“The factory must grow.” It’s a mantra that each one Factorio gamers know – or not less than they need to. But it’s one factor understanding it, and fairly one other to place it into motion. The fact is that it may be difficult for brand new gamers to know simply learn how to develop their manufacturing unit from nothing into an energy-guzzling, environment-poisoning behemoth of effectivity and automation.
Our Factorio information for 1.0 hopes to unravel this drawback for brand new gamers, as we delve into our prime 15 Factorio suggestions masking the whole lot from high quality of life enhancements to constructing methods, and far more.
Factorio information: 15 prime suggestions for freshmen
Factorio is a gigantic game with tons to study earlier than you’ll be able to create a colossal manufacturing unit, however there are many little suggestions and strategies you’ll be able to make use of to assist velocity up your progress and get you began on the suitable foot.
Here are our 15 prime suggestions for Factorio gamers who’re simply beginning their first manufacturing unit:
- Set to Peaceful Mode for an easier start
- Set your Research Queue availability to always
- Plan your goals out ahead of time
- Don’t be afraid to spread things out
- Use both sides of your belts
- Know the most useful ratios
- Make sure you have enough power before starting a new project
- Get yourself a vehicle as soon as possible
- Make use of blueprints
- Don’t rely too heavily on manual construction
- As your factory grows, consider building a main bus and mall
- Don’t get complacent around Biter nests
- Learn how to use trains
- Learn the hidden functions of basic objects
- Use mods to expand the game and improve quality of life
Tip #1: Set to Peaceful Mode for a better begin
While you may be the one human on the whole planet in Factorio, you actually aren’t the one residing factor. Indigenous creatures known as Biters will begin to assault you as your manufacturing unit grows and begins to pollute their dwelling – and so they could make life fairly tough for you, notably within the early game earlier than you’ve correct defences arrange.
If you’re simply beginning with Factorio, we’d advocate you set your first world to Peaceful Mode within the game choices. This implies that Biters gained’t assault you till you assault them for the primary time. This provides you tons extra respiratory room to increase your manufacturing unit and get arrange with some fundamental weaponry and defences earlier than you go and choose a battle with the closest Biter nest.
Tip #2: Set your Research Queue availability to at all times
Another good choice to set earlier than you’ve even began your first game is to move into the Advanced tab of your game setup and set your Research Queue to be at all times accessible. For some motive, by default you’ll solely have the ability to queue up analysis when you’ve completed the game (by launching your first rocket) – however that simply appears unusual to me. Why not have this good little high quality of life function from the very starting, as a way to queue up all of your desired applied sciences within the analysis tree forward of time as an alternative of getting to hop again into the analysis display each time you end your newest know-how?
Tip #3: Plan your targets out forward of time
Factorio is an extremely open-ended game, and there may be little or no hand-holding. So, it’s as much as you to set your individual targets.
Your end-goal is to construct and launch a rocket, however that’s far too massive a mission to deal with in a single step. What we’re speaking about after we say “goals” is the subsequent tiny step you’ll be able to take to develop your manufacturing unit, ideally one thing you’ll be able to full within the subsequent twenty minutes or maybe the present play session.
If you want some assist determining what your preliminary targets ought to be initially of a game of Factorio, it’s best to completely try our Factorio early game walkthrough information!
Tip #4: Don’t be afraid to unfold issues out
A key mistake that new Factorio gamers make once they begin their first manufacturing unit is that they don’t unfold issues out sufficient. Factorio worlds are staggeringly massive, and also you at all times have greater than sufficient room to house out smelting modules from mining patches, and depart loads of room for belts and later enhancements to your manufacturing unit.
Problems come up for those who construct your manufacturing unit too compact: usually, you’ll end up having to deconstruct way over essential to be able to make a easy change to 1 a part of your manufacturing unit. So don’t be afraid to unfold issues out.
Tip #5: Use each side of your belts
Belts are fantastic issues in Factorio. They are unbelievably versatile, and you need to use them to do nearly something you need on the subject of delivery precise portions of sources in precise orders to precise positions.
