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How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

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Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#301

Post by Filligree »

RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #245
satvikpendem wrote: post #35

I know lots of people who play Factorio but for me, I guess it just feels too much like work? Whenever I play it, I get the distinct feeling that I could instead do the same thing but productively instead, such as by contributing to my OSS projects (sometimes, maybe even for profit instead). I never got into these types of programmatic games for precisely this reason but I'd like to understand other perspectives on t…

It’s funny because I don’t enjoy Factorio for the same reason you do - it quickly feels like work - but I never get the feeling I could be doing something more productive instead. I just think the core gameplay loop of Factorio is tedious and that it’s specifically designed for people who don’t mind that. The gameplay is fun at first. You have a ressource and something you want to produce. You look at the ratio of th…

If that’s how you want to play it, there are mods such as factory planner which will support that playstyle.

Meanwhile, yeah, at least half my time is spent working around earlier mistakes. A main bus always works, but spaghetti is what makes the game fun.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#302

Post by archerx »

satvikpendem wrote: post #35

I know lots of people who play Factorio but for me, I guess it just feels too much like work? Whenever I play it, I get the distinct feeling that I could instead do the same thing but productively instead, such as by contributing to my OSS projects (sometimes, maybe even for profit instead). I never got into these types of programmatic games for precisely this reason but I'd like to understand other perspectives on t…

I feel the same way, I was building something in a game 10 years ago and I thought to myself, “I’m putting all this effort into this game and at the end I won’t really have anything to show for it and this feels like the same energy I use when programming, let me program instead”.

This thought changed me from someone who plays games to someone who makes games.

The only real game I find entertaining and fun these days is Rocket League, everything else feels slow and boring or I could be using this energy for something else.

Not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#303

Post by archerx »

scott_w wrote: post #200
dartos wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When making software that's supposed to be used, you can't mess around that much. At the end of the day, someone has to use it and if its weird it'll be bad. This makes me sad. You don’t need to make software for mass appeal. Git is weird and bizarre (especially when initially released), but it’s used and well loved.

> You don’t need to make software for mass appeal. Some people, like myself, enjoy writing code but need a purpose to write code. If I don’t have a reason, or problem to solve, I can’t just sit down and start coding.

Useful does not mean mass appeal. The software I got paid the most to write is used by a handful of people on a manufacturing site and 99.9999999999% of the public will never see it.

It solved a problem they had and I’m proud of it but yea it’s incredibly niche and useful to a very select few people.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#304

Post by bowsamic »

hluska wrote: post #266
bowsamic wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s boring to play CoD instead of Factorio?

No, it’s boring to use cheap personal attacks (like I responded to) instead of actually engaging. If I wanted to read that, I could find it in YouTube comments.

"Good for them, fortunately I'm not a trucker."

How is that a personal attack?

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#305

Post by cjbgkagh »

esperent wrote: post #188
cjbgkagh wrote: post #147

I like that it’s similar to work and that is probably why it is my favorite game. Sometimes I don’t have the intensity needed to attack a hard problem at work so I chill out and work on my factory instead. Once I notice that I’m becoming too ambitious in the game I can tell that my intensity has returned and will switch back to work. If I don’t have the energy for factorio then clearly I won’t have the energy for wor…

Maybe it depends on the work, but for me, writing code, there's always loads of low intensity work to be done. Minor refactors, improving code clarity, writing docs, replying to technical emails etc. For me, the energy level at which I'd enjoy a game like Factorio (which I did briefly try) is exactly the energy level at which I'm most productive doing this kind of work.

I work in applied research so it’s prototypical, fiendishly difficult, and always pushing the limits of my ability. I do mix in light duty work to try to help me get back into the flow and build up a head of steam but I don’t have enough of that kind of work. For me time spent in factorio reflects sub optimal organization usually due to not feeling 100%. It’s currently the best adjunct I’ve used to help manage my energy levels so I don’t begrudge the time spend in it. As I’ve gotten better at managing energy levels I do spend less time gaming. At ~100hrs per year and decreasing I think it’s unlikely that I’ll ever make a major dent in space age but I’m ok with that. I really only bought the new DLC as a thank you to the game devs.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#306

Post by fwip »

RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #245
satvikpendem wrote: post #35

I know lots of people who play Factorio but for me, I guess it just feels too much like work? Whenever I play it, I get the distinct feeling that I could instead do the same thing but productively instead, such as by contributing to my OSS projects (sometimes, maybe even for profit instead). I never got into these types of programmatic games for precisely this reason but I'd like to understand other perspectives on t…

It’s funny because I don’t enjoy Factorio for the same reason you do - it quickly feels like work - but I never get the feeling I could be doing something more productive instead. I just think the core gameplay loop of Factorio is tedious and that it’s specifically designed for people who don’t mind that. The gameplay is fun at first. You have a ressource and something you want to produce. You look at the ratio of th…

If you're looking for more novelty, there are a lot of mods that add cool new complexities.

I like the Seablock pack - the core premise is that you crash land on a water world, and need to extract all your resources from water. The production loops are much more complicated (you start having to deal with byproduct management just an hour or two in), but in return there's almost no enemy time pressure. It also includes some ingame recipe-planner mods, so it's easier to plan-then-build.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#307

Post by Hikikomori »

mft_ wrote: post #268

I've started and re-started Factorio several times, and always enjoy it... up the point where an automated train network is necessary. Here, I always run into problems, and no amount of researching or fettling of the setup seems to guarantee that my trains work. Sometimes they do... often, I have to drive them manually. Anyway, if you like Factorio, you might also enjoy Mindustry: simmilar-ish, less constructional de…

Satisfactory is also good.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#308

Post by pcl »

medstrom wrote: post #225
0points wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It fascinates me how someone like you manage to build all these tooling to run your house, but still struggle with > need to remember to load the grocery list before leaving the house that has the server in it ^ remote access and > better hope your phone doesn't decide for you that the page needs to be unloaded on the way ^ unreliable tech

What would you do?

I’d use tailscale or WireGuard for remote access, for starters.

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#309

Post by fsmv »

fragmede wrote: post #199
mikewarot wrote: post #195

Is there a similar game that lets you place logic gates and do computing? Bonus points if it's open source.

Nandgame and nand2tetris both take you on a journey from discreet transistors to a computer, in the form of a game. There's also Zachatronics games' TIS-100, and Shenzhen I/O.

nand2tetris is a book/course not a game lol I loved it though

Re: How 'Factorio' seduced Silicon Valley and me

#310

Post by fwip »

psygn89 wrote: post #111
balls187 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same. Factorio was fun for a small bit but it really just felt like a job, same with Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, etc. After beating prepatch PCR, I switched back to Call of Duty for a bit.

Same with me. When I was younger I was able to just enjoy myself without mixing irl thoughts. Unfortunately these days as an adult if I'm stuck in a game or have to chip at it in some tedious fashion, a part of my brain goes "you can spend this time learning something new or productive irl". I think my attitude changed the games I play also. I used to play MMO when I was younger but FPS games give me that dopamine ru…

It's important to have time for yourself. You might want to think about scheduling some, if it feels like you can only really relax when you're sick.
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