Personally I feel like Factorio reveals a principle I also see at my day job. Automation is exhausting. ;-)
The Factorio Mindset
21–30 of 358 posts
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#22I often encounter this issue when it comes to programming-like games. I’m wondering if I should adjust my thinking here. 1) Hmm, this game is a lot like programming. A lot like it. 2) Maybe I should just program? That is real work & I can get done more work done, be more productive. 3) [stopped game, started programming]
What other games are like programming?
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#23I have over 5000 hours in Factorio. I am part of a group where several of us are over 5000 hours. Some of us have Autism. Some of us have ADHD. Some of us have both. The majority of us are in the tech industry. The companies we work at have been made to understand that the factory must grow.
Factorio should be the interview test ;) Tech’s Ender’s Game. (factorio fan, but with little time to enjoy it)
If you could figure out how to hook up Factorio to AWS APIs and get kids to build/maintain your org's infrastructure...
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean, out of most of the analogy examples posted to HN, Factorio is actually a good one. The observations that the writer makes are all immediately apparent when you fire up the game, and there isn't anything here that I'd call a "deep cut" or a strained metaphor. Factorio can literally be renamed "Iterative Development: The Game" and players wouldn't find anything confusing about any of it.
>I mean, out of most of the analogy examples posted to HN, Factorio is actually a good one I think all the analogies I've seen are good. The problem is they're obvious. They don't really bring anything new to the table. Great you identified an analogy. Big deal?
And yet, there's always at least one HN reader who makes a comment in every popular thread that the original post is irrelevant in some way.
Still, it never seems to stop people from doing it despite not "bringing anything new to the table" with their comment. So why do it?
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#25Going to give a shoutout to
https://anuke.itch.io/mindustry
and
In particular, mindustry can actually run scripts within the game to automate a lot of things. If you like factorio you're going to like these 2 games.
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#26Dyson Sphere Program is a similar type of game, with prettier graphics.
The logistical puzzles in it are... Unfortunately, a lot less interesting (And these games, by design, are all about logistical puzzles. Feeding stuff into an assembler isn't interesting - getting your stuff to the point where you can feed it into an assembler is.)
The logistics network is too powerful, pilers don't really change how items move around, and fluids/gases/solids are treated the same.
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#27I often encounter this issue when it comes to programming-like games. I’m wondering if I should adjust my thinking here. 1) Hmm, this game is a lot like programming. A lot like it. 2) Maybe I should just program? That is real work & I can get done more work done, be more productive. 3) [stopped game, started programming]
I've found myself following a similar thought progression. For me, the difference is that in Factorio I can decide to completely refactor my base and not have to deal with any angry stakeholders or teammates that disagree with my direction.
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#28Gah, this happened to me literally yesterday, where I started a new Factorio map and had to close it after like an hour because I knew a) how much time I'd be able to sink into the game and b) how similar it was to my day job, which means I could just do my day job and feel 90% of the satisfaction while also earning money doing it.
Rarely does an article online hit me as directly as this one does, good work.
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#29I often encounter this issue when it comes to programming-like games. I’m wondering if I should adjust my thinking here. 1) Hmm, this game is a lot like programming. A lot like it. 2) Maybe I should just program? That is real work & I can get done more work done, be more productive. 3) [stopped game, started programming]
Factorio is just different enough from programming that it doesn’t trigger that reflex for me.
It is more about physical layout and queuing than programming.
Re: The Factorio Mindset
#30I often encounter this issue when it comes to programming-like games. I’m wondering if I should adjust my thinking here. 1) Hmm, this game is a lot like programming. A lot like it. 2) Maybe I should just program? That is real work & I can get done more work done, be more productive. 3) [stopped game, started programming]
What other games are like programming?
Pretty much any Zachtronics game, for one.