Have Some Questions Before I Buy.

[Phillip_Lynx]

i want to know what kind of games do you have

Complete off topic here. Look in this thread.

[nobody427]

Does this game require a constant internet connection? I recently moved way out in the country where the internet is prohibitively expensive. I can go to a friends house to download but if I'm required to log into a server to play then I'm out of luck.

[sillyfly]

No.

Multiplayer naturally needs net connection (but you can have LAN multiplayer games), and if you get the Steam version the cloud synchronization may take significant data, but you can always turn it off.

[nobody427]

Awesome. Thank you.

[Koub]

[Koub] Merged to sticky topic for "questions before I buy"

[sivistojko]

Hello guys, I'm about to buy my own copy of the game but I need to ask a few questions and this seems to be the topic for it.

I played Dwarf Fortress a lot and Factorio is exactly like it in many ways. The problem I had with DF was 1. bad optimization which inevitably leads to fps death no matter what; and 2. it is ultimately pointless. Now the second thing I mentioned is highly debatable because it relies on personal preferences. However, what I wish to know is Factorio a game where building all those cool and creative stuff that has no purpose? Please, answer me honestly, will I be making robots just for the sake of it, or will be able to do something with all the things produced? What exactly is the objective of the ultimate factory you build?

[Koub]

Factorio is heavily optimized, there is little a low perf computer, wouldn't allow you to do. However, as all limitless (or close to) games, there is also always a way to build such a huge base that even a top notch gaming rig will eventually not be enough.

Concerning the pointlessness or not of the game, it's really a matter of what you like. If you feel a game needs a "You have won the game" at some point, you'll feel frustrated with Factorio, because even if there is actually such a thing, when you get it for the first time, well it's like a little meh. However, Factorio is the kind of games where the how you achieve it will be the most important. Like a Sim City for example. there is always something to do to.

[purdueme91]

Hello guys, I'm about to buy my own copy of the game but I need to ask a few questions and this seems to be the topic for it.

I played Dwarf Fortress a lot and Factorio is exactly like it in many ways. The problem I had with DF was 1. bad optimization which inevitably leads to fps death no matter what; and 2. it is ultimately pointless. Now the second thing I mentioned is highly debatable because it relies on personal preferences. However, what I wish to know is Factorio a game where building all those cool and creative stuff that has no purpose? Please, answer me honestly, will I be making robots just for the sake of it, or will be able to do something with all the things produced? What exactly is the objective of the ultimate factory you build?

Having not played DF I cannot comment on the gameplay of that. Right now the end goal of factorio is to build a rocket with a lot of science required and a lot of resources. Dev's have said the end game will be reworked in future versions. I think the only other way to win the game right now is to research everything. So there isn't a kill xxx biters condition or destroy xxx bases or reach xxx gold pieces like other strategy games. That I think is the only real weakness of this game.

Right now my focus is on speed runs to try to get to the 8 hour target when 0.13 releases. So you are constantly optimizing your factory to produce more things faster. Then you fix one area and find out you are lacking in another. You are building stuff so that you can unlock better stuff to make your job easier and quicker. You'll want to build robots just because they are cool and you'll miss them in the playthroughs where you don't use them.

So then after you build rockets a few times there are some really incredible mods out there. Bob's mods is my current favorite as it turns the complexity up to 11. I want to try Homeworld next as that one adds more stuff to do but at the same time giving a purpose throughout the game (sending resources back to your dying homeworld). Or there is RSO which forces you to build trains and lots of them. Or just tweak the initial map settings to make ores poor and biters abundant.

I guess what I'm trying to relate is that there are multiple ways to play this game. You won't get stuck in do this first then this, skip this thing then go to here and you win on the highest difficulty. I'm 300 hours in and it still doesn't seem stale to me.

[Zackreaver]

I am very interested in the game but I have a few questions/concerns before I actually buy it.

