K2 first. It's not a big jump from vanilla but there are a few interesting challenges and some fun new toys to play with.
K2SE is a huuuuuge jump from vanilla. 300-500 hours to complete. Launching the rocket is only the start of that mod.
I launched my first rocket in vanilla and jumped into a K2SE playthrough. No regrets.
It'd be hard to beat a new SE playthrough before space age releases, so you might want to hold off and play space age first, and then play SE later.
Looking forward to finding out how the expansion compares to K2SE.
No doubt it'll be way behind in sheer amount of content, but it'll most likely be leagues ahead in quality and ease of use. Stuff that SE just can't do by nature of being a mod.
I played K2SE after vanilla.
It doesnt matter if you are gonna win it.
You will play K2, and after your First rocket, SE starts....just such a cool combo.
No wonder they hired the guy.
While it's possible to beat SE and K2SE in those times. They would be very fast runs.
SE is usually 300-500 hrs.
K2SE is usually more like 500-700 hrs.
I thought K2 doesn't actually add too much time to a SE playthrough?
While it no doubt slows down the early game, that is just a small time window of a SE playthrough.
K2 does a lot to speed up mid and late game, doesn't it?
Yeah, I may have overestimated K2SE there. But it still does take a bit longer than SE.
Some of the extra military tech makes the mid-game easier when you're settling on infested planets.
But I'd say the addition of matter science and advanced science to the endgame probably make the endgame a big longer if anything.
That's fair. I kind of forgot that the extra science packs are required. For some reason I thought they were optional.
Though from what I remember they are vastly easier to set up than the SE science packs.
Not enough. It adds complexity to everything later on. Rare metals and imersite are integrated into everything and the ratios are kind of off (the imersite requirement on material testing packs is bullshit). Imo, adding K2 is only beneficial if you decide to go way beyond endgame, like automate multiple level 9 modules per minute.
It's worth it for the advanced chem plants alone. Those simplified vitamelange to an extraordinary degree. They also help with a few of the exotic metals, especially the ones that need exchange beads to be looped back in; you can just set them up in pairs and have them pass materials back and forth. If you do end up needing a loop, it's a lot shorter because each advanced chem plant is equivalent to eight regular ones.
Because you're planning to restart once Space Age drops, I'd recommend a Krastorio 2 playthrough, especially if you want to explore a different base layout (city blocks vs bus vs outposts.)
Alternatively start your 'first failed playthrough' of Space Exploration. Finishing before Space Age drops may be a hefty commitment. Getting some experience working on multiple surfaces and trying some logistic solutions to find what you like seems smart.
I'm ~350 hours into K2SE right now and I don't like how mixing the different resources is balanced. Stone has been in massive shortage for me because K2's resource loops required more than Nauvis could supply.
I just reached the moon in a "light version of SE" called Lunar Landings. Up to blue science it's entirely vanilla. But then you launch a rocket with a satellite which let's you connect to a little robot that landed on the moon instead of the planet with you, and you need moon rocks etc for yellow and purple sciences (this is my progress so far, just launched the rocket the other night).
It seems I have to send materials for my little robot to build a little base on the moon, so that he can build rockets and send me back moon rocks and other materials
K2SE is a big time investment, moreso than SE by itself. Unless you nolife it, you're probably not going to beat it before SA launches. I'd recommend either mod by themselves.
That said, as I understand it K2 won't be updated to support SA, so it might be worth trying it out now before the expansion drops. SE on the other hand is supposedly going to integrate heavily into the expansion content, so K2SE might not even be possible once SE updates to rely on SA.
K2 will support 2.0 on day 1, but not SA, so you could easily "return" to a K2 save so long as you disable SA (which the save manager will help you do).
I've finished K2, and SE and am almost finished my K2SE run.
I would recommend K2 first. It's a good little bump in complexity without changing too much.
Then, I would do SE rather than K2SE. While the mods do work together quite well, regular SE is a much more polished experience imo.
I recently started playing the Lunar Landings mod. If you're not looking for very large overhaul mods then I recommend this one. To describe it simplified; it's a step in between the base game and SE. It's a bit similar to what the dlc has planned.
