How to set up your first Factory | Satisfactory 1.0 Masterclass

A Satisfactory guide on how to progress & build efficiently, while still making optimal & great looking builds. Today: Our first steps!
Satisfactory is a first-person open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat. Play alone or with friends, explore an alien planet, create multi-story factories, and enter conveyor belt heaven!
Construct
Conquer nature by building massive factories across the land. Expand wherever and however you want. The planet is filled with valuable natural resources just waiting to be utilized. As an employee of FICSIT it’s your duty to make sure they come to good use.
Automate
Construct your factories with gracious perfection or build intricate webs of conveyor belts to supply all your needs. Automate trucks and trains to reach your faraway outposts and be sure to handle liquids properly by transporting them in pipes. It’s all about minimizing manual labour!
Explore & Exploit
Venture on expeditions to search for new materials and be sure to put everything to good use. Nature is yours to harvest! You have vehicles, jetpacks, jump pads and more at your disposal to make the exploration easier. Equip the proper safety gear as well, just in case you run into the local wildlife.
I am not sponsored in any way.
#Satisfactory #Letsplay #tutorial #guide

[@TheDutchActuary]

Please help me out by liking the video! If you want early access to new content, consider becoming a member. Note: This first episode is intentionally covering LOT of real basics as it feels many content creators skip these things. The first hours in this game can be extremely overwhelming, so I hope this helps! Ask anything you want in the comments and i'll do my best to answer.

[@brodriguez11000]

General biome, but mine was closer to the coal and a cave so one could get pretty much what they needed till the oil stage.

[@TallinuTV]

FYI: Biomass burning generators you build (that is, this excludes the two on the HUB) now have conveyor input ports, so you no longer have the hassle of visiting every single one to top it off. You can hook up crafters to process leaves and wood into fire logs and have it fill a container which then sends them out to all your generators, and all you have to worry about is bringing home a bunch of plant stuff every time you’re out. 😅

[@zug-zug]

Can you please order the playlist so the videos are in order? Right now they are very much out of order. I think the order is something like 4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 6

[@davidsearles-2810]

About the only thing i would change with this is setting up your first power station. You completely skipped over the fact that the new biomass burners have an input, so you can quickly throw down a couple of constructors that will convert your leaves and wood into biomass, then DIRECTLY INPUT it into your burners, this reducing the downtime of refilling them all the time. Other than that, awesome start and looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@TheDutchActuary]

That was intentional! This will actually be the very first thing in the next episode (and god having this automated is awesome compared to doing it all manually)

[@Andrew_Bradshaw]

@@TheDutchActuary yay! Im excited to see that thanks for addressing that TDA

[@PenguinApple]

scrolled down to point this out too, it's such a great QOL addition to the early game. Only need a manual step in one place now

[@WigneyR]

@TheDutchActuary Seems a lot more like you just forgot, given the way you talked about the biomass burners in this video, you weren’t talking about the HAB ones you were talking about the self placeable ones and you said you can’t automate them and you’ll have to fill them by hand which is inaccurate, if it was intentional you should’ve just said don’t worry about them yet as you’ll be talking about them in the next video

[@jamesdowell5268]

Your stuff is just ridiculously high quality, less like a youtube tutorial and more like an extremely entertaining university class. There are FOR SURE professors that put less work into their classes than you do with these

[@TheDutchActuary]

Wow that's high praise, thank you!!

[@af4043]

Oh my God, TDA! Right on time with this masterclass. I followed your Dyson sphere program videos and loved them. Was looking for exactly the same thing for satisfactory. You’ve made me a very happy person! No, YOU are awesome.

[@neilhilton8469]

This is great. I have been playing the game for a while now but it's nice to see a good, clear starter video. I love the crazy builds done by some other content creators but it can feel a little inaccessible.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Happy to hear this! Was *exactly* what I was going for!

[@tonikunec]

Just got the game and this is exactly what I was looking for. Can't wait for more of your masterclass videos! Keep up the good work, and here is my sub ;).

[@matthewsykes4814]

I watch you, Nilaus and ImKibitz for tips and help with this game. I used to play it sporadically but during a vacation I really got into it. Haven't touched DSP in ages, since before the dark fog came out in fact and Factorio.... lets not go there, megabase of chaos....it runs but will take me a decade or three to organise. I really appreciate you covering the basics, really helps Please do forgive me if I forget To watch or miss an episode, I don't often comment unless I have something to say but that's just my nature. I hope your well and having a great time playing.

[@stuartthurstan]

As someone who has literally just started playing Satisfactory, I found this video to be exactly at the level I need. It's far too easy when you have hundreds or thousands of hours in a game to remember just what those first few hours of play are like. Great video. I'm looking forward to working my way through the rest of your masterclass. You earned a sub! Thanks.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Exactly what I was going for - Glad you liked it!

[@PatricioINTP]

Start at the Rocky Desert: YES! My favorite starting location with three iron nodes is just over… Begin running in a different direction: … never mind. My only critique is I make a mad dash to solid biofuel. With the exception of base building for platforms, if it doesn’t help with the power situation (like the MAM and underclocking), skip it till you get coal. I’m not paranoid. I’m powernoid.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Hahaha I think your favourite starting location is actually the one I had in mind at first during my test run. It's a good spot, but this one makes for a more convenient expanded factory (next episode).