But for now, let’s simply begin with one highly effective lesson about belts which freshmen could not have realised: you need to use both sides of a belt to hold various kinds of sources. For instance, if you wish to get an iron smelting module up and working, you’ll be able to feed it with a single belt carrying iron ore on the left and coal on the suitable, fairly than having to make use of two separate belts for every useful resource.
Tip #6: Know essentially the most helpful ratios
In order to take advantage of environment friendly factories doable and be perpetually freed from useful resource bottlenecks, you’ll must commit not less than a few helpful Factorio ratios to reminiscence. I’ll listing just a few beneath:
- Red belts and blue belts are 2x and 3x quicker than yellow belts, respectively.
- It takes 30 Electric Mining Drills to fully fill a yellow belt with ore (excluding Uranium).
- It takes 48 Stone Furnaces (or 24 Steel Furnaces) to smelt a complete yellow belt of ore.
- The optimum ratio for steam energy is: 1 Offshore Pump to 20 Boilers to 40 Steam Engines.
- The optimum ratio for solar energy is: 25 Solar Panels to 21 Accumulators.
- The optimum ratio for oil cracking is: 20 Advanced Oil Processing to five Heavy Oil Cracking to 17 Light Oil Cracking (however simplifying the ratio to eight/2/7 will work properly sufficient for many implementations).
If none of that is sensible to you but, don’t fear. It’s right here for when it turns into relevant to you and your manufacturing unit. For extra helpful ratios I’d advocate you check out the Factorio Cheat Sheet on-line, which lays out many ratios in a helpful visible format.
Tip #7: Make positive you’ve sufficient energy earlier than beginning a brand new mission
Over the course of many tons of of hours enjoying Factorio, I’ve seen that new tasks are typically cut up into smaller phases, and the primary section of just about each new mission ought to be making certain you’ve sufficient energy to accommodate your upcoming builds.
The overwhelming majority of your manufacturing unit requires power to run. There are a number of totally different doable sources of power – some renewable, others non-renewable. Our Factorio power information incorporates the whole lot you’ll want to learn about these various kinds of power and the way to make sure your energy manufacturing at all times exceeds your energy demand.
Tip #8: Get your self a automobile as quickly as doable
You know the way all through historical past sure innovations and discoveries have catapulted civilization forwards by an order of magnitude every time? Well, Factorio is similar – and the primary true leap ahead in my thoughts comes whenever you acquire your first automobile.
Traditionally, your first automobile will probably be a easy automobile. But this automobile instantly means that you can journey immense distances far quicker than you can ever do earlier than. It means that you can extra shortly increase your manufacturing unit and cope with Biter threats. Getting your first automobile is the purpose the place I might say Factorio’s early game ends and its mid-game begins; and so I might heartily encourage you to race in direction of this aim as shortly as doable.
Tip #9: Make use of blueprints
Blueprints are a godsend in Factorio, and one of many game’s precept high quality of life options. If you’ve seen that it exists however you’ve by no means seemed into it since you don’t actually know what it’s about, then it’s best to completely check out our Factorio blueprints information so you’ll be able to see precisely how blueprints could make your life a lot simpler.
Tip #10: Don’t rely too closely on guide building
This was a mistake I made all through my first few Factorio games: I might manually assemble far an excessive amount of, after I may have spent 5 minutes placing collectively a little bit assortment of assemblers and inserter arms to automate the method.
The drawback isn’t that guide building is slower (in truth, till you get to tier Three assemblers, guide building is quicker). But you’ll be able to solely assemble one factor at a time, whereas with assemblers you’ll be able to assemble dozens and even tons of at a time. If you place an excessive amount of inventory in guide building like I as soon as did, you’ll end up having to attend 10 minutes in your guide building queue to complete so you’ll be able to construct that one further furnace you want for the job you’re doing proper now. Trust within the assemblers. Automation is the overarching theme of Factorio.
This instance of a major bus was taken from YouTuber KatherineOfSky‘s excellent Steam guide on the topic.
