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Factorio | STEAMPOWERED Industrial Optimization

Does this game have any music? I really enjoy the aesthetic.

How does the game ease you into it? Once you're done with the campaign how can you migrate to online? Does it allow you to role play to try and develop environmental/passive solutions or is the message of the game in line with the industrial revolution?

Am I going to get much out of it if I'm not massively into high end systems logic systems that require sitting down and thinking hard?
 

Vlad

Member
Does this game have any music? I really enjoy the aesthetic.

How does the game ease you into it? Once you're done with the campaign how can you migrate to online? Does it allow you to role play to try and develop environmental/passive solutions or is the message of the game in line with the industrial revolution?

Am I going to get much out of it if I'm not massively into high end systems logic systems that require sitting down and thinking hard?

I've played about five hours so far, and I haven't really seen much of what the game has to offer yet, but here's what I've seen so far:

For the most part, the game does a good job of easing you into things. There really isn't what you'd call "high-level logic" in the style of designing circuits or anything. For the most part, you're laying out conveyor belts to lead to their associated factories and processing facilities. Everything so far has been a matter of "I need A and B to make C, but A requires C and D, while B requires C and E", then you adjust your production lines so that you can get everything together.

I've only gotten a few missions into what could be called the campaign so far (I think the fourth or fifth one, where you're tasked with restoring a rail system), and the last few missions have ended up being surprisingly long (or I just suck).

The one thing that sort of bugs me in the game is related to the research system. You see, in order to research things, you need to build labs, then make these various colored "science packs" (represented in-game by flasks with colored liquid) to then feed into the labs to do research. The initial research requires basic science packs, which are fairly straightforward to make. The next tier up requires some more intricate ingredients, so you have to set up a multi-stage production line, and so on.

So, with that in mind, once you decide what you want to research, you open up the research menu and click on it. Even the early stuff takes about 50 or so of the basic research packs to complete, so you of course set up a production line to produce a ton of the things, since that's what the game is about. However, this makes the research almost go so fast that you can't really appreciate each new technology learned. Once I've got my red science packs going, I'm able to research any technology requiring them in a matter of a minute or so, so I end up with a ton of new stuff available in a very short time, then I have to sit there and read about all of it, often overlooking some of the new toys.

I'm sure that won't matter as much once I get used to what everything is, but it is kind of offputting.
 
Thanks for the impressions. Sounds like they need to fork some of the research trees so it's less of a glut all at once. When I was watching the quick look I did feel like the science flasks were a little out of place. Maybe they're just a temporary thing?
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
I've played about five hours so far, and I haven't really seen much of what the game has to offer yet, but here's what I've seen so far:

For the most part, the game does a good job of easing you into things. There really isn't what you'd call "high-level logic" in the style of designing circuits or anything. For the most part, you're laying out conveyor belts to lead to their associated factories and processing facilities. Everything so far has been a matter of "I need A and B to make C, but A requires C and D, while B requires C and E", then you adjust your production lines so that you can get everything together.

I've only gotten a few missions into what could be called the campaign so far (I think the fourth or fifth one, where you're tasked with restoring a rail system), and the last few missions have ended up being surprisingly long (or I just suck).

The one thing that sort of bugs me in the game is related to the research system. You see, in order to research things, you need to build labs, then make these various colored "science packs" (represented in-game by flasks with colored liquid) to then feed into the labs to do research. The initial research requires basic science packs, which are fairly straightforward to make. The next tier up requires some more intricate ingredients, so you have to set up a multi-stage production line, and so on.

So, with that in mind, once you decide what you want to research, you open up the research menu and click on it. Even the early stuff takes about 50 or so of the basic research packs to complete, so you of course set up a production line to produce a ton of the things, since that's what the game is about. However, this makes the research almost go so fast that you can't really appreciate each new technology learned. Once I've got my red science packs going, I'm able to research any technology requiring them in a matter of a minute or so, so I end up with a ton of new stuff available in a very short time, then I have to sit there and read about all of it, often overlooking some of the new toys.

I'm sure that won't matter as much once I get used to what everything is, but it is kind of offputting.

That's why mods like Marathon and Science Cost Adjuster exist.
The first makes everything longer. The second just straight up puts a x5-x10 on science costs.
 

Teletraan1

Banned
Got this the other day. What a great game! I pulled an almost all nighter playing this the first day I had it.

I added some of the mods recommended in this thread on an attempt today and I was pretty impressed with how they changed the flow of the game for the better. You can really tailor the experience to almost exactly what you want with all the mods out there.

I am finding the little tricks and best practices I learned from previous attempts really pays off on new maps. They get a lot more organized with fewer bottlenecks every time.
 
