I am around 30-35 hrs in, restarted once already but the aliens are so aggravating. I have little time to do anything other than defend it seems. The 2nd time I started, I turned alien settings down a lot (or so I thought), but it became too much for my friend and I so I used a command to turn them off. What would be the best settings for next run? Or any tips/advice that newbies don't consider?
#What are the best settings for newcomers to actually have a chance?
muted rover
main iris
I'd say the most important thing to look out for is a green, forested spawn area as opposed to a desert, as the trees will absorb pollution
muted rover
oh okay, thanks. I think I am in a desert area by a large body of water
main iris
Beyond that though, enemies are just another problem to be automated away
Defense can largely be automated, and once you have bots it's ecpecially easy
muted rover
we did not make it that far unfortunately. We are currently just playing to continue without bugs but it feels a bit dumb
main iris
You don't need to get to robots to be able to automate defense
Robots are just the final puzzle piece to fully automate it
muted rover
Probably just hook up transport lines to have inserters feed ammo?
main iris
Yup
muted rover
we considered that. I think we just need to keep trying
main iris
As well as building the walls and turrets in the first place
muted rover
it's pretty clear that a lot of generated seeds are "losers"
yeah
@main iris would you keep world defaults the same or suggest anything else?
main iris
Default settings in a forest should be perfectly manageable
muted rover
aiight cool. so just dont cut down all the trees? or is that specifically a grassy area?
main iris
You could try turning off enemy expansion to make things a bit easier too
It's the trees that absorb pollution
main iris
Random pretty decent seed: 4272092919
muted rover
i will try it!!
main iris
You do have to contend with some cliffs in the spawn area lol
But it should be easy enough to move away from them
muted rover
how does one manage when running out of minable resources at one area?
I am almost out of stone specifically on mine and there is none in the visible area
main iris
Find a new patch, set up a train
muted rover
😭 okay
main iris
Radars will slowly scan the map in a large radius around them, that can be helpful for finding new resources
muted rover
so even if i can visibly see a part of the map, that doesnt mean there isnt resources there until I use a radar?
never really understood radars
muted rover
oh okay, well any new stone must be crazy far from home on this one 😦
main iris
The map has 3 types of coverage: black is completely unexplored - you have no idea what's out there. Darkened means you did at some point uncover that area, but your map may not be up to date. Lit up means you are actively scanning that area and your map is perfectly up to date
Radars and players light up a small radius around them, and radars will slowly scan through a much larger radius, lighting chunks up one by one to either uncover or refresh your map of them
https://wiki.factorio.com/images/Radar_revealing_sectors.gif
(Sped up a lot)
Uncovering unexplored terrain and updating your map to keep an eye on the biters are the main reasons to use a radar early on. Later on being able to look at and interact with your base from far away becomes more important.
muted rover
i think my newest grievance is actually electric furnaces -- I was waiting so long to get them only to find that they're bigger and thus take up more room. This would mean redoing a large portion of home base which does not seem feasible to me
Coal refilling is the bane of my existence
main iris
They also use twice as much power as steel furnaces, though it's electric instead of fuel
muted rover
is there a faster way to like...drag and drop max stacks of coal on each furnace instead of opening each?
i know holding Z with coal drops individual
main iris
Hold a stack and ctrl-click
main iris
Ctrl right mouse will insert half a stack, iirc
main iris
(I do most of this by muscle memory so I don't really know 
)
muted rover
of course
i just started the game like...5 days ago
critique me if possible
it may not be viable info though
main iris
Seems fine
muted rover
😭
main iris
Just try to make it bigger without getting tangled up in the spaghetti
muted rover
spaghetti is amazing though
muted rover
that's what I told him lmao
true true
maybe one last q: can I delete items? like once i upgrade something, i dont really want the old stuff anymore
main iris
Only way to delete items is to put them into a chest and shoot the chest
muted rover
lmao alrighty