“The factory must grow.” It’s a mantra that every one Factorio gamers know – or a minimum of they need to. But it’s one factor realizing it, and fairly one other to place it into motion. The fact is that it may be tough for brand spanking new gamers to know simply tips on how to develop their manufacturing facility from nothing into an energy-guzzling, environment-poisoning behemoth of effectivity and automation.
Our Factorio information hopes to resolve this drawback for brand spanking new gamers, as we delve into our prime 15 Factorio ideas overlaying every thing from high quality of life enhancements to constructing methods, and way more.
Factorio information: 15 prime ideas for newcomers
Factorio is a gigantic game with heaps to be taught earlier than you may create a colossal manufacturing facility, however there are many little ideas and strategies you may make use of to assist velocity up your progress and get you began on the suitable foot.
Here are our 15 prime ideas for Factorio gamers who’re simply beginning their first manufacturing facility:
- 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 is likely to be the one human on your complete planet in Factorio, you actually aren’t the one dwelling factor. Indigenous creatures known as Biters will begin to assault you as your manufacturing facility grows and begins to pollute their residence – and so they could make life fairly tough for you, notably within the early game earlier than you have got 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 received’t assault you till you assault them for the primary time. This provides you heaps extra respiration room to increase your manufacturing facility and get arrange with some primary 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 go into the Advanced tab of your game setup and set your Research Queue to be at all times out there. For some motive, by default you’ll solely be capable of 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 characteristic from the very starting, as a way to queue up all of your desired applied sciences within the analysis tree forward of time as a substitute of getting to hop again into the analysis display each time you end your newest know-how?
Tip #3: Plan your objectives out forward of time
Factorio is an extremely open-ended game, and there’s little or no hand-holding. So, it’s as much as you to set your personal objectives.
Your end-goal is to construct and launch a rocket, however that’s far too giant a undertaking to sort out in a single step. What we’re speaking about once we say “goals” is the following tiny step you may take to develop your manufacturing facility, ideally one thing you may full within the subsequent twenty minutes or maybe the present play session.
If you want some assist determining what your preliminary objectives ought to be at the beginning of a game of Factorio, it’s best to completely take a look at our Factorio early game information!
Tip #4: Don’t be afraid to unfold issues out
A key mistake that new Factorio gamers make after they begin their first manufacturing facility is that they don’t unfold issues out sufficient. Factorio worlds are staggeringly giant, and also you at all times have greater than sufficient room to area out smelting modules from mining patches, and go away loads of room for belts and later enhancements to your manufacturing facility.
Problems come up if you happen to construct your manufacturing facility too compact: typically, you’ll end up having to deconstruct excess of mandatory with a purpose to make a easy change to 1 a part of your manufacturing facility. So don’t be afraid to unfold issues out.
Tip #5: Use either side of your belts
Belts are fantastic issues in Factorio. They are unbelievably versatile, and you should utilize them to do virtually something you need in relation to transport 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 newcomers might not have realised: you should utilize all sides of a belt to hold various kinds of sources. For instance, if you wish to get an iron smelting module up and operating, you may 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 probably the most helpful ratios
In order to take advantage of environment friendly factories attainable and be perpetually freed from useful resource bottlenecks, you’ll must commit a minimum of a few useful Factorio ratios to reminiscence. I’ll record just a few beneath:
- Red belts and blue belts are 2x and 3x sooner than yellow belts, respectively.
- It takes 30 Electric Mining Drills to utterly 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 effectively 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 facility. For extra useful ratios I’d advocate you check out the Factorio Cheat Sheet on-line, which lays out many ratios in a useful visible format.
Tip #7: Make certain you have got sufficient energy earlier than beginning a brand new undertaking
Over the course of many tons of of hours taking part in Factorio, I’ve observed that new initiatives are typically cut up into smaller phases, and the primary section of just about each new undertaking ought to be guaranteeing you have got sufficient energy to accommodate your upcoming builds.
The overwhelming majority of your manufacturing facility requires vitality to run. There are a number of totally different attainable sources of vitality – some renewable, others non-renewable. Our Factorio vitality information accommodates every thing you might want to find out about these various kinds of vitality 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 attainable
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 identical – and the primary true leap ahead in my thoughts comes while you get hold of your first automobile.
