zlacker

>>DonHop+(OP)
When I saw this title, I first thought it was about understanding the cockroach-like aliens in Factorio, but it is actually about queuing and congestion and parallel processing with conveyor belts and factories!

With the caveat that Factorio is EXTREMELY addictive, properly described as "programmer crack", here are some other Factorio related discussions:

Factorio – a game where you can automate basically anything (factorio.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11266471

http://www.factorio.com/

"This game is like crack for programmers." -kentonv (Tech lead for Cloudflare Workers, author of Sandstorm.io, Cap'n Proto)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11269098

Raycasting engine in Factorio game – Facto-RayO v1.0 [video] (youtube.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19878688

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lVAFcDX4eM

Factorio to talk about horizontal scaling of software services (medium.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19095271

https://medium.com/@chrisfauerbach/gamification-of-horizonta...

Mapping Factorio with Leaflet (cloudflare.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18185058

https://blog.cloudflare.com/mapping-factorio-with-leaflet/

>>DonHop+f
Pro-tip to others who think 'Programmer Crack' is hyperbole- it is not.

Factorio does have a rather steep learning curve, and the UI is not the most intuitive. But. Once how it works clicks, it clicks, and suddenly morning. And I'm in my 40's, I'd thought my days of unexpected overnights while working on fascinating problems were mostly behind me. Highly recommended, but be aware.

>>Baeocy+9V
I had to uninstall it last weekend because I came to realize my playing it was no longer healthy. I mean, that sounds funny, but I'm being totally serious. I've had a few games like that in my life, and I've come to recognize a few signs that what I'm doing is not good for me anymore.

But wow, what a great game.

>>mabbo+Z31
I've only had 2 games like that in my life, EverQuest (also called EverCrack) and Factorio (also called Programmer Crack). I had to go cold turkey or I was skipping the gym and meals and not sleeping!

>>jjjens+4w1
One thing I credit Factorio for (and I am not joking at all when I say this, despite how ridiculous the statement might seem) is learning to be a little more understanding about folks that deal with addictions. I've never had a problem not doing something to excess, so I never really understood people who do. But when I first discovered Factorio a few years back, there were enough times where I didn't do $ActuallyRatherImportantThingX because I was allllmost done with some aspect of a megabase to give me pause.

There are lots of games I can play for a specified amount of time and be fine with it. Pretty much all of them, really. Factorio, I get annoyed if pulled away in the middle of a project. So now I know to not even start unless it's free time for the rest of the night.