I hate to say it

[Crayon Delicatessen]

But I'm played out on this game. I really wish I wasn't, but I am. I've never had any interest in launching a rocket, so I've spent like 600 hours just wandering around. I want to find something new and interesting to do, but I can't. I've increased the hives and spawn to 600%, which makes it very difficult, but its not enough. I can barely get my throughput for gears down, I essentially have no idea what I'm doing. I really wish there was something to reignite my interest, but I'm at a loss. I thought about just making a war factory with red ammo and nothing else, spend all my time killing hives. Its exhausting. So much work. What do I do?

[Nico]

I personally played many full overhaul mods. They're basically entirely new games, since many or all recipes are changed and often they also added new buildings and materials. I usually really like trying to produce some new material, that maybe even gives me the ability to craft new buildings or new science packs. Vanilla just has very few recipes and it's mostly about just scaling everything up more and more, with modded runs it's often more about having more complex recipes which often simply require new materials.

One example would be bob&angel. There you have 6 raw res, that you first have to crush and sort, or before sortign you could refine it several times to get more rare ores out of it if you sort it, so you can get roughly ... 15? raw ores that you can smelt to ingots, then smelt into a fluid and then into a plate. Or you can refine the ore 2 more times to get double the ingots. And then you still only have regular plates, the ones you get my just smelting the raw ores directly. You simply can do so much more stuff and you might not even care about the rocket in the end anymore, since there's just so much stuff to do before you get anywhere close to it.

Though obviously you'll only have fun with these modded runs if you like the base concept of Factorio and enjoy more complex constructions. If you already get completely overwhelmed by the regular oil refining and don't want anything more complex this might not be something for you. Though I guess there also are easier full overhaul mods, like Krastorio 2, which is much closer to Vanilla. I think there are nearly 10 big and decent full overhaul mods out there? So probably enough content for a while, especially with mods like Space Exploration, which are just cruely long and tedious ....

...but yeah, I don't plan to play Vanilla again (without the expansion), since I also got too bored of it. I also don't like building megabases and try to launch a rocket every minute, or even quicker. I simply want to experience and build new stuff.

[Nonotorious]

You launch the rocket so you can science the science. If you love killing biters so much why don't you build big bertha, it's really nice to have a big range on artillery.

[Crayon Delicatessen]

Originally posted by Nico:

I personally played many full overhaul mods. They're basically entirely new games, since many or all recipes are changed and often they also added new buildings and materials. I usually really like trying to produce some new material, that maybe even gives me the ability to craft new buildings or new science packs. Vanilla just has very few recipes and it's mostly about just scaling everything up more and more, with modded runs it's often more about having more complex recipes which often simply require new materials.

One example would be bob&angel. There you have 6 raw res, that you first have to crush and sort, or before sortign you could refine it several times to get more rare ores out of it if you sort it, so you can get roughly ... 15? raw ores that you can smelt to ingots, then smelt into a fluid and then into a plate. Or you can refine the ore 2 more times to get double the ingots. And then you still only have regular plates, the ones you get my just smelting the raw ores directly. You simply can do so much more stuff and you might not even care about the rocket in the end anymore, since there's just so much stuff to do before you get anywhere close to it.

Though obviously you'll only have fun with these modded runs if you like the base concept of Factorio and enjoy more complex constructions. If you already get completely overwhelmed by the regular oil refining and don't want anything more complex this might not be something for you. Though I guess there also are easier full overhaul mods, like Krastorio 2, which is much closer to Vanilla. I think there are nearly 10 big and decent full overhaul mods out there? So probably enough content for a while, especially with mods like Space Exploration, which are just cruely long and tedious ....

...but yeah, I don't plan to play Vanilla again (without the expansion), since I also got too bored of it. I also don't like building megabases and try to launch a rocket every minute, or even quicker. I simply want to experience and build new stuff.

What a lovely response, thanks for taking the time to write this!

[shadain597]

Yeah, like Nico I find modded play to be more interesting than vanilla. Though if building production lines in vanilla is too annoying/complex for you than most overhauls are likely to be even worse for you. But you never know until you try, I suppose.

[Crayon Delicatessen]

Originally posted by shadain597:

Yeah, like Nico I find modded play to be more interesting than vanilla. Though if building production lines in vanilla is too annoying/complex for you than most overhauls are likely to be even worse for you. But you never know until you try, I suppose.

Einstein said never to memorize anything written down, trying to save my RAM space for important stuff. Perhaps the end of the road for me, we'll see. Much appreciate the followup.

[Cryten]

If your looking for something new then taking a break from something you are over exposed to is a good start. Nothing says you have to devote yourself solely to one game.

[BlueRock]

Possibly a small stumbling block that could further unlock the game for you? Not sure if it is you, but it is sometimes hard to take the first step on say connecting a wire from a tank to a pump or watching a video or two on train signaling. There can be some very simple setups that can take you much further with the game with much more enjoyment if you really love Factorio and would like to stick with it.

[Zinc Saucier]

Originally posted by Chronic AO:

I want to find something new and interesting to do, but I can't.

I always thought this game felt like someone wanted to create a tech-heavy version of Civilisation but stopped short of designing interesting hurdles. The enemies in this game are so boring and uninspired and they're the only things providing any kind of hindrance. The devs don't seem to understand what complexity is. Complexity isn't "more stuff that's a little different", complexity means a variety of parts, i.e. fundamentally different game changing mechanics. A good example of that would be the game Spore where as the game progressed your gameplay had almost nothing to do with previous stages.