First off, my friend told me that after you do a few runs in the game the process begins to get repetitive. I was just wondering how long into the game do you guys feel it gets a little boring? And are there good mods that could alter game play enough to enhance the replay value?

Secondly everyone talks about making the most efficient factories, are there multiple ways or "setups' to be used to achieve the same level of efficiency of others builds? I guess my point being is there enough room for creativity to the point where there is multiple ways to achieve the same goal.

Lastly how friendly is the learning curve to newer players? I don't have allot of time to just sit down and watch/read tutorials. I was hoping that I could jump on for a few hours and try to improve my builds or factories and there being enough things to do that will keep me interested. Hope you guys could help me out.

And yes I played the demo but still just want the opinions of people who own the game.

For the first one, thats sorta the state I'm in right now, but let me tell you that it's still worth buying it. There are development plans down the line that are going to remedy this and make the late game much more enjoyable. I'm hoping for the RTS mode late game where we can control a robot army to fight the bugs. So go ahead and buy it to support development to that state, there is alot to do up until that point, and version 0.13 is coming out soon which is going to make flamethrowers awesome!

Secondly, if markiplier can make his shitty factory and still have it work, then you can design your factory however you want. Putting together a factory efficiently is dependant on how efficient you want to be, creativity is pretty high here because you can decide where everything goes and it's pretty flexible.

Lastly, I didn't use any tutorials to figure the game out, it's pretty straightforward and easy to learn.

Also, there are tips that show up whenever you load a single player game, I suggest reading all of them at some point, they teach some pretty awesome things for speeding things up and making things more fun.

[Cyres]

I made it sticky, cause that question comes about every 2 month.

Oh no, that means you have to answer this... every 2 month

[thereaverofdarkness]

the Games just cots 20 Bugs.

I found 20 biters in my cot the other day...


...thank God I have laser turrets in my house because the park management doesn't approve of keeping live ammunition around.

[SirLANsalot]

Best part about this game, is when your base reaches that point where you fix one thing and it breaks another, then you fix that only to find you need to adjust something somewhere else, and so on and so forth. Its like putting out a bunch of little fires all at once, and that is not to mention the biter (enemy) problem that slowly creeps up on you as there evolution factor (they get harder the longer the game goes) grows.


Its a logistics game mixed with a tower defense game.

[nonstickfrypan]

It's a drug

[Nitt]

I have recently purchased the game after playing the demo. Bit of an RCT/Sim City fan. Mature age player. $20 didn't seem too bad a spend on a game which you could be obsessed with or have in your library to revisit every now and then. It's also an Indie developer, so I have a bit of a soft spot. Purchased via Steam.

Playing vanilla, resisting the urge to start a new map. My aim is to use the map I started with to its potential. Plenty of mods which will help if looking for other aspects (monitoring, efficiency, etc.). Have started in peaceful mode with large map, rich resources so combat or shortages hasn't been an issue. Plenty of options available at map setup.

It's a logistics game. You rely on creativity to improve the logistics of the game. There are a multitude of designs out there but are they the best? Can you improve on them? There is no one correct answer.

My personal experience has shown the community to be helpful and constructive. The community wants the game to succeed. There is plenty of info in the forums to point you in the right direction, whatever the question.

Think Sim City on an alien world. Can/will you create the technology for you to escape?

[Andrzejef]

Think Sim City on an alien world. Can/will you create the technology for you to escape?

Bah, why should I escape - because I smash some biters once in a while? Think about it - lush, pristine tropical world. A perfect holiday spot

EDIT: Also a question - maybe someone will answer it, and let my troubled mind rest for a while (well despite the fact that I ask after I bought)- why is that I see little girl's face in alien artifacts? Does she have a name?

EDIT2: Heh, seems I asked a killer question

[francessmith]

This is nice..

[arcturus_88]

I feel like after three or more runs, it starts to get repetitive. After that you need to use mods if you still want interesting content.

[climer00@gmail.com]

me and my wife want to play this together. do i have to buy two copies?

