The Space Exploration Retrospective

In this video, I tell you how I really feel.

[earendelentart]

Thanks for the feedback and the caveat that it’s in alpha/experimental. People usually assume that the mod is near finished, but really large sections of the mod are in a placeholder state waiting for that section to be overhauled. Fortunately most of the things you dislike are placeholder content. I’ll try to summarise some of the current roadmap.
Most of the real “exploration” content will be added quite late (0.8 or later), because it needs to fit around the activities and capabilities of the player at various points in the game and I want those to be better defined first. Exploration is also content-heavy over systems-heavy, so it is something I can get contributors to help with but the other systems need to be more solid first. For example the ruins, things keep breaking when the mod changes so I really want to have the other systems stable before adding more exploration content. Exploration is also mixed in with some things that will happen with a robot faction. The mod already has a lot of PvP features (like meteor defence shooting enemy delivery cannon projectiles, umbrella vs energy beaming, etc) and the robot faction is intended to give you a way to fight with (or make peace with) an enemy with similar inter-surface capabilities and weapons.
In 0.6 the biggest limitation is the temporary planets system. Currently all planets are one planet type that has a random climate and random resources, there’s nothing really “designed” about their experience beyond processing 1 resource. Version 0.7 has a lot of different planet types and each one will have more intentional gameplay. That’s not just environmental challenges and unique terrain, but also a decided set of available resources that can be used together for a local factory. Where 0.6 has 1 main resource with a linear process + some random (often useless) secondary resources; 0.7 will have a primary resource and some guaranteed secondary ones that are not just used for processing the main resource but also to make local science. (And yes, that literally does include lakes of sulfuric acid for specific planets). Some planet types will have a dedicated building (sometimes replacing a space building) which can only be built there, like a magmaworks, vitamelange arboretum, or an oceanic tower, which will also be needed for the associated science. 0.7 doesn’t have any science tiers (1-4), every science pack is named (asteroid, stellar, radiation, genetic, neural, etc), and half of them require a small base somewhere specific such as an asteroid belt or planet type. This means that roughly 40% of the current space science packs are moving to the ground so when you go to an iridium planet it’s not just a mining base, you’re also doing one of the material science packs there. This general tech structure is already in place, but the exact recipes are still in flux and something I will be trying to get more community feedback on later. There are also things like more toys from bio sciences, jump clones, reasons to go to other star systems, less grind, etc. but that’s a list too long…

[DoshDoshington]

A lot of you wanted my thoughts on the mod as a whole, so here they are. I really did enjoy my time playing it and it's only because it has so much potential yet uncovered or yet unfinished that I got so passionate about it. Space Exploration remains a great mod and I eagerly await what's the come, even if it does mean I might need to revisit it at some point.


Please don't blacklist me Earendel.

[_mwk]

I totally feel the 'hit N to enter satellite mode'. That feeling never goes away.

[bibleman]

As someone with the inability to form my own opinions I shall take everything in this video as gospel and shall constantly spread it to others about what you say as objective fact. Thank you for enlightenment.

[janefkrbtt]

the sphere organizer was truly something of beauty. I don't know if that's what the devs intend or you are just a genius but I'm too dumb to figure that out. thanks for playing through so I could see what the endgame looks like.

[SourceFaNNatic]

I can definitely agree with the Nauvis point - I really messed up early game in terms of biter management and was actually forced off the planet and never bothered coming back. In essence, I had to figure a way to salvage the game while hiding in orbit. Eventually I chose Calidus' asteroid belt for my entire base, which very quickly fixed the lack of logistical problems. Because I had to deal with things like limited oil from methane, I had to actually take time to plan my moves because there wasn't any fallback (short of reverting to a much older save).
Also, I played with an air filtration mod which could inefficiently convert pollution to light oil/water, and light oil to coal. This was actually quite fun to test because factories would sometimes rely on properly recapturing pollution and dealing with byproducts. Definitely shook things up from the standard "resources in, resources out" style of planetary factories.

[cdu]

"Late game space exploration is like getting stuck in traffic"

agreed 100%. I'm about 250 hours in, on a group playthrough that's been going on for over a year and a half. there's been a ton of incredible moments in the mod - going to orbit for the first time, designing your own spaceship, arcospheres, and so on. but now we're at the phase where we're just waiting around for the research to slowly tick by since so much naqium is required.

it's been a great ride, but yeah this video really captures all the frustrations we've felt over those 250 hours

[simonnachreiner]

It amuses me to no end how this entire mod basically ended up becoming a contender for “worlds biggest résumé”

[SerechII]

I mean, if the mod developers are looking for feedback from someone, you should be towards the top of that list, you cataloged your whole experience through the whole run step by step, they can just compare that to the experience they were expecting to give people and see where they failed and succeeded, on top of you having played other mods and factorio for so long, big ups to your opinion

[alexanderelliott]

The idea of having cargo rockets come after space ships really resonated with me.