I decided to finally give this game a shot and just lost 2 hours setting up conveyor belts so I could get my iron and copper smelters fully automated in the same spot. I'm scared to play any more because of how the time flew by.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
I decided to finally give this game a shot and just lost 2 hours setting up conveyor belts so I could get my iron and copper smelters fully automated in the same spot. I'm scared to play any more because of how the time flew by.

Then you install a complex mod, and then you end up a weekend later staring a 36h playtime and asking yourself how is that even possible.

But those pesky aliens were going after your Copper outpost and more lasers were needed but for lasers you needed more electronics and electronics needed plastic so you set up a oil outpost but it was far so you built a railway and oh god manually moving barrels is complex so better setup a compresser and....
 

Gnub

Member
This one is a bad one. Time warp creeps up something terrible. "I'll just play for an hour or so...."

robinwilliamswhatyearisit.jpeg
 

Portman

Member
Have had the game for 2 years and never put much time into it. Finally got someone to play some co-op with and we started last night and now all I'm doing is thinking about it during my free time.

At first single player seemed kinda bland after working together for a bit but I see it as a way to test out ideas and learn the basics since we can't play all the time.
 

GeoGonzo

Member
I'm considering waiting for the stable release of the patch instead of jumping into a dev branch... but I probably wouldn't be able to wait much further than this weekend.
 

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
Oh god..this thing has it's teeth in me. Working on how to get constructor bots and blueprints working. I never imagined my map would get so big and complex without me losing track of what the hell I'm doing, but here we are.

Multiplayer is fantastic, but the way it's been implemented is just boggling. One player hosts and when someone attempts to connect, it'll pause the game for everyone and there'll be a wait while the new player downloads the map from the host (it starts small, but it'll quickly blow up to 15-20MB). And then it does this for each player that attempts to join. Get disconnected? Gotta download that map and again and make everyone wait. Hopefully, this is stop-gap, but if you're considering it for multiplayer, it's worth noting.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Oh god..this thing has it's teeth in me. Working on how to get constructor bots and blueprints working. I never imagined my map would get so big and complex without me losing track of what the hell I'm doing, but here we are.

Multiplayer is fantastic, but the way it's been implemented is just boggling. One player hosts and when someone attempts to connect, it'll pause the game for everyone and there'll be a wait while the new player downloads the map from the host (it starts small, but it'll quickly blow up to 15-20MB). And then it does this for each player that attempts to join. Get disconnected? Gotta download that map and again and make everyone wait. Hopefully, this is stop-gap, but if you're considering it for multiplayer, it's worth noting.

I really need to check out what they added since the last time I played.

Edit:
Holy crap
fff-140-controlled-gates.gif
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
It doesn't download the map.
It downloads the complete history of all actions that have been performed since map start, and fast forwards.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
It doesn't download the map.
It downloads the complete history of all actions that have been performed since map start, and fast forwards.

...that sounds a lot more complicated than just downloading a map state. Is there a specific reason they do it this way?
 

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
...that sounds a lot more complicate than just downloading a map state. Is there a specific reason they do it this way?

There's a replay function, but you can disable it to shrink the file size (about 40-60%). Maps still can get huge.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
...that sounds a lot more complicate than just downloading a map state. Is there a specific reason they do it this way?

It's standard fare for lockstep MP games.
Lockstep simulation (everyone has to have the exact same game state, and the only information passed around is player input) is very stable, if somewhat latency-heavy.
Considering that Factorio can have hundreds of thousands of items on belts god-knows-where, it's not a stupid solution.

Honestly, their code probably acts up when a gamestate is created without a history, for whatever reason
 
This game is incredible. Oh my god. SpaceChem meets sim city, meets fucking civ..ahhhh. It's all I've been able to think about today. If I was still at college, this would be the kind of game that would have me drawing stuff on graph paper during class.
 

Holden

Member
holyfuck this game is addicting as crack

i love it


Feels like the whole alien part is a bit lackluster, not many turret variation and low difficulty. There any plans for update on that? or mods?
I'm playing the game on normal but maybe on hardest it's more fun / time consuming..?
 

Purkake4

Banned
There's an update detailing stuff planned for 0.14. Here's the short version, more at the link:

Most of the list of 0.14 plans won't be a big surprise as most of it was discussed in the past:
  • Multiplayer rewrite
  • Circuit network improvements
  • Update optimizations
  • Nuclear power
  • Liquid wagon + universal barrelling
  • High res graphics introduction
  • Gui reskin and possible improvements
  • Multithreaded update
And this:
Our overall plan is to have Factorio 1.0 finished next summer. This most probably means, that 0.15 would become 1.0 once it gets stable. We have not decided what will go into 0.15 yet, but the current plans contain the ideas of the dirty mining and artillery train, but this is all subject to change. We will mainly try to polish the corners, so the overall result is balanced solid and finished game.
This will be the result of 5 years long hell of a ride, from home garage developement, through crowdfunding to our offices and steam. Finishing the game will be important step for us and our conscience, as all the promises we gave on the way will be delivered.
After that, we will probably take a reasonably long vacation to clear our heads and then ... well, I find it very probable that we will still want to work on the game. The meaningful possibility as I see it would be to make proper expansion. That way we could implement the ideas like the space platform, biter farms and more with energy and time it deserves.
 

