Can't have fun with this game

[bigulator]

After realizing i'm not addicted to Factorio, and struggling to find motivation to build factories, I think my problem is that it just isn't fun anymore. I've restarted 7 times and each time was either because I felt like I couldn't launch a rocket with my crappy factory, or the annoying thing in my mind tells me i'm not legitimate if I don't play on completely default world settings. Mainly, it all feels like work I need to do instead of having fun doing it, which seems to be the intended appeal of the game.

[kbeza41]

100x100 de acuerdo con vos

[brian_va]

Originally posted by bigulator:

Mainly, it all feels like work I need to do instead of having fun doing it, which seems to be the intended appeal of the game.

i've often felt that. i've found enjoyment is building out a mega base. i turned bugs off long ago, and did the same as soon as cliffs were introduced; i want to build where and when i want without artificial constraints.

maybe figure out how you enjoy playing the game and do that.

or maybe this isn't the addiction for you; finding another might be a better option.

[deno70]

I remember having the same issue when I first started playing. I looked into a few things and learnt about using a bus to ferry supplies to different sections. It becomes cleaner and generally easier to expand a section and to add a new section.

[Grizzly]

Originally posted by brian_va:

Originally posted by bigulator:

Mainly, it all feels like work I need to do instead of having fun doing it, which seems to be the intended appeal of the game.

i've often felt that. i've found enjoyment is building out a mega base. i turned bugs off long ago, and did the same as soon as cliffs were introduced; i want to build where and when i want without artificial constraints.

maybe figure out how you enjoy playing the game and do that.

or maybe this isn't the addiction for you; finding another might be a better option.

the thing is that you can remove both without disabling them (your way to play is totally fine also)

if cliffs annoy you a lot you can get explosives against them within ~2 hours of being very productive so for newbies or just not that experienced players more like 5 hours but thats still not bad

and removing the biters is not too difficult to see, KABOOM xD

[jonnybanks29]

You've given the game a fair shot, if you're not feeling it do something else. Life's too short to waste on something you're not enjoying.

[Chindraba]

Originally posted by jonnybanks29:

You've given the game a fair shot, if you're not feeling it do something else. Life's too short to waste on something you're not enjoying.

There's the answer worth the mark of acceptance. If it ain't your "thing" don't try changing it or you. Just find your "thing" somewhere else. The first time, or two, with the adventure of discovery and exploration could have been mega loads of fun. Yet, with that part of the game over, it's no longer fun. That happens to many folks in many thing other than video games. Enjoy the memories and go make more somewhere fun.

[ChillCore]

Originally posted by jonnybanks29:

You've given the game a fair shot, if you're not feeling it do something else. Life's too short to waste on something you're not enjoying.

oof ... right in ye olde NUTS ...

but yeah ... have fun doing something else ma friend

[chaney]

Originally posted by bigulator:

or the annoying thing in my mind tells me i'm not legitimate if I don't play on completely default world settings.

I get that. You can change that, might be worth a try, you'll probably end up happier.
Options are there, so the devs consider taking those options legitimate, right?
Set your own rules, no need to feel odd about it, it's just your fun, not a competition that needs rules others agree to.

[schnappkatze]

Originally posted by bigulator:

After realizing i'm not addicted to Factorio, and struggling to find motivation to build factories, I think my problem is that it just isn't fun anymore. I've restarted 7 times and each time was either because I felt like I couldn't launch a rocket with my crappy factory, or the annoying thing in my mind tells me i'm not legitimate if I don't play on completely default world settings.

Maybe it helps to figure out which parts are less fun and see if you can avoid doing those

For me in the first ~hundred hours it was the biters that annoyed me, so I switched them off to give myself the time and peace of mind to figure out how to actually build a base.
If you hate trains, maybe you can adjust the resource values in the map settings a bit higher, so you don't need trains anyway.
If you are just tired of slowly placing every single building and inserter e.g. for big smelting areas again and again at the start of the game, maybe you can get a mod that gives you drones and a personal roboport from the start

Originally posted by bigulator:

Mainly, it all feels like work I need to do instead of having fun doing it, which seems to be the intended appeal of the game.

I know what you mean, and that is for me often the moment I know I am finished with Factorio at least for a few months. But it can also be that it is this just one thing that I am tired of, and changing it would make the game fun again. Especially after getting bots, the game arguably feels a lot less like work.

There are lots of tweaks that can be done. But: There is no such thing as a "legitimate" base, there are just the standard settings (that already can give pretty various results). It doesn't matter if you use those, some people never play with enemies ever and have a blast, and some people use mods that are so complicated they make the vanilla game look like Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Everybody has fun with something else, there is no need or reason to judge your own playstyle if it is fun for you.

[Emaulligu]

There's no right or wrong way to play the game, nobody is going to laugh at you for disabling biters and taking your time to build.

