Overwhelming?

[Atova]

I've wanted this game for a while now but looking at some of the factories gives me an overwhelming feeling and I get the idea that I would have to spend 100's of hours to get to that point. Will I have to do a lot of googling or is everything explained in game (Like trains etc). I don't get too much time to play games these days so I'm just wondering; is there a lot of enjoyment in the short term and is it viable to play in that way or do you have to spend a long time learning before you find the enjoyment?

(I'm waiting for the comments telling me that I will get addicted and struggle to stop playing xD)

Cheers in advance!

[jagholin]

There is no real time pressure in this game(you can go at your own pace). There is definitely a lot to learn(especially if you buy and play Space Age, so I wouldn't perhaps recommend it). You will almost definitely need 50+ hours to complete the game the first time, 100+ hours if you play Space Age.

Quality of ingame explanations is good enough, but will require some experimentation from you to figure out how stuff works in detail(or reading wiki/outside guides). Keep in mind, a lot of mechanics have changed in 2.0(released just a week ago), so many 3rdf party guides might be outdated. Wiki is now in the process of being updated which might take some time as well. You definitely come in some fun times.

[Defektiv]

I have been playing the last few days, all day and all night. I am now a nocturnal human that eats breakfast in the evening and have zero regrets. It has been a long time since I've had new game content that consumes me so much. Getting up to space the first time on Nauvis is indeed an overwhelming task that sometimes feels impossible, but then you get to space and it feels like several new games open up to you and makes you feel like all the work you did on Nauvis was trivial.

[Human]

I find the game fun whether I get to play 10min or a few hours. As long as you have the mindset of "what puzzle can I work on today" it doesn't really matter how long you have to play. Even when I don't complete the initial task I've set for myself I generally find my playtime entertaining in Factorio (getting distracted by rerouting belts can be pretty fun IMO)

Those mega factories are indeed going to require a massive time sink. For most of us (I would assume) that's not an option. But Factorio is amazing in that you don't have to make those massive factories to have fun.

Personally I find the learning to be the most fun part of the game. If you want to give it a try I believe there is a free demo somewhere.

[Cas]

Learning is the fun in factory games, is it not?
I think it can be fun even if you dont have so much time because there are so many Milestones you can set for yourself with the tech tree.
There is also a lot of quality of life, so a big factory does not mean someone put down 10000 Buildings per hand. Blueprints and easy copy&paste is an integral part of the game. Reaching that point (Bot Logistics) is a big milestone for example.
Beating the Base Game does not require a big factory or even the use of trains if you dont want to. You can make it as complicated (50 trains on a single big Railtrack) or simple (every train on its own isolated track) as you want.

[Drizzt]

if you try the free demo (available on steam or from the developer's website), the first 3 levels will teach you the basics (controls, basic automation, power), level 4 will teach you about researching technology, and then level 5 is a big level where you have a lot of freedom to build and fight/defend, use trains, and generally see if you like the gameplay

if you do then in the full game you start with just your engineer and a few basic tools - and can build up your factory as fast or slow as you like (and depending on the enemies, that you can choose to disable or make passive) - and focusing on specific technology goals or building goals as you see fit in order to launch the rocket - which is the end goal of the base game - and an earlier goal in the expansion DLC, where you then build a space platform and go and explore several other planets

but the free demo is a good place to start :-)

[luziferius]

There's a free demo! I think the demo is still on the old version 1.1, but it is representing the base game well. If I remember correctly, the last mission included in it lets you play indefinitely, like the Freeplay mode you typically use in the full version, just on a limited part of the technology tree.

The in-game GUI shows all relevant information, and there's a tutorial system with explanations that unlock when you do certain things. Some tips include interactive tutorials, for example for trains.

Veterans (those with 100s of hours on the clock) build massive, optimized builds, or rebuild things like the PC game Pacman using the provided logic blocks and in-game lamps. You probably need 100s of hours to get there, if you want to go that route. But that's not a core part of the game.

You can tackle the logic puzzles the game throws at you at any pace you like. And any working solution is a solution. Don't let desire for perfection get in the way.

The new 2.0 update lets you annotate quite a few things with free-form notes, so you can note down your TODO lists. That reduces the mental burden remembering your plans and thoughts.

And for the enemies you have to defend against, Factorio offers multiple knobs to adjust the difficulty, ranging from completely disabled, or passive unless threatened, up to basically impossible to beat.

[Fel]

There is a lot to learn, but at the same time the basics are fairly simple and you can have a working factory without having to bother with more advanced stuff like ratios, throughput or efficiency.
Even trains and bots are mostly optional, they bring a lot to the table of course but you don't need them.
Trains in particular have two types, an extremely simple rail without intersections, only 2 stops and a single train going back and forth between them, extremely simple to setup.
And a more advanced one that is a network of rails with signals, sharing a majority of the rails with many trains, capable of transporting very large amounts of materials quickly and over long distances.
The later definitely requires a bit more learning (while signals are technically pretty simple, the logic behind them can be a bit hard to grasp at first) but it is also very potent and completely unneeded for your first (few) playthrough.


Basically, your first playthrough will result in a mess of a factory that somewhat works, there is not much you can do about it and everyone went through that.
You get better from that experience and refine your designs over time, and that's also when you start to learn the more advanced stuff at your own pace, including trains.

[Quillithe]

Originally posted by Fel:

Even trains and bots are mostly optional, they bring a lot to the table of course but you don't need them.

Also bots are an optional HELP.

For anything you don't mass produce (basically anything that doesn't go into science packs) you can just slap down a logistics bot setup and call it a day.

Originally posted by Fel:

Basically, your first playthrough will result in a mess of a factory that somewhat works, there is not much you can do about it and everyone went through that.

Also the good news is because of the tech tree you often will want to rebuild the early parts anyway - begone stone and steel furnaces! And they're easy to clear later game with construction bots

Plus you'll naturally clear out early resource patches anyway.

[Defektiv]

Bots are only optional until you use them and then the game never feels the same without them.

[Atova]

Wow, thanks so much for all that feedback! Clearly there is a big passion for the game. One quick question, if I keep enemies on and then decide I don't like them can you turn off mid game or is it a restart job?

Thanks for all this!

[Fel]

You can technically remove them mid-game but it is a bit of a pain to do as you need to run several console commands to do so (one to prevent more from getting created in new chunks and one to destroy existing ones).
Console commands also disable achievements, if you care about those (you won't be able to get most achievements in your first few runs anyway but it's worth keeping that in mind).

[Atova]

Originally posted by Fel:

You can technically remove them mid-game but it is a bit of a pain to do as you need to run several console commands to do so (one to prevent more from getting created in new chunks and one to destroy existing ones).
Console commands also disable achievements, if you care about those (you won't be able to get most achievements in your first few runs anyway but it's worth keeping that in mind).

Thanks, think I'm going to dive in!

[Fel]

Also, don't bother with the DLC before you have a decent grasp on the game and are sure you want to play more of it at least.
It is meant to be accessible to normal players but it would be overwhelming to say the least as a first playthrough.

[Atova]

Yeah wasn't thinking about that just yet. Toyed around with getting this for a while. I enjoyed satisfactory and done a couple of runs at that but always reach a point where it feels like a wall.

[Sprocket]

Dont fall down the trap of googleing best practise or efficient setups etc.. your first play should be u learning by playing. If you google, you will be overwhelmed by complex guides way above your understanding of the game mechanics.
(source - myself, tried to play like this years ago and quit, but now playing again without google and experimenting myself, having lots of fun and learning so much as i go.