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
There's an update detailing stuff planned for 0.14. Here's the short version, more at the link:


And this:

I'm so excited for the multiplayer rewrite - It means that I'd actually be able to play a game with more than 2 ppl at a time. The current implementation destroys my connections upload if there's more than two players on the map.

I love what these guys are doing. I can easily see myself buying more copies at launch for my friends to get onboard.
 

seb

Banned
My first time to launch rocket is 55h. And as soon as you're done, you cannot wait to do it again. Fantastic game, great devs that maintain a very informative blog, runs on linux and any hardware too.
You can't go wrong with Factorio.
 

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
I need help with train stops and signals.

I have one train with two locomotives on both ends that is supposed to go back and forth on one long line. I have set up two train stops. One where the train is supposed to arrive and get iron ore. The wait condition is set to "Full cargo inventory".

The other is on the opposite end for where it is supposed to drop the iron ore. The wait condition is set to "Empty cargo inventory".

I can drive the train manually from one end to another but no matter what I set up, it won't move and the only info I get is "no path".

I also tried four train stops, one for arrival and one for departure on both stops, but that looked needlesly confusing and I got the exact same problem.
Not sure what else to try, I feel like it's super simple but it just won't go.

edit:
I've isolated the problem. The train stop at the bottom is called A.

https://abload.de/img/20160914002837_1gjr6p.jpg
https://abload.de/img/20160914002849_1gwq98.jpg

Why won't this train move to A? It's giving me "no path".

edit2:
I've turned one locomotive around (didn't even think they could be attached the wrong way) and it still didn't work, so I rebuilt the whole stop. Then it worked. That's...pretty buggy.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
so, ill just leave this here.


https://imgur.com/a/Ewhsv

Someone is on his mission to fully automate factorio so that the game plays itself.
To achieve this he created a programming environment within the game which he calls fBASIC.

His first version which he appropriately calls grey goo mk1 contains a scouting area that replicates itself to the next availble area and sets up mining outposts where possible and trainstations to get the ressources back to the base. The Scout Module also ensures that it always has all ressources needed to replicate itself, if it runs out of stuff it automatically requests the materials from the factory to get transported to its currentl location by train.
If the logic detects power outages due to the ever expanding nature of it, it automatically builds and places solar panels to keep up with demand.

It has limitations for now (mostly oil and water handling which he is not doing atm because the system gets revamped in the 0.15 due to at the end of the month) but it allready is propably the craziest thing ive ever seen in this regard.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF--1XdcOeM
 
I thought I couldn't be surprised after seeing what people do in Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress and even Little Big Planet, but there's always room for more crazy. :D Awesome stuff.

I also oddly like how it's like a Hollywood swarm, with a convenient brain for the main characters to destroy and shut down the entire system, rather than actual independently replicating grey goo. :)
 

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
There's going to be a lot of exciting changes for 0.15. Uranium mining, nuclear power, new HD assets, UI changes and more. It's worth checking out their blog, all posted there in detail.
 

Dezzy

Member
so, ill just leave this here.


https://imgur.com/a/Ewhsv

Someone is on his mission to fully automate factorio so that the game plays itself.
To achieve this he created a programming environment within the game which he calls fBASIC......



www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF--1XdcOeM

This is the kind of stuff that makes me feel like I'm of very low intelligence. How do people think of this stuff, and execute it so well? I struggle just to find decent ways to get multiple different science packs made and deposited smoothly.
 

Steiner84

All 26 hours. Multiple times.
Also, check out this 10 Rockets per minute factory
https://imgur.com/a/07MDU

He is using the dev console to make his ore fields yield basically infinte amounts, otherwise he couldnt do it becasue the factory has such a m,assive demand that he would have to mine new fields all the time.
He is providing most of the major materials by train only because of the massive amounts.
He calculated that it would take a whopping 168 fully saturated blue belts of iron plate to keep up with the demand if he wouldnt be using trains.
Also hes using modded solar panels that provide more power per panel to keep his sanity becasue he really dindt want to place the 720.000 solar panels that he would need otherwise.

