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Factorio | STEAMPOWERED Industrial Optimization
- Thread starter Toma
- Start date
Yes.
MrCompletely
Member
If you want your mindblown, check out of this guys stuff:
http://www.twitch.tv/colonelwill
He's got single map he's been working on for over 2000 hours, over 18 months. its simply insane.
http://www.twitch.tv/colonelwill
He's got single map he's been working on for over 2000 hours, over 18 months. its simply insane.
Oh god this game is amazing. Bought it after trying the demo last night. It was 2am before I realised how long I'd been on it.
Running through the campaign first to get a handle on things. I'm on the mission with the ruined trainyard/base. Thoroughly ruined everything by trying to automate level 2 science things because by the time I'd figured it all out I'd exhausted all the iron nearby. Whoops.
I'm incredibly bad at designing effective conveyor systems. The default one on that map blew my mind because I'd completely forgotten about the long-reach inserters...
Running through the campaign first to get a handle on things. I'm on the mission with the ruined trainyard/base. Thoroughly ruined everything by trying to automate level 2 science things because by the time I'd figured it all out I'd exhausted all the iron nearby. Whoops.
I'm incredibly bad at designing effective conveyor systems. The default one on that map blew my mind because I'd completely forgotten about the long-reach inserters...
QuixoticNeutral
Member
I really didn'tand don'thave time for this game, but I've had a craving for a relaxed building game lately after a few weeks playing absolutely nothing but Fire Emblem Fates (with a bit of Mario Maker to satisfy the urge to build something, anything). After playing the demo, I did something I practically never do and snagged this on impulse while it was still in Early Access. I have a lot of frustrations with the UI and the copy-editing of the help text, both of which seem very clunky and unfinished, but the core systems of the game are so compelling that I want to jump in now and play with as much of the kit as I can, knowing I'm unlikely to exhaust it before the actual 1.0 release.
This feels like the kind of game that 1990s Maxis might have eventually come around to designing had they stayed on course. Most of the promise of Spore, if you think about it, was pinned on the dream of making big, chunky, holistic playthings that emerge out of microscopic fundamentals, with the micromanagerial layers falling away with time. It goes without saying that Spore never delivered on such an organic transition from phase to phase, but from the little I've seen, Factorio does exactly that.
It fits the mould of so many games that I sometimes found myself wishing were just a little different in some small waythat SimCity's supply/demand factors were more in the player's control, that Tropico had a resource system with enough verticality to sustain long games, that Don't Starve would leave you alone every now and then so you could just build supply chains without worrying about getting wrecked while farming. This scratches so many itches at once.
Early stages yet, of course, and I've barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I really shouldn't be making time for this, but the buzz about it being the big new management game on the block piqued my curiosity, and the positive word seems warranted. I hadn't even heard of it before the Steam sale. I only hope the UI gets a thorough pass before release, as the developers intend, and that they get a native English speaker on board to clean up the text so it doesn't take so much decipherment to figure out what the tips and hints are telling me.
This feels like the kind of game that 1990s Maxis might have eventually come around to designing had they stayed on course. Most of the promise of Spore, if you think about it, was pinned on the dream of making big, chunky, holistic playthings that emerge out of microscopic fundamentals, with the micromanagerial layers falling away with time. It goes without saying that Spore never delivered on such an organic transition from phase to phase, but from the little I've seen, Factorio does exactly that.
It fits the mould of so many games that I sometimes found myself wishing were just a little different in some small waythat SimCity's supply/demand factors were more in the player's control, that Tropico had a resource system with enough verticality to sustain long games, that Don't Starve would leave you alone every now and then so you could just build supply chains without worrying about getting wrecked while farming. This scratches so many itches at once.
Early stages yet, of course, and I've barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I really shouldn't be making time for this, but the buzz about it being the big new management game on the block piqued my curiosity, and the positive word seems warranted. I hadn't even heard of it before the Steam sale. I only hope the UI gets a thorough pass before release, as the developers intend, and that they get a native English speaker on board to clean up the text so it doesn't take so much decipherment to figure out what the tips and hints are telling me.
This.
Factorio is one of the very, very few games which manages to transition from micro to macro without failing it's core gameplay in the process.
Designers have talked about emergent gameplay for decades, but it's the first time i've really seen in action in a single player.
The giant bomb quick look absolutely sold me on this game. God damnit
For a bit of a challenge I've started up a new game and am trying to get through it without a single conveyor. It's definitely possible, but even in the very early stages it's getting seriously confusing:
It's basically just a struggle to get to the point where I have logistics robots, and then I'll tear everything down and replace it with giant swarms of robots.
It's basically just a struggle to get to the point where I have logistics robots, and then I'll tear everything down and replace it with giant swarms of robots.
