Factorio, highly addictive game(alpha)

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Sun Oct 06, 2019 4:32 pm

Here's my mod list:

Tampa_Gamer · Post by **Tampa_Gamer** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 12:45 pm

Thanks, that list is helpful

Zitterbacke · Post by **Zitterbacke** » Mon Oct 07, 2019 5:35 pm

I couldn't think of going without FNEI in anything but vanillla, no wonder to find it in your list

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:20 pm

I took quite a break and am just getting back to this. Trying to set up Green science. What is required is kind of nuts. I'm not sure this is fun.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 9:47 am

stessier wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:20 pm I took quite a break and am just getting back to this. Trying to set up Green science. What is required is kind of nuts. I'm not sure this is fun.

It wasn't fun for me. Which is why I moved on to more accessible games like Oxygen Not Included and Factory Town.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 10:25 am

Lorini wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 9:47 am
stessier wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:20 pm I took quite a break and am just getting back to this. Trying to set up Green science. What is required is kind of nuts. I'm not sure this is fun.
It wasn't fun for me. Which is why I moved on to more accessible games like Oxygen Not Included and Factory Town.

I'm talking about the DyWorld mod. The base game is still like crack for me. I've tried Oxygen Not Included. I don't think it is for me.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:34 pm

Happy to hear that, I guess I’m just not smart enough for Factorio.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:39 pm

Lorini wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:34 pm Happy to hear that, I guess I’m just not smart enough for Factorio.

It's not so much smarts as process planning and organization. It takes a certain mindset.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:20 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:20 pm I took quite a break and am just getting back to this. Trying to set up Green science. What is required is kind of nuts. I'm not sure this is fun.

Totally understood. I'm on the precipice of blue science (or I was on that precipice) and sort of drifted away from playing that save. I'm still watching the KoS video series, so maybe she'll show me something that inspires me to keep going, but as of right now, I sort of doubt it.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 3:37 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:39 pm
Lorini wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:34 pm Happy to hear that, I guess I’m just not smart enough for Factorio.
It's not so much smarts as process planning and organization. It takes a certain mindset.

It's right up my alley. I adore games where I build a process. I recently started playing again and just unlocked full logistics, so I've torn up my entire base to rebuild it more efficiently with bots haulers in mind.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Wed Oct 30, 2019 9:10 am

The Meal wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:20 pm
stessier wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:20 pm I took quite a break and am just getting back to this. Trying to set up Green science. What is required is kind of nuts. I'm not sure this is fun.
Totally understood. I'm on the precipice of blue science (or I was on that precipice) and sort of drifted away from playing that save. I'm still watching the KoS video series, so maybe she'll show me something that inspires me to keep going, but as of right now, I sort of doubt it.

I was just about to get Green Science and found out I had been mining Tin/Nickel instead of Tin/Nickel (I still get confused which I need, just know I got it wrong). My base was besieged by Biters and in getting all the assemblers on line for making the Green Science components, I had overtaxed my electricity production and was basically shutdown. It was an utter mess.

So I started a new game. I've been much more aggressive about exploring the map and taking out any Biter colonies before my pollution gets to them. I'm planning for big, wide open layouts because the beginning production is so very slow. I made sure I have the right raw materials this time (Tin/Nickel...whichever). I'm going much slower, but it's also going better. Right now I'm about to double my electricity production right before bringing online my Fast Inserter assembly line. It'll be quite a feeling of accomplishment to finally get Green Science.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:39 am

I have two of the three things I need for Green Science up and running. My pollution cloud is pretty big and I have 3 nests to clear out before it reaches them. I took out one this morning, and it was my first run in with Spitters. They are quite a challenge. I really need to get Green Science so I can upgrade my ammo. Hopefully the other two bases are easier (they are at least smaller). Then I can get Iron Loaders built and start the science again.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:02 pm

Last night I started restructuring my base, for the third time. I've moved my 1,000 solar panels / 840 accumulators to their own solar farm off to one side and my facilities have standardized inputs now. Oil enters the base at one point and is distributed, and copper/iron come in at a different point and follow opposing routes so they can meet in the middle. If I start to run low, all I need to do is re-route a train to a new mining spot and link it to the rail coming in that handles supply.

Everything's still needlessly cramped, though, and I may tear it apart so I can spread things out more. Maybe keep a couple highways so I can cruise around in my tank without crushing power lines and storage tanks.

I keep telling myself that some day I'll learn how to use more advanced production circuits and routing, but I never bother. I usually hit a critical mass where things feel too big to bother trying to grow and I'd rather putter around while I let the base do the work. As a result I've never made a base where a nuclear reactor would have helped, despite doing a couple launches.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:06 pm

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:02 pm As a result I've never made a base where a nuclear reactor would have helped, despite doing a couple launches.

