Just bought the game; What were Your first impressions?

[goqizugu]

first impression - I don't have time to study the game, where was it 10 years ago?
I spent the whole weekend grumbling about it, but I kept playing. my wife was not happy.

[rulssi]

First impression is that it's annoying to play.

Biggest issue: Inventory/Crafting window location. Move it away from the middle of the screen.

This is a simple tiny little thing to do, and the fact that it hasn't been done gives the impression that the devs don't actually test their code or play their own game. If I were coding this, it would be the first thing to fix after testing the code for 2 minutes.

Other issues:
- Scroll the game window without always centering on the character.

I'll give it a couple hours to see if it clicks for me at some point, but honestly the window in the center of the screen issue just makes me more annoyed with the lazy devs every time it opens. Stupid me bought it on a whim. If I'd played the demo I never would have paid any money for it.


Edit: next issue is that the tutorial just stops a few minutes in.

Before calling someone lazy you could you know.. try to drag the inventory window to try moving it around like most people who play games on a computer.

[parkkk]

Mine was solar panels
I can`t forget how beautiful and Magnificent my first solar panel power production center was

[Deltasig]

First impression is that it's annoying to play.

Biggest issue: Inventory/Crafting window location. Move it away from the middle of the screen.

This is a simple tiny little thing to do, and the fact that it hasn't been done gives the impression that the devs don't actually test their code or play their own game. If I were coding this, it would be the first thing to fix after testing the code for 2 minutes.

Other issues:
- Scroll the game window without always centering on the character.

I'll give it a couple hours to see if it clicks for me at some point, but honestly the window in the center of the screen issue just makes me more annoyed with the lazy devs every time it opens. Stupid me bought it on a whim. If I'd played the demo I never would have paid any money for it.


Edit: next issue is that the tutorial just stops a few minutes in.

Before calling someone lazy you could you know.. try to drag the inventory window to try moving it around like most people who play games on a computer.

Is there a way to make the window open in a different spot? I've had this problem but I'm tired of dragging said window away from the middle each time it opens.

[Koub]

Is there a way to make the window open in a different spot? I've had this problem but I'm tired of dragging said window away from the middle each time it opens.

Not yet : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12392

[Deltasig]

Wow 2015... you would think this would be an option by now. I don't know enough about coding in C so maybe I shouldn't be passing judgement.

[Cat]

My first impression when i saw people's screenshots was like... meh

Then after watching some videos I was like... okay, interesting

Then the next day after I bought the game and check my steam playtime, my impression is ...


I regret for not buying the game before the price got increased, but all in all it's still money well spent

[bealefay]

my first impression is that I am getting old, my brain is too lazy to study such a volume of information.
but then I broke my leg and I had almost no choice

[CaptainSlide]

So I might be a bit late for a first impression review, but I'll tell you anyway.

I tested out the demo like 5 years ago and thought I'd come back to it when it had more development. I was bored and still waiting on updates to other games and I saw a review online of Factorio and vaguely remembering it decided to try it out again. That was mid October 2019. I played the demo and immediately bought the full game. According to Steam I now have some 1010 hours of play time (my wife hates you BTW). So you could say that my first impressions were favorable.

Since then I have played several Vanilla games and installed various mods to do different things, Playing Warptorio 2 at the moment as I like the constricted environment which forces you to build efficiently in a compact space. FWIW I am generating an average of about 150 Space Science/m and only using about 50% of the allotted space, which I think is pretty good.

The biggest thing that keeps you playing is learning the tech tree and figuring out the best ways to do stuff, this sense of discovery is perhaps the best part of the game. Personally I am kinda story/mission driven, rather than big sandbox open ended type of play so I find the post rocket launch a bit grindy for no purpose, I might have to try the Space Exploration mod for some more reasons to play.

You really need to add Aluminium to the mix (too much work now I guess) as some of the recipes just don't make sense using copper and steel (light weight structures for example) but that's my only complaint (I manufacture stuff for a living so I see holes like that). Interface is good, graphics basic, as in 2D but frankly I think that works better than 3d would anyway and makes the games visuals kinda unique these days.

I have read the FFF about the tutorial and as someone who has only played .17 I found it excellent, I don't know what the old version you are reverting to is but I can't say that it is necessary to do so.

Anyway my 2c and thanks for a great game. Even after 1000 hours I am still finding new features and new ways to do things. Thanks also to the modding community as they have made some great stuff to extend the game.

Suggestion: Research to extend the range of weapons, we have damage and rate of fire, why not range?

Slide

[bc74sj]

Its a insanely good game.

The only control that confused me or seemed out of place was as other has mentioned the enter vehicle. its just what?? you have to move either hand like a half keyboard lenght. Enter is just such an odd and random key for anything. Especially since most of the time i need to get into the vehicle ASAP!. Because big bad ALIEN MOFO's are chasing me

Remember Chef in Apocalypse Now? Never get out of the car/tank/boat!

[bc74sj]

First impression is that it's annoying to play.

Biggest issue: Inventory/Crafting window location. Move it away from the middle of the screen.

This is a simple tiny little thing to do, and the fact that it hasn't been done gives the impression that the devs don't actually test their code or play their own game. If I were coding this, it would be the first thing to fix after testing the code for 2 minutes.

Other issues:
- Scroll the game window without always centering on the character.

I'll give it a couple hours to see if it clicks for me at some point, but honestly the window in the center of the screen issue just makes me more annoyed with the lazy devs every time it opens. Stupid me bought it on a whim. If I'd played the demo I never would have paid any money for it.


Edit: next issue is that the tutorial just stops a few minutes in.

Lazy Devs? You must be new here.
This is one of the most polished and the 3rd highest rated games on steam.
I'm amazed if you've only played a couple hours that you even joined the forums.
If a menu window keeps you from playing this wonderful game, you should probably go roll around in your salt pile a bit more.

