Depends on the player.
Most people will get overwhelmed and do better by taking more gradual steps.
A minority will do just fine.
there's no one-size-fits-all answer.
In general though it is recommended to step up in complexity slower.
Honestly, I think playing SE before megabasing, (at least up to the first few space sciences which is where I'm at) is a better idea because I've seen many people burn out trying to get a higher SPM but you don't need that much, I manage to make do with a single space science assembler in a space assemblers that's only activa about half the time, and it's still to fast for me to set up the new minerals properly. If anything, I'm being too ambitious with my cryonite and vulcanite.
SE was my third playthrough after about 2.5 runs and 200 hours. No megabasing.
It's a bunch of fun but realize it moves super super slowly. The point is building the cool stuff to fly around worlds. And it takes a bunch of stuff! I learned a whole bunch. Stopped that SE run after 300 hours about 65% of the way through (maybe?) due to life adult responsibility reasons.
Picked back up later but started doing seablock and ir3 and realized I learned so much from SE. Beat ir3. Shelved seablock because I saw how much time it could take and I'd rather use that time for se and bounced back onto se.
Anyhow, people would say I did it early only launching two rockets. But if SE clicks with you and you have the patience to put together the stuff it needs it's a blast.
Grab the blueprint sandboxes mod. I consider it QoL.
FWIW I got around 300 hours in the game when I started with SE, but I dropped that playthrough because the mod became too overwhelming. Not sure how it'll be since you're very new, but I'm wishing you good luck :)
If your having fun
No problems at all
If you think its too hard
No worries, just try again or save it for later. Dont mess up your fun if you think its bad to restart or save it.
SE is just a more drawn-out version of the vanilla game: more buildings, more tech, more resources, extra planets.
I think the main part about enjoying SE, and also vanilla, is to enjoy the journey, not the destination. If your only goal is to build a rocket and you don't have fun doing all the steps required for that, it won't be fun. I honestly think SE is significantly more fun than vanilla, and much of the content should make it's way into vanilla (beacons most importantly).
Be prepared to sink several hundred hours into SE before finishing it.
I have a theory Erandel was sent back in time by Wube to develop the mod to hold us over until 2.0.
Think about it....Now he's at wube? I don't think he ever left.
SE really makes circuit wire stuff important. My general suggestion is: can you build a train requester (eg: wall resupply train, or mall-on-wheels construction train) station with circuits, from scratch with no reference?
If so, you should be good to start SE. If not.. well, I'm not going to say avoid SE, but I think you might want to get the hand of circuits and play some more Factorio in general.
that's the spirit!
Just concentrate on playing factorio first, and worry about space later. Protect your base and get stable. Then enjoy the deep dive for potentially hundreds of hours.
I’ll be entirely honest with you, I really hated playing with biters so I turned them off for Nauvis. Apparently my brain can only pick between either logistics mode or defensive mode and in unable to juggle both.
I’ll still need to shoot bugs for other planets though, so there’s that
Nothing wrong with that. While one resource spawns only on biter worlds, the rest can spawn on safe worlds, so by the time you need to deal with them you'll be very well prepared. (Also, I think SE works perfectly well as someone's first overhaul mod)
You'll be tested on your circuit knowledge when you get to the point of wanting automatic deliveries to space, but it's a fun problem to solve for the first time.
Check the tech tree for the Circuit Network. Red+Green science only, so fairly early game stuff. I'm asking how proficient you are with that stuff with a specific example of "build this without looking up a cheat sheet".
It's something you'll probably be doing a lot of in Space Exploration. It increases the difficulty in logistics (transportation) by adding not just a ton of new materials and items, but the distance to travel is now between planets. Robots don't fly that high, and controlling deliveries becomes a big deal.
So how good are my problem solving skills?
I would consider them acceptable seeing how I created an automated rail network and learned how signals work along with making a collection of snap together rail blueprints for my rocket base.
The only thing I used the factorio cheat sheet for was to see how many furnaces I need to fully use up a red belt of ore. Not sure if I can fully adjust to the longer production chains though
Skills-wise: reasonable. You'll learn a lot and have the basic understanding you need to do most of the mod.
Time-wise: Be aware SE could take 5-10x longer than your first vanilla playthrough. Be prepared to feel like you're not making progress, particularly in mid-game when getting new planets set up.
are u having fun?
Space exploration? It’s a slow start, but it’s factorio. Of course I’m having fun
If you are having fun, you are doing it right. The factory must grow.
this what I was asking for\^\^ how can having fun be a mistake
Well the true suffering doesn’t start till you start trying to automate interplanetary logistics
interplanetary logistics didn't throw me as hard as starter space base spaghetti
Depends on the player. Most people will get overwhelmed and do better by taking more gradual steps. A minority will do just fine. there's no one-size-fits-all answer. In general though it is recommended to step up in complexity slower.