Tip #11: As your manufacturing unit grows, take into account constructing a major bus and mall
The Factorio neighborhood has provide you with so many good concepts over time that Factorio has been in Early Access. Prime amongst these concepts are the primary bus and the mall, each of which can assist dramatically enhance the effectivity of your manufacturing unit as you head into the mid-game.
- A major bus is a big, orderered assortment of belt strains carrying varied fundamental sources in a single course. Its goal is to make it very straightforward so that you can increase your manufacturing unit by drawing in your major bus for easily-accessible sources.
- A mall is a bit of your manufacturing unit which is devoted to the automated building of varied ceaselessly used objects, comparable to belts, inserters, miners, and extra.
The building of a major bus and a mall is a key side of Factorio’s mid-game, and one thing it’s best to plan forward for (when it comes to house and the provision of things) if you end up first establishing your manufacturing unit.
Tip #12: Don’t get complacent round Biter nests
Biters are quick, vicious, plentiful, and greater than able to fully fucking up your plans for those who don’t deal with them with due respect. And that is true of just about each stage of a Factorio game, as a result of as time goes on, Biters won’t solely increase and settle new nests, however they can even evolve into far stronger sorts.
You’ll must evolve with them to be able to defend your manufacturing unit from the threats that Biters pose. And don’t get complacent in these moments the place you’re forward of the curve. You could have found that circling nests in your automobile and throwing grenades out of the window is an effective way of coping with Biters in the intervening time, however quickly they’ll develop too sturdy for this tactic, and until you’re cautious you’ll be overwhelmed. Be cautious round Biters. Seriously.
Tip #13: Learn learn how to use trains
I touched upon the ability of trains earlier when speaking about automobiles in tip #8, however trains are so highly effective a software in your manufacturing unit that I must make it into its personal devoted tip. There is a lot that you are able to do with trains – not solely does it allow you your self to journey huge distances within the quickest doable method, however when you perceive sufficient about practice methods you’ll be able to create networks of wagons that routinely transport sources throughout your whole manufacturing unit.
If you need to uncover learn how to use trains to dramatically enhance the effectivity of your manufacturing unit, look no additional than our Factorio trains information.
Tip #14: Learn the hidden features of fundamental objects
Factorio is stuffed with nifty little superior options and features of fundamental objects which you’ll not realise or perceive at first. But they’re indispensible in sure conditions for making your life simpler.
Here are a few examples: do you know that you could click on the purple X inside a chest, after which click on one of many chest’s storage slots to restrict how a lot that chest is allowed to be crammed routinely? Or that you could click on on a belt splitter and prioritise the left or proper lane for each enter and output, and even have the splitter prioritise a specific sort of merchandise?
Try clicking on totally different on a regular basis constructions in Factorio and enjoying round with what is obtainable of their UI. You could discover a cool new function that makes life simpler for you when designing and optimising your factories.
Tip #15: Use mods to increase the game and enhance high quality of life
Finally, it’s price noting that, whereas builders Wube Software have completed an incredible job providing a number of high quality of life options, there are a lot of extra to be gained by introducing Factorio mods into your game. There are mods that mean you can squeeze between buildings, to maintain observe of issues like Biter evolution ranges, to extra simply detect bottlenecks in your manufacturing unit, and far, far more.
Once you’ve performed a good quantity of Factorio, you may additionally discover that sure overhaul mods are precisely what you’ll want to assist reintroduce that component of discovery again into this endlessly addictive game.
And with that, we’ll wrap up this Factorio suggestions listing – or else I’ll be happening and on all day, and I’ve different guides to write down in spite of everything! Speaking of which, for those who’re searching for a extra in-depth information on a specific side of Factorio, be happy to take a look at the hyperlinks beneath.
- Factorio guide and top tips – Our sensible prime suggestions for Factorio freshmen.
- Factorio early game walkthrough – How to ace your first weeks in a brand new Factorio world.
- Factorio mods for 1.0 – Here are the easiest 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 most effective blueprints we have discovered.
