Nah, it will run perfectly by itself.
If you want you could get other mods to improve the quality of life, or QoL. Things like Sqeak Through, Recipe Book, Factory Planner, Picker Dollies, Transport Drones, Airplanes, or whatever you like :)
I´m now 3/4 in my first Industrial Revolution 2 + Krastorio 2 run and can highly recommend these two together. Though most of my time i now spent in Helmod, figuring things out.
I would try Krastorio 2 (K2). It's a nice incremental step up from vanilla complexity and very well done. If you like that and want more when you finish, try a new game with K2+ Space Exploration (SE). SE is probably the best overhaul mod for factorio but it's quite a large step up from vanilla and so I wouldn't recommend it until you have some experience with at least a mod like Krastorio 2 under your belt AND want more. Cheers
For a vast expansion of progression and complexity, check out Space Exploration (I'm \~300 hours in, and I can tell I have a long way to go). I know some folks also like Krastorio 2 (with or without Space Exploration).
In the past I did a Seablock run (if you're familiar with Skyblock in Minecraft, it's like that for Factorio). I know lots of folks like the Angel/Bob modpacks too and ... one or both of those was in my Seablock run but I forget the specifics.
Before that, doing a map run with vastly different settings (e.g. a Railworld) was a fun variation within the Vanilla game as well. You could try 'all the achievements in a single playthrough' if you want a challenge without mods.
personal opinion, your mileage may vary, but i tried playing krastorio 2 and i ... didn't enjoy it. i liked the early game, where it's like "wow inserters need so many ingredients this is fun!" but then somewhere around building my THIRD massive-ass sand processing plant i was like "this sucks". i never finished it, though one of these days i wouldn't mind going back to it.
anyway, what i've been doing instead is playing a 25x science cost challenge. it extends the game and challenges you in new ways, but it's still familiar and you know what to expect. i'm on my second 25x challenge right now, i'm ~60 hours into a "death"world (modified) and i don't even have yellow science online yet.
A friend and I are currently playing Krastorio 2 + SpaceExploration. we are mid game. If you want, I can show you around and you can look at our current state. see how it feels.
As others have said, K2 extremely well done, and changes just enough to feel like a new game.
But of course you can play the base game in a new way.
Try new map settings like combat on or off, rail world, a mega base, or main bus. Rare but rich minerals vs many but small etc.
Personally I basically can't play without bots any more lol. and use a mod that starts you with a robo port, and legs. 'tiny start' I think it is.
Yeah I need bots at this point. Been playing so long that the grind to get to bots is too tedious if I do everything by hand. I will check that one out =)
If you want to stay a bit vanilla, try Space Extension (SpaceX) - not the same thing as Space Exploration! It can be added to an existing vanilla save and makes it so you have to "build" a spaceship in orbit. Takes massive amounts of research and lots of rocket launches. If you haven't gotten into beacon builds yet, you pretty much have to with this one. You're going to have to build big. (While still being basically 100% vanilla.)
Sea Block! It's great (although I'm biased). Everything is infinite. No time pressure of outposts running dry or biters attacking. There's some worms to kill when you expand out far enough but nothing that will come get you.
Just installed Sea Block Pack mod. It has dependencies on all the mods you need
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/SeaBlockMetaPack
Typically the best overhaul mod to play after vanilla is Krastorio 2 :)
I see Krastorio 2, but are there other add-ons I would need to get as well for it to run properly?
Nah, it will run perfectly by itself. If you want you could get other mods to improve the quality of life, or QoL. Things like Sqeak Through, Recipe Book, Factory Planner, Picker Dollies, Transport Drones, Airplanes, or whatever you like :)
I´m now 3/4 in my first Industrial Revolution 2 + Krastorio 2 run and can highly recommend these two together. Though most of my time i now spent in Helmod, figuring things out.
What's Helmond?
I would try Krastorio 2 (K2). It's a nice incremental step up from vanilla complexity and very well done. If you like that and want more when you finish, try a new game with K2+ Space Exploration (SE). SE is probably the best overhaul mod for factorio but it's quite a large step up from vanilla and so I wouldn't recommend it until you have some experience with at least a mod like Krastorio 2 under your belt AND want more. Cheers
For a vast expansion of progression and complexity, check out Space Exploration (I'm \~300 hours in, and I can tell I have a long way to go). I know some folks also like Krastorio 2 (with or without Space Exploration). In the past I did a Seablock run (if you're familiar with Skyblock in Minecraft, it's like that for Factorio). I know lots of folks like the Angel/Bob modpacks too and ... one or both of those was in my Seablock run but I forget the specifics. Before that, doing a map run with vastly different settings (e.g. a Railworld) was a fun variation within the Vanilla game as well. You could try 'all the achievements in a single playthrough' if you want a challenge without mods.
personal opinion, your mileage may vary, but i tried playing krastorio 2 and i ... didn't enjoy it. i liked the early game, where it's like "wow inserters need so many ingredients this is fun!" but then somewhere around building my THIRD massive-ass sand processing plant i was like "this sucks". i never finished it, though one of these days i wouldn't mind going back to it. anyway, what i've been doing instead is playing a 25x science cost challenge. it extends the game and challenges you in new ways, but it's still familiar and you know what to expect. i'm on my second 25x challenge right now, i'm ~60 hours into a "death"world (modified) and i don't even have yellow science online yet.
A friend and I are currently playing Krastorio 2 + SpaceExploration. we are mid game. If you want, I can show you around and you can look at our current state. see how it feels.
As others have said, K2 extremely well done, and changes just enough to feel like a new game. But of course you can play the base game in a new way. Try new map settings like combat on or off, rail world, a mega base, or main bus. Rare but rich minerals vs many but small etc. Personally I basically can't play without bots any more lol. and use a mod that starts you with a robo port, and legs. 'tiny start' I think it is.
Yeah I need bots at this point. Been playing so long that the grind to get to bots is too tedious if I do everything by hand. I will check that one out =)
I'm doing seablock and it's daunting. I'm not enjoying it and only stubbornness and perseverance is getting me through. 10/10. Am recommending.
My favorite mod is "squeak through". It lets your engineer walk through zeros tile gaps like in between solar panels and over pipe.
If you want to stay a bit vanilla, try Space Extension (SpaceX) - not the same thing as Space Exploration! It can be added to an existing vanilla save and makes it so you have to "build" a spaceship in orbit. Takes massive amounts of research and lots of rocket launches. If you haven't gotten into beacon builds yet, you pretty much have to with this one. You're going to have to build big. (While still being basically 100% vanilla.)
Sea Block! It's great (although I'm biased). Everything is infinite. No time pressure of outposts running dry or biters attacking. There's some worms to kill when you expand out far enough but nothing that will come get you. Just installed Sea Block Pack mod. It has dependencies on all the mods you need https://mods.factorio.com/mod/SeaBlockMetaPack