[@brodriguez11000]

That's good if you're in that small space next to water, and some coal (like a canyon). Going straight up puts you on top of the mesa, which is good later for dropping water down to any factory (less fluid headaches).

[@daystarzgaming3034]

I'm sure you'll cover in future but with your limestone setup needed 135 and only having access to 120, you can underclock the machines to run at full efficiency and save on a little power, minor but we gotta save the trees!!

[@TheDutchActuary]

Save the trees! I mean, save the tree! I mean...wait. WHO CUT DOWN ALL THE TREES?!?!

[@josgha2917]

Cant underclock until the Power Crystal mam research starts

[@michaelvoight7748]

Not true. It's after you get 2 blue power slugs you can under clock ​@@josgha2917

[@chase5436]

That right angle conveyor pathing might just get me to start a new game. I got about early mid in my last playthorugh and my base was just a huge spaghetti mess in the worst possible location, all on the ground. Looking forward to starting again on a huge platform above everything lmao. I realized I could just build platforms wherever when I built a huge bridge to an island off the grasslands for my tractors, but never really connected that I could use that info to redo my starting factory.

[@brodriguez11000]

Build to global grid is the best.

[@Sarge92]

one tip i found super usefull is once you get awesome sink tokens spend your first couple on the concrete material for foundations its not just cosmetic concrete material foundations do not require iron plates so its a little less stuff to build many foundations

[@cornonthecob457]

This was super helpful. The only other game I’ve played with any similarities to satisfactory is subnautica (which base building in that game is very easy) and rust (which EVERY square inch of space matters and if you make one mistake in your base you’re forced to rebuild it) so this was a helpful guideline to hit the ground running and start up my playthrough :).

[@TheDutchActuary]

Oh man, Subnautica.... That game had some awesome basebuilding to be honest. Not super complex, but the vibes of the scenery definitely rival Satisfactory!

[@junestorm]

Nice tut. Looking forward to the next episodes. ☝️🙃

[@Ruby_was_here420]

10:56 Alternatively, you can aim at a power line while building a power pole and it will automatically connect the line to the pole without needing to disconnect it first

[@TheDutchActuary]

Good call out!

[@OhmIsFutile]

About the starting location, I think it's because the Rocky Desert doesn't have a lot of convenient crash sites though it has a few... and that's less about the hard drives and more about the resources scattered on the ground near them. Something cool though would be a starting location with a route to a nice open spot with resources with a number of hard drives on the way...

[@TheDutchActuary]

Good point, the hard drives in this particular zone are also not the easiest to pick up right away (although I never do that anyway).

[@OhmIsFutile]

@@TheDutchActuary The materials around them are a massive boost when starting off and if you pick up a hard drive or two and research early on you can get the cast screw recipe (there's more alternate recipes in the pool the further you get) which is just a better/more convenient way to make screws.

[@arkadygaming9232]

To add on to the very beginning of the tutorial, when picking up leaves, if you press and HOLD "E" it will continually pick up leaves as you walk into them. Saves you having to constantly spam it to pick up everything.

[@EndermanAPM]

Well, now you can use conveyors to send items into the bio generators!

[@ghostwolf3292]

This is great, well-thought-out and explained well! Looking forward to the rest of the series, as i had not palyed in over a year plus been waiting for 1.0 to come out to start a new bsae.

[@Robzylla]

TIP: To not set the Hachers off (The egg sack bugs that explode.) You can crouch with the 'C' key and sneak up on it and you wont trigger it.

[@EricT43]

Great video, as an intermediate player I found it very useful. It's the first of your videos that I've seen, so I went to the playlist and they seem to be out of order. What order should I watch them in?

[@anthonyboone6843]

Great insights. There is much to learn about this game.

[@asddsa8203]

Neat, didn't know about pressing R to change the build mode

[@JNJNRobin1337]

i thought they added conveyor access to biomass burners?

[@archerkid02]

Biomass burners now have conveyor inputs, you're correct. Just not the ones at the HUB, at least not that I see.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Yep! See next episode ;)

[@K9RacingAndStuff]

Adding another comment about the starting Biomes I think Rocky Desert was always one of the least popular because it was comparably difficult to set up automated power for in the early game; where you set up coal was handily outcompeted by Northern Forest, both by proximity and resource access. I think the addition of coal to the west of the map and reduction of resources around the Northern Forest start should remedy that with time I'd hope. That and Rocky Desert's pre-U8 navigation issues just made it lose out competitively compared to the other three biomes.

[@fpsmarcus]

Series 🎉🎉🎉

[@gnrwestwell694]

Hold "E" when collecting it's easier than pressing

[@lilbentley711able]

Also if you crouch up to the plants they won't attack you.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Sneaking up to a plant is an interesting mechanic :D

[@lilbentley711able]

@@TheDutchActuary For sure haha

[@raistlinsly1]

Im playing along with you. I look forward to the rest of it. I plan on having 2 saves one where i play along with you and one to see how much i figure out tell the next episode. I do have a question for you Have you ever played Banished? If not check it out. I recommend the CC mod. Its a logistical play ground.

