I don't understand how people make these perfectly complex factories.

[Qdude]

You start off with nothing, therefore things have to be relatively scuffed and disorganized. When people get the things they need to create these massive factories, do they just destroy everything and restart? Do they move to a whole new location with a fresh slate? Does even the prettiest of factories have these gross unorganized areas? How would you set up an early factory that won't be difficult to work with later on?

[Liobuster]

its usually rebuilding or in the most extreme examples they know which alternates they want and set up factories to produce with them and then hunt and savescum to get them

[The Big Brzezinski]

Planning tools help a lot. It's easier to organize production lines when you know how big they'll be beforehand.

[CursedPanther]

When these players show off their near perfect production complex layouts to the community, it's reasonable to think they've already sunk a lot of time in the background before reaching near end-game state. Basically, all the things you've listed.

Satisfactory and the genre in general isn't some game you expect to rush to perfection in a handful of hours. Veterans spend hundreds if not thousands of hours to work and rework everything in order to reach their ultimate goals.

[Mr. Ape]

Most of the neat factories you see online are made in creative mode

[MadSciSlack]

Hey, I'm streaming Satisfactory tomorrow at 1:00 pm PST. I'd love to do a tutorial episode, or even a new factory start with someone or a group of people :). I have hundreds of hours in game, and have a few larger factories under my belt in both creative and legit gameplay.

[Mojo]

If you watch ImKibitz (think that is how he spells it) on YouTube. Part of what you said he does. He starts of with a mess somewhere off from where he wants his main site, builds up what he needs to get going on his mega build and eventually he will do away with the older part or build that area up to match his "perfect factory". Also over time you get an idea of how you need to lay things out so if you start over your next build is going to be better laid out. Then the one after that will be better than the last 2 you did etc etc... :)

[sansee]

I'd imagine that everyone starts messy since you don't have the resources to build what ever you want in the beginning. I usually wait until I've unlocked Mark 3 belts before even consider making a proper factory since Mark 3 is relatively fast to get, and it's a long way up to Mark 4, so essentially it's a sweat spot. Until then everything is almost like a dish with spaghetti and meatballs. :D

Then I start on a new location and use the first base/factory to get supplies from until the new one is completed, then I eventually just sink everything left in the first base (or leave something behind in case I want to build there or near it again, sort of like a remote supply base).

Due to the state the game's in they don't want to add much too fast, but if you want more building options there are plenty of mods for designing your factories beyond what already is in the game. like moar factories: https://ficsit.app/mod/Czne9oqDvu9xVu

That and it comes with a lot of practice and experience making good looking and functional complex factories. Personally I'm not there yet... hopefully one day.

And I also recommend ImKibitz, he and "let's game it out" have a lot of good content to learn from. If it wasn't for ImKibitz I wouldn't even have started playing this game.

[draco2tiamat]

I still have my "messy' factory but after awhile you reach a point and start optimizing in new places. Like i just "finished" a mega factory that produces all of the space elevator stuff.

[Kraft51]

Originally posted by Mr. Ape:

Most of the neat factories you see online are made in creative mode

uh no, i've never once used a "creative mode" ... either via Mod or Save Editor. most neat (not sure the context you're using for this word, do you mean Tidy? or Looks Cool?) factories are built by individuals such as myself that obsess over concise factory layouts that produce @ 100% efficiency. as others have mentioned a lot of this comes from many hours of experience. with that also comes a bit of muscle memory regarding some of the more common layouts a player may use, planning is a large part of this also and knowing how machines fit together so you can have clean factories.

not sure what makes you assume players with some imagination require a "creative mode" to build impressive factories. thats almost like saying every talented minecraft builder only plays creative mode. just because you can't imagine doing all that work doesn't mean it can't be done.

[Calisthra]

If you're a Factorio veteran you know that your original 'starter base' is only a springboard to your megabase. The starter is useful insofar as it provides the resources to build the bigger complex. I see this as not so different in that respect.

[Maehlice]

Originally posted by Qdude:

How would you set up an early factory that won't be difficult to work with later on?

Without any experience in the game, it would be pretty hard for a new player to start a factory that's "easy" to upgrade (which I define as not needing a complete tear-down).

If you set up a manifold for each step of the process, you can stack machines side-by-side for as long as the map is wide. Input comes off a belt into chained splitters, and output leaves into chained mergers.

Each line of manifolds can be easily redesigned by simply adding more machines and/or changing the input belt(s) to the first splitter and output belt(s) from the last merger.

Almost every redesign I've done was because I found a cleaner/tighter way to move materials or just wanted something different (cooler) to look at.

[Samtana]

Originally posted by Kraft51:

Originally posted by Mr. Ape:

Most of the neat factories you see online are made in creative mode

uh no, i've never once used a "creative mode" ... either via Mod or Save Editor. most neat (not sure the context you're using for this word, do you mean Tidy? or Looks Cool?) factories are built by individuals such as myself that obsess over concise factory layouts that produce @ 100% efficiency. as others have mentioned a lot of this comes from many hours of experience. with that also comes a bit of muscle memory regarding some of the more common layouts a player may use, planning is a large part of this also and knowing how machines fit together so you can have clean factories.

not sure what makes you assume players with some imagination require a "creative mode" to build impressive factories. thats almost like saying every talented minecraft builder only plays creative mode. just because you can't imagine doing all that work doesn't mean it can't be done.

Before either of you can say "most" you'll have to provide some sources for your information. You can think whatever you want based off your experience, but that doesn't mean it's accurate.

[Carl the Sasquatch]

Personally I prefer my "bowl of spaghetti" style factory. It has more character. :)

[Mvelon]

Everything is relatively easy editable after you get to mid tier range if you just leave alot of space within your factory sections. Alot of seem to build tight and small which only makes it a mess and hard to renew later on

[ZombieHunter]

My factory is a giant cluster.... I'm assuming those pretty factories were done in creative mode.