I actually haven't completed all that many of the packs I play, e.g. I finished Age of Engineering (even meticulously upgrading all my storage to infinity though I knew I'd probably never use it) but I didn't technically finish Agrarian Skies (I had a few of those stretch goal quests left) or Project Ozone 2 (got bored during the last of my singularities) or even Compact Claustrophobia (I've run it twice, I escape, and then I tend to lose interest before getting to the Moon)
I recently finished Star Factory and I realised that on the one hand it was nice to be able to look at it and say yup, I have ticked every box, almost anything you could want my setup now produces in unlimited quantities -- but on the other hand of course because it's so small it also felt cramped. I had to use very obviously bad solutions because the better options just weren't available in the pack.
One problem I had in Factorio was that it seemed like it was just doing one thing over and over, with different dress up - whereas I like how Minecraft packs teach me both new things I need to do, and entirely new ways to solve problems. Writing a Predicate that automatically processes my Astral Sorcery crystals goes from an idea that I'm obviously not the first to have, to something I can do almost by reflex... and then a pack says too bad, no Integrated Dynamics so figure out a different way.
The other problem I had is that I like to ignore our universe's rules, I like infinitely renewable everything, sure that's unrealistic but it's a video game. My Minecraft wins are generally powered by something ludicrous, like a single inexplicably efficient solar panel beaming energy from a world of eternal daylight, or a closed box which is somehow producing and burning unlimited amounts of Ethylene made from nothing. Factorio clearly doesn't want such shenanigans.
Constant learning does keep modded minecraft fresh. That’s why I eventually stopped playing: I had sufficiently seen it all.
One thing that really allured me towards the end was the idea of voxel layouts. I found it fun to optimize pipe layouts between heat exchangers and boilers to maximize throughout and minimize resource cost.
Factorio has similar feelings with 2D layout optimization, but it feels comparatively simplistic. There is also never a crunch for resources in factorio. “Oh I need more iron” is very different than “I just spent an hour hunting down a chrome vein and I better carefully pick what I’ll make next”. This is a rather hardcore game mechanic and I can see it being very niche.
I actually haven't completed all that many of the packs I play, e.g. I finished Age of Engineering (even meticulously upgrading all my storage to infinity though I knew I'd probably never use it) but I didn't technically finish Agrarian Skies (I had a few of those stretch goal quests left) or Project Ozone 2 (got bored during the last of my singularities) or even Compact Claustrophobia (I've run it twice, I escape, and then I tend to lose interest before getting to the Moon)
I recently finished Star Factory and I realised that on the one hand it was nice to be able to look at it and say yup, I have ticked every box, almost anything you could want my setup now produces in unlimited quantities -- but on the other hand of course because it's so small it also felt cramped. I had to use very obviously bad solutions because the better options just weren't available in the pack.
One problem I had in Factorio was that it seemed like it was just doing one thing over and over, with different dress up - whereas I like how Minecraft packs teach me both new things I need to do, and entirely new ways to solve problems. Writing a Predicate that automatically processes my Astral Sorcery crystals goes from an idea that I'm obviously not the first to have, to something I can do almost by reflex... and then a pack says too bad, no Integrated Dynamics so figure out a different way.
The other problem I had is that I like to ignore our universe's rules, I like infinitely renewable everything, sure that's unrealistic but it's a video game. My Minecraft wins are generally powered by something ludicrous, like a single inexplicably efficient solar panel beaming energy from a world of eternal daylight, or a closed box which is somehow producing and burning unlimited amounts of Ethylene made from nothing. Factorio clearly doesn't want such shenanigans.