This I could have writtenDasani wrote:spoilerI 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.
I am totally with you. Only difference: I started when tanks were patched in already, I am using zero mods and I am playing only 600 hours now^^
Another edit: Factorio is made in Czech, a country which has the slightest chance of being embargoed by the US, therefore I never recommend playing Factorio via Steam and that you immediately backup your Factorio download files this moment if you do.))
Also, he isn't the only wild card out there; backing up Steam installations will also protect you from more common problem-causers like Bruce Balfour, Derek Smart, and Sean Murray.