You don't need mods for getting a working sandbox. In the main menu, go to Single Player -> New Game -> Sandbox At map creation, to get a lab-like environment, deactivate all resources (you can create them manually), deactivate all terrain, deactivate enemy bases, deactivate pollution. Go to play, ...

Thanks everybody! Super helpful.

The good news: I'm not sure I've ever loved a game as much as Factorio. The bad news: all this clicking is murder on my wrist tendinitis. I'm 200+ hours into my first playthrough because I'm pretty sure the early game won't be possible without my beloved bots. So I'm looking for an early bots mod th...

Great input, thanks so much to all! I’ve been stumped by this for a few days, admittedly way too focused on something like perfection. Some great quick solutions here to get me over the hump as well as more advanced ideas to come back to. Look forward to playing with these tomorrow.

Hello all, first post here...started playing the game a few weeks ago and I've had the common experience of not having seen the sun or or other humans ever since. I'm a tinkerer by nature and insatiably curious, so this game is like crack. Super rewarding to walk around the factory and see things hu...