I am at the point where I need to start making blue science and it is so overwhelming to even start thinking about. I should probably focus on getting Logistics Bots running first otherwise I'll just collapse into a conveyor black hole. I've got batteries making now so that's a start at least.
Getting the conveyors organised is most of the fun, though! I feel like I'm cheating when I use logistics robots instead.
For something like blue science, which has quite a few dependencies, I'd actually get out a sheet of paper and draw a diagram with blue science at the top, its direct dependencies below, their dependencies below them, etc. until you get down to the parts you're already manufacturing. Then, find a relatively spacious area that you can route each of the dependencies to, start at the top (i.e. build the blue science factory first), and then build each of the other factories in positions where you can easily route the products to the next factory in line (and make sure to leave enough space next to each of your factories to allow you to easily increase proaction later).
May i suggest RSO mod for extra challenge before resorting to quirky rules?
Resource Spawner Overhaul is a mod that makes resource patches outside your "starting" zones much bigger and further apart, leading to a much more complex logistics (train) network.
.. It should really be default, or at least, an option.
butzopower
proud of his butz
1. Anyone running this on a 2013 MacBook Air? Will it run?
2. Is this anything like SimIsle or Tropico in that you are essentially building up a lot of coupled and dependent industries?
2. Is this anything like SimIsle or Tropico in that you are essentially building up a lot of coupled and dependent industries?
notoriousKTR
Member
The devs were actually recently talking about making resource changes in future updates which are kind of similar to RSO.
When I start another proper game I'll start giving some mods a go, I was just kind of curious about the challenge of putting together a logistics network without the one part that actually moves things around, so I'm not going to push into the endgame with it or anything, just run it until I've replaced everything with logistics bots and get bored.
More_Badass
Member
Just so glad to see this game so well received. The developer is so active, and had worked so hard for years now, great to see all that effort rewarded (even more so) with such a great reception from a wider audience
I'm completely addicted to this game.
Can't stop thinking about it. Reminds me of programming a lot
QuixoticNeutral
Member
1. It should. I'm running it on an older Mac, albeit one with an actual graphics card, though that won't make much of a difference here as the game is sprite-based. Try the free demo from the original site if you're unsure, or just refund it on Steam within two hours if your system really can't handle it. An external mouse is recommended, though.
2. Oh god yes. Think of Tropico's supply chains on a much larger scale, but where everything you manufacture is fed back into personal use instead of ultimately exported into the aether. This game doesn't have SimCity or Tropico's mysterious interactions with supply/demand factors outside your borders, because there are no borders.
More_Badass
Member
Isn't it funny how most of the games in this assembly line/construction genre (i.e. SpaceChem, Factorio, Infinifactory) reveal themselves to be pseudo-programming puzzlers?
But that's what programming is:
Making an assembly line of instructions and commands that produce an output from a few inputs
Katzenjammer
Member
I got this game a few days ago and I haven't been this sleep deprived in years. It's really fantastic!
More_Badass
Member
Daamnn....that's impressive
Also interesting that almost every title in the top 25 are indie games
Buying this game is the worst mistake I have done in a long time. I have other games, I need to play too... these couple days I have gone to sleep at 5am. I haven't even seen most of the stuff you can build. It's just so satisfying to see your products move on the belts.
Definitely the best early access game I have bought. 20€ gives so much things to do and looking at the blog they are working hard on this game.
Edit: Oh yeah, I need to write positive review on Steam too.
Definitely the best early access game I have bought. 20€ gives so much things to do and looking at the blog they are working hard on this game.
Edit: Oh yeah, I need to write positive review on Steam too.
Game was already on my wishlist, the quick look almost had me breaking my "no early access purchases" rule.
More_Badass
Member
Game may be early access but it certainly doesn't feel early access. It's been in development for four years before coming to Early Access, and already has a ton of content and depth
I went to play this at 6pm when I got it this past weekend, next thing I knew it was 7am and I just needed to do just one more thing.
Only did the first initial tutorial mission then jumped into my own game. Pretty close to researching the rocket launch at around 21 hours into a freeplay map. Just figured out how trains work, still don't understand most things like actually properly using logistic robots and other things like that but conveyor belts and pipes going underground and absolutely everything has worked well so far.
I promised myself I wouldnt play anymore today.. but here I am launching it up again.
Only did the first initial tutorial mission then jumped into my own game. Pretty close to researching the rocket launch at around 21 hours into a freeplay map. Just figured out how trains work, still don't understand most things like actually properly using logistic robots and other things like that but conveyor belts and pipes going underground and absolutely everything has worked well so far.
I promised myself I wouldnt play anymore today.. but here I am launching it up again.
I still want to wait for a game to be "finished" before jumping in. Kerbal was my first and probably last Early Access purchase.
They're games that don't lie what they're about.
They don't try to get purchased if you won't like them anyway.
