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Early Game Guide: Steam Power, Smelting & Science

The early game covers the first steps of a Factorio run: getting raw resources, basic power, simple smelting and automation, and the first science automation that unlocks mid‑game tech. A clean early-game foundation saves time and prevents redesigns later.

Goals and priorities

  • Secure steady sources of iron, copper and coal, and get basic electricity online.
  • Automate iron/copper plate smelting and produce basic intermediates: gears, belts, inserters, circuits.
  • Set up a reliable science pipeline for Automation and Logistic research (green and red science).
  • Balance space: leave room for expansion and future trains, power, and smelting arrays.

Terrain and resource gathering

  • Trees: chop by hand for initial wood (used for fuel and basic items). Dead trees yield less wood than live trees but still provide raw wood. You can also remove trees via grenades or vehicles when needed.
  • Stone, coal, iron ore, copper ore spawn in patches. Mining rate is determined by the miner’s mining speed and the resource’s mining time; place miners on patches to start continuous extraction.
  • Place burner mining drills early if you lack electricity; they run on coal or wood. Electric miners require power but free up manual refueling.

Early power (steam)

  • Typical early power uses Offshore Pump → Boilers → Steam Engines.
  • A practical sizing ratio used in-game: 1 Offshore Pump supplies 20 Boilers and 40 Steam Engines (the well-known 1:20:40). Each Boiler supports 2 Steam Engines.
  • Place a small steam setup near water early to power inserters, assemblers and miners.

Smelting and furnaces

  • Start with Stone Furnaces (provided in early free play). They smelt iron/copper/stone into plates/bricks.
  • Steel Furnaces (or Steel Furnaces analog) double smelting speed; Electric Furnaces run on electricity and remove fuel handling.
  • Basic smelting throughput: plan belt/insertor layouts so furnace outputs do not bottleneck downstream production. Furnaces store up to 100 items internally, letting you buffer briefly.
  • Smelt ores into plates automatically using inserters to feed furnaces and take plates onto belts.

Basic automation: assemblers and recipes

  • Assembling Machine 1 is the first workhorse: it accepts up to 2 ingredients (later machines allow more), needs power, and automates crafting of items like gears, inserters and belts.
  • Early automations to prioritize:
    • Iron plate → Iron gears
    • Electronic circuits (copper cable + iron plates) — circuits are high-demand items; automate early.
    • Inserters and transport belts — needed for factory expansion.
  • Set assembler recipes and route ingredients with belts and inserters; keep early setups compact and modular.

Fuel choices

  • Coal is the default early fuel: easy to mine and feed to boilers, furnaces, and burner drills.
  • Solid fuel (from oil products or biomass processes) provides high energy per item but requires oil processing infrastructure; generally used later unless map resources push otherwise.

Science and progression

  • Automate green science (Logistics) and red science (Automation) first: these unlock belts, inserters, and Assembling Machine 2.
  • Labs consume science packs fast; build at least two labs early and keep them fed via belts.
  • Electronic circuits are used heavily in many early recipes; ensure steady circuit production to avoid research stalls.

Powering early factories and layout tips

  • Keep electric poles within range of steam engines and machines.
  • Belts do not consume electricity and are the main early logistic backbone.
  • Leave space for future expansions: rails require even tile coordinates and significant width for stations/turns; plan rail corridors early if you intend to use trains later.
  1. Gather basic wood/stone/coal by hand; craft starter tools.
  2. Build burner mining drills on the nearest iron and copper patches (or electric miners if power is available).
  3. Build a small steam power plant (offshore pump, some boilers, steam engines) and power lines.
  4. Place stone furnaces, feed them ore and coal with inserters/burner drills; produce iron and copper plates.
  5. Build Assembling Machine 1, automate gears, belts, and inserters.
  6. Start electronic circuit production and set up 2 labs for green/red science automation.
  7. Expand power and mining as research and demand grow.

Common early pitfalls

  • Starving electronic circuit production — many buildings and research require circuits; prioritize them.
  • Overcongested belts from pairing too many smelters onto a single line; use splitters and parallel lanes early.
  • Placing rail or large structures without leaving space — rail turns and basic stations are wider than they look.
  • Reliance on advanced fuels (solid fuel) before establishing oil infrastructure — costly and infrastructure-heavy.

When to transition out of early game

  • You have steady automated production of iron/copper plates, gears, circuits, inserters, belts, and labs running science packs.
  • Power production is scalable and you can add another steam block or switch to higher-tier power without redesigning core layouts.
  • You can supply ongoing research needs; then begin expanding into oil processing, higher-tier assemblers, and trains.

A compact, modular early game that secures the basics (minerals, power, smelting, circuits, and labs) makes later expansion predictable and efficient.