Factorio - a factory building game - now with Space Age expansion

[Hellraiser]

So how did people deal with the worms? I have pretty high level physical damage research, so I just instantly vaporize them with uranium shells from a tank. Seems like they could be pretty tricky if it's your first planet.

So far I used also a tank with uranium shells and some energy shields and also something like 30-ish tesla turrets as a trap.[/spoiler]

 

[Average Manatee]

I have discovered Factorio hell. It is when you give an order to mass replace your main belt on Nauvis with green belts but don't have enough undergrounds and all your production gets deadlocked in random places where the bots replace one section of underground and not the other. Then your Volcanus production is running low on Tungsten and only producing a trickle. And the next deposit is a mile away and behind multiple worms. Ohh and I accidentally left just the green splitters production be uncapped, which meant it sucked up all of the blue circuits I needed to launch rockets and fix the problem.

re: quality and general bot logistics, I've made a very simple parameterized blueprint:

Spoiler

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

What this does is prompt for an output, select the inputs on the requester, then use logic to limit the machine to 1 stack of output materials but keeps the buffer chest requesting the full capacity it can carry. This really helps manage having lots of items lying around when you go to deconstruct things, rather than them getting mixed up in a bunch of storage chests all over the place they go back to what made them. Very tidy gameplay. For example, when I deconstruct a thousand blue belts they go put back into the blue belt chest that feeds into green belts. It's a simple blueprint but massively convenient to just plop down a dozen to make an impromptu mall of what you need when you're remote building from another planet.

 

[Jaedar]

What this does is prompt for an output, select the inputs on the requester, then use logic to limit the machine to 1 stack of output materials but keeps the buffer chest requesting the full capacity it can carry.

Neat and cool concept. Personally I would have gone with a storage chest with a content filter over a buffer chest, because buffer chests won't supply requester chests by default (obviously this can be fixed).

In practice, I haven't internalized this feature yet, so I just paste empty boxes and machines, and then paste the machine onto the box to set the requests.

 

[Hellraiser]

I like Aquilo, heat pipes certainly shake up how you arrange your factory and it's a nice challenge to readjust/figure out how to place everything. It's a tad slow to get things running if you haven't realized that you need a mining platform in orbit that can indefinitely stay there and drop processed minerals down to the surface, and come with one. Also Explosion Damage 7 or 8, the one that allows missiles to kill big asteroids in 3 hits, is a huge help since it reduces the resource cost needed to stay in orbit.

Currently I'm kind of stranded and working on having a steady flow of resources to launch rockets from the surface, after that I'll work on getting production rate up. Unfortunately I have to return to Nauvis because B*ter capture blocks some research I really wanted (ugh, why).

I just wish there was more landmass on Aquilo, not because I hate the challenge or concept of building my own, but rather because I like the icy landscape art and find it quite pretty (maybe this can be tweaked in mapgen). The concrete just ruins the nice terrain art, I also don't use it on the other planet for the same reason.

Still when building on water, I now have all these nice piers and islands around the starting island which I also find aesthetically pleasing.

Spoiler

[/

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Started playing factorio 5 days ago for the first time and couldn't stop since, been playing 14 h/day. Had to restart the game on day 3 because I've set bugs to 200% thinking it'll be a nice challenge. It wasn't.

Have figured out chain signals for trains, have figured out circuits.

Is there going to be anything else this complicated in this game or am I okay from now on?

I'm about to research the planets. Any difference between them, any advice which to go to first and why?

Anything I should know about? But no spoilers, pls.

 

[Average Manatee]

Neat and cool concept. Personally I would have gone with a storage chest with a content filter over a buffer chest, because buffer chests won't supply requester chests by default (obviously this can be fixed).

I do have the "request from buffer chest" on for them in this blueprint. The problem with the storage chest is that they merely sit there and hope a bot comes to it rather than sucking up all the items into a centralized neat location. I think bots try to prefer chests that already have the item they are carrying in it but the preference isn't absolute.

Is there going to be anything else this complicated in this game or am I okay from now on?

Gleba will have you pulling your hair out for a few hours figuring out how to handle spoilage. Rest should be easy enough to get used to. Have you figured out Quality? That can be a little complex but it is totally optional.

I'm about to research the planets. Any difference between them, any advice which to go to first and why?

I'd say go anywhere and be surprised like I was. But if you want the optimal route.

Spoiler

Go to Vulcanus or Fulgora first. Former is about buffing the low end of your production and the latter the high end. They form a complete package of factory improvements that want both before redesigning everything for higher output. Gleba is both more annoying to deal with due to several things (spoilage, aggressive enemies) and the payoff (better chemical plants) is minimal. Though it is what gates research and quality improvements.