[@TheDutchActuary]

I did play banished (waaay back) and love it!

[@sndsiwrite]

...or for those whose machines always need to wait for the fixes for it to run. They have been awesome at making more efficient code so I can run through the jungle!

[@drayton359]

Are you doing blueprints at all ?? keep up the good work.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Yup, but we will have to unlock those first ;)

[@shawnp6653]

Great! I tried to follow someone's play through last year, but it was pretty complex (to me) and hard to follow and I missed a bit on some of my alignments, and well, it got kinda frustrating - I eventually gave up. Regardless, I like watching your stuff TDA.

[@TheDutchActuary]

Honestly this game is pretty hard to follow someone else on in detail. You'd need to show almost *everything* in detail (making for extremely long videos). It's why my intent is to list the buildings and design intent, give guidelines, but leave as much freedom as I can to put your own twist to it. As you will see in the 2nd episode, even I ran into a few issues while building despite planning ahead. A few (non-recorded) curses may have been involved ;)

[@shawnp6653]

@@TheDutchActuary Sounds great TDA. The other part of the problem is that was my first experience w/ Satisfactory :) I also got way to hung up on building the exact same spot, etc. - I like your approach with the series and thank you for the response. Have a good evening!

[@Skilez]

Hi TDA, game looks great! as someone who played a lot of DSP, how does satisfactory do compared to that? what are the key differences? what is better, what is worse than in DSP? it looks decently similar although a bit better i feel :)

[@TheDutchActuary]

In terms of mechanics it is very similar. You build production chains of ever increasing complexity. The key difference is in three things: - First person versus 3rd person. Literally walking around in your factory while building it is a VERY different experience than ' hovering over it ' like in DSP. - Verticality. In DSP you can pave the world and have a blank canvas. In Satisfactory, mountains, rocks and canyons get in the way so you'll need to work around the terrain. The upside: You can build factories consisting of dozens of floors if you want. - Creativity. Satisfactory is part factory game, part 'You are an architect now' . You don't HAVE to make pretty looking buildings, but you definitely CAN. There's nothing like that in DSP really, other than making clean looking layouts. While both games are great and have similarities, there will definitely be people that love one and dislike the other because of the items above.

[@Skilez]

@@TheDutchActuary thanks! i guess i will have to buy it and try it myself. i loved DSP and this looks VERY promising and i actually like building pretty as well as efficient :) looking forward to the masterclass series!

[@mephasor]

The playlist for this is completely out of order :D I am so confused

[@dukecunning7046]

Hi Dutch. Like your videos. Anyone know why I have to keep holding the Craft button (or even Spacebar) when crafting on the bench? Shift is not working for me. Lots of people are building things repeatedly without having to continuously holding down the button. Thanks in advance.

[@chancanobi]

Press spacebar once and you can autocraft. No need to hold it.

[@dukecunning7046]

@@chancanobi FINALLY! It finally worked. It wasn't working at first; but, I kept trying and it finally worked. I think there is a timing problem on my computer and it only works if I click the spacebar really fast. But, your hint gave me the clue that I needed. THANKS!

[@chancanobi]

@@dukecunning7046 glad to help!

[@Exotic69420]

Dont watch a tutorial!! Just go ahead and play!

[@junestorm]

I'm sure you also skipped the in-game tutorial, right?

[@BelgiumEngineerplays-q1p]

hallo daar

[@TheDutchActuary]

Hi!

[@PiterTraceurFA]

Here's how to actually do it: don't watch videos like this, do it your way, discover the game on your own and actually have fun instead of brainlessly following someone else's blueprint

[@SidMajors]

This.

[@Saaihead]

When I started playing this games in 2020 I also followed 1 or 2 tutorials because I had no clue what to do. After those tutorials I understood why things were done in a specific way and it got me going for the 5800 hours I have in this game now. And looking back, those tutorials barely scratched the surface and only got me in the basics of the first 2 tiers, there still is a LOT to discover and learn in this game. For some people a tutorial can make the difference between playing the game and giving up on it.

[@NeutralDrow]

Agreed, it's better to get lost in the complexity and burn out early than to seek out and take advice. You wouldn't want to have fun the wrong way, after all.

[@Lucpol1986]

To each their own. Some find guides like this useful, whilst others do not. Simples 👍🏾

[@You_Ate_My_Soap]

POV: Burnout mentality

[@jeffreyspinner5437]

Oh, no you didn't! How could I pass up a video entitled _Masterclass_ after I got so much out of a Screenwriter's Masterclass by Alan Sorkin!? I learned from his Masterclass if I wanted a true story based on actual events, I wanted to watch a Documentary, cause _nothing, not a single thing_ written by ppl of his ilk, irrespective of all their proclamations of a "true story" actually turns out so adulterated by their agendas and lenses that the end product is ALL fiction, and hence why it's not called a _Documentary_ (!) So, I'm hoping your Masterclass is a Documentary (!) not just based on a true story...