The train tutorial level is kind of a mess.

[Mansen]

I can't say with any certainty if it's one thing in general, or just the sum of all of its parts, but the tutorial level with the train and the car really needs some fleshing out in my opinion - maybe even splitting it into two parts.

The instructions are nowhere near explanative enough to teach you how to repair the railroad, or re-establish an automatic train ride.

The "locals" will happily swarm your main base in hilarious numbers by the time your first train is operational again.

Too many buildings are torn apart - And several of them aren't really shown/explained enough to let the player "take over" and repair things.

And I noticed that the power lines going west don't actually link up at the distances they were placed - change in the asset data after the mission was brought online? Similar issue with the pre-placed laser turrets. They don't align properly to the grid compared to removing and re-placing it (The one by the solar plants and engines anyway)

[Arbitrary]

Really, by the time you've gotten to this scenario, you're ready to start a sandbox-mode game. I felt the same as you when presented with this scenario long ago and have put 100+ hours into the game and never looked back. Turret size was changed in a recent release so that might be what you're experiencing with grid alignment.

[Mansen]

I know - I've had the game for a LONG time by now. I am merely offering feedback from a new player's point of view. Lot of new players will go through these missions.

[Arbitrary]

good - I just wanted to make sure you don't give up in frustration because the real fun starts when you get off the rails and actually start laying down some rails!

[LtKillPuppy]

The Campaign hasn't really received any love from the developers in a while. They're still focusing most of their time on the sandbox mode of the game.

I have played and beat the campaign, but it has been a very long time. I do remember a few of the missions were nearly unplayable due to their great ramp in difficulty.

[DukaSoft]

I've just started playing and I must say I'm completely lost at this level.
Time to watch some youtube tutorials I guess :)

Love the game so far :)

[Kieme(ITA)]

I reached that level too, a bit overwhelming considering the previous ones, so I didn't go on and instead started a sandbox game that I am now playing.

[Comrade Suhov]

Before purchasing game on Steam I've played again trhough the demo and upon purchase found out that diffuculty scalling in 4th mission it very steep. I actually gave up on it and spent next few days watching others play Factorio on Twitch to learn some basics.

[Kherven]

I was actually coming here just to post some suggestions about this level! By the way, its called New Hope Level 2. I'm a brand new player and just lost because I ran out of iron.

As campaigns are pretty much tutorials, I highly highly recommend the dev points out to the player that the iron here is nowhere near enough. You don't even have to say "hey dummy, the train goes to iron" but just let the player know that there is a reason the train existed and that they need to get it running ASAP to survive.

On top of that, you get a huge amount of aggression from the aliens. Overall this mission is a huge step up in difficulty from the baby-step missions before. I don't think its TOO much, but I think more needs to be explained to the player for this mission to work for most new players first try.

[JORAX]

Just coming here myself to try and learn how people deal with this map. I finally built a locomotive and some cars to carry stuff, but can't for the life of me figure out how to make the train run. Also, the huge bug nest nearby is far more than I can deal with. Really not liking this level and annoyed with zero instruction on how to proceed as a new player.

[Flip]

Tbh this mission put me off the campaign entirely, it was a mess, not a lot of instruction and I HATE having a pre-made base.

That being said, this caused me to try Freeplay and I have been having a blast. Yes, it does mean I am at a loss when I come to a new tech I have no experience with (Trains, oil, circuits etc) but I generally follow xterminator's youtube guides or the online guid that do a very good job of explaining how it works.

[Mansen]

Автор сообщения: JORAX

Just coming here myself to try and learn how people deal with this map. I finally built a locomotive and some cars to carry stuff, but can't for the life of me figure out how to make the train run. Also, the huge bug nest nearby is far more than I can deal with. Really not liking this level and annoyed with zero instruction on how to proceed as a new player.

You build the station beacons - These will appear in the train's list of destinations. You add a destination, and the train will move to the beacon. It helps to have a locomotive in both directions, otherwise the train needs a turnabout at the end of the track on both ends.

[Pagan]

I just recycled everything left and rebuilt it the way i wanted since i couldnt work out what was missing in many spots......rebuilding the power was easy enough tho and handy to leave there

[Fate (-{SoH}-)]

@navan why follow guides it's great fun figuring it all out on ur own.

Tho i ended up wasting alot of crude oil at the start as i didnt understand the stations stoped pumping when the liquids had no where to go "so like an idiot i kept picking up and putting down the silos containing the "less important" oils"

[Flip]

Because I prefer to have some idea of what I am doing or how something works. To each their own of course, but for me personally it is a bit of a waste of time trying trial and error to figure out the basics. Once I understand the principle behind something then I play around with it :)

[AlexMBrennan]

When I did that mission I first decided to follow and fix the power lines, and ended up moving a lot of ore by car before I got round to fixing the railway. This gave me a reason for building railways - you can move stuff by car, but that requires manual intervention, risks destroying equipment if you crash into power lines, and is generally rather fiddly.

You build the station beacons

You can drive trains just like cars, and with additional research you can unlock signals and stations to automate trains.

I HATE having a pre-made base.

Without that there wouldn't be any point in having the first mission:
* Mission 1: build a base, research the car and build a car
* Mission 2: build a base, research the car, build a car and then fix the railway
If the goal is teaching game mechanics then the first mission could be scrapped and incorporated into the 2nd mission.

I'd imagine that it's difficult to have a meaningful "campaign" without maps to tell a story - if you are starting from scratch each time then you could just play freeplay and occasionally restart the game.