How can I learn to play?

[tropic willow]

I’ve started playing this game and I’m pretty awful at it does anyone have a good guide I could follow to help me learn the game or any other tips?

[verbal escarp]

just play the game and learn the basics, there are guides that teach you concepts like

• Main Bus
• Mall
• Train Base
• and other things to unspaghettify and optimize your base

but to use those you have to know the basics

and don't worry about things taking you hours to set up for the first time

i launched my first rocket after like 70h of playtime but it was spaghetti base with bottlenecks everywhere

https://factoriocheatsheet.com/
there is also this site with basic ratios and some tips, but nothing can you prepare to playing this game more than just playing and learning by yourself

[tropic willow]

so i should follow guides to build those?

[verbal escarp]

you should just do your best to finish the game all by yourself and solve every problem that will happen. It's the most fun, after that you can start looking for guides and concepts like bus etc

if you want some very beginner tips there is this guy who does a good job explaining some things
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chavhzKpZwM

but this game is just too complex to cover all of it with guides

if you do everything from the basics all the way to launching rocket by yourself you will learn more than from any guide

[verbal escarp]

for comparison i have ~400h in factorio which isn't much. I know basic concepts, how the game works but my bases still end up as a mess because i don't plan them well and my only solution is to learn from my mistakes and play more 🤷‍♂️

[lime nest]

We all sucked at the start. Welcome to factorio!:D

Personal recommendation: just play. There will always be an improvement to be made, there is no such thing Ever as "a final design" LOL

maybe watch some youtube, ask questions around here
If you tell people which part you struggle at currently, they can brainstorm together

dont be afraid of changing any starter settings btw. this game can be what you want it to be

mods are great, and can help a lot. but especially if you are still in the very very beginning, maybe check those out later

[quartz rock]

Yama Kara has a good beginner series on YouTube, I think its for 1.0 but its still relevant

IMO the first 2-3 videos should set you up right to explore from there on your own, a lot of newbies (myself included) just need a good base to build from and I think the early videos in that tutorial helped me a lot

[zealous fractal]

Use tutorials to get the right mindset for scale and expansion. I would not recommend following exact builds or anything similar. Designing stuff is a huge part of the game, so try doing it yourself.

Way too many people see a main bus tutorial, go "oh, so this is the way to play this game" and never do anything else

[visual fulcrum]

1. Make your own builds.
2. Occasionally post them on here asking for feedback

For creative games it's best long term to try snd do things your self but to still talk with the community to adk what you can do better

You can also just do stuff on your own if you want to learn by your self

[safe bronze]

@tropic willow I reccomend AGAINST watching others and stuff like that

Did you do the tutorial and read the tips?

These are in game and help a lot

Video tutorials more often then not don't teach you to play the game
They TELL you to play it the way the creator does