 

[Vic]

Started playing factorio 5 days ago for the first time and couldn't stop since, been playing 14 h/day.

That's why they call it Cracktorio.

 

[Average Manatee]

Finally got my artillery online. Unfortunately lasers are not good enough to defend against the hordes it summons even with me being into the repeatable on energy upgrades. Think I need to look into these "tesla" turrets.

Is there any way to have a bunch of stops that a single artillery wagon visits periodically? AFAIK if I make ten of the same stops and put it on a loop between them and a loading station it'll just keep going to the nearest one every time.

I swear imma get to Gleba today. There's just too many things to do between 3 planets already that I keep getting sidetracked. Need to resist the urge to set up quality large drill production which would lower their resource drain rate even further...

I'm wondering whether I should just not make a central smelting location. Instead I smelt next to whatever needs it. Like how you make copper wire next to whatever needs it, rather than belting it inefficiently. It means that multiple belts of iron, gears and steel could all be condensed into a single pipeline.

 

[Hellraiser]

Is there any way to have a bunch of stops that a single artillery wagon visits periodically? AFAIK if I make ten of the same stops and put it on a loop between them and a loading station it'll just keep going to the nearest one every time.

Just make a train that goes to all of them on a schedule where it stays for 60-120 seconds at each stop as the only wait condition.

I already used that for my ammo/wall/turret etc. distribution train that just did one giant loop like that, no fancy interrupts or signals, so I merely added the artillery wagon to that train and it just works(tm). Well until the pissed off b*ters retaliate and destroy some rails and I have to remote view intervene to fix them.

 

[Average Manatee]

HOLY FUCK I just found something that will shake the Factorio world. Warning, this is a groundbreaking discovery that I've never seen used before:

Spoiler

All of your normal train stops can be made shorter by putting the cargo wagons at the front. This allows them to be unloaded on straight track while curved track is occupied by the locomotives. Figured it out while making a curved defensive stop for my artillery, backported it to normal station design.

This could be particularly useful for Fulgora with those small islands. Though I'm using 2-way trains atm there where this wouldn't help, but we'll see how it can work out.

Is there any way to have a bunch of stops that a single artillery wagon visits periodically? AFAIK if I make ten of the same stops and put it on a loop between them and a loading station it'll just keep going to the nearest one every time.

Just make a train that goes to all of them on a schedule where it stays for 60-120 seconds at each stop as the only wait condition.

I already used that for my ammo/wall/turret etc. distribution train that just did one giant loop like that, no fancy interrupts or signals, so I merely added the artillery wagon to that train and it just works(tm). Well until the pissed off b*ters retaliate and destroy some rails and I have to remote view intervene to fix them.

That means having a bunch of uniquely named stations and adding/deleting stations from the route every time a change is made. That's ugly...

Ahh, I have an idea. I set up clock at each station and have the priority set to the time since last visit. Yes I am a genius.

 

[Jaedar]

I do have the "request from buffer chest" on for them in this blueprint. The problem with the storage chest is that they merely sit there and hope a bot comes to it rather than sucking up all the items into a centralized neat location. I think bots try to prefer chests that already have the item they are carrying in it but the preference isn't absolute.

That's a good point, as soon as you have any non-filtered storage chest the bots won't centralize it.

 

[Hellraiser]

That means having a bunch of uniquely named stations and adding/deleting stations from the route every time a change is made. That's ugly...

Ahh, I have an idea. I set up clock at each station and have the priority set to the time since last visit. Yes I am a genius.

Well, I guess you're using some complex circuit logic using the new features for the trains then? Otherwise without uniquely naming stations it just sounds like a headache in the making. I need to figure out interrupts (also why the hell do platforms have interrupts in the UI if you can't fucking add any???).

Clock seems like a nice idea though, doesn't guarantee the train will run on an optimized route though. Might waste a lot of time going back and forth, I mean you have n! combinations for the station order and most will be shit (this is a variation of the traveling salesman problem, ain't it?).

Unless there is a way to transmit/calculate distance somehow?

 

[Andnjord]

My default for artillery is to have a separate artillery stop that unloads an artillery train (since it can hold 100 shells) into a chest and the chest into an artillery turret or two. The station is only open if artillery shell=0 in the chest. One supply train (or more if you remember to set train limit=1 at the station), one station name infinitely repeatable, basic cargo full into cargo empty schedule. I don’t know why you’d need anything more complicated than that.

 

[Average Manatee]

Well, I guess you're using some complex circuit logic using the new features for the trains then? Otherwise without uniquely naming stations it just sounds like a headache in the making. I need to figure out interrupts (also why the hell do platforms have interrupts in the UI if you can't fucking add any???).

