My next playthrough: persistent world

[User_Name]

For my next playthrough I want something more challenging - to play in a persistent world.
It means that the time would not stop when I'm not in the game, and my character will stay in the game world when I'm not "online".
I will not be using save files (apart for the purpose of being able to recover in case of game crash), so the death of character is a game over.

As I progress with the game, I will start compressing time between my "online" periods more and more, speeding time by the factor of 2, 5, 10, 50 when I am not in the game.

The ultimate goal will be to have factory run 100 years in a hostile environment without human intervention.
The day in Factorio lasts ~7 minutes of real time. The real world day is ~206 days in Factorio.
At the x50 speed, 100 in-game years will pass in 4 real days.

I will not be stockpiling items and materials (apart from buffering), relying entirely on the train network to deliver materials for just in time production.

I'll be using Resource Spawner Overhaul mod, Time Buttons mod and a few convenience mods that do not affect balance:
Foreman (blueprints import)
Automatic Rail Laying Machine
Autofill

Outpost creation can't be fully automated with current game mechanics, but I will get as close to it as I can: ideally I will drive Rail Laying Machine to the next resource field, unload contents of the train cars to provider chest, drop a roboport and use only blueprints to make everything else.
There was a mod for that, but I can't get it working with 0.11
After that the train will return to the factory on full auto, where it'll be automatically refilled with outpost parts.


So, how will this will affect gameplay?
Well, obviously, everything has to be fully automated. Half-assed solutions will not work over the long time span.

I have to be very careful and attentive to details: even minor mistake can cause chain reaction and result in a total loss of the factory/character death, because I will not be there to fix things if they start to fall apart.

Biters will evolve to their final form on the first day, I guess, and occupy all the space they could, so I have to rush military branch from the start.

I will need some redundancy in the key areas, such as power production and resource supply lines.

How to make world persistent?
One way to set up this will be hosting a multiplayer game on a second computer with 24/7 uptime, and connecting whenever I want to play. The death of the host character will be a game over.
Other way will be to just minimize Factorio, since it continues to work in the background.

So, is it even possible to make a factory that could last years? I'll try and let you know.
Sounds like fun and challenging task, maybe someone will make a youtube series for it?

[GewaltSam]

Sounds intriguing, keep us posted

Wouldn't this thread be better suited for the Show your Creations forum? At least if you plan on using this for some pictures and reports about your antics