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What is interesting about Factorio

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Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#31

Post by baddox »

fouc wrote: post #6

As someone that stopped playing games in university, I've found it weirdly hard to get back into games many years later. Factorio seems like the type of game I would've liked as a teenager, but now it just feels like work to me. As do most interesting games. It seems like there's a learning curve to games that I don't want to spend the time dealing with anymore.

That’s exactly where I’m at. Played games nearly constantly until the instant I got a full time job and could actually afford a nice computer. Now I just watch other people play games online because I can’t bother to keep up on the computer hardware scene.

Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#32

Post by Polylactic_acid »

percentcer wrote: post #9

I think the biggest hook for Factorio is that it's an _actual_ visual programming language. So much of what we do day to day ignores this (dominant!) mode of perception. It's extremely refreshing to be able to simply look at a system to reason about it. (as an aside, I think this is also why the Zachtronics games are so effective)

I seriously struggle with factorio, You have to have a seriously good planning ability to create something that doesn't instantly turn in to a spaghetti. I always end up having to scale up things and then having no room. I find text based programming to be much much simpler. If I need to add more somewhere, I can, my text editor will push everything else out of the way.

Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#35

Post by ivankirigin »

Mengkudulangsat wrote: post #18

This game made me empathize less and less with environmentalists. Forests are an impediment to a transport network. Wildlife are pests. Renewable energy has extremely low ROI.

Solar + storage lowers your pollution and the pests.

I wish there were a way to restore the environment like planting trees in order to also remove the pests.

Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#37

Post by xixixao »

This is a good write-up, and the most interesting point is about self-efficiency. It kills me to see software engineers not use multi-paste or multi-cursors. But I agree this is “human nature”. I have totally proven this to myself when I tried “lazy bastard” play through (the rule is once you basically get the first assembling machine you’re not allowed to craft in inventory). It wasn’t annoying, it was actually much more pleasurable and less stressful, because I set up automated process for everything. That’s what Factorio is about, and it is a very educational game (also a severe time suck).

Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#38

Post by tasogare »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #32
percentcer wrote: post #9

I think the biggest hook for Factorio is that it's an _actual_ visual programming language. So much of what we do day to day ignores this (dominant!) mode of perception. It's extremely refreshing to be able to simply look at a system to reason about it. (as an aside, I think this is also why the Zachtronics games are so effective)

I seriously struggle with factorio, You have to have a seriously good planning ability to create something that doesn't instantly turn in to a spaghetti. I always end up having to scale up things and then having no room. I find text based programming to be much much simpler. If I need to add more somewhere, I can, my text editor will push everything else out of the way.

True. But much like you can use external libraries in your game, you can search and copy (or take inspiration from) designs posted online.

Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#39

Post by 013a »

whatanattitude wrote: post #7

Look up Satisfactory

Satisfactory is interesting in its own way. It'd be easy to initially think that its the better/easier game to get into for someone who hasn't played a game like this before, but I'd argue the opposite. The three-dimensionality introduces logistical insanity that is startlingly difficult to wrangle, and the first person viewpoint makes planning the factory floor very difficult. The terrain is also a constant challenge, whereas the terrain in Factorio is generally pretty easy to work around.

But, the world design is totally incredible; it begs you to explore every nook and cranny, and its non-random, so you can link up with friends and share secrets you've found. There's far more super-fun goodies to unlock, like the hypertubes or bounce pads.

Its just different, and I think someone who enjoys one would enjoy both. I tend to tell people to start with Factorio, though; its simple, yet infinitely deep. After about 50 hours in there, you'll gain a new respect for some of the simplified mechanics and fun-factor of Satisfactory; 50 hours there, and you'll gain a deeper respect for the nefarious complexity of Factorio. They complement each other perfectly.

Re: What is interesting about Factorio

#40

Post by jaggederest »

I found

> There's gotta be some innate machine-focused "interest in things" that this is tapping. I've never taken apart or rebuilt a machine, but this gets me anyway.

fairly sad. Factorio is fun, but it's a pale shadow of the experience of making even relatively simple machines work better or differently. Even getting a 2-stroke motor that has a dirty filter running again is immensely satisfying.

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