4 ms·

As someone who tried it 5-6 years ago when it first popped up in my bubble, reached end-game and got bored, is there some summary of how the game has changed si

by zokier 6y ago

As someone who tried it 5-6 years ago when it first popped up in my bubble, reached end-game and got bored, is there some summary of how the game has changed since? Of course listing every single change doesn't make sense, but any big changes to the core game?

db48x 6y ago
The early prototypes really nailed the core gameplay loop. The biggest changes since then have been to smooth out the complexity of the various subsystems, vastly increase performance so that you can have a vastly larger factory, and to introduce new types of puzzles such as the nuclear reactors. Blueprints were added fairly early on, followed by straight-up copy and paste a few years later, and they really changed the game. In the earliest prototypes, doubling the speed of your research required manually placing down all the belts and assemblers in order to double the size of your factory. With blueprints doubling the size of your factory is a much higher-level puzzle of cloning the pieces and plumbing them together, rather than the lower-level grind of placing a thousand machines. Trains were added at some point as well, which gives you a long-range transport capability. The circuit network was added so that your factory can make automated decisions without your direct involvement. And the UI has been greatly improved as well.
- lurker458 6y ago
  in addition there are several mods that increase the depth of the production tree and materials used
  - db48x 6y ago
    True! I've been playing Space Exploration (https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration) recently.
  - osipovas 6y ago
    If you'd like to increase the depth of the production tree, consider checking out Pyanodon's mods: https://mods.factorio.com/user/pyanodon https://mods.factorio.com/user/pyanodon
dragontamer 6y ago
Endgame options have grossly improved. Overall, combat has been automated at endgame (artillery trains automatically destroy, and automatically explore the map for you). Nuclear bombs can be used to one-shot endgame biter bases. "Alien Tech" has been removed. All technology options are built traditionally, and now have 7-tiers with names. Red, Green, Grey, blue, Purple, Yellow, and White (aka: Space/Infinite research). Infinite research are ~7 or so techs at endgame which go on infinitely. +Weapon damage for the most part, but there is also +Productivity (which makes mines last longer and mine faster). In effect, the core gameplay loop has been extended into an infinite endgame loop. The late game techs are extremely powerful and automate everything that was boring ~5 years ago (ie: killing biters became boring. So its now fully automated with artillery trains).
- suyjuris 6y ago
  > Nuclear bombs can be used to one-shot endgame biter bases. Forget biters, nuclear bombs quickly remove large numbers of trees, which are the true enemy! On a more serious note, there have also been countless quality of life improvements, like high-resolution graphics, reworked UI, or copy-and-paste (literally just Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V, I have used it even without robots, its so convenient). If you have radar coverage, the map allows zooming in fully (rendered just like the normal view) and you can place blueprints and issue deletion commands anywhere on the map without moving. Incidentally, you can also order artillery strikes to play a 'prank' on your unsuspecting friend who is standing motionlessly. (Which is why I made a habit out of standing close to the most expensive thing in the vicinity.)

by zokier 6y ago

db48x 6y ago

The early prototypes really nailed the core gameplay loop. The biggest changes since then have been to smooth out the complexity of the various subsystems, vastly increase performance so that you can have a vastly larger factory, and to introduce new types of puzzles such as the nuclear reactors. Blueprints were added fairly early on, followed by straight-up copy and paste a few years later, and they really changed the game. In the earliest prototypes, doubling the speed of your research required manually placing down all the belts and assemblers in order to double the size of your factory. With blueprints doubling the size of your factory is a much higher-level puzzle of cloning the pieces and plumbing them together, rather than the lower-level grind of placing a thousand machines. Trains were added at some point as well, which gives you a long-range transport capability. The circuit network was added so that your factory can make automated decisions without your direct involvement. And the UI has been greatly improved as well.

lurker458 6y ago
in addition there are several mods that increase the depth of the production tree and materials used
- db48x 6y ago
  True! I've been playing Space Exploration (https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration) recently.
- osipovas 6y ago
  If you'd like to increase the depth of the production tree, consider checking out Pyanodon's mods: https://mods.factorio.com/user/pyanodon https://mods.factorio.com/user/pyanodon

dragontamer 6y ago

Endgame options have grossly improved. Overall, combat has been automated at endgame (artillery trains automatically destroy, and automatically explore the map for you). Nuclear bombs can be used to one-shot endgame biter bases. "Alien Tech" has been removed. All technology options are built traditionally, and now have 7-tiers with names. Red, Green, Grey, blue, Purple, Yellow, and White (aka: Space/Infinite research). Infinite research are ~7 or so techs at endgame which go on infinitely. +Weapon damage for the most part, but there is also +Productivity (which makes mines last longer and mine faster). In effect, the core gameplay loop has been extended into an infinite endgame loop. The late game techs are extremely powerful and automate everything that was boring ~5 years ago (ie: killing biters became boring. So its now fully automated with artillery trains).

suyjuris 6y ago
> Nuclear bombs can be used to one-shot endgame biter bases. Forget biters, nuclear bombs quickly remove large numbers of trees, which are the true enemy! On a more serious note, there have also been countless quality of life improvements, like high-resolution graphics, reworked UI, or copy-and-paste (literally just Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V, I have used it even without robots, its so convenient). If you have radar coverage, the map allows zooming in fully (rendered just like the normal view) and you can place blueprints and issue deletion commands anywhere on the map without moving. Incidentally, you can also order artillery strikes to play a 'prank' on your unsuspecting friend who is standing motionlessly. (Which is why I made a habit out of standing close to the most expensive thing in the vicinity.)