Factorio early game walkthrough: the way to ace your first hour

Struggling to get began in Factorio? Have your pals instructed you time and time once more concerning the joys of constructing factories, however you end up fully misplaced in relation to beginning your personal? Or maybe you simply need just a few tips on how one can get arrange even faster in your subsequent world?

Whichever of the above, this Factorio early game walkthrough is right here to assist. I’ll take you alongside for the trip as I play by way of my first hour or so of a brand new Factorio world; and in that point, I’ll present you the way to be productive together with your first steps, so you’ll be able to create a stable basis which you’ll then flip into a wonderful, pollution-chugging manufacturing facility.

Factorio early game walkthrough

Skip under if you wish to get caught straight into my Factorio early game walkthrough. But first, a few factors price rapidly mentioning:

• I’m utilizing a number of non-game-changing Factorio mods on this walkthrough (Bottleneck, Even Distribution, EvoGUI, and Squeak Through). All of those might be present in our Factorio mods information. None of them change the game, so that you’ll nonetheless be capable to use this walkthrough as a information in your personal games.
• I’m certainly not a Factorio grasp, nor a speed-runner. But I do have 850 hours in Factorio on the time of writing, and I understand how to start out robust in a brand new world. Hopefully you’ll acquire some use from this walkthrough.
• The seed for the world on this walkthrough is 759782236, if you happen to want to play alongside in the identical world as me.

Note: the rationale it says “Default [modified]” within the top-left is as a result of I set the Research queue availability to “Always”. The world itself has not been altered in any method.

Starting a brand new game of Factorio

First step is establishing your new world. If you’re the sort to depart your world as much as likelihood, then skip this part. Otherwise, there are some things you may need to search for when selecting your world:

• Plenty of close by iron, copper, and coal (and not less than just a little stone).
• All the ore patches clustered round your beginning space ought to ideally have a little bit of area between them.
• Green areas with loads of forest will assist take up some air pollution, which may give you extra time earlier than the Biters come a-knocking.
• Look for pure chokepoints to assist with defending your manufacturing facility, however make certain the area you’re left with is massive sufficient to suit every part you want.

I’d additionally suggest that Factorio inexperienced persons allow Peaceful Mode earlier than they start, as this may forestall Biters from attacking you till you assault them for the primary time.

Once you’re completely happy together with your world and game settings, let’s get began.

Step 1: Iron, Coal, Copper, and Stone

Your first steps ought to contain getting absolutely the fundamental sources up and operating. Here’s what I do:

• If there are massive rocks close by, then mine them earlier than you do the rest. These rocks offer you coal in addition to stone, and they’re by far the quickest option to receive these sources early on.
• You begin with a single drill and a furnace in your stock. Place the drill on prime of some iron, place the furnace adjoining in order that the drill feed immediately into it, and place some coal in each.
• Manually mine some coal whilst you anticipate the furnace to smelt iron ore into plates.

• When you get sufficient plates and stone, create a few new drills and place them in your coal patch, each feeding into one another. Then place 1 coal inside one of many drills. This gives an limitless supply of coal till each drills are crammed up. You can now periodically return and gather coal from these drills everytime you want extra coal.
• Continue to construct new drills and furnaces as you get sufficient plates, and place them onto your iron patch so you’ll be able to improve your iron plate manufacturing price.
• After you might have maybe 5 pairs of miners/furnaces on iron, place a brand new pair on the closest copper patch.
• Next, place a drill or two on stone, and have them merely output uncooked stone right into a chest.
• Continue filling your drills and furnaces with coal, and constructing extra of each, till you might have round 8-16 pairs on iron, 4-10 on coal (all feeding into one another), 1-Three on copper, and 1-Three on stone.

• While all this is occurring, chop just a few timber (prioritise timber which might be on prime of your ore patches, as they’ll should be eliminated anyway), and proceed to mine any massive rocks within the neighborhood.

