Starting a new game of Space Age - Mod Recommendation

[TheSAguy]

Hi,

I've not played in a while (1+ years) and am going to play with Space Age for the first time.
I love Factorio and have done multiple Py / Krastorio runs, So know the game well.

I was hoping to get some suggestions of current mods I should include. I don't like to add/remove mods during a play so want to setup my game from the start.
I love to play expansive and have resources low so I have vast train networks.

This is what I currently have: I've put them in some loose categories and did not put all dependencies.
(Thanks to Factorio Mod Tips video here.

Base:
Alien Biomes and Alien Biomes Graphics
Agri No Spoil
Alternative Beacons
Auto Deconstruct
Combat Robot Overhaul
Flare Stack
Inventory Repair
Milestones
Mining Patch Planner
P.U.M.P
Simpler Platform Drag
Unlock Rocket Parts
Even Distribution
Some-squeak-through
Big Brother
Bob inserters
Moar roboports
Night Brightness (or simular Mod)
Rampant
Repair turret
Cleaned Concrete

Player :
Quality of Life Research
RPG System
Stats GUI
Bottlenec kLite
Nanobots2
Vehicle Snap


Planets:
Castra
Cerys
Corrundum
Maraxsis
Moshine
Muluna, Moon of Nauvis
Secretas&Frozeta
Tenebris Prime
Igrys

Planet related:
Organized Solar System
Orbital Transfer
Better Starmap Background
Redrawn Space Connections
Visible Planets In Space
Sharper Planets


Questions:
What Ore balancing mod is the best these days (Like RSO) - Again I love vast exploration to gather resources.
Space Age Galore & Vanilla Galore Continued - Thought on this one, Might be a little game breaking?
Noxy trees - I love the trees growing, but wondering if it's save.


Anything that I misses as far as must have mods or good additions to have a good long game run?

Thanks and appreciate any feedback.

[eugenekay]

Previously

[AlexRAwesome]

I've not played in a while (1+ years) and am going to play with Space Age for the first time.

Base:
Agri No Spoil

>preemptively removing game mechanics you haven't played with
>"what game mechanics should i add"

hmm?

[mmmPI]

I've not played in a while (1+ years) and am going to play with Space Age for the first time.

Base:
Agri No Spoil

>preemptively removing game mechanics you haven't played with
>"what game mechanics should i add"

hmm?

That made me curious, as i would recommend playing the game without mods for the first try !

But now if you look at the mod "it's just one line of code that extend the spoilage time for science pack by x1000". It doesn't really remove the spoilage mechanic. I could be wrong but felt like the intent may be to make a very spread out base with trains, "expansive and low ressource" which isn't quite the logic of the planet that has the spoilage mechanic. I assume OP knows about space age from some sources to pick this mod, and tries to adress "something", there also exist mod like :

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/simple_refrigerator

from the description, reduce spoilage rate of what's inside.

But also variant with wagons which may be appealing too :

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/freezer

In case what was shown on the FFF wasn't to one's liking , maybe in game it will turn out differently than expected,but i can understand the wish to start already with a "a plan B" instead of adding a mod in the middle of game, there exist some that are more intricate than a slider for spoilage time of science pack.

It's hard to propose something to "fix" or "adress" as that feels more like personnal preference to me, i haven't tested those mod btw, i like the spoilage mechanic, but i understand it changes some things in the game, i expect someones who played PY or K2 wouldn't mind additionnal complexity induced by mod, to remove what could be felt as a limitation on sprawling base. I don't think spoilage mechanic imposes such kind of limitation, but i have also no idea about the level of sprawlingness that OP is used to x).

I believe a combo of freezer chest and freezer wagon, if they 'exist' alter "less" the game, they only really are a plan B.

[NineNine]

The idea of removing spoilage from Gleba, *especially* before even trying it, seems very strange to me. It's like paying Pac-Man without the ghosts, or Space Invaders without the invaders. To each their own, of course, but I don't see the point of playing a game with the challenges removed. If you just want to build with no challenges, then maybe Sandbox mode is the best place to play.

[mmmPI]

The idea of removing spoilage from Gleba, *especially* before even trying it, seems very strange to me. It's like paying Pac-Man without the ghosts, or Space Invaders without the invaders. To each their own, of course, but I don't see the point of playing a game with the challenges removed. If you just want to build with no challenges, then maybe Sandbox mode is the best place to play.

It's not the case though, because it's only the science packs.

[DJQuad]

For Planets, Metal & Stars is pretty cool. I added more planets and just removed the ones I didn't care for.

[NineNine]

The idea of removing spoilage from Gleba, *especially* before even trying it, seems very strange to me. It's like paying Pac-Man without the ghosts, or Space Invaders without the invaders. To each their own, of course, but I don't see the point of playing a game with the challenges removed. If you just want to build with no challenges, then maybe Sandbox mode is the best place to play.

It's not the case though, because it's only the science packs.

No, almost everything on Gleba spoils. That's the whole point of Gleba: figuring out how to deal with spoilage.

[mmmPI]

No, almost everything on Gleba spoils. That's the whole point of Gleba: figuring out how to deal with spoilage.

Exactly ! the mod mentionned by OP here removes spoilage only on the science pack so it doesn't "remove spoilage from Gleba", you still have to deal with it "on Gleba". and i guess for bioflux, it's quite of a subtle nuance, not just total removal of the mechanic, hence why i suggested things like freezers instead of mods that "remove spoilage" entirely.

[coffee-factorio]

Rampant?

You're being challenged to build a space platform that costs 20 steel per meter. You may want to consider your mod choices a bit more carefully. Since wasp tribe is going to want to have a word about that.