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As a non-programmer who occasionally has to write terrible scripts to make my job a little easier, this game is the PERFECT manifestation of why my code ends up

As a non-programmer who occasionally has to write terrible scripts to make my job a little easier, this game is the PERFECT manifestation of why my code ends up looking the way it does. Step one: solve a small problem with a script Step two: scale the solution to the problem to make it repeatable Step three: optimize a part of the solution to improve the process Step four: scratch head at why problem is no longer solved after attempted optimizations Step five: isolate the changes and fix the problem in isolation Step six: put changes into original solution to try and fix what I broke Step seven: Google for answer as to why I can’t get it to work Step eight: copy and paste solution only to make things worse Step ???: remove all changes and get angry that nothing is working anymore Restart

elihu 6y ago
I think in the factorio 1.0 release thread awhile back there was a comment about it being weird that the game is fun when it's a lot like the kind of (less fun) work they do in their actual job, or something like that. This made me think about my actual job (software developer at a large tech company), and why is it that it's not as fun as factorio? What's the difference? I think a big part of it is visibility. If factorio were like my job, I'd only see my own small corner of the map. The rest of the megabase would be continuously refactored by thousands of other players, and largely hidden from view. Occasionally problems would arise; sorry, no more red circuits this month, but here's some iron and copper and plastic. We've doubled our rocket control module quota. Various incompatible versions of schematics would be emailed back and forth and posted on wikis, and using them in your own situation would always require some sort of belt spaghetti because their setup is just a little bit different than yours. There'd be occasional high-level directives from senior executives explaining what goal everyone is working towards. Our competitors are launching their rockets on time. Logistics bots would go AWOL periodically. Random objects would show up on the wrong belt occasionally, no one really knows why. How did this fish get here? Every team would have their own opinions about the most aesthetically pleasing way to arrange power poles. At least I can be thankful that my day job doesn't require flame turrets, artillery wagons, and occasional nukes. I wouldn't mind driving a spidertron to work, though (once the pandemic is over and "driving to work" is a thing again).

elihu 6y ago

I think in the factorio 1.0 release thread awhile back there was a comment about it being weird that the game is fun when it's a lot like the kind of (less fun) work they do in their actual job, or something like that. This made me think about my actual job (software developer at a large tech company), and why is it that it's not as fun as factorio? What's the difference? I think a big part of it is visibility. If factorio were like my job, I'd only see my own small corner of the map. The rest of the megabase would be continuously refactored by thousands of other players, and largely hidden from view. Occasionally problems would arise; sorry, no more red circuits this month, but here's some iron and copper and plastic. We've doubled our rocket control module quota. Various incompatible versions of schematics would be emailed back and forth and posted on wikis, and using them in your own situation would always require some sort of belt spaghetti because their setup is just a little bit different than yours. There'd be occasional high-level directives from senior executives explaining what goal everyone is working towards. Our competitors are launching their rockets on time. Logistics bots would go AWOL periodically. Random objects would show up on the wrong belt occasionally, no one really knows why. How did this fish get here? Every team would have their own opinions about the most aesthetically pleasing way to arrange power poles. At least I can be thankful that my day job doesn't require flame turrets, artillery wagons, and occasional nukes. I wouldn't mind driving a spidertron to work, though (once the pandemic is over and "driving to work" is a thing again).