Traditionally, your first automobile will likely be a easy automobile. But this automobile instantly means that you can journey immense distances far sooner than you would ever do earlier than. It means that you can extra shortly increase your manufacturing facility and take care of Biter threats. Getting your first automobile is the purpose the place I’d say Factorio’s early game ends and its mid-game begins; and so I’d heartily encourage you to race in direction of this aim as shortly as attainable.
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 regarded 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 may see precisely how blueprints could make your life a lot simpler.
Tip #10: Don’t rely too closely on handbook development
This was a mistake I made all through my first few Factorio games: I’d manually assemble far an excessive amount of, after I might have spent 5 minutes placing collectively a bit assortment of assemblers and inserter arms to automate the method.
The drawback isn’t that handbook development is slower (in actual fact, till you get to tier Three assemblers, handbook development is quicker). But you may solely assemble one factor at a time, whereas with assemblers you may assemble dozens and even tons of at a time. If you set an excessive amount of inventory in handbook development like I as soon as did, you’ll end up having to attend 10 minutes on your handbook development queue to complete so you may 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 principal bus was taken from YouTuber KatherineOfSky‘s excellent Steam guide on the topic.
Tip #11: As your manufacturing facility grows, contemplate constructing a principal bus and mall
The Factorio group has give you 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 is able to assist dramatically enhance the effectivity of your manufacturing facility as you head into the mid-game.
- A principal bus is a big, orderered assortment of belt strains carrying numerous primary sources in a single route. Its goal is to make it very straightforward so that you can increase your manufacturing facility by drawing in your principal bus for easily-accessible sources.
- A mall is a bit of your manufacturing facility which is devoted to the automated development of assorted continuously used objects, resembling belts, inserters, miners, and extra.
The development of a principal bus and a mall is a key facet of Factorio’s mid-game, and one thing it’s best to plan forward for (when it comes to area and the supply of things) when you’re first establishing your manufacturing facility.
Tip #12: Don’t get complacent round Biter nests
Biters are quick, vicious, plentiful, and greater than able to utterly fucking up your plans if you happen to 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 is not going to solely increase and settle new nests, however they can even evolve into far stronger varieties.
You’ll must evolve with them with a purpose to defend your manufacturing facility from the threats that Biters pose. And don’t get complacent in these moments the place you’re forward of the curve. You might 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 meanwhile, however quickly they’ll develop too robust for this tactic, and until you’re cautious you’ll be overwhelmed. Be cautious round Biters. Seriously.
Tip #13: Learn tips on how to use trains
I touched upon the ability of trains earlier when speaking about autos in tip #8, however trains are so highly effective a instrument in your manufacturing facility 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 attainable method, however when you perceive sufficient about prepare methods you may create networks of wagons that robotically transport sources throughout your whole manufacturing facility.
If you need to uncover tips on how to use trains to dramatically enhance the effectivity of your manufacturing facility, look no additional than our Factorio trains information.
Tip #14: Learn the hidden features of primary objects
Factorio is full of nifty little superior options and features of primary objects which you will 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 which you can click on the crimson 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 robotically? Or which you can 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 taking part in round with what is obtainable of their UI. You might discover a cool new characteristic 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 executed an incredible job providing numerous high quality of life options, there are numerous extra to be gained by introducing Factorio mods into your game. There are mods that can help you squeeze between buildings, to maintain monitor of issues like Biter evolution ranges, to extra simply detect bottlenecks in your manufacturing facility, and far, way more.
Once you’ve performed a good quantity of Factorio, you might also discover that sure overhaul mods are precisely what you might want to assist reintroduce that component of discovery again into this endlessly addictive game.
And with that, we’ll wrap up this Factorio ideas record – or else I’ll be occurring and on all day, and I’ve different guides to put in writing in spite of everything! Speaking of which, if you happen to’re in search of a extra in-depth information on a specific facet of Factorio, be happy to take a look at the hyperlinks beneath.
- Factorio guide and top tips – Our sensible prime ideas for Factorio newcomers.
- Factorio early game – How to ace your first weeks in a brand new Factorio world.
- Factorio blueprints – How to make use of blueprints, and one of the best blueprints we have discovered.
- Factorio vitality – Understanding oil, photo voltaic, and nuclear energy in Factorio.
- Factorio trains – How to make use of trains to catapult your manufacturing facility development ahead.