For me messing around with space ship designs was the highlight of SE.

[vincentgrinn]

love how incredible the bases ended up looking
look foward to maybe seeing a pyanodon playthrough in a year or fews time once youve recovered

[minoxs]

The idea of starting with a broken ship, and repairing it to go to space is such a great starter goal. That would totally encourage exploration as well

[wyhiobcarlile]

Honestly space exploration is one of the best overhaul mods being complicated but not like seablock or pyanadonns

[ruddygreat]

Oh my god that last suggestion, yes!
I tried doing an SE run a while back and eventually abandoned it because it took so long to *actually* start doing meaningful exploration of space; by the time I'd unlocked the ability to make rockets I was so bored that I just didn't want to continue.
Starting with a dinged up ship, even if it's the rustiest bucket known to man and god, would've been so much better (imo) because it gives you the concrete 'early' goal of "get my ship fixed" (and also has you actively interacting with the cool bits of the mod a lot earlier) Vs the very vague goal of "get to space".
Anyway, just my 2 cents that was sparked by that comment, I loved the series!

[copyriteinc]

Aww sweet! Glad to have a fun cap off on this excellent series. Thanks again for all your hard work on this series, it's been very appreciated, and I hope you make a lot more content, whether it's more Factorio or more indie games like Towerclimb.

[EnormousApplePie]

Yes! As a game-designer and a more middle-ground player sitting somewhere in between purely efficient/logical designs and more aesthetically pleasing design (or in general more "fun" ways to play) I would love to see space exploration also 'explore' the fun parts and cool looking parts a little more. As much as a finished production line is something very cool in itself, making it look amazing is also an achievement and I wish it would also reward a little for that too.

[ryansainsbury]

I'm currently a little over 100 hours into my second SE playthrough (my first one being abandoned around 80 hours), and while I'm not as far in as you are, you've echoed a lot of my feelings thus far.

I... *admire* Space Exploration more than I love it.

It fills a desire that AngelBob couldn't, which is the hunger to see massive eight-lane belts fill up once you turn a factory on. AngelBob had too many little things to build, which led me to gravitate to a cell structure that, while sort of cool, just didn't hit that Big Dispatch Serotonin urge.

I love the scope. I love the planning process of figuring out what I'm going to need on a new planet, carefully assembling all my materials, making sure everything on Nauvis is working without supervision, setting off, and swearing as I learn I forgot something basic.

There's a lot to love, but to bring it back to AngelBob - in AB one of my greatest challenges was figuring out how to utilise or at least divert byproducts. In SE it's disappointingly straightforward.

But the real issue to is the abundance of - well, I'm not sure what term to use exactly, but let's say "single-use intermediaries"

There are so many recipe chains that consist of "combine input A with B to make C, which can only be used to make D, which can only be used to make E, which can..." It's not a problem at first, but after you've made your tenth production chain that is just shepherding one unique resource through half a dozen stages until it produces its one unique output, it really does start to feel like busy work.

I should add that I'm still enjoying my playthrough, and have no intention to stop. This is partially because I have debilitating brain parasites, but this is a Factorio video so I expect I'm in good company. But while I haven't gotten as far as you have, the overridding theme of a lack of interconnectedness absolutely rings true, and I do hope this is addressed in the future.

Still, if it isn't, and in the eventuality that the SE devs see this, I want first and foremost to express my absolute admiration for this mod. I have niggles, and I know that it is the nature of a creative to overly focus on those, but even so this is a truly spectacular construction you have created, and for whatever reservations I may feel I have absolutely nothing but admiration for you. This mod could never see another update ever again, and I would still delight in it.

[ASMCourtney]

This was a monster of a project that those who appreciate, appreciate deeply.
Thanks for the blood sweat and tears for this content

[willbates]

Watching this a month before the Space Age DLC drops and it’s interesting how many of these issues have been “fixed” in Space Age (and I know, SA is not Space Exploration).

[ObsidianHunter]

That radical idea of starting off with a the asteroid spaceship sounds just crazy enough for me to agree with it, I think it'd also give the mod a nomadic feel since you start off in deep space rather than on an actual planet