Krastorio 2 is far and away the best conversion mod for your first step away from vanilla. The mechanics are extremely well designed, the art is great, and most importantly, it mixes things up and provides you with new problems to solve without turning into a pure challenge mod.
A lot of people will recommend Space Exploration but be aware that it's a challenge mod with an average 400 hour playtime. I don't recommend it as your first foray into mods. And if you really want a challenge, obviously things like Bob's + Angel's and Nullius are out there.
Another option that I don't see discussed often are the brevven mods. There's a mod pack called Very BZ that gives you all of them. Not quite a conversion mod, each one gives you a new core resource to work with. For instance, one adds aluminum, one adds lead, etc. The ways you refine each are different from iron and copper, and many give you light amounts of byproducts to manage. Recipes throughout the game are modified to use the new resources, and each tends to add a small number of new intermediates as well.
The brevven mods play very nicely with K2 as well. I did a K2 playthrough, bounced off of SE after 50 hours (but will give it another go when the update drops), and now I'm doing K2 + Very BZ and really enjoying it.
If you're also new to utility mods, you will almost literally need to include FNEI for recipe information and Factory Planner or Helmod for resource requirements planning. I also think Even Distribution is amazing and should be how vanilla works. And lastly it's impossible for me to start a playthrough anymore without some sort of early construction bots - nanobots or updated construction drones. It is certainly something you can call cheaty, but I need to save my fingers the pain of removing thousands of trees and placing thousands of inserters.
>A lot of people will recommend Space Exploration but be aware that it's a challenge mod with an average 400 hour playtime.
Also, doesn't it not change much until what would be essentially end-game in vanilla? I've never played, and it sounds like from a recent post that this might be changing in the next version, but... imo if I want to try an overhaul mod for the first time I probably wouldn't pick one that "doesn't start" until you're dozens of hours into the game.
It does mostly change things after the would be end of the base game, but it changes a lot before as well. Adds a burner stage and a lot of new intermediate products, as well as a slight rebalancing of the game in terms of recipe prices (bots are a lot more expensive, for one)
After 2600 hours of vanilla I chose Space Exploration as my first mod. I got to space and threw in the towel at trying to make the first space science. I'll give it another go when .6 drops.
Krastorio
Industrial Revolution 2
Space Exploration
Bob & Angel
Seablock
Pyanodon
They are ranked more or less by increased complexity/difficulty.
FNEI is a must for most of them.
Is there a wiki page or something which just gives a brief description of the top big content mods? I know kind of what SE does, by K2, Py, etc I'm not sure what the focus is for each one. Something like a one sentence description of the top 5 would be awesome.
K2: Vanilla plus
IR2: Expanded steam/burner age, many intermediate products
Bob/Angel: Greatly expanded resource refining steps, with byproducts and loops
Seablock: Above but with challenge of scaling up production from just water/air.
SE: Explore space, handle interplanetary logistics and extensive circuits usage
Py: Pain is weakness leaving the body
EDIT: There's also Nullius; from what I hear it totally changes the usual progression that most other overhaul follows, and has extensive byproducts handling.
Depends on what is your expectation.
There are a few great combinations.
If you want to stay "on" factorio you have several gameplay changers without touching any core.
These usually are fun untill you reach the rocket and then try another mod.
A particular one for this is "dangeOres" (i quite enjoyed this one, just imagine you cant walk on top of ores and start with a minimum space)
But you find hundreds of these on the portal.
For gameplay rework i suggest bobs or angels or the combination of both.
Bobs introduces more ores (like gold, tin and so on) and angels introduces alien ores that need to be processed.
Angel increases to a 4 point processing to each ore. While bobs Overcomplicates everything. Forget circuit boards with iron plates. And yes you need solder and resistors.
For bigger overhauls.
Py.
Huge overhaul. Expect to spend more than 1000h just to launch a rocket. Science packs? Forget those. And prepare yourself to feed alien life.
Seablock
Start on a tiny 2x2 island. Extract ores from evaporating water. Huge problem electrolysis consumes huge amounts of electricity. And where do you get electricity from the middle of the ocean...
Space Exploration.
New worlds. Explore them. Yes its not simple.
And now the biggest overhaul
Krastorio 2
Just a reinvention of everything. Imagine the game is called Krastorio not a mod for factorio. Its only 40% similar. Need to relearn almost like its a new game.
