You say Factorio isn't a game about shooting things, yet probably the best way to be useful to a team game you've just joined is to fill your inventory with rai

You say Factorio isn't a game about shooting things, yet probably the best way to be useful to a team game you've just joined is to fill your inventory with rails, drills, and combat equipment and then point useful at the nearest unexploited ore patch and go forward until all the red spots between the patch and the factory are gone. Doesn't prove anything about your programming ability, but since the factory is always gonna be running out of some resource anyway you'll be perceived as useful