[Galileus]

Originally posted by Zinc Saucier:

Complexity isn't "more stuff that's a little different", complexity means a variety of parts, i.e. fundamentally different game changing mechanics.

Like oil processing? Like dealing with Uranium? Like train networks? Like logistic networks? Like signals processing?

I find any of these tasks much more complex than any of the Spore stages, which all felt disjointed and awfully shallow. Sure, the game mechanics changes, but each still felt like a cheap mobile game.

Also, feel free to provide citation on how "complexity" has to be "game changing". Trying to pull that word out of gaming context and applying your rule should tell you why you are completely wrong on that one. Is math, physics, quantum theory not complex - because they are internally sound? Is a jet engine not a complex machine, because it follows same, simple rules all the time? And so on and so on.

Anyhow, hot take from you for sure, and it's fine, but it's hard not to read malice in it. I mean, accusing award-winning devs of game commonly considered "engineer pass time" of "not understanding" something is a bit much. Especially when you seem to misunderstand the meaning of the "complexity" yourself. Dislike the game if you must, but be fair.

[Zinc Saucier]

Originally posted by Ass Grenadier:

Anyhow, hot take from you for sure, and it's fine, but it's hard not to read malice in it.

Oh dear, I've upset the stans. I'm not going to argue with you about how language works. If you don't want to understand my criticism in good faith then why would I waste time giving you any attention at all

[Vyndicu]

Originally posted by Zinc Saucier:

Oh dear, I've upset the stans. I'm not going to argue with you about how language works. If you don't want to understand my criticism in good faith then why would I waste time giving you any attention at all

I read what you said and posted. I don't see anything that reads as criticism. I do read it as a list of personal preferences.

You claim that Factorio is devoid of any complexity. Yet, the poster Ass Grenadier correctly listed out several production chains and other subjects that are non-trivial and complex, which people obsess over the tiniest of details (do I use side-loading underground exit or filter inserter here?).

[Galileus]

Originally posted by Zinc Saucier:

Oh dear, I've upset the stans. I'm not going to argue with you about how language works. If you don't want to understand my criticism in good faith then why would I waste time giving you any attention at all

Because I provided a detailed analysis of why and how exactly your post comes around as malicious. To which you can respond, argue, clear up the situation... or confirm it by resorting to calling me a "stan" and ignoring everything I said.

Have it your way :)

[shadain597]

Originally posted by Ass Grenadier:

Originally posted by Zinc Saucier:

Complexity isn't "more stuff that's a little different", complexity means a variety of parts, i.e. fundamentally different game changing mechanics.

I find any of these tasks much more complex than any of the Spore stages, which all felt disjointed and awfully shallow. Sure, the game mechanics changes, but each still felt like a cheap mobile game.

Nice way of describing it, though you are a bit harsher with the criticism than I would be. Spore was really interesting when it came out, but likening it to several connected mobile games feels spot-on. It's weird to try to use it as an example of what a "complex" game should be vs Factorio. And the way he describes Factorio as a Civ game that doesn't have "interesting hurdles" makes me wonder if he's actually played any of the aforementioned games. . .

Don't get me wrong, I can understand the desire for a variety of gameplay, but as far as "complexity" is concerned. . . “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

[Crayon Delicatessen]

Originally posted by BlueRock:

Possibly a small stumbling block that could further unlock the game for you? Not sure if it is you, but it is sometimes hard to take the first step on say connecting a wire from a tank to a pump or watching a video or two on train signaling. There can be some very simple setups that can take you much further with the game with much more enjoyment if you really love Factorio and would like to stick with it.

Yeah I think I keep forgetting about trains, theres a lot of fun to be had there. With hives and frequency at 600%, I think its daunting to expand at times. Great concept.

[Galileus]

Originally posted by Chronic AO:

Originally posted by BlueRock:

Possibly a small stumbling block that could further unlock the game for you? Not sure if it is you, but it is sometimes hard to take the first step on say connecting a wire from a tank to a pump or watching a video or two on train signaling. There can be some very simple setups that can take you much further with the game with much more enjoyment if you really love Factorio and would like to stick with it.

Yeah I think I keep forgetting about trains, theres a lot of fun to be had there. With hives and frequency at 600%, I think its daunting to expand at times. Great concept.

Sorry for stealing your thread for a while, but hey, this post reminded me of something.

My fav mod "pack" was always RSO (Resource Spawn Overhaul) fine-tuned to be a much harsher version of Train World - with resources being spread apart FAR from each other. On top of that, drop Clockwork with REALLY long day/night cycle, I'm talking 30min up to 1h for the first night to come. Then Nightfall to stop Biters from attacking during the day - they will still build up though. Through game settings, make them spawn easier (more pollution or more biter production) and increase the starting zone (or you will die). Drop some UI mods to see the time too, it's crucial.

For extra fun, drop a better bullet trails mod. You will thank me, though probably through tears.

What ends up happening is - you get half an hour up to an hour to prep during each day, after which you will face endless waves of biters, not unlike Starship Troopers. It's a daunting challenge, but it mixes it up a lot from base game - while not really adding anything new per se. Not sure if it's up your alley, but if it is... well, good luck ;)