, use the trade versus piracy guide to compare legal arrivals, capture windows, and the moment a Factory is the safer pivot.

Once you choose a Factory, use the train network guide to check station range, segment length, stop penalties, and the safe point to stop upgrading.

Before the first Port or Factory in a Team match, use the Team economy space guide to reserve the shore and rail corridor, assign the payer, and define the exit signal.

Official sources and version boundary

This guide treats the formal v0.33.7 Release and tag as the live boundary.

Shared cost, Trade Ship Gold, spawn suppression, Train Gold, and rail limits come from the official Config.ts.

Port trials and destination weighting are in PortExecution.ts. Voyage movement and settlement are in TradeShipExecution.ts.

Factory connection and Train spawning are in FactoryExecution.ts and TrainStationExecution.ts.

Stop settlement and random destination selection are in TrainStation.ts. Route limits are in RailNetworkImpl.ts.

The site’s generated data records extract checkout 0668045fa926eaa6d6995561a8e13fd8126895b6 separately from its editorial v33 series. That checkout is not the v0.33.7 tag.

For the wider budget, read Economy Fundamentals. For troop capacity, use the Population Growth guide.