How I Play Factorio

This is my approach to playing Factorio. Most of this information applies to the pre-Space Ae-Aera, but should also apply to the Space Age DLC. It does not yet include information on the other planet production lines, but the layout for the main bus on Nauvis still applies to building the basic base before going into space, launching rockets and building a space platform. I am eager to start playing, but it will be some time before I can build my first space platform.

Here is a link to the Factorio calculator by Kirk McDonald for 90 SPM, using (red) Fast Transport Belts Steel, (Fast) Furnaces and Blue Assemblers. Hopefully this will help you design the blocks you need for science packs and the blocks you need to make all the materials.

Steps to follow along

1. Begin with manual mining, chopping some trees, and crafting to gather the initial resources like smelters, miners.
2. Set up 10-12 iron smelters, 4 copper smelters, 4 stone miners (into a chest) and 8-10 coal miners.
3. Establish basic electricity generation (2 boilers, 4 steam engines), copy/paste this so you have 10 copies (20 boilers, 40 steam engines) attached to one pump. This can be doubled on the other side and fed via a single yellow belt of coal.
4. Research “Automation” and build a science lab with 10 red science packs.
5. Lay down the foundation for your first assemblers and start automating “green circuits”, “belts”, “red science”, and ammo production (if you are afraid of biters). With ammo production you might want to increase the amount of smelters for iron by adding 4 more.
6. Expand your base with a jump-start base to produce the basic parts like inserters, assemblers, belts to start building the larger base. This also includes red and green science.
7. Once you have that, it is time to upgrade the jump-start base with steel and brick production. Steel for power-poles and bricks for walls and paths. Upgrade power generation as needed.
   • Jump-Start Base Part 1: 24 Iron smelting, 12 Copper smelting.
   • Jump-Start Base Part 2: 48 Iron smelting, 24 Copper smelting, 4-8 Steel smelting
   • Jump-Start Base Part 3: add 24 Brick smelting below copper with 2 machines for making some walls.
8. Begin by building a main bus system within a city block structure to efficiently move materials and allow for expansion. Each city block, akin to a grid, contains 4 large power poles that divide the block into 3 sections. Each section can accommodate up to 16 conveyor belts (or belt-lanes) arranged in a 4-2-4-2-4-2-4 pattern (4 belts, 2 free or underground belts), or alternatively, 4 train tracks. Out layout could look like this:
   • 4 Copper
   • 4 Iron
   • 4 Green Circuits
   • 2 Red, 1 Blue
   • Power Poles
   • 1 Sulfur, 1 Free, 1 Liquid, 1 Free
   • 1 Liquid, 1 Free, 1 Liquid, 1 Liquid
   • 4 Free to use
   • 2 Free, 2 Plastic
   • Power Poles
   • 2 Coal, 1 Free, 1 Iron Ore for the Hub
   • 1 Stone, 1 Brick, 1 Free, 1 Steel
   • 4 Copper
   • 4 Iron
9. Focus on automating green circuits extensively due to their high demand.
10. Start military science production for improved defenses and ammunition.
11. Develop a production hub to centralize production of essential building components like belts, inserters, assemblers, power poles, pipes, trains, uranium power elements.
12. Secure your base’s perimeter with walls and defenses as necessary.
13. Expand resource gathering with trains to support growing material needs.
14. Transition to blue science by setting up oil refining for sulfur and plastic production.
15. Secure your base’s perimeter with walls and defenses as necessary.
16. Scale up your base’s power supply by transitioning to solar power supplemented by accumulators.
17. Automate robot production to assist with construction and logistics.
18. Upgrade your base’s infrastructure with red belts and steel furnaces for increased efficiency.
19. Begin yellow science production focusing on processing units (blue circuits) and low density-structures.
20. Enhance personal mobility and construction capabilities with advanced power armor and personal robo-ports.
21. Address power needs by constructing a nuclear power plant for substantial energy output.
22. Initiate purple science production, focusing on scaling up steel and red circuit production.
23. Implement advanced technologies like Kovarex enrichment process for efficient uranium use and module upgrades for increased productivity.
24. Prepare for rocket launch by scaling up production of rocket parts, including low-density structures, rocket fuel, and rocker control units.
25. Assemble a satellite to accompany the rocket launch for completing the game.

This list is a short overview of how you could progress in Factorio to finish the base game without Space Age DLC.

Simple Tips for Dealing with Biters: When playing with biters, always remember to protect your base. You can do this by building a double-layered wall with a saw-tooth design on the outside. Add gun towers and a belt full of bullets around it too. This method works great! As you advance in the game and biters get stronger, add some laser towers to your defense. Also, try making your base so big that your pollution doesn’t reach the biters. If they’re not affected by your pollution, they won’t attack.

Big News: Now that Factorio Space Age is release, this list is a bit outdated but most of the things still apply. I will probably update the list of blocks later when I start playing Factorio again.