The beginnings of Steam Power and Science

After you’ve acquired the fundamentals arrange on every of your 4 ore patches (which ought to solely take about 5-10 minutes), you’ll must get energy up and operating so you can begin researching new applied sciences. Here’s what to do:

• Build an Offshore Pump, a Boiler, two Steam Engines, and 10-20 Pipes.
• Find the closest supply of water which has a considerable amount of empty land adjoining, and place your Offshore Pump on the coast.
• At this level I like to put down a blueprint for my future Steam Power module of my manufacturing facility, so I can plan forward by way of area and sources. You can discover the precise blueprint I exploit on our Factorio blueprints information.

• Whether or not you employ a blueprint, join your Boiler to your Offshore Pump, and join your two Steam Engines to your Boiler (you’ll be able to chain Steam Engines collectively in a line with a Boiler on the sting, and each Engines will take within the Steam from the Boiler).
• Construct some Small Wooden Poles. Place one adjoining to your Steam Engines, after which place one or two extra, extending out in a line to a close-by patch of free area.
• Around your remaining pole, place two Labs. Then hit “T” (by default) to carry up your Research display screen, and choose Automation as your first tech to analysis.
• Craft 10 Red Science, putting them inside your Labs (cut up evenly between each) as and once you end crafting them, till the Automation know-how is accomplished.
• If you might have free time whilst you wait, test again in your ore patches, ensuring every part is fuelled and amassing any iron, copper, coal, and stone you’ve obtained.

• Generally in Factorio you’ll need to minimise the quantity of handbook crafting you do. But to try this, you’ll must analysis Automation, which unlocks the Assembling Machine. Once you’ve performed that, we will begin to make life simpler.

First steps in direction of automation

Want to know what “making life easier” appears to be like like? Check the screenshot under.

It could look advanced, however it’s lifeless straightforward to arrange, and it means you’ll by no means should manually assemble Red Science ever once more. In a nutshell, this tiny module turns iron plates into gears, after which turns these gears (together with copper plates) into Red Science, that are then fed into your Labs. Automatically. This is once you begin really enjoying Factorio.

• You will want: 3 Assembling Machines, 7 Inserters, 2 Iron Chests, and sufficient Small Electric Poles to energy all of it.
• Deconstruct your two Labs, since you’ll be utilizing them as a part of this development. Use the above screenshot as a information when putting every element, and ensure the inserters are all oriented accurately (use “Alt-Mode” to view all orientations by tapping Left Alt).
• Fill the highest chest with Copper Plates and the underside chest with Iron Plates. For the time being, you’ll must manually refill these chests when wanted.
• Once this automated analysis advanced is ready up, queue up the next techs on this order:
  • Logistics (offers you Underground Belts and Splitters)
  • Military (offers you the Submachine Gun)
  • Turrets (offers you Turrets… duh)
  • Electronics (required with the intention to analysis…)
  • Fast Inserter (once more, fairly self-explanatory)
  • Logistic Science Pack (offers you inexperienced science, which is required for many techs within the game)
  • Weapon Shooting Speed 1 (makes you and your turrets extra highly effective)
• You could discover that this meeting space will construct Red Science sooner than your Labs can use them. This being the case, all that you must do is construct a pair extra Labs and daisy-chain them along with Inserters, as per the screenshot under:

Your first challenge: Full Steam Power Module

So far you might have hopefully been filling up gaps in your time topping up your mining areas with coal, and amassing iron and copper plates out of your furnaces. But as soon as Logistics is researched you can begin to busy your self together with your first main challenge: increasing your Steam Power module.

• A single Offshore Pump gives sufficient water for 20 Boilers, which collectively generate sufficient steam to energy 40 Steam Engines. Steam Engines are bloody costly to construct manually, so we gained’t hassle with all of these but – however we will place down every part else in preparation, then add Engines steadily to satisfy our steadily rising energy demand.
• The blueprint I exploit incorporates two such Steam Power modules, and when crammed it’ll take us very comfortably by way of the early game and far of the mid-game too. The Boilers are fed by a belt of coal which we weave round units of burner inserters. These inserters will plonk coal into chests, that are then collected by extra inserters and positioned straight into the Boilers.