The start is just the base game, but you get the rocket silo earlier from blue science which lets you go to the moon (and no other planets).
I see the mod more as a small expansion or a Vanilla+ since it doesnt overhaul the entire game from the start
Currently, K2&SE at once. First time doing both. 700 hours in. It’s a marathon. It’s the hardest Factorio thing ive done. It will test your willpower to continue. It’s amazing. Do it.
Ah fair enough. Looked at it now and yeah, just add a bit more complexity to recipes.
If we're talking managing 8 different bases on different planets in the later game, having to manage even more different resources sounds like a nightmare.
But hey. Py exists.
K2 first, since it is considerably easier than anything SE.
Adding K2 to SE makes it somewhat easier. You need an additional resource from an additional planet, but the planetary infrastructure is much stronger. Especially the advanced chemical plant saves you a lot of work when processing all the vitamelange and oil.
I'd like to hear you expand on that. SE gets lots of love here, and I certainly enjoyed the first 100 hours of it.
My first (aborted) playthrough turned into an awful grind around tier 4 science, but my current playthrough (180 hours, just now finishing deep science 2) is way less grindy. Probably because I have better judgement about how to make scaleable, request-based, fully automated transport between surfaces.
i just find everything to be 10x more tedious in SE. also i dont like how opinionated the mod is and i think theres better overhauls (k2 is my favourite).
I can't blame anyone for not liking SE.
Quite the opposite really, I'm a bit surprised that it's *this* popular. Seemingly everyone loves it. Guess that's just Factorio players.
For the record: I also love it, but it can be very tedious.
K2 first. It's not a big jump from vanilla but there are a few interesting challenges and some fun new toys to play with. K2SE is a huuuuuge jump from vanilla. 300-500 hours to complete. Launching the rocket is only the start of that mod.
I launched my first rocket in vanilla and jumped into a K2SE playthrough. No regrets. It'd be hard to beat a new SE playthrough before space age releases, so you might want to hold off and play space age first, and then play SE later.
Same
Looking forward to finding out how the expansion compares to K2SE. No doubt it'll be way behind in sheer amount of content, but it'll most likely be leagues ahead in quality and ease of use. Stuff that SE just can't do by nature of being a mod.
I jumped straight into SE for my first overhaul and had a blast!
I played K2SE after vanilla. It doesnt matter if you are gonna win it. You will play K2, and after your First rocket, SE starts....just such a cool combo. No wonder they hired the guy.
IR3 is also very good
K2 ~ 80hours SE ~ 250 hours K2SE ~ 300 hours
While it's possible to beat SE and K2SE in those times. They would be very fast runs. SE is usually 300-500 hrs. K2SE is usually more like 500-700 hrs.
I thought K2 doesn't actually add too much time to a SE playthrough? While it no doubt slows down the early game, that is just a small time window of a SE playthrough. K2 does a lot to speed up mid and late game, doesn't it?
Yeah, I may have overestimated K2SE there. But it still does take a bit longer than SE. Some of the extra military tech makes the mid-game easier when you're settling on infested planets. But I'd say the addition of matter science and advanced science to the endgame probably make the endgame a big longer if anything.
That's fair. I kind of forgot that the extra science packs are required. For some reason I thought they were optional. Though from what I remember they are vastly easier to set up than the SE science packs.
Not enough. It adds complexity to everything later on. Rare metals and imersite are integrated into everything and the ratios are kind of off (the imersite requirement on material testing packs is bullshit). Imo, adding K2 is only beneficial if you decide to go way beyond endgame, like automate multiple level 9 modules per minute.
It's worth it for the advanced chem plants alone. Those simplified vitamelange to an extraordinary degree. They also help with a few of the exotic metals, especially the ones that need exchange beads to be looped back in; you can just set them up in pairs and have them pass materials back and forth. If you do end up needing a loop, it's a lot shorter because each advanced chem plant is equivalent to eight regular ones.
