Factorio is a fantasticly satisfying factory-building game for all levels of gamers. When you first load in, though, it can be an extremely overwhelming experience. There is very little hand-holding past the tutorial levels. Biters can attack your growing factory at alarming speeds and decimate your hard work.
RELATED: A Factorio Expansion is Incoming
New players can quickly lose track of what they should do, as there aren't really any objective markers in-game. All of these elements together can lead to a disorienting gaming experience. To ensure that you have a pleasant first game in Factorio, there are a few things that are pretty important for new players to keep in mind.
THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY
10 Start on Peaceful Mode
To get a good start in Factorio, especially when you're brand new to the game, a peaceful mode is a must. Without Biters threatening to destroy everything you've built, you have more freedom to explore and build up a workable factory. No monsters means less stress and less pressure to keep track of the pollution your factory begins to spew out.
In this game mode, Biters still exist (unlike Minecraft, where beginners with Peaceful Mode don't have any monsters to fight at all), but only attack if you attack them first, relieving some early-game stress around building adequate defenses.
9 Familiarize Yourself with Your Surroundings
When you load into the game, you need to make sure your beginning area has Coal, Iron Ore, Copper Ore, and Stone, as well as plenty of wood for fuel. You can access further deposits once you unlock vehicles, but make sure you have at least one small deposit of each of these.
You also need to make sure you have access to a water source nearby, as it becomes pretty important for boilers and steam power later on. Take a walk around the area and make sure you can find all of these things, and then you can really begin building your factory.
8 Plan Out Goals
It's easy to lose track of yourself in Factorio. With the lack of objectives and no one direction to go in, many beginners lose track of what they should do to succeed in the early stages of the game. One way to avoid this is by planning out clear goals for yourself before you really get going. Some goals to keep in mind include but aren't limited to:
- Researching automation as quickly as possible
- Getting an automatic coal miner up and running, something like the image pictured above
- Make sure everything is always doing something
RELATED: Oxygen Not Included: Essential Tips for New Players
When creating your own goals, try to focus on something you can complete within the next 20 minutes instead of looking too far ahead. Of course, the end goal is creating and launching a spaceship, but there's so much to do before you can do that, so focusing on the short-term will help stop you from getting overwhelmed.
7 Get A Vehicle
Vehicles in Factorio are paramount to late-game success. Like many other games, including GTA V, having a car completely changes the game. It elevates your factory building abilities to a new level. Getting your first basic car will allow you to travel farther faster and expand your factory at even faster rates.
It will also allow you to deal with the Biter threat in a more efficient way. With a car, it will be easier to access ore depositories further away from your main base or bring the fight to the Biters' bases instead of letting them come to you.
6 Learn Ratios
There are many ratios in the game imperative to increasing the overall effectiveness of your factory. Of course, they can work just fine without them, but once you learn them, your game's productivity will skyrocket. Here are a few that are important to know:
- Red belts and blue belts are twice and three times faster than yellow belts respectively
- 30 Electric Mining Drills will completely fill a yellow belt with ore
- 48 Stone or 24 Steel Furnaces will smelt an entire yellow belt of ore
- For steam power, the best ratio is 1 Offshore Pump to 20 Boilers to 40 Steam Engines
- For solar power, it's 25 Solar Panels to 21 Accumulators
5 Don't Be Afraid to Expand
Many early Factorio players may feel like they need to keep their factory compact. Later on, this could become problematic. Keep plenty of space between the smaller parts of your factory. That way, it will be much easier to expand and rebuild as you research more technologies and better ways to operate your factory.
Using blueprints is a good way to plan out an expansion before you dedicate yourself to it. Expansion is not your enemy, so make sure you don't limit yourself early on.
4 Automate, Automate, Automate!
Automation is imperative. Many players comment that they put off full automation for a long time in favor of manual crafting, which they regret later on. In the early game, manual crafting is typically faster, but you can only craft one thing at a time. With automation, you can have several things mining, smelting, and crafting at once.
RELATED: Games You Need to Play if You Liked Game Dev Tycoon
Assemblers will be your best friend, even though they won't be faster than manual crafting until you upgrade them to tier three. Automation is essential to the core gameplay of Factorio, so use it and use it well.
3 Keep an Eye On Biter Nests
Biters are nothing to sneeze at. Attracted to pollution, a large nest can easily wipe out your hard work. If you select Peaceful Mode, they will only attack in retaliation, but in a normal game, they can be a serious threat, enough to warrant having a scorpion named after them.
If you keep your distance, they will leave you be, but eventually, they can evolve and overwhelm you entirely. If you get complacent around them, they'll make you pay the price for it, so stay vigilant and build adequate defenses.