• Logistics is required for this blueprint, since you want Underground Belts with the intention to weave the belts across the inserters and chests. Make certain additionally to put down poles to be able to hook up all this incoming energy to your grid.

Preparing for the Biters

If you determined to allow Peaceful Mode, then establishing defences gained’t be as urgent a matter. But if you happen to didn’t, you then’ll need to begin establishing fundamental turret defences the second you unlock Turrets.

• The second you end researching Military, construct and equip a Submachine Gun in your primary weapon slot. The SMG is by far your strongest private defence software in the interim.
• The second you end researching Turrets, construct 10 Turrets. Place them close to your different buildings, specializing in the place you expect to be attacked (i.e. within the route of the Biter nests you’ll be able to see on the map).

• You’ll must hold these Turrets fed with ammo (in addition to protecting sufficient ammo in your individual to help with defences in a extra versatile method).
• To assist present sufficient ammo in your wants, it’s nicely price establishing a fast and soiled ammo-making module out of a pair of Assembling Machines. Fill a chest with Iron, have inserters transfer the iron into every Assembler, after which have the Assemblers output ammo into one other chest. See my instance under.

Keeping issues operating easily

At this level, there are some things which you could be getting on with, so it’s price simply rapidly outlining them right here:

• As all the time, proceed to test again in your ore patches, guaranteeing that they keep fuelled with coal, and taking any sources that your buildings have output since your final go to.
• Continue so as to add to your steam energy module as wanted. When you construct your first few Electric Mining Drills, place them on coal, to be able to begin to feed a belt of coal into your boilers.
• Be aware of Biter assaults. Check how your defences are holding up at any time when there’s a Biter assault, restore as needed with Repair Packs, and hold all of your turrets crammed with ammo.
• Research each know-how that requires solely Red Science. The order doesn’t matter an excessive amount of at this level.
• Keep topping up the chests that provide your Assembling Machines.

Your first full belt of Iron Plates

By across the 40 minute mark in my world, I’ve completed all of the pure Red Science techs, connected some coal miners to my Steam Power module, and adequately defended my base from the primary few Biter assaults. Now it’s time to embark on our subsequent huge challenge: placing collectively the primary full belt of Iron Plates.

• As all the time when embarking on a medium-to-large challenge, I’ll begin by plopping down a blueprint. This blueprint is a smelting module with 48 stone furnaces (the precise quantity that you must smelt a full yellow belt of iron plates). There’s additionally a load of belts, splitters, underground belts, poles, and – the most costly side of this module – 48 quick inserters and 48 long-handed inserters.
• Notice that there are two belt inputs for this module. They are interchangeable, however one have to be for Iron Ore (to smelt), and the opposite for Coal (to gasoline the furnaces). Make certain you orient the module in order that these inputs are pointing within the normal route of these ore patches, making it straightforward to hook them up with belts.
• You can assemble these 96 inserters manually (it’ll take about 7 minutes), or, if you wish to be really Factorian about it, you’ll be able to assemble just a little module to assist velocity up this course of. I didn’t really do that on the time in my world, I simply crafted all of it manually. But with this module, you’ll be able to learn to enhance on what I did.

• Pictured above is a really small Green Circuit development module. Later on you’ll be able to broaden it out and substitute the chests with enter and output belts carrying the related supplies, however for now this may do properly. The development of inexperienced circuits is what actually slows down the handbook crafting of inserters (to not point out Electric Mining Drills, which we’ll even be needing plenty of quickly), so place this module someplace close by, hook it as much as energy, fill the chests with copper plates and iron plates, after which periodically return to choose up the inexperienced circuits.
• With a pleasant stack of inexperienced circuits in your stock you’ll discover that crafting the inserters takes far much less time. Once that’s performed, it’s a easy matter of ending up your smelting module.
• Once the smelting module is prepared, that you must begin correctly mining your iron ore patch. You’ll want 30 Electric Mining Drills to refill a yellow belt with ore. There are all kinds of the way to put out your miners on a patch of ore, however that is how I love to do it:

