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Friday Fun Thread for October 25, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Factorio 2.0 and Space Age dropped on Monday. A new batch of puzzles & logistics to solve & optimize are here. Since I discovered the game back in 2016ish, it's good to see new challenges outside the mod scene.

So far, I've put in enough time to launch a rocket (formerly endgame research, now mid-game) and research bot logistics.

I'll need to make notes of an actual bare-bones build for the new space station mechanics. Other people who can put in more time than I have are already handling exploring other planets. I'll get to that in due time.

Please no strategy spoilers. I haven't had a chance to get it wrong in a while - going from "suboptimal" to "good enough" to "pretty sharp" is going to be the most fulfilling piece of the game.

I LOOOOVE Vulcanus, it's an awesome planet with a lovely aesthetic and the most interesting 'threat' I've ever seen in this type of game. The first time I visited it, I remember wondering "Can I build a base here? Is it missing any critical resources?" In hindsight, it really is an awesome place for a main hub. I guess I shouldn't be any more specific than that because of spoilers.

I'm on Fulgora right now and this one is not quite as fun. It's essentially an empty graveyard wracked by almost constant storms. I'm embarrassed to admit it took me 5 actual real-life hours to figure out why I couldn't use a pumpjack on the oceans of oil the planet is covered in. The logistics are an especially horrid nightmare here, I suggest not messing around with the quality modules, even though the planet seems to be built for them. The whole thing turns into a spaghetti mess in no time at all and the islands make it impossible to build a true mega-base where everything can be carted off to a specific spot.

The space stations probably deserve a word too. I'm positively enamored with them. They are fun to design, fun to pilot, challenging, rewarding and interesting all at the same time. I'm really glad the developers pressed hard on the 'difficulty' slider, it would have been very easy and lazy to just throw 1-2 asteroids per minute at the player. But no, you do need an actual serious defensive strategy, the space rocks are no joke.