[bc74sj]

Few millions players are playing this game and almost none of them complains about place where inventory/crafting window is. So it's not that devs didn't test the game. It's because small part of the players want to have it somewhere else.

Edit: alternatively it could remember where such window was moved and next time open in same place So everyone could place it where they want to.
Also there could be some small button to move it to the default position.

I think it is intentional to torture the handcrafters
Once you automate everything then who cares about inventory!

[orzelek]

Its a insanely good game.

The only control that confused me or seemed out of place was as other has mentioned the enter vehicle. its just what?? you have to move either hand like a half keyboard lenght. Enter is just such an odd and random key for anything. Especially since most of the time i need to get into the vehicle ASAP!. Because big bad ALIEN MOFO's are chasing me

Remember Chef in Apocalypse Now? Never get out of the car/tank/boat!

Basically only thing I remap from default controls - usually to middle mouse button or one of additional ones.

[cukeremu]

the first impression was that she had great potential. Do I have enough time for this game? if I start playing it, will I have a wife and children or will I grow old in it? stuff like that

[qikitepu]

The first impression of the game has not changed in a few years - it's worth it!

[androjine]

I bought it a week ago, friday and decided to stream again after about 6 months offline.
I played/streamed the game 37 hours the first week-end
Since, I play not less than 5 hours each day and amazed how this game is cleverly developed

Congrats to the dev, keep going !

[greyguy1012]

hello everyone!
i just installed on steam and have not played yet.
but i already know i'll like it. what brought me to factorio is the online community.
i will post here later or edit this with actual first impressions......

edit: I have a few hours under by belt. i ran the campaign to get the basic controls and i started a new game.
first impression? factorio is great! a balance of complexity and simple control. i haven't done much yet and haven't even completed my first research. but i am sure i will love this game.

[ijm]

I absolutely adore this game. I Just launched my first rocket at 100 hrs played in a little over two weeks. I'm sure there was a weekend or two in there somewhere. I spent a day designing a 10 Centrifuge catalytic system and now have 14k U235 with nothing to use'm for. Lockdown doesn't seem so bad with factorio !

First impressions: I have a LOT left to learn, and I know the dev's have lots on their plate trying to get v1 out the door so take these with a large pinch of salt!
* Need more stuff! Oil processing is .. too small .. I want more things to do with oil !
* Need more things to research. There were many hours with research idle as I worked to get the next science pack automated.
* No Aluminum? No rare-earth metals from uranium refining ?
* Biters are pretty dumb. Static D was more than enough to handle anything they could throw at me. However expanding was hard, grindy, and time consuming.
* Soooooo many train deaths, any chance of rail-crossing signals?
* Train signals are simple, but insane to debug. The signal placement UI needs a legend to say what the different colored lines mean, and "no path" error needs to highlight all the red signals, on both the screen and maps, that are part of that decision. It doesn't need to fix it for me, I just need to know there was an extra signal occluded by that there tree placed by a miss click. Seriously that took hours to find.
* Combinators are really cute, but insane to debug.
* There's a power spike with artillery: it goes from really hard to expand because its hard to get the range on big spitters, to utterly cleared out automatically-no-more-worries as far as the eye can see. Maybe only automate firing to areas seen by active radar ? Maybe a rocket launcher turret as a intermediate step?
* Electricity distribution and management is too simple while,
* Fluid distribution is too complicated.

I need to read more of the forums and reddit, explore existing mods, and see about writing some of my own!
This is seriously the best $30 I've spent !

[Ranger_Aurelien]

* Need more things to research. There were many hours with research idle as I worked to get the next science pack automated.
* Biters are pretty dumb. Static D was more than enough to handle anything they could throw at me. However expanding was hard, grindy, and time consuming.

Well, as you get more fluent in the tech tree your research queue will be ahead of the flash production. Btw, you did enable Research queues in the map generation?

I enable it at the start in the Advanced tab:
https://wiki.factorio.com/World_generator

You can also change the Biter growth rates there if you find them too easy...

* Soooooo many train deaths, any chance of rail-crossing signals?
* Combinators are really cute, but insane to debug.

Oh, some others and I were recently experimenting with different crossing systems. You can use combinators to raise gates to protect players when trains approach:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=85051&p=495404#p495404

* Electricity distribution and management is too simple while,
* Fluid distribution is too complicated.

Electricity can become slightly complicated if you want to isolate circuits... I would often have a small priority coal plant whose ONLY function is to provide power to the inserters for the main plant...
Also, as you start to deploy a solar/accumulator system, having a coal system on standby can be useful... (hunting down the LAST steam plant on the grid can be annoying, particulalryy if you are trying for that achievement...)

Fluids -- mainly use pumps to push fluids where you need them most, and know silos can help..

...

[Serenity]

* Need more stuff! Oil processing is .. too small .. I want more things to do with oil !
* No Aluminum? No rare-earth metals from uranium refining ?

I feel like the end game items need some more complexity. For example for low density structures you could have aluminum instead of copper and add some new chemical from a more complicated oil processing system.
Rocket fuel could also do with some extra fluid to make it more of a step up from solid fuel

Unfortunately they recently went the opposite way and dumbed down oil processing. So I doubt anything like that will ever happen. They rather want a more streamlined game

* Soooooo many train deaths, any chance of rail-crossing signals?

Easy to do. Just read a rail signal and if it's red you know that a train is there

The signal placement UI needs a legend to say what the different colored lines mean

The colors by themselves don't mean anything. They are just there to differentiate the rail segments

because its hard to get the range on big spitters

Try the rocket launcher. You need lots of ammo, but they have quite some range