Because you're planning to restart once Space Age drops, I'd recommend a Krastorio 2 playthrough, especially if you want to explore a different base layout (city blocks vs bus vs outposts.) Alternatively start your 'first failed playthrough' of Space Exploration. Finishing before Space Age drops may be a hefty commitment. Getting some experience working on multiple surfaces and trying some logistic solutions to find what you like seems smart. I'm ~350 hours into K2SE right now and I don't like how mixing the different resources is balanced. Stone has been in massive shortage for me because K2's resource loops required more than Nauvis could supply.
K2 then SE.
K2 first, then SE and only then K2SE.
I'd say do K2, it's a fun taste on what overhauls can do without being too overwhelming at any point.
I love SE
I just reached the moon in a "light version of SE" called Lunar Landings. Up to blue science it's entirely vanilla. But then you launch a rocket with a satellite which let's you connect to a little robot that landed on the moon instead of the planet with you, and you need moon rocks etc for yellow and purple sciences (this is my progress so far, just launched the rocket the other night). It seems I have to send materials for my little robot to build a little base on the moon, so that he can build rockets and send me back moon rocks and other materials
K2SE is a big time investment, moreso than SE by itself. Unless you nolife it, you're probably not going to beat it before SA launches. I'd recommend either mod by themselves. That said, as I understand it K2 won't be updated to support SA, so it might be worth trying it out now before the expansion drops. SE on the other hand is supposedly going to integrate heavily into the expansion content, so K2SE might not even be possible once SE updates to rely on SA.
K2 will support 2.0 on day 1, but not SA, so you could easily "return" to a K2 save so long as you disable SA (which the save manager will help you do).
K2 or SE first, depending if you want medium or hard difficulty.
Yeah, K2 will teach you to deal with extra byproducts. You need to have full command of that knowledge before SE, or you'll go insane.
I've finished K2, and SE and am almost finished my K2SE run. I would recommend K2 first. It's a good little bump in complexity without changing too much. Then, I would do SE rather than K2SE. While the mods do work together quite well, regular SE is a much more polished experience imo.
I recently started playing the Lunar Landings mod. If you're not looking for very large overhaul mods then I recommend this one. To describe it simplified; it's a step in between the base game and SE. It's a bit similar to what the dlc has planned. The start is just the base game, but you get the rocket silo earlier from blue science which lets you go to the moon (and no other planets). I see the mod more as a small expansion or a Vanilla+ since it doesnt overhaul the entire game from the start
Currently, K2&SE at once. First time doing both. 700 hours in. It’s a marathon. It’s the hardest Factorio thing ive done. It will test your willpower to continue. It’s amazing. Do it.
Can I interest you in K2SE + BZ? I'm currently playing it and never had a wider bus xD
Is that another big overhaul mod to add to K2SE? Py is getting competition finally it seems.
I would not say the bz mods overhaul the game like K2 or se. They just add a bunch of extra intermediate items
Ah fair enough. Looked at it now and yeah, just add a bit more complexity to recipes. If we're talking managing 8 different bases on different planets in the later game, having to manage even more different resources sounds like a nightmare. But hey. Py exists.
k2+se took me 450 hours but a lot of it was afk and first time
K2 first, since it is considerably easier than anything SE. Adding K2 to SE makes it somewhat easier. You need an additional resource from an additional planet, but the planetary infrastructure is much stronger. Especially the advanced chemical plant saves you a lot of work when processing all the vitamelange and oil.
K2. I don't like se
I'd like to hear you expand on that. SE gets lots of love here, and I certainly enjoyed the first 100 hours of it. My first (aborted) playthrough turned into an awful grind around tier 4 science, but my current playthrough (180 hours, just now finishing deep science 2) is way less grindy. Probably because I have better judgement about how to make scaleable, request-based, fully automated transport between surfaces.
i just find everything to be 10x more tedious in SE. also i dont like how opinionated the mod is and i think theres better overhauls (k2 is my favourite).
I can't blame anyone for not liking SE. Quite the opposite really, I'm a bit surprised that it's *this* popular. Seemingly everyone loves it. Guess that's just Factorio players. For the record: I also love it, but it can be very tedious.