The pitch is completely honest and the result is, if you're someone who can be convinced into buying factorio... you'll like it.
Kerbal and Factorio are finished.
They're fun games. That's all it takes to be "finished".
True end, for those games, will likely be the bitter end - there's functionally infinite ways to expand, and very dedicated teams.
Yes and yes, incredibly fun, but you need to both be in the mindset for optimization creation. Its not a huge coop adventure.
Wow, apparently people are speedrunning Factorio in a bit more than 2 hgours:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCev5dULR6SYFvF56C3czacQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCev5dULR6SYFvF56C3czacQ
Dysfunctional
Neo Member
I know right?!
I have multiple saves on +20 hours and i still feel far from the rocket launch..
But then i agian i am not playing to finish, im playing for the expansion and ever increased production and im playing with loads of mods.
I'd love to read more elaborate mod impressions. Havent checked out the bigger ones, only a few after the launch.
I want to know this as well
Dysfunctional
Neo Member
Depends on what you are seeking.
Is it some quality of life changes, like some better mining drills for mid-late game or more modular armor equipment?
Or better logistics?
Added complexity?
Bobs mods for complexity, or other mod packs like Dytech.
K&L inserters is a bliss! Basically allows you to select the inserter tiling (the input tile to output tile) meaning you can have a 45 degree inserter.
Best resource to find these would be to surf the forums or check out the factorio mods page
Mind you, some mods break other mods, so searching in the original factorio forum mod thread might help you find an unofficial patched mod.
Also, AFAIK The Fat Controller mod is amazing, but to my knowledge it doesnt work in MP
Well, you're in the right neighboorhood. (I'll talk only about those that i have played)
Let's start:
Core:
RSO - Resource Spawn Overhaul:
Core. Absolute Core. It makes resources spawn in much bigger patches, but much farther apart from eachother.
It basically takes the training wheels off the game. Factorio with no RSO is a shadow of itself.
FARL
Once you have RSO up, you're going to need to make trainways.
FARL makes train tracks laying that much easier: You can just drive a FARL train with enough tracks & electrical poles in the inventory, and it'll automatically lay tracks as you go.
Vanilla small modifiers:
Bioreactors \ Treefarm
Lets you farm wood. Makes the game marginally easier.
Landfill
Enables you to use massive amounts of stone to fill water with soil.
Marathon
Makes the game longer. And for that, harder.
I find it really good, since it scales up how much you need to think about logistics, without adding too many moving pieces.
Infinite Resources:
Makes normal resources behave like Oil, and topping off at 25% yield. So you won't ever actually *run out*. There are alternatives in Angel's Ores and some other mod i can't remember, but the gist is it. (Does not apply to the initial, guaranteed-spawn patches in your starting base)
Generally a good idea to include if doing a Marathon\RSO game, unless you think having to dismantle stations is fun.
Blueprint String:
Lets you serialize and de-serialize blueprints into strings for sharing.
Massive Overhauls:
NARMod (0.11. 0.12 version somewhat forthcoming)
You thought blue science packs were hard? Let's rethink this.
Adds an absolute metric ton of stuff, leading to ~100 item chains to make a blue science pack. Adds ~150 items, mostly among intermediates, and ~10 new basic resources.
Definitely my best experience with Factorio. It's everything that makes factorio good, on steroids. Headache and addiction included.
(If also using RSO, upping the Silicon spawn rate is heartily recommended.)
Bob's Mods:
The main branch of which NARM is a modmod. Adds massive amounts of items, including incremental upgrades to, well, everything, and enemy patterns - but is very severely unbalanced. Tweaking advised.
Adds new...
- Science chains
- Incremental upgrades for basically everything
- Logistic parts for basically anything you can think of
- weapons, enemies, turrets.
- Modules
- Merged modules (callously broken, and advised to be disabled)
The ingame campaign/tutorials/scenarios are doing a pretty decent job easing you into all mechanics.
TemplaerDude
Member
Was looking around a long time for some mod info on this game, thank you so much for this!
Gold Coins for Cats
Member
I think this was the game I wanted Command and Conquer to be when Command and Conquer first came out, I spent most of my time building bases back then. The simplistic graphics run on my Arch-Linuxed Acer Cloudbook so that is a huge plus.
The only issue is it heavily highlights how much I fail in engineering, and my unwillingness to let go of a failed build. Plus I'm eagerly awaiting for scenario packs that force you to think laterally.
The only issue is it heavily highlights how much I fail in engineering, and my unwillingness to let go of a failed build. Plus I'm eagerly awaiting for scenario packs that force you to think laterally.
Are you even able to keep up with biter evolution if research is that hard?
Biters are really a major issue only when Behemoths about.
Just don't be stupid (Abusing production modules \ not doing solar energy AT ALL) and it won't be an issue.
RSO also spawns considerably less biters.