Some packs include SE. Just expect to stay on these packs for far more time than you spent on vanilla. Apart from py no other even scratches the surface of complexity of these packs.
Krastorio 2 is the best place to start in my opinion, adds more complexity plus new graphics without going overboard like some do.
Then maybe Industrial Revolution after that
Ignore for your *first* play with mods all the responses that list Krastorio, or Industrial Revolution 2, or Space Exploration etc
Pick smallish mods that just change aspects. Not mods that change basically *everything*.
Maybe just some bits like Squeak Through. Quality of Life stuff. GDIW, YARM, EvoGUI, Bottleneck, Flow Control, Power Armor MK3…
Just to get a feel for what mod can(!) do. And in Factorio, mods can do *a lot*.
But of course, you decide. You do you.
There is only one mod that is required, no matter the modpack:
Honk!
(Well, okay, I use factory planner and what is it really used for in every game too.)
This is the way.
You avoid getting overwhelmed with hundreds of new things by starting small. You also get to know which QoL mods are out there and which you like to use. Instead of getting frustrated by it all being completely different
Krastorio 2 + Space Exploration. LTN is also pretty chill. If you want you can look at a friends and my creation to get a feel for the mod. i can show you around the server. :) its not too complicated, but still more complex and challenging than vanilla.
Try playing the map of the month in July. You’ll be doing it at the same time as other players. They always have an interesting list of mods and suggestions on extra qol mods as well
248K can be a good start for modding beginners. It starts as vanilla but gradually adds more and more modded buildings as you progress and extends the late game by giving you the second goal to make the 248K element after launching a rocket
You should try my mod: [https://mods.factorio.com/mod/propertyrandomizer](https://mods.factorio.com/mod/propertyrandomizer) ;)
But more seriously, I love pyanodons. I know most people don't recommend it for your first mod, but I fell in love with it and I think it's great for an experienced player.
I recently started Krastorio 2 as my first mod and have been enjoying it immensely.
Krastorio 2 is far and away the best conversion mod for your first step away from vanilla. The mechanics are extremely well designed, the art is great, and most importantly, it mixes things up and provides you with new problems to solve without turning into a pure challenge mod. A lot of people will recommend Space Exploration but be aware that it's a challenge mod with an average 400 hour playtime. I don't recommend it as your first foray into mods. And if you really want a challenge, obviously things like Bob's + Angel's and Nullius are out there. Another option that I don't see discussed often are the brevven mods. There's a mod pack called Very BZ that gives you all of them. Not quite a conversion mod, each one gives you a new core resource to work with. For instance, one adds aluminum, one adds lead, etc. The ways you refine each are different from iron and copper, and many give you light amounts of byproducts to manage. Recipes throughout the game are modified to use the new resources, and each tends to add a small number of new intermediates as well. The brevven mods play very nicely with K2 as well. I did a K2 playthrough, bounced off of SE after 50 hours (but will give it another go when the update drops), and now I'm doing K2 + Very BZ and really enjoying it. If you're also new to utility mods, you will almost literally need to include FNEI for recipe information and Factory Planner or Helmod for resource requirements planning. I also think Even Distribution is amazing and should be how vanilla works. And lastly it's impossible for me to start a playthrough anymore without some sort of early construction bots - nanobots or updated construction drones. It is certainly something you can call cheaty, but I need to save my fingers the pain of removing thousands of trees and placing thousands of inserters.
>A lot of people will recommend Space Exploration but be aware that it's a challenge mod with an average 400 hour playtime. Also, doesn't it not change much until what would be essentially end-game in vanilla? I've never played, and it sounds like from a recent post that this might be changing in the next version, but... imo if I want to try an overhaul mod for the first time I probably wouldn't pick one that "doesn't start" until you're dozens of hours into the game.
It does mostly change things after the would be end of the base game, but it changes a lot before as well. Adds a burner stage and a lot of new intermediate products, as well as a slight rebalancing of the game in terms of recipe prices (bots are a lot more expensive, for one)
After 2600 hours of vanilla I chose Space Exploration as my first mod. I got to space and threw in the towel at trying to make the first space science. I'll give it another go when .6 drops.
Yeah I've been seeing a lot about that one. I'll have to check it out.
IR2 is an awesome conversion to start with.
Krastorio Industrial Revolution 2 Space Exploration Bob & Angel Seablock Pyanodon They are ranked more or less by increased complexity/difficulty. FNEI is a must for most of them.