I went all solar for most of my games (and got there as fast as possible to decrease pollution), but the last few games of vanilla I made nuclear the center piece. It's pretty nice - lots of cheap energy. Takes a long time to get there though.

I have no idea if nuclear is even in DyWorld. If it is, it's soooooo faaaaaar away.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:50 am

stessier wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:20 pm I took quite a break and am just getting back to this. Trying to set up Green science. What is required is kind of nuts. I'm not sure this is fun.
Totally understood. I'm on the precipice of blue science (or I was on that precipice) and sort of drifted away from playing that save. I'm still watching the KoS video series, so maybe she'll show me something that inspires me to keep going, but as of right now, I sort of doubt it.
I was just about to get Green Science and found out I had been mining Tin/Nickel instead of Tin/Nickel (I still get confused which I need, just know I got it wrong).

Ack - I did it again!!

You need Nickel to make the basic control board. I keep mining Tin! So stupid. I had 8000 tin plates and I really only need like 100. Oh well, I was able to get it sorted out pretty quickly and finally got my first Green Science. Oh, sweet, beautiful green science!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:51 am

Got Black science this weekend - and just in time. The natives were not just restless - they were downright dangerous! I've beaten them back into submission with all the military upgrades, however, and have started mapping my path to Blue science. I think I've found everything I need (supplies of Gold and Lead were the hardest to find). Laser research will be the first thing because Turrets aren't going to cut it for much longer. After that I really have to figure out the who liquid metals thing and get some Red Circuits up and running. There is just soooo much to do.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:12 pm

I'm still listening to katerineofsky's playthrough. I generally like it, but the fact that she set the Biters to peaceful kind of ruins it for me. Half the challenge of the game is the timer that is Evolution.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Nov 07, 2019 2:18 pm

Getting Blue Science up and running is not for the faint of heart. About half way there.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Nov 11, 2019 9:42 am

At the 42 hour mark, I got Blue Science. It is trickling in though - the Gold Solar Panel requirement is kind of insane for the number of solar cells it uses. I've got plans on setting up 6 silver smelting lines and the accompanying solar cell production, but first I'm surrounding my territory with walls and lasers. The Biters don't seem to realize that it is MY territory, so this is taking some doing. I'm about half way done. I don't have bots yet (I'm not sure how much farther into the tech tree that they are buried, but it's still a ways), so it's a very slow process and I'm not sure how the defenses are going to hold up if I have to keep running around and fixing them as they are attacked. On the plus side, I'm building the walls at the extent of my pollution cloud, so they'll be at least a little peace before the onslaught continues.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:22 pm

54 hours in and I have enclosed my territory and just got Construction bots! It was quite a moment!!

Then I put them to work. Holy cow are the first ones you can make ssssssslllllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwww. At least I can set up a network and keep everything mostly repaired. It's going to be a while before I can use them to build blueprints though. But with the Biters outside the walls, I finally have time to plan and build. So many things to work on, so little attention. Look - shiny object!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Nov 21, 2019 1:35 pm

The amount of Silver and Wood required is kind of insane. I'm considering going back to vanilla until this is better balanced.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:07 pm

It's out of EA....

And they added a Spidertron!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:21 am

I like a number of the changes with 1.0, but the inventory icons are small and I'm having trouble figuring them out. Does anyone know a way to increase the zoom on that part of the UI?

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:17 am

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:21 am I like a number of the changes with 1.0, but the inventory icons are small and I'm having trouble figuring them out. Does anyone know a way to increase the zoom on that part of the UI?

Figured it out - it's a slider under Settings -> Interface. So. Much. Better.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:57 am

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:17 am
stessier wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:21 am I like a number of the changes with 1.0, but the inventory icons are small and I'm having trouble figuring them out. Does anyone know a way to increase the zoom on that part of the UI?
Figured it out - it's a slider under Settings -> Interface. So. Much. Better.

Thanks for reporting back, I was trying to find where that would be done, and couldn't learn anything from the internet -- but I suspect I will want that turned up too.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:16 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:57 am
stessier wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:17 am
stessier wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:21 am I like a number of the changes with 1.0, but the inventory icons are small and I'm having trouble figuring them out. Does anyone know a way to increase the zoom on that part of the UI?
Figured it out - it's a slider under Settings -> Interface. So. Much. Better.
Thanks for reporting back, I was trying to find where that would be done, and couldn't learn anything from the internet -- but I suspect I will want that turned up too.

My old eyes appreciated it - as did my back from not having to lean in to see what was what.

I turned it up to 125% - that's borderline too big, but it's better than too small.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:53 pm

I started it again this weekend just to see what's new and different. I don't remember my first play enough to say though.