2 Use Both Sides of Belts
Belts make a huge difference in automation. They're versatile and can ship pretty much anything. What many players don't realize, however, is that you can use both sides of belts for different types of resources. For instance, you can have coal and iron ore being pumped into furnaces at the same time, increasing productivity and output.
There's no real need to use double the belts when you can only use one. If you utilize this, you can get a faster start much earlier than you would otherwise.
1 Don't Be Afraid to Fail
Factorio (and, on a different level, similar titles like Subnautica) can be a difficult game to be thrust into. With a lack of real direction, it can be hard to figure out what to do and how to grow your factory. Biters can be overwhelming, starting areas can be less than ideal, and sometimes the best thing to do is restart.
Failure is not the end of the world! If you feel that you'd be best served restarting with new knowledge, don't be afraid to. Failure is a part of learning, and games like Factorio are built around learning and starting over to be the most efficient builder you can be.
NEXT: Best Sandbox Games
FAQs
How long does it take to learn Factorio? ›
If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 224 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
How do I enable tips in Factorio? ›Follow the first tip and type "/unlock-tips" in the console. This will just unlock all tips&tricks and you can read them at your leisure. Deactivate Settings → Interface → Show tutorial notifications.
How many tutorials are there in Factorio? ›The first is that your progress gets wiped after each of the 5 tutorial levels. This is catastrophic because the entire point of the game is to gradually build up your base.
How many labs is enough Factorio? ›I tend to have around 20 in early game, and around 40-60 by the time I get a rocket. the slowest research uses one pack every 60 seconds per lab. So with 2 pack per second you would need 120 labs. That is assuming your labs don't have modules and you haven't researched any research speed upgrades.
Is there a goal in Factorio? ›The game is formally "won" by launching a rocket, although choosing to ignore this goal and instead continue building a factory is possible, as Factorio is an open world game.
Are blueprints cheating Factorio? ›TL;DR - Using other people's blueprints as part of your learning and exploring of the game can be a great experience, but just plopping down someone else's blueprint can rob you of part of the fun of the game (thus cheating yourself).
Can you turn off biters in Factorio? ›Enable Peaceful Mode
Function: enables or disables Peaceful Mode. While Peaceful Mode is enabled, Biters won't attack you until provoked. Replace "true" with "false" to disable.
Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world.
Is Factorio too complex? ›After you start playing the full game, the difficulty is steeper but still manageable. It can be hard at times but that's what makes it satisfying. Factorio teaches you how to solve open-ended problems. You have a goal (launch a rocket into space) but there are infinite ways of achieving that (open-ended problem).
Is water infinite Factorio? ›Water is a liquid which can be infinitely extracted from water tiles using an offshore pump. Water also acts as an obstacle that cannot be traveled over.
Is Factorio easier than satisfactory? ›
Which one is more confusing/complicated ? Satisfactory or Factorio? Factorio can get a lot more complicated than Satisfactory in pretty much every aspect. On a surface level, both games are very simple; you make resources go into a processing building, and then make them go to a different processing building.
Are trains better than belts Factorio? ›Trains are faster than belts and offer better logistic control as you go between logistic networks. Belts simply take forever, and you may wind up with a lot of asset tied up with simply being 'in transit'.
Is there an end to the Factorio map? ›The map gets infinitely generated. The closest thing to reaching a map edge is driving in the same direction until you run out of available RAM and the game probably crashes.
How big should my bus be Factorio? ›You should leave space for at least 24 belts on the bus. maybe up to 32 if you want to go a little crazy. Also, you can increase your starting area a little in map generation. This gives you more time before the biters attack.
Can trains go through gates Factorio? ›Whenever a train is in automatic mode, has its planned path go through the gate, and is within a certain distance.
Who has the most hours in Factorio? ›| # | Steam ID | Playtime (H) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | strend | 42,405 |
| 2 | inetus3r | 41,867 |
| 3 | catgirl | 39,966 |
| 4 | 黑山東雲光圈研究所 | 29,961 |
A satellite is no longer required to win the game.
Are blueprints as fast as C++? ›C++ vs Blueprints
Faster runtime performance: Generally C++ logic is significantly quicker than Blueprint logic, for reasons described below.
C++ is a programming language, and Blueprints is a scripting system. C++ is naturally better-suited for implementing low-level game systems, and Blueprints is naturally better-suited for defining high-level behaviors and interactions, and for integrating assets and fine-tuning cosmetic details.
Can biters go through trees Factorio? ›When an enemy unit or worm dies it tries to reincarnate back in to nature, be it a tree, rock, cliff or water. Occasionally the angry biters can burst into a flaming tree.