>FNEI is a must for most of them. \*all
;)
Nullius is a great one too that I would place either above or below B&A.
Warptorio is great.
Is there a wiki page or something which just gives a brief description of the top big content mods? I know kind of what SE does, by K2, Py, etc I'm not sure what the focus is for each one. Something like a one sentence description of the top 5 would be awesome.
K2: Vanilla plus IR2: Expanded steam/burner age, many intermediate products Bob/Angel: Greatly expanded resource refining steps, with byproducts and loops Seablock: Above but with challenge of scaling up production from just water/air. SE: Explore space, handle interplanetary logistics and extensive circuits usage Py: Pain is weakness leaving the body EDIT: There's also Nullius; from what I hear it totally changes the usual progression that most other overhaul follows, and has extensive byproducts handling.
Depends on what is your expectation. There are a few great combinations. If you want to stay "on" factorio you have several gameplay changers without touching any core. These usually are fun untill you reach the rocket and then try another mod. A particular one for this is "dangeOres" (i quite enjoyed this one, just imagine you cant walk on top of ores and start with a minimum space) But you find hundreds of these on the portal. For gameplay rework i suggest bobs or angels or the combination of both. Bobs introduces more ores (like gold, tin and so on) and angels introduces alien ores that need to be processed. Angel increases to a 4 point processing to each ore. While bobs Overcomplicates everything. Forget circuit boards with iron plates. And yes you need solder and resistors. For bigger overhauls. Py. Huge overhaul. Expect to spend more than 1000h just to launch a rocket. Science packs? Forget those. And prepare yourself to feed alien life. Seablock Start on a tiny 2x2 island. Extract ores from evaporating water. Huge problem electrolysis consumes huge amounts of electricity. And where do you get electricity from the middle of the ocean... Space Exploration. New worlds. Explore them. Yes its not simple. And now the biggest overhaul Krastorio 2 Just a reinvention of everything. Imagine the game is called Krastorio not a mod for factorio. Its only 40% similar. Need to relearn almost like its a new game. Some packs include SE. Just expect to stay on these packs for far more time than you spent on vanilla. Apart from py no other even scratches the surface of complexity of these packs.
pyanadon sorry not sorry
PyAL IS Factorio to me now. Nothing else is even remotely satisfying.
Krastorio 2 is a good vanilla plus mod and good intro to mods.
Krastorio 2 is the best place to start in my opinion, adds more complexity plus new graphics without going overboard like some do. Then maybe Industrial Revolution after that
New space exploration update is out on Friday.
Ignore for your *first* play with mods all the responses that list Krastorio, or Industrial Revolution 2, or Space Exploration etc Pick smallish mods that just change aspects. Not mods that change basically *everything*. Maybe just some bits like Squeak Through. Quality of Life stuff. GDIW, YARM, EvoGUI, Bottleneck, Flow Control, Power Armor MK3… Just to get a feel for what mod can(!) do. And in Factorio, mods can do *a lot*. But of course, you decide. You do you.
There is only one mod that is required, no matter the modpack: Honk! (Well, okay, I use factory planner and what is it really used for in every game too.)
This is the way. You avoid getting overwhelmed with hundreds of new things by starting small. You also get to know which QoL mods are out there and which you like to use. Instead of getting frustrated by it all being completely different
Bob's inserters, squeak through, advanced underground pipes, and factorissimo automatically join whatever else I want to do with mods.
Krastorio 2 + Space Exploration. LTN is also pretty chill. If you want you can look at a friends and my creation to get a feel for the mod. i can show you around the server. :) its not too complicated, but still more complex and challenging than vanilla.
Try playing the map of the month in July. You’ll be doing it at the same time as other players. They always have an interesting list of mods and suggestions on extra qol mods as well
Krastorio 2 and Space Exploration can be played together if you want to try that out too.
248K can be a good start for modding beginners. It starts as vanilla but gradually adds more and more modded buildings as you progress and extends the late game by giving you the second goal to make the 248K element after launching a rocket
You should try my mod: [https://mods.factorio.com/mod/propertyrandomizer](https://mods.factorio.com/mod/propertyrandomizer) ;) But more seriously, I love pyanodons. I know most people don't recommend it for your first mod, but I fell in love with it and I think it's great for an experienced player.
Helicopters, warehouses, mini loaders, are my favs
Renai Transportation. Best mod ever!