[Grimakar]

me and my wife want to play this together. do i have to buy two copies?

Yes

[Dasani]

I don't think the learning curve is very steep at all, at least to get to the point where you can mass produce things. It sort of gradually works you up to the more complex objects you need to create but any given thing never needs more than 4 objects to be built. Those objects might need other objects used to build them, but that can be done in another location then belt them in.

As far as how repetitive it gets... I guess that is very subjective and differs from person to person. When I started a new game with a buddy of mine just to show it to him, we played that game for 7 hours straight that night. And it's not too uncommon for me to spend 3-4 hours at a time building on my factory and expanding it. I tend to binge play this game where i'll play it long hours, every day, for a week or two, then i'll kind of want to do something else. But after a couple months, I get that itch to build another factory or expand on one of my already massive ones, and I always come back. It's very fun.

For efficiency and creativity... I mean I think that is part of the fun of the game honestly. I would argue that there "is" a most efficient way to do things. For example to pump out the maximum number of circuit boards you need 1 and a half assemblers making copper wiring to every assembler making circuit boards. Things like that. I won't tell you what I do or what most people do, because I feel that kind of robs you of some of the experience of the game.

Look, your first factory is going to suck. It's going to be grossly inefficient, it's going to handle tiny quantities of materials you're constructing, but it won't matter because you're going to love building it and you're going to feel accomplished having it produce things for you. It's going to be rather haphazardly thrown together. As you play, you'll think of ways to make it more efficient, ways to incorporate more resources and produce more products, and so on. If you went and looked up guides on youtube or looked at pictures of efficient layouts, you'll get better at it faster, but honestly I feel that does rob some of the experience of playing from you. It's kind of like playing a puzzle game and looking up all the answers online instead of figuring it out for yourself.

That said, even after you get good at it and know the most efficient ways to do things, you can still change and modify your designs. You can build things differently, though you may not want to.

The only thing I find repetitive that I don't particularly enjoy is killing biters. Having to invest in military tech to go out and kill them and taking the time to do so is a bit tedious for me and not very enjoyable. You do have the option of playing without biters, which i do sometimes, but there is something enjoyable about watching an endless enemy get eradicated on your defensive walls. Also I love to put up walls and turrets around my expansions. It makes them look more pleasing to the eye with walls, gates, lasers, etc. I like having my robots repair damage and replace destroyed objects. I like the logistics of having supply trains that stop at each of these places to drop off replacement parts and additional repair packs to be used. Having the enemies turned off make that whole bit pointless and make me sad. So I do enjoy the game more with enemies than without, I just find the process (and requirement) to kill tons of huge nests to be a little taxing to my patience.

But on the whole, I love this game. Over 1,000 hours logged in it. I do think you have to be a particular type of person to really get the most out of it though. You gotta like designing and automating things and just watching them work.

Mods are interesting. I typically don't like to mod games I play because sometimes they just get too far out there... But I am running one that allows you to produce combat robots that go out and hunt for biter nests and destroys them on their own. I really wish this would be added to the base game. I like the idea of it a lot but it's slightly buggy and not perfect. Lots of other mods out there for all sort of things though.

I'd also add in i'm very cynical and jaded by PC game developers. They always want your money up front, before the product is even finished, then take it, release something crappy and half-finished, and then abandon it. But these factorio guys have really impressed me and I can honestly say they're my favorite game developers in the industry because they genuinely care about the game and work tirelessly to improve on it. Every single friday you can see a friday facts post go up where they talk about what they're working on and how it's going and so on and you get to see the upcoming changes ahead of time. New stuff is being added constantly, all the time. I remember when tanks first came out... and trains... Those were both new features after i'd already paid to get this game. The game didn't even have an ending when I bought it. But all that stuff was added and improved upon and so on. I still remember when multiplayer was released. I was very excited until I realized, I had no friends who played factorio! But I did manage to get a couple of them playing it and we had many hours of fun doing that together as well.