Some more stats
Because most people probably haven't even considered what it would actually take to build a factory this size, here are some numbers for perspective. If this were a main bus design, I would need 168 blue belts of iron plates, 87 of copper, 27 of steel, and 33 of plastic. Sustained green circuit production is 2950 per second. There are about 300 train stations and almost 500 trains, most of which are 2-6-2. They always carry full loads, and at times there are well over 1 million green circuits in transit at the same time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/5osdaa/my_first_gigafactory_10_rockets_per_minute/



There's going to be a lot of exciting changes for 0.15. Uranium mining, nuclear power, new HD assets, UI changes and more. It's worth checking out their blog, all posted there in detail.

yes, very excited for the nuclear power.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
so, ill just leave this here.


https://imgur.com/a/Ewhsv

Someone is on his mission to fully automate factorio so that the game plays itself.
To achieve this he created a programming environment within the game which he calls fBASIC.

His first version which he appropriately calls grey goo mk1 contains a scouting area that replicates itself to the next availble area and sets up mining outposts where possible and trainstations to get the ressources back to the base. The Scout Module also ensures that it always has all ressources needed to replicate itself, if it runs out of stuff it automatically requests the materials from the factory to get transported to its currentl location by train.
If the logic detects power outages due to the ever expanding nature of it, it automatically builds and places solar panels to keep up with demand.

It has limitations for now (mostly oil and water handling which he is not doing atm because the system gets revamped in the 0.15 due to at the end of the month) but it allready is propably the craziest thing ive ever seen in this regard.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF--1XdcOeM

Wow.
Just... wow.
 
Downloaded the demo, played the only campaign available in it, then i bought the game.

3 hours in the Main game and i'm lost. Not in the bad way. Man, this game is so big and complex. A lot to learn and master. I love this.
 

Purkake4

Banned
Downloaded the demo, played the only campaign available in it, then i bought the game.

3 hours in the Main game and i'm lost. Not in the bad way. Man, this game is so big and complex. A lot to learn and master. I love this.
Yeah, it goes deeep, don't even look at the mods..
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
Yeah, it goes deeep, don't even look at the mods..

Oh, yes. I have a 320 hour NARMod playthrough that's hilariously complex.

This game has the worst "One More Action\Turn" syndrome i've ever experienced. Worse than Civ.
 

Purkake4

Banned
Oh, yes. I have a 320 hour NARMod playthrough that's hilariously complex.

This game has the worst "One More Action\Turn" syndrome i've ever experienced. Worse than Civ.
And then you spend the next day at work daydreaming about optimizing that iron smelting line or squeezing out a few extra science beakers.
 

Complex Shadow

Cudi Lame™
Downloaded the demo, played the only campaign available in it, then i bought the game.

3 hours in the Main game and i'm lost. Not in the bad way. Man, this game is so big and complex. A lot to learn and master. I love this.

honestly after this I saw this thread I kinda youtubed this game, and after like 2 videos, and an hour of gameplay you can kinda find a rhythm.

games still deep, confusing, and fun as hell though.
 

danthefan

Member
Oh, yes. I have a 320 hour NARMod playthrough that's hilariously complex.

This game has the worst "One More ActionTurn" syndrome i've ever experienced. Worse than Civ.

Oh my god. This happened to me last night. I've just had the game about a week so a total novice but last night I had to get my green science all set up, stayed up way later than I usually do... but I did it! To be honest the iron smelting zone, I saw a similar setup on YouTube so borrowed that, and just went from there. Had to remove the whole green science production line and rebuilt it at least twice but got there in the end.



I was absolutely drowning in iron plates a few hours ago but all of a sudden now I've a shortage. Need to get a steel production line going now but my coal is over there and my iron is over there and bleh. But we'll manage.
 
Oh my god. This happened to me last night. I've just had the game about a week so a total novice but last night I had to get my green science all set up, stayed up way later than I usually do... but I did it! To be honest the iron smelting zone, I saw a similar setup on YouTube so borrowed that, and just went from there. Had to remove the whole green science production line and rebuilt it at least twice but got there in the end.




I was absolutely drowning in iron plates a few hours ago but all of a sudden now I've a shortage. Need to get a steel production line going now but my coal is over there and my iron is over there and bleh. But we'll manage.

It's been a while since you wrote that message and you've probably figured out what to do by now, but yes. With this built, there won't be enough iron for all the production. As i stated above, i'm new to this game and have been playing for 65 hours. After multiple revisions to the production line, i found that Having multiple iron mining and smelting areas with 10 or 20 furnaces and distributing irons evenly by using balancers is only good option.

Also, i don't know if it's just me but i think world generation in this game is little buggy and needs some adjustments. None of the presets seem to have no affect whatsoever. For example, i created a few worlds by selecting Rail World preset and resources were so close to each other. If you change settings to very low frequency and small/very small size, game fills the map with trees.
Game is still EA tho. I hope they'll make some adjustments.
 
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