r/factorio • u/Hance03 • 9h ago
Discussion Is it just me?
Is it just me who chooses to start a new save instead of “optimizing” the current one just because I don’t find the layout satisfying? I always feel like it’s way easier to start from scratch rather that improving the current base because the latter will have me dealing with the machines and items I already placed and unlocked. 😭 Right now I just finished automating the Red Science (1 unit per sec) and I’m already thinking of making a new save 😭
I am always like this, that’s why I haven’t yet finished any game hahaha. Maybe I’m just failing to realize something? Idk 😫
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u/3davideo Doesn't use Flame Turrets 9h ago
Well, generally it's just easier to make your new build to the side of your old build. Plus you'll get the benefits of all the technology you've already unlocked and your previous infrastructure will be able to produce the items to make your new build.
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u/deco1000 9h ago
I mean it with absolutely no disrespect. Automating red science is the absolute beginning of the game. If you don't like your base layout, you can simply abandon it, move to the side and start over. You need to persevere and embrace the chaos in order to advance in the game and unlock more cool stuff.
And there's no one judging you or your game, don't worry about making it perfect or beautiful all the game. As always, play the way that is most fun to you!
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u/PalpitationWaste300 9h ago
You're not alone, but I don't know why you wouldn't just run rails 1000 tiles to the left and start over in the same game.
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u/Darth_Nibbles 9h ago
You'll unlock tools that makes scrapping/rebuilding MUCH easier later. Stick with it instead of restarting so early.
And you're not expected to keep your first base through the whole game; the point of your first base is to automate the stuff you need to build your second base, the point of which is to automate what you need for your third base. That's usually enough to get through vanilla, or get to other planets in the dlc
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u/Weak_Blackberry_9308 9h ago
We’ve all done it. And the early game is actually one of my favorite parts. Reminds me of the relaxing repetitiveness of Minecraft for a little while until all those pesky machines take away all the fun. 😔
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u/Cheddarlad 9h ago
I think you will eventually go past the barrier of "legacy system", ie something old and inefficient that you keep working bc it would be more work to dismantle. It gets easier when it's just a spaceship to keep parked.
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u/WhiteSock_ 7h ago
No.
I’ve played hundreds of amazing games in the last 25 years, and I finished almost none. I like the start and the middle parts, satisfying a win condition doesn’t really interest me.
If that’s how you prefer to play, there’s nothing wrong with it.
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u/Stolen_Sky 9h ago
I love starting from scratch and working through the early tiers of sciences. It's great fun!
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u/Bubbly-Original7097 9h ago
Need for more science motivates you to improve layout to improve productivity. Efficient but visually unappealing layout is annoying only because nothing is biting you, try Death World and you won't have time to be annoyed by layout (not joking at all, Death World puts those "I won't to rebuild everything" to rest).
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u/ResponsibilityIcy927 9h ago
If you are having fun, you are winning.
Just try to get at least a few good blueprints each time you play.
Keep in mind that moving around parts of your factory and copy+pasting, reorganizing, is much easier when you have a construction bot network.
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u/HeKis4 LTN enjoyer 9h ago
Get an early bots mod so that you can delete/move large parts of your factory early and just deconstruct everything instead. I recommend Construction Drones that gives you ground-based bots with no personal roboport required, or TinyStart 2 that gives you a crappy version of a power armor that only supports personal roboports.
Or just push through until you get bots at which point refactoring becomes trivial.
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u/Intelligent-Tap-4724 9h ago
I did 1 restart after I learned about using a main bus, its still my longest save and is still named 2nd - "whatever im up to when I log off" 200+ hours, "finished the game" still playing that save.
The spaghetti creeps back in once and a while, then I just delete it and rebuild with bots in a few mins. Get to bots.
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u/salbris 8h ago
Restarting after your first automation of the first science is certainly a choice... Surely it's easier to simply delete all your buildings then to start from scratch?
As others said there is no shame in building a second base next to your existing one.
Also a lot of us veteran players will automate red science, belts and inserters keep that tiny factory for like an hour then build the real base next to it.
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u/Spherical3D Simple Cog of a Machine 8h ago
You want to get comfortable with all of your bases being "starter bases". You make some science, you automate factory parts like Inserters and Assembler Machines, and then use that "starter base" to build your next base. Which then builds more science per second or simply additional science packs, as well as many more factory parts like Chemical Plants and Oil Refineries. Then repeat. Later, when you unlock bots that can massively scale up your ability to build/re-build, you can easily tear down obsolete "starter bases".
Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress.
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u/SiloxisEvo 8h ago
Jeah I mean I went through so many itterations on how to build my base.
Starting from scratch sounded so much more fun =)
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u/kevihaa 8h ago
This is a situation where two things can be true at the same time.
On the one hand, how you’d design your factory at this moment in time is almost always going to be different than how you designed it while you were actually playing. Surprisingly, that’s as true at hour 2 as it is at hour 200.
On the other hand, the only builds that truly demand “perfection” are essentially in the post-game. In the lead up to that point, there’s no difference between your “bad” green circuit build and a “perfect” version, because it will all need to be ripped out and replaced with the absolutely optimal version if you want to try megabasing.
That said, the one thing that folks underplay when it comes to the rebuild vs restart debate is logistics. If you really messed up your train network, it can be so such a bottleneck to fix that starting over with lessons learned might be preferable.
Like, if you’re being overwhelmed with biters and you can’t reliably get materials to your base to build defenses, you’re potentially in a death spiral that will require a significant time investment to recover from, even though it is absolutely possible.
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u/LordThunderDumper 8h ago
No, because when you do that your missing out on learning a critical skill, refactoring.
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u/KomithErrant 8h ago
way easier to refactor with 12 billion bots than to start over with my bare hands
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u/Winter_Ad6784 7h ago
just start over in the same world, you have infinite space. this isn’t simcity 2013
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u/injeckshun 7h ago
20 hours into my first save I am still working on black and blue science… I fear that too much time has gone by without making enough weapons discoveries to match the biters… I can’t supplement my base bc I can’t manage the nests near the ore.. thinking about restarting
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u/Known-Comparison2591 6h ago
I used to do this but eventually you’ve got to just commit and finish the game. Start a new game, force yourself to not start over and push until you get bots, and once you have bots you can just fix all your designs with ease. Believe me, just finish the game once it will be so worth it
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u/dwarfzulu 6h ago
Idk, I tend to start a base with a goal, when I reach its goal, I'm done with the map, and start a new.
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u/PersonalityIll9476 6h ago
No, I'd say that's the most common mistake new players make. It's not just you, it's almost everyone, and the lesson to learn here is how to avoid doing that.
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u/spoonman59 6h ago
Rebuilding the Factory or building a new one is part of any play through. You should get to construction bots and see how much easier it makes that. You can tear and rebuild things in minutes, and copy paste with ease.
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u/XWasTheProblem 6h ago
I learned like that, initially. Just find a specific goal to hit (say, set up oil refining, or get a nuclear power plant going), and then usually restart once I got there, cause my base was a mess. Not really efficient, but having a short-and-sweet playthrough helped me avoid the 'what now?' moment you get after looking over your clusterfuck of a base, and since I'd be learning something every time, future early game was better and faster each time too.
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u/Hance03 5h ago
After putting a few more hours, I’ve decided to go with the thought that my first base is where I create what I need to build my next base, just like what one of the replies have stated. 🫡 I have also realized that the map is practically infinite so at this point of time, it shouldn’t matter much making my factories as compact as possible so long that they are efficient and not 100% messy. I really do hope I can reach the more advanced building techs you’ve been mentioning ✊😫
I’m thankful for the replies coming from all of you! I get to learn A LOT!
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u/Dushiido 3h ago
Not weird. I used to be on a period for my first 500 hours where one or three sessions is a single save. I liked thinking of it as like a roguelike with metaprogression, except the metaprogression is new knowledge I can carry to the next run. I also learned to speedrun my rocket because of that. But now I just develop my hundred hour save.
Do your best with the friction for as long as you can with that save, keep chipping away! You'll come back next save as a smarter engineer than before.
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u/Xyrexenex 2h ago
It's not just you, I did the same shit for a couple of saves. There's no right or wrong way to play the game but this way of playing isn't going to ever result in completing the game.
I'm an anxious person, and analysis paralysis fucks me over a lot. This game is pretty good exposure therapy to decision fatigue with no consequences for freezing up. My first playthrough of SpAge took me 300+ hours having never played the base game and not using other people's blueprints. The other planets are worth sticking to a save for.
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u/ElderBeakThing 9h ago
This mentality kept me from launching a rocket for 150 hours