Clock seems like a nice idea though, doesn't guarantee the train will run on an optimized route though. Might waste a lot of time going back and forth, I mean you have n! combinations for the station order and most will be shit (this is a variation of the traveling salesman problem, ain't it?).

Unless there is a way to transmit/calculate distance somehow?

Not really complex.

Decider Combinator checks if T = 0. If so then an Arithmetic Combinator counts C = C + 1 every tick. If not the counter will go back to 0
Then we divide C by 3600 to get P, which is the number of minutes.
The station takes P to set the priority, and reads T as the stopped train (if no stopped train then T = 0 and the clock counts).

I also have the station set to disable when P > 30, so every station will be visited once every 30 minutes. But since the clock starts at 0 if you want the train to go there immediately you have to manually disable that condition for the first clearing, or it will wait 30 minutes.

This way all stations can be named "Artillery Defence" and the artillery wagon will properly visit each one every 30 minutes and stay till finished, 5s of inactivity. Theoretically if there's somehow so many that the train can't get to them all they will be prioritized in order of the oldest visited.

Spoiler

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Vz723HjbHet822+FMf7N+qDdfvH/rn8f2qW6/+9d6X3/3t91v/Wc+1e1h9GeItvhSgncuZ5NfXv4DY7ehTg==

Right now the only problem is that I need to manually drive out with the tank and build the whole artillery station. Don't think there's any way around that.


For common freight trains it's easier to just show the interrupts:

Spoiler

All of my loading stations are named 2x4 loading, and any empty train can go there. Once they are there they'll see whats put into them, insert that into the wildcard expression for the name of the destination station, and go there. Then I can just add 2x4 freight trains to the generic 2x4 group to have them all running the same orders and figuring out for themselves where to go. The unloading stations are all named 2x4 Unloading *parameter*, which lets you use the parameterized blueprint to select the resource to be dropped off.

I also have combinators modifying the priority of the destination station depending on what needs it most but that's not essential to the setup. It helps if you have e.g. 5 places to drop off iron ore and want them all filled as much as possible without trains waiting around.

(also why the hell do platforms have interrupts in the UI if you can't fucking add any???).

They can, you have to type a name and hit the green button. It is slightly unintuitive. I haven't done anything complex yet for ships, it's just collect everything and bring it back, waiting to make sure sufficient magazines are in the cargo hold to make the trip safe.

 

[Hellraiser]

Average Manatee so I assume you just used a self-contained circuit network to rename stations then, rather than use radars to transmit signals?

I was wondering if you could use the new feature to transmit a station name or better an object ID number and change train schedules dynamically somehow:

if signal X==true
{
   add station Y to schedule

   remove Y from schedule once train leaves station Y
}

Alternatively throwing an interrupt dynamically into the schedule (if signal X, do interrupt where train goes to Y). Something like that.

 

[Average Manatee]

Haha, I'm actually an idiot. When I was waiting forever to get seeds before getting production modules on Gleba, now I realize you can do the seed thing with both assemblers and biochamber. The Biochambers have 50% production bonus, so they naturally produce extra seeds quite quickly. Derp.

On the bright side, I got Gleba finished pretty quickly this time after getting sidetracked for days. Bots minimize spoilage pretty well.

Any ideas on how to detect and have a ship leave a planet when they are at a low level of activity, but not zero? My Vulcanus-Nauvis transport is ferrying calcite in, but it backs up and then gets used at a trickle rate which keeps the transport from being inactive.

Also on the issue of ship logistics, unless I'm missing something it looks like the throughput of landing cargo is actually pretty limited? I was waiting on a freighter to dump off tungsten to make artillery ammo and go hunting. It took several minutes waiting for calcite, blue circuits, and science packs to be dropped from other sources. There's gotta be a way around this, right? I find it hard to believe that they would cap throughput of anything in the game, but as far as I can tell that is the case with the limit to 1 landing pad per planet. If that's actually how it is then it seems like Megabasers will have to do everything important in orbit since you can launch as many rockets as you want to them at once.

Average Manatee so I assume you just used a self-contained circuit network to rename stations then, rather than use radars to transmit signals?

I was wondering if you could use the new feature to transmit a station name or better an object ID number and change train schedules dynamically somehow:

if signal X==true
{
   add station Y to schedule

   remove Y from schedule once train leaves station Y
}

Alternatively throwing an interrupt dynamically into the schedule (if signal X, do interrupt where train goes to Y). Something like that.

Radars transmit signals now? Cool. That could definitely be useful somewhere. I can't see a way to transmit station names or dynamically add a new station to a train aside from wildcard expressions.