Should you destroy biter nests Factorio? ›
Biters and Spitters will spawn from their own respective nests. These nests can produce aliens indefinitely, so the player must destroy them to stop anything spawning them. This also lessens the chance of any future attacks on the player's factory.
Can biters swim? ›no? No, they can not swim. No, biters/spitters can't swim.
Do biters respawn? ›Every 4-60 minutes, a group of 5-20 biters/spitters will leave their base to create a new base which will consist of as many worms/nests as there are members in the group.
What is the 15% tip rule? ›For the wait staff at sit-down restaurants, the tip should be 15 percent to 20 percent of the pretax bill. Tips are not necessary at fast-food restaurants.
How do you calculate a 10 tip? ›- Method 1: Move over the decimal in the bill total and then double that number.
- Method 2: Multiply the tax of the bill by two.
- Method 3: Double the pretax bill and then move the decimal over one space.
- Method 4: Determine 10% of the bill and add half.
The maximum size of the map is a square 2 million tiles on each side, a total of 4 trillion tiles.
Are trains good in Factorio? ›The Railway is one of the main transport methods in Factorio. Although the installation of such a network can be complicated, and requires a large amount of resource and space, it is faster and more efficient than belts and robot logistics, especially over large distances.
Can you run out of water Factorio? ›Nope, water sources in the game do not dry up. No need to worry. Just place an offshore pump & it will provide a constant stream of water until you delete that save file (or the pump is removed by you / destroyed by a rampaging biter).
Is oil unlimited Factorio? ›Oil fields can be used indefinitely, but the amount they yield will reduce over time. Each oil field has a yield displayed as x%.
Can trains collide in Factorio? ›When players begin expanding their railway system in Factorio, things will quickly get more and more complex. Disaster can be around every bend, as train collisions often have severe consequences for both the vehicle and its cargo.
Is there a peaceful mode in Factorio? ›
Changing your Factorio server difficulty can be done with only a few commands entered through your console, or in-game as an Admin. To change your Factorio difficulty to Peaceful mode: (When enabled, peaceful mode will prevent biter attacks unless provoked.)
How many furnaces does it take to fill a red belt Factorio? ›Using Stone Furnaces, and for smelting Copper, Iron, and Stone you need 48 (24 per side) to completely saturate a Yellow Belt, 96 (48 per side) for a Red Belt, and 140 (70 per side) for a Blue Belt: Pretty simple right?
Is Factorio good for low end PC? ›Nope. Factorio needs at least 512MB, maybe as low as 384MB, of video memory to run properly. You are going to have badly-distorted visuals assuming it even finishes starting up at all.
Can you break cliffs in Factorio? ›Shift-Lclicking to place a blueprint should destroy any cliffs in its path, similarly to how trees and rocks are currently removed.
What should I automate first Factorio? ›A start with automation. Fuel the two arms and the furnace with some coal, and it will now auto-smelt the iron ore into plates! now that that's done, you can place another burner inserter pointing away from the furnace. this will take the iron plates out of the furnace and into a chest/conveyor belt to another area.
What should be on my main bus Factorio? ›Several belts of iron plates, usually a multiple of four as that is the length one underground belt can pass under. Some belts of copper plates. You need about as much copper overall as iron. Iron gear wheels are seen on some buses as they take up half as much room than iron plates and see usage in a lot of recipes.
Is automate the boring stuff for beginners? ›This is a great book for those who know how to use computer basics but are super beginners to programming in general.
What should you not automate? ›Do not automate tasks that have a low Return on Investment (ROI) because it's just not worth it. Generally, if tasks have a high volume at scale, are repeatable and valuable they should be automated. However, if tasks are low-volume, one-time projects then they will not have as much value if automated.
Which type of tasks are hardest to automate? ›Tasks and Skills that will be Difficult to Automate
Human to human interactions that produce an emotional response. Decisions that need human-based reasoning.
The safest place on a bus is in the middle
The best long-distance bus seats are located in the center of the cabin. This is because it gives passengers more space and makes it easier to get up and walk around.
How many furnaces does it take to fill a belt Factorio? ›
Using Stone Furnaces, and for smelting Copper, Iron, and Stone you need 48 (24 per side) to completely saturate a Yellow Belt, 96 (48 per side) for a Red Belt, and 140 (70 per side) for a Blue Belt: Pretty simple right?
What is spaghetti Factorio? ›A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
How can I be productive on a bus? ›- Create your to-do list. ...
- Find your inner zen. ...
- Mix up your mode of transportation. ...
- Brainstorm fresh ideas. ...
- Listen to a great story. ...
- Avoid the commute altogether. ...
- It's time to reframe your commute.
32 electric or steel furnaces will compress a yellow belt, so 64 are required for red.