Ok, final update. It also runs under the i3 WM, which can be configured to work like ratpoison and is actually still maintained. So I've switched to i3, and this problem can be considered resolved.

After more testing I found that the problem does not occur when running under the Cinnamon WM. I normally run ratpoison WM. Now, I can't just switch to Cinnamon, as I have not been able to make it behave the way I want (run all apps fullscreen, no titlebars, etc.), so I'd really like to know what ...

I downloaded the 1.0 demo from the main page. This is on Arch, NVidia GTX 770 2GB VRAM, binary drivers. Starting the game produces console output ending with "Factorio initialized", after which nothing happens. I can hear the audio playing, but there is no UI. Breaking in from gdb shows the process ...