Here are some recommended mods from a previous Factorio discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22933767 Mostly convenience/quality-of-life improvements.

I "completed" the game using a lot of these and thoroughly enjoyed it but it was incredibly addictive.

Some favorite mods (I've played a LOT of factorio over the years)

Bobs Mods is a good "new game plus" after beating the base game.

Space Exploration adds an amazing amount of depth, but it's somewhat intimidating.

FNEI is a very useful recipe browser.

Recursive blueprints are incredibly cool, but also hard to reason about. Fun to try though!

Factorissimo add recursive space (buildings that contain more space inside than their footprint).

Amongst the total conversions, I've quite enjoyed Krastorio 2.

If you're into really detailed and complex factories, Industrial Revolution might be for you.

As long as we're doing mod recommendations, I can also recommend the Space Exploration total conversion, which expands the game far past your first rocket launch. If you're looking for a really complex factory and are so inclined, it's compatible with Krastorio 2 (but it also works standalone).

Had a blast with Krastorio 2. Thanks for your Industrial Revolution recommendation!

Looks like the top of the "downloaded" list is basically all of Bob's mods? What's the story there - is it basically "Factorio but with an alternate game progression"?

Yeah, that and "angels" mods are two very popular mod groups that make the game much harder and more complex.

Any good texture packs people can recommend? I can't stand the outdated graphics of the vanilla version. (Yeah, I'm one of those people.)