Every factory is capable of launching a rocket, no matter how much spaghetti you've done, no matter how long it takes to actually get the rocket ready.
Of course if you keep comparing your base with people who have 10 000 hours of playtime and min-maxed every single aspect of the game, it's not going to look as good as what you see on YT or screenshots.
But there's a sense of discovery and progress in making your own first broken factory work all the way up to a rocket, and then learning more to try and optimise the output as you go. You should keep going and persevere, the first rocket launch feels incredibly satisfying and rewarding, believe me.

[puschit]

I disabled biters for my very first game. And used that "god mode" where you don't have a character running around and instead can move freely with the camera and place things wherever you want. That game me as much time as I wanted and like Emauligu said, there is no wrong way to play this. I still have that base and saved the moment before the rocket launches. That base is both ugly and beautiful at the same time and the most important thing: It works! Among the crazy things I did is a merry-go-round sushi-belt for science packs where I connected every single tile of the belt with a circuit network to read the content of the entire belt and then set filter insertes to feed that sushi-belt with the science packs it needs from chests that, in turn, are fed by logistic bots. That setup is totally unecessary and inefficient but it is my creation and I love it. Figuring out how all of that works was one of the best experiences I had with this game.

Meanwhile I am fiddling with mods that make biters stronger ...

Anyway, this game comes with a gazillion options for customization and even more mods to tweak every single aspect of the game and even add entire new dimensions of features. So I really don't know why your mind tells you to feel"not legitimate if I don't play on completely default world settings".

It seems like all you need is to stop caring what other people think of your base. That may be easier to say than to actually do, but I never understood this concept anyway. Why should I bother what others may think? It's a damn game, I play it alone and for my own entertainment and nobody will ever see my factory unless I upload it somewhere. So what are you worrying about?

[Playzr 🐵]

I wouldn't say I get bored of the game but I do get lazy about it. It might take me a while to get the energy and motivation to produce the next science type. Sometimes I'd rather do mindless maintenance like upgrading conveyors and increasing smelting capacity. A common issue is that I might leave very few lanes for my main iron line thinking "3 should be enough" but it would've been better with a lot more width.
Turning off enemies is a good way to build at your own pace without having to build a wall of turrets with a belt of ammo to feed it, but that can be pretty fun. It's kinda dull in peaceful mode, but the game effectively becomes peaceful mode when you finish your wall. I might double up the turrets in areas where they attack frequently. There's nothing like the feeling of having a huge area to work within.

[Spetsnaz]

Tbh, maybe it is just not your thing? Like to me took a long time to finish a game and send a rocket out a couple of tries even. To me I like the game because there is always something I need to do. Like some people love to calculate how much a belt need to make something so it fits nice.

I don't! I need my belts full so nothing can fit on it anymore. That means I need to expand so I make more gears but now don't have enough plates so expand that so no not enough Iron so fix that but ugh no power so fix that and go on. That is my fun just growing bigger.

I am not on the side of turning off biter for sure at the start it is hard but they add some spice to the mid game and love to kill everything with arthy.

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by bigulator:

or the annoying thing in my mind tells me i'm not legitimate if I don't play on completely default world settings.

yeah i know that feeling - and it is hard to get over - and is not about what others might think - it's about wanting to beat the game at those default settings - since that feels like an achievement - even though in reality it is an arbitrary one

personally i have a default vanilla game on the go that is for me to get all of the achievements - since i reset them a few releases ago, and i do want to get all of them using those settings as a personal goal

i also tend to play big mods using the preset that comes with them - or on default if there is no preset

however - once i finally get the achievement monkey off my back i will experiment with the settings some more

i used to play a lot of games using the Rail World preset - where the ore patches are bigger and richer - but also far apart to encourage train use - and the biters do not create new nests - so you can expand your base without worrying that the biters will also expand and make new nests within your cleared area

i have played some peaceful games - especially if i just want to chill while listening to something on YT for example

point is there is no right way to play - it's a game - but i totally understand the feeling of wanting to beat the game at default - and getting frustrated if it starts to feel grindy

and as everyone says - there is no pressure to play the game - now or ever - or to play it any particular way - if you can find some more fun playing with different settings or mods then that's great - and if you just can't enjoy it then that's unfortunate - but it's also just how things go sometimes - plus you can always come back to it in the future and see if things have changed

i hope you can find some fun with the game - and if you can't then i sympathise

but i would suggest playing around with the settings based on which things bother you about the default settings - and remember there are already multiple inbuilt presets that could also be described as default versions of the game (e.g. Rail World), since they were specified by the devs - as well as again being there simply as demonstrations of how differently the game can play based on the settings - since they are just a few variations on the practically infinite variation of the settings

anyway - good luck :-)

[GreenBeanN1]

Originally posted by Drizzt:

yeah i know that feeling - and it is hard to get ove

Indeed. I know what you are going through. I had that feeling too....for 5 minutes.