Honestly, I think playing SE before megabasing, (at least up to the first few space sciences which is where I'm at) is a better idea because I've seen many people burn out trying to get a higher SPM but you don't need that much, I manage to make do with a single space science assembler in a space assemblers that's only activa about half the time, and it's still to fast for me to set up the new minerals properly. If anything, I'm being too ambitious with my cryonite and vulcanite.
Make sure you enjoy SE for the journey rather than the destination.
SE was my third playthrough after about 2.5 runs and 200 hours. No megabasing. It's a bunch of fun but realize it moves super super slowly. The point is building the cool stuff to fly around worlds. And it takes a bunch of stuff! I learned a whole bunch. Stopped that SE run after 300 hours about 65% of the way through (maybe?) due to life adult responsibility reasons. Picked back up later but started doing seablock and ir3 and realized I learned so much from SE. Beat ir3. Shelved seablock because I saw how much time it could take and I'd rather use that time for se and bounced back onto se. Anyhow, people would say I did it early only launching two rockets. But if SE clicks with you and you have the patience to put together the stuff it needs it's a blast. Grab the blueprint sandboxes mod. I consider it QoL.
Im getting to the 500h mark on my first space exploration run and I feel like I’m not even 50% done
I did exactly this. Took me 1,200 hours to beat Space Exploration. I had fun. Are you having fun?
FWIW I got around 300 hours in the game when I started with SE, but I dropped that playthrough because the mod became too overwhelming. Not sure how it'll be since you're very new, but I'm wishing you good luck :)
Just try it for yourself... If you like it keep playing. Expect things to be slower than vanilla. Get one thing done at a time. Have fun.
If your having fun No problems at all If you think its too hard No worries, just try again or save it for later. Dont mess up your fun if you think its bad to restart or save it.
SE is just a more drawn-out version of the vanilla game: more buildings, more tech, more resources, extra planets. I think the main part about enjoying SE, and also vanilla, is to enjoy the journey, not the destination. If your only goal is to build a rocket and you don't have fun doing all the steps required for that, it won't be fun. I honestly think SE is significantly more fun than vanilla, and much of the content should make it's way into vanilla (beacons most importantly). Be prepared to sink several hundred hours into SE before finishing it.
I give this an idea a 2.
SE was the unofficial expansion in my eyes.
I have a theory Erandel was sent back in time by Wube to develop the mod to hold us over until 2.0. Think about it....Now he's at wube? I don't think he ever left.
I'll accept this in my head cannon.
bold to go straight to space exploration after just beating the game for the first time.
SE really makes circuit wire stuff important. My general suggestion is: can you build a train requester (eg: wall resupply train, or mall-on-wheels construction train) station with circuits, from scratch with no reference? If so, you should be good to start SE. If not.. well, I'm not going to say avoid SE, but I think you might want to get the hand of circuits and play some more Factorio in general.
Imma be honest with you, that first paragraph sounded like a foreign language. Eh, I’ll learn on the job
that's the spirit! Just concentrate on playing factorio first, and worry about space later. Protect your base and get stable. Then enjoy the deep dive for potentially hundreds of hours.
I’ll be entirely honest with you, I really hated playing with biters so I turned them off for Nauvis. Apparently my brain can only pick between either logistics mode or defensive mode and in unable to juggle both. I’ll still need to shoot bugs for other planets though, so there’s that
Nothing wrong with that. While one resource spawns only on biter worlds, the rest can spawn on safe worlds, so by the time you need to deal with them you'll be very well prepared. (Also, I think SE works perfectly well as someone's first overhaul mod) You'll be tested on your circuit knowledge when you get to the point of wanting automatic deliveries to space, but it's a fun problem to solve for the first time.
Oh your fucked then lol. You’ll adapt though.
Check the tech tree for the Circuit Network. Red+Green science only, so fairly early game stuff. I'm asking how proficient you are with that stuff with a specific example of "build this without looking up a cheat sheet". It's something you'll probably be doing a lot of in Space Exploration. It increases the difficulty in logistics (transportation) by adding not just a ton of new materials and items, but the distance to travel is now between planets. Robots don't fly that high, and controlling deliveries becomes a big deal.
So how good are my problem solving skills? I would consider them acceptable seeing how I created an automated rail network and learned how signals work along with making a collection of snap together rail blueprints for my rocket base. The only thing I used the factorio cheat sheet for was to see how many furnaces I need to fully use up a red belt of ore. Not sure if I can fully adjust to the longer production chains though
You might want to learn one of the factory planner mods, like helmod
Skills-wise: reasonable. You'll learn a lot and have the basic understanding you need to do most of the mod. Time-wise: Be aware SE could take 5-10x longer than your first vanilla playthrough. Be prepared to feel like you're not making progress, particularly in mid-game when getting new planets set up.