Oh cool, I didn't realize Factorio had such an extensive dev blog. I see it goes back over a decade! It'll be a treat to read through this :)

And ugh, I can believe it with DF. I'm trying to deliver something with similar quality graphics and naively thought that setting the bar so low would make that aspect of the project "free" :)... but it's about the journey not the destination and it is so rewarding making all the little micro-improvements over time. So, I'll stick with it and hope to get quicker as I gain more experience.