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Notes -
I'm so excited to get into this, but I already blew my wad on Mechwarrior 5: Clans this month. I know some people can play these automation games over and over and over again. But I tend to play to the endgame once, "win" in so far as a win condition exist, and then kind of lose interest in doing that grind again or faffing about in a post game grind. I want to believe this expansion is enough of a remix on that puzzle to make the journey interesting again for me, but it's no sure thing.
The cool part is it seems like there's a high end goal to beat the game now. It's not "win in 4 hours then fuck around with the post-game content for no reason" now. Although I can see massive opportunity for that with the new quality system.
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From everything they said about the expansion in the dev diaries, it should mix things up enough to make things interesting for you. They added multiple new mechanics that straight up didn't exist before, and each of the planets has a design where they try to put a twist on the way you are used to building a factory.
I hear you about blowing your wad though. I have Factorio: Space Age, MW5: Clans, Metaphor: ReFantazio and the new Zelda all clamoring for my ducats. Only so much money to go around though.
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have you been keeping up with the friday factorio facts stuff they've been posting? Space age is adding an absolutely absurd amount of new mechanics, shifting mechanics around, rebalancing existing stuff, adding new enemies... it's nuts. There's a planet where you generate power by tapping lightning strikes from a never-ending storm, and run the manufacturing gameplay backwards by digging up alien ruins and sifting the wreckage for random refined products that can be further broken down for raw materials. There's a planet with giant lava worms that steamroll your defenses if you tresspass on their territory. There's a jungle/swamp planet where you need to grow and harvest produce, and get what you need from it before it rots on the belt. You can build space platforms and fly them between planets. You can build fusion reactors. Plus a million improvements to existing mechanics: reworked recipes, reworked research, elevated train tracks, beacons and modules redesigned, and on, and on, and on... I've got near two thousand hours in factorio, and the amount they've changed with this patch is staggering. It's pretty close to a whole new game.
I read a few when Space Age was first announced, which is why I'm hopeful it will be different enough to appeal to me. But I haven't kept up. I kind of want most of it to be a surprise. I've never been the sort to have a wiki in one window and the game in the other, you know?
then take it from me: they have increased the amount of gameplay/content/complexity by ~300% at least. it's pretty close to a full sequel at this point.
You son of a bitch, I'm in.
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