Factorio Forums

you must try it with low resources and high enemy count, it's way better. i was a bit disappointed after my first rocket as well (that it was 'easy') but when i started playing on harder settings the game got MUCH better, at least for me.

To easy... and beyond?

Well it depends on the sort of game you're looking for. I have enough shooty games so I don't play Factorio for that, I like to play with more technical challenges.

For example, try doing a run without placing any belts. Early game will be a bit gruelling and once you get to bots you're going to need to ensure your logistic network is top notch, but it would make for some interesting design possibilities. You will need to lay out your assemblers with logistic chests in mind instead of belts, and once you've got a little "module" for crafting a component such as circuits you can drop it anywhere in your base. In fact having production spread out using passive provider chests would actually be beneficial for high-volume components.

Another example, try the Towns approach. No main base, just outposts. Have an outpost responsible for smelting (or do that next to the miners), an outpost dedicated to research, an outpost dedicated to circuits, an outpost for oil and oil products, etc. I'd recommend trying to do this either with mods for transporting fluids or wait for 0.15 but it's a fun challenge for Bob's Mods.

Wall off an area, early in the game. You are not allowed to build outside that wall. You can't turret-creep or gather resources or use trains or anything. The only thing you can do is go outside (in a car/tank or on your own) to collect alien eggs.

Get to launching the rocket. I guarantee it's possible to do, with less than a radar-size piece of land, if you use your brain, and throw away these concepts of "I'll just build the optimal number of everything and slap it down in a huge amount of space where nothing ever overlaps".

And then you'll realise you have to estimate your resource usage properly at the start: Capture enough iron, copper, coal, stone, oil and water within your initial catchment. And you have to work towards walling it off and defending it without just being able to eliminate the source of the enemy, and without sucking up all your resources doing so.

Much more "realistic" scenario, I feel, when the current story is that you've crash-landed on a planet and need to get a message out via satellite for rescue. You aren't going to be just taking over the world and building a mega-factory. You're going to secure a location and pray you have enough to survive.