At the beginning I barely remembered anything, but it has mostly come back. On the other hand my build is a tragic mess same as it was last time. I've actually used construction bots for the first time, just to say that I did. They were helpful in setting up my solar array of around 1200 panels (and counting). I also set up an automated train just to say I did. That reminds me. I never set up refueling. Oops.

I still have no idea how the other "programming" type stuff works. One day...

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:37 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:53 pm I still have no idea how the other "programming" type stuff works. One day...

I can do the very basic filter type programming where something looks at something and enables based on the result. More complex - like have a central train station and send trains only when a station calls for them based on contents in the logistics network? That's seemingly magic.

If you want a challenge, now that you have bots, use them instead of belts. That can be a lot of fun.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:53 am

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:37 pmIf you want a challenge, now that you have bots, use them instead of belts. That can be a lot of fun.

This is always a milestone for me and when I stop trying to constantly rebuild my production lines to accommodate belts upon belts to get research components in a steady stream.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:45 am

Paingod wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:53 am
stessier wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:37 pmIf you want a challenge, now that you have bots, use them instead of belts. That can be a lot of fun.
This is always a milestone for me and when I stop trying to constantly rebuild my production lines to accommodate belts upon belts to get research components in a steady stream.

I generally use some combination of bots and belts. My current game, I'm trying to use the belts only for mining and bots for everything else. I'm taking it nice and slow, but I'm having fun. Just got a 2x5 nuclear array up and working - my power concerns are a thing of the past. For now.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:31 am

Spent about 12 hours this weekend just killing biters. My base is much bigger now.

My goal this playthrough is not to let pollution outside the borders of my base. About 90 hours in, so far, so good. Of course, I still haven't launched a rocket...

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:51 am

I made the mistake of checking my time in Factorio after a Steam restart today 737 hours. Not bad for $20 but that seems like a lot.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:59 am

I'm at 1800+ with Autonauts, so no worries

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 11:17 am

Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:59 am I'm at 1800+ with Autonauts, so no worries

Impressive! But, correct me if I'm wrong, you're retired, right? I feel that makes a difference.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:12 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 11:17 am
Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:59 am I'm at 1800+ with Autonauts, so no worries
Impressive! But, correct me if I'm wrong, you're retired, right? I feel that makes a difference.

Disabled, but same difference

. Just sayin' that unless you have a commitment to do something else and you're playing Factorio instead, it's all good. Factorio is hard on the brain as well, at least it's hard on my brain so you're getting a good mental workout

.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:19 pm

Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:12 pm
stessier wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 11:17 am
Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:59 am I'm at 1800+ with Autonauts, so no worries
Impressive! But, correct me if I'm wrong, you're retired, right? I feel that makes a difference.
Disabled, but same difference . Just sayin' that unless you have a commitment to do something else and you're playing Factorio instead, it's all good. Factorio is hard on the brain as well, at least it's hard on my brain so you're getting a good mental workout .

I like your logic! Totally makes me feel better about skipping my workouts to play.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:36 pm

Uh I said unless you have another commitment

. Gotta keep the body in shape!

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:47 pm

Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:36 pm Uh I said unless you have another commitment . Gotta keep the body in shape!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:15 pm

Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:36 pm Uh I said unless you have another commitment . Gotta keep the body in shape!

Clearly, I'm not committed to that if I'm playing a game instead!

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Oct 13, 2020 7:47 am

I'm a week into my current play, first since the last major release. I'm really enjoying the newer visuals and revamped research tree, but I'm a little miffed that all of those machine gun turrets I threw around like candy are no longer used up in Military research. Walls? Really?

Also, there's an absurd focus on regular Engines as they're now a raw ingredient for research, yet are produced at a snail's pace.

I've finally achieved "Logistics" last night and tore down my entire base to rebuild it. I reached a point of unsustainable mess just as I rolled into the Manufacturing (purple) research, so it's overdue. I have four satellite bases producing oil, oil, stone, and iron to ship home and need to set up a Copper mine finally as my initial vein has just 20k left in it. Having little interest in balancing nuclear energy, I outfit each satellite with solar arrays around the perimeter and have 36MW of power output from just my panels at peak daylight (almost the equivalent of one Reactor). My boilers are on standby and ready to add another 36MW in a pinch and fill in the gaps in a spike.

I've reached the point now where I usually struggle - moving from "single input" of each resource to "multiple inputs". Having just one belt of Iron and Copper coming in looks really slick, but the reality is that it has a cap. As such, I'm planning to try and make multiple smaller satellites that all handle different productions with similar needs, sending the resulting goods back "home" to my main base for final processing into research and further production. It's going to take more railway planning than I've ever done. Same for Logistics. I've only ever done basic Requester/Passive Provider logistics and need to go beyond that to expand.

I have beaten the game before with my antiquated methods, but producing a single rocket is a massive undertaking that requires several minutes of waiting and watching.