• What you’re seeing listed below are good straight columns of drillswith belts between them, making the drills straightforward to rely and the belts straightforward to handle. The solely draw back is that the facility poles should be positioned in the midst of the belts, so that you’ll want to make use of underground belts to jump over every pole, rising the price of your complete module. But it’s price it.
• Make certain that you simply don’t place too many drills on a single facet of a belt at any time. It takes 30 drills to fill a belt, which suggests you’ll be able to have not more than 15 drills on a single facet. But apart from that, simply hook all of it as much as your furnaces, hook up your coal in the same method, and also you’ve acquired your first full belt of iron plates up and operating – all inside an hour.

Next steps – from early game to mid-game Factorio

This is so far as I’ve taken my walkthrough world, however I’ll finish this information with a number of subsequent steps to assist pave the way in which so that you can exit the early game and enter the mid-game.

• After your first full belt of plates (which ought to all the time be iron), the subsequent step must be to do precisely the identical with copper. With a full belt of every of those important sources, you’ll be able to dismantle your previous burner mining drills for good.
• To proceed with analysis, you’ll must automate Green Science. Once you might have a full belt of copper and iron prepared, it is a excellent time to put down our early game science blueprint from our Factorio blueprints information, and start to fill it in and hook every part up.
• With Science up and operating as soon as extra, it’s best to analysis in direction of Automobilism and assemble your first automotive. Suddenly your mobility is drastically better than earlier than, and also you’re higher in a position to reply to threats and transfer about your ever-expanding manufacturing facility.
• Fill up all ore patches within the fast neighborhood with drills (and, within the case of iron or copper, as many furnaces because it takes to smelt the ore into plates).
• Begin development of your primary bus. An excellent newbie’s primary bus ought to embrace 2-Four belts of iron, 2-Four belts of copper, 1-2 belts of inexperienced circuits, 1 coal belt, 1 metal belt, and 1 stone belt. This shall be your largest challenge thus far, however the excellent news is that when you’re completed, you’re just about within the mid-game. With a primary bus, you can begin to drastically improve the dimensions of your manufacturing facility and the manufacturing of absolutely anything you want.

Of course, whilst you’re doing all of this you need to be increasing your steam energy module to accommodate in your rising energy demand, and protecting your manufacturing facility well-defended in opposition to Biter assaults. If any Biters broaden to a brand new nest that’s too near your manufacturing facility, take your automotive out and destroy it earlier than it will get to deal any injury. Use Piercing Rounds and Grenades to destroy enemies rapidly.

After that? Just hold chasing the calls for set by your analysis, pal. That’s the end-goal – finishing sufficient analysis that you simply unlock the power to construct a rocket and end the game. Of course, when you get to that time you’ll be too hooked on Factorio to truly cease enjoying after your rocket launch. You’ll in all probability need to tear every part down and create an excellent bigger manufacturing facility able to launching a rocket each 5 minutes. Go forward! We’ll wait.

If you’ve any extra questions that want answering, maybe on a extra particular matter than I used to be in a position to cowl on this walkthrough, then make sure to take a look at our different Factorio guides by following the hyperlinks under.

• Factorio guide and top tips – Our sensible prime ideas for Factorio inexperienced persons.
• Factorio early game – How to ace your first weeks in a brand new Factorio world.
• Factorio mods – Here are the perfect Factorio mods we have ever used.
• Factorio console commands – The most helpful cheats in Factorio revealed.
• Factorio blueprints – How to make use of blueprints, and the very best blueprints we have discovered.
• Factorio power – Understanding oil, photo voltaic, and nuclear energy in Factorio.
• Factorio trains – How to make use of trains to catapult your manufacturing facility progress ahead.