Re: Pymods Feedback

Hello there pyanodon... here it goes...

Disclaimer:
I am playing on "old" 0.16, Coal / Fusion / Hightech / Industry Py setup (+many quality of life mods along) with current map at 390 hours (no biters)

Why i chose PY:
So after Bobs/Angels/Youki and longest playthrough being roughly 150h i was looking for the "ultimate challenge" and at the same time something which will reward me with some majestic "eye-candies" along the way. Your mod was a "spot on" logical candidate.
First attempt and experience however went a bit sideways... I was overconfident that i can take anything, after such deadly combo as Bobs+Angels, however your mod proved me extremely wrong. Long story short... fighting biters, expanding base, expanding power and pushing research race to defend myself was lost after some 30 hours. I unlocked laser turrets however my base was falling apart, power outages and constant need to scale production in all directions in enormous rate turned to be beyond what i can do alone in reasonable time while defending. (and this was with very careful setup of map and "convenient" starting resources) Maybe i had the chance but it would be huge uphill fight spending most of my time "gaining small steps" in territory while barely surviving with almost no technological progress. I am not any amazing factorio player however i would say with some 500+ hours in vanilla and mods i didnt expect to fail so hard.

After few months of PY being always somewhere there, laughing at my failure i couldnt resist to give it another try... but with a bit different mind-set this time. After a painful lesson that PY is not one but dozen complexity levels above any factorio mod i played i chose to go peaceful way. Biters as a game challenge is dwarfed by complexity of PY so much i turned them off with absolutely no shame. I was usually the first one to argue that for "full experience" these small buggers need to be there no matter how easy or hard it is, but not this time. PY by itself is a hell and heaven at the same time. I would say you really and truly need to love this aspect of the game to go with it. Everyone get a taste of it in vanilla factorio, a small piece with mods but a whole "cake factory" with PY. Now after 390hours, 30 reactors, 20+ trains buzzing around, 8000 solars, 2000 furnaces, 15 000 inserters, 3 000 miniloaders i am up to some 20 high tech science packs /m. I had to gradually "yield" some of more "cheaty" mods as the mentioned miniloaders, adjustable inserters, far reach, ultimate belts (currently using 200items/s tier 7) to not go insane fighting throughputs and resource requirements. I am not happy for some of these decision but so far everyone i showed and explained "the situation" agreed its almost vital requirement. (otherwise my base would be 4-5 times bigger and explode my already powerful PC)

Closing words:
For those looking for ultimate challenge... this is it... final destination with a cherry on top... you need to be up to the task which is many levels above any other mod experience out there. Saying word "complex" for a mod was a standard which "we" people who love and mastered factorio even with mods forgot long time ago... PY however brought a new "level cap" for us... and its not just few levels up... after 390 hours i am only now scaling up last step of research and there are so many things i skipped entirely to play with later (high tech toys). I must say i enjoyed every step of the progression... even simple thing as "circuits board" require almost all RL components in huge numbers... and all made from RL materials along all required infrastructure. Consider that these chains alone for this simple "board" will take you as much space to build as entire vanilla factorio "medium base'. And i am not joking. There is a strange satisfaction feel when you know its still scaled down compared to RL yet closer then any mod out there.

And the graphic/sprites! PY and his team created absolute masterpiece. From super entertaining and satisfying animations, very fitting design of buildings up to true eye-candies you will spend many minutes just watching. Vanilla Factorio animations are spot on extremely satisfying to watch, as you can almost feel the machines working creating a deep immersive bond with player. PY is proudly on same level.

And the sounds, man, seriously just walking through alleyways of sawmills or chemical plants aggressively sizzling in all direction while pumping gases left and right is a whole new level of "ambient music" for your game.

All above elements turn me back to a little excited boy when i am placing a new building for the first time.
Very high quality sprites, animations, sounds and very deep meaningful complexity is still keeping me exited after 390hours... and thats definitely a huge achievement for a mod in my eyes. Factorio is not my only or even top game i play... so the fact that this mod can bring me back and provide such vibrant-long-satisfying experience is simply amazing.

[edit]
TL;DR complexity is the main reason why i chose your mod, its a BIG continues challenge. It doesnt stop after you finish vital part as in other mods. Provide steady steep challenge no matter which way i chose to go. Continues satisfaction. Realism (in some sense) of how are some products made also big plus. Apologies if i wrote most of it too broad...
Statistics: Posted by masterzh — Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:59 am