I'm not renaming anything. The train schedule looks to pick up anything at a station named "2x4 Loading" (it doesn't matter what because all my trains can go to any loading station). It then looks to drop off stuff at a station named or "2x4 Unloading *item wildcard*", with the wildcard taken from whatever is loaded in the train. So if it has iron ore it replaces the wildcard with the iron ore symbol and looks for a "2x4 Unloading iron ore.png" station. The station blueprint I have is parameterized and whenever you place it it asks you what resource the station uses and will set the station name appropriately.

If it helps explain, my station list looks like this:

 

[Average Manatee]

You know, the Factorio devs are wily fuckers. They know I don't want to integrate Gleba Bioreactors into my production chain like I do foundries and EM plants. But then they force me to ship bioflux in to capture biters and make those OP research labs, and if I have bioflux available on Nauvis that's like 90% of the work to setting up a Bioreactor production chain. Bioflux ships in absolutely massive quantity (2k by default) so its easy to move too. In fact they practically force you to overship it because bioflux lasts so long and you'll get thousands of eggs you don't need out of a single shipment.

Not really sure where to actually use it though, I guess I could gain a lot of speed and efficiency in cracking and rocket fuel production. Not that you really need it, but my current production is limited by land area and relocating is obviously always annoying. Plastic might be possible, but that means shipping Yumako too... ehh... yuck...

 

[Hellraiser]

You know, the Factorio devs are wily fuckers. They know I don't want to integrate Gleba Bioreactors into my production chain like I do foundries and EM plants. But then they force me to ship bioflux in to capture biters and make those OP research labs

Oh they've been even more wily. Look at the components for Prod Module 3, it needs b*ter eggs. Now it becomes totally impossible to avoid b*ter captivity, spoilage and biter egg production. Goddamn pepiks!

Also so does promethium science pack, although that one is entirely optional and needed only if you want to get some of the infinite researches to some silly level (would be nice if they added some post-game tech that uses it, just like space science unlocked artillery, the spidertron etc. in the base game).

 

[Average Manatee]

Already need biter eggs for those biolabs so that's no problem. The biter containment and production is actually pretty easy given how bioflux is absurdly efficient and eggs produce faster than you need for anything in normal gameplay.

I'm surprised the Biolab doesn't require nutrients. The Factorio devs are merciful, it's literally just a better lab.

Actually, is there a way to produce quality biter eggs? I don't think so, which means its very hard to produce quality production modules?

 

[Hellraiser]

Actually, is there a way to produce quality biter eggs? I don't think so, which means its very hard to produce quality production modules?

Maybe the quality of the egg is ignored? How does it work for liquids? I mean, how does quality for blue chips work when sulfuric acid has no quality?

 

[Jaedar]

Actually, is there a way to produce quality biter eggs? I don't think so, which means its very hard to produce quality production modules?

Maybe the quality of the egg is ignored? How does it work for liquids? I mean, how does quality for blue chips work when sulfuric acid has no quality?

You can make high quality stuff from normal ingredients. Not sure about the highest two tiers, but I'm making blue quality from base materials.

 

[Average Manatee]

Nope, definitely need a quality egg:

So I think it's impossible, since the biter spawner can't take modules. So the only way to get prod 3 quality is to put quality in the end result machine and hope for the very low chance of high tiers.

EDIT: Actually, you can get eggs by recyclers. And recyclers can upgrade quality themselves when recycling so that's not too bad.

btw anyone notice they added a way to see SPM?

Gleba research packs are annoying because you can't bank them so you end up constantly switching on and off of research that uses them to maximize your rate. Set up a silent alarm to warn me whenever I need to do that.

Maybe the quality of the egg is ignored? How does it work for liquids? I mean, how does quality for blue chips work when sulfuric acid has no quality?

Quality is ignored only for liquids

 

[Hellraiser]

TBH they honestly need to add a way to filter items based on freshness % in splitters or inserters, that's pretty much the only problem I have with Gleba and rotting.

Also space platforms need some way to better control when and what resources to drop down. Particularly to forbid dropping nuclear fuel or more nuclear fuel than you want (as in keep bare minimum X on board, rest can be used to fullfill platform requests).

In other news:

I managed to finish laying down the entire basic infrastructure/bus needed to launch rockets from Aquilo, Mostly as part of the southern coast piers, and the first rocket has started being built.

Spoiler

I neglected my mobik fuel cube production and now random shit keeps freezing all around the place, as also visible on the lower part of the screenshot.

Also I learned that you can have multiple underground belts running items through the same tiles without connecting, so long as they're in different colors. Helped fix a particular clogged belt on one of the platforms.

 

[Jaedar]

Also I learned that you can have multiple underground belts running items through the same tiles without connecting, so long as they're in different colors. Helped fix a particular clogged belt on one of the platforms.

Belt weaving is the most useful of the forbidden belt techniques.

 

[Average Manatee]

Belt Weaving is essential for beacons