Factorio, highly addictive game(alpha)

[Unagi]

I've just contaminated a bunch of pipes with the wrong fluid . Other than deleting and adding all the pipes again, is there some simple and fast way to purge the pipes? I know there is in Satisfactory, but I don't remember there being one in Factorio.

There is a red trash can when you highlight the pipe - and you can flush the system.

[Unagi]

I have a question about robots and chests. I unlocked Logistic Robotics which gives me the Passive Provider Chest and the Storage Chest. I'm not really sure what I can use those for, can anyone suggest some uses? I know how to use the full up five chest types, but I'm not sure what I can do with just those two.

Use Cases:
**(Red)Passive Provider Chest: Let's say you make Blue Belts by a chain of buildings separated by chests like this:

Assembler(Yellow Belts) -> Chest(w/ yellow belts) -> Assembler (Red Belts) -> Chest (with red belts) -> Assembler (Blue Belts)

You can make the Yellow and Red Belt chests into Passive Provider Chests, and their inventory will only be made available to Robots as a last resort. This is important in that it doesn't disrupt your supply chain in the production of Blue Belts - when you suddenly ask for a bunch of Red Belts. So where would those robots hopefully get the Red Belts from? - well either they got them from someplace where you actively want them to take from (Perhaps a Storage or Active Provider designed for that purpose).

- Could also use a Buffer Chest in this case (when you get em)

**(Yellow)Storage Chests: These are great in the beginning to just do most everything for you. You can make dozens of them and set each one up for single use - and/or have a few catch all. Even later - you will probably still have some around.

**(Blue) Requestor Chests: Used to feed Assemblers or Trains that are driven by Robot Networks. Sorta obvious uses - but it's contents are not available for other robots to make us of.

**(Purple) Active Providers Chests: Scream for the robots to use items from them. Highest priority.

**(Green) Buffer Chests: It Requests and Provides - so it's good to keep a chest maybe that is a Buffer for 'Walls' or "Ammo" near a distant roboport - so the local robots can resupply off that chest - but the entire logistic network is going to make sure the buffer is full.


I hope that helps. Obviously - the two chests you get first are limited to keep you from building out a robot network that can entirely run your factory (no belts). The other three chests totally open that world up, but those first two are still useful to control priority - and then also to just control some of the "misc".

[The Meal]

Just a note about belts and belt colors. Blue belts (and splitters and undergroundies) are *very* expensive. It's very unlikely going to work out well for you to just arbitrarily upgrade your entire factory to blue belts because "they're what comes next". They do have their uses (undergroundies are most obvious, when you need that extra streeeetch...) but mostly its wrapped about situations where you can't just make a longer line of assemblers.

That said, I've definitely just arbitrarily upgraded everything indiscriminately, but only successfully on those planets when I set up my mines to be very overabundant.

Unagi's post about advanced oil processing should be a pinned post in this thread. It's a work of art. If you can't be chuffed to get the ratios balaned just right, then you've got to use the circuit network for a long-term solution, or "just add more tanks" if you feel like kicking that can farther down the road. Personally, I find ratio-perfect to be more spreadsheety and annoying than fun, but younger me definitely set up a few factories that way. Now I'm happier to generally overproduce and deal with the consequences, which philosophically does not work very well for advanced oil processing (without circuits).

[jztemple2]

I've just contaminated a bunch of pipes with the wrong fluid . Other than deleting and adding all the pipes again, is there some simple and fast way to purge the pipes? I know there is in Satisfactory, but I don't remember there being one in Factorio.

There is a red trash can when you highlight the pipe - and you can flush the system.

Thanks, that's what I need.

[Unagi]

Logistic Chests, another way to look at em.

Question: If I have all the chests, why would I use ________.

Storage: to see what items you don't have properly handled, or to store 'excess'

Passive Provider: The output of a factory supplying a logistic network - it will never be returned to this chest... Not great for things like belts/inserters though - as you will be recycling and having a lot of large inventory exchanges with these as you go from yellow to red, etc.

Active Provider: first chest looked at for any item - it's as if the chest is paying the robots to take items. This chest is about forcing priority. (I find the least specific use for these, but I can see why they made em)

Requester: For robots to feed your factory instead of belts. - Can be set to grab from Buffer too - otherwise it will not take priority over a Buffers need for items. (can be useful)

Buffer: It's like a Requester and a Provider - very useful, IMO.

But the variety is there mostly to create some system of Priority and also a level of control/flexibility of what is not available to the network vs what is. (the network cannot ever take from a Requestor, but it can a Buffer)

[jztemple2]

Logistic Chests, another way to look at em.

Thanks, I've copied and printed this as well to put next to my computer.

[Blackhawk]

I'm a few days away from playing, so I'm not following most of what I see, but I'm reading along anyway. Thanks for the (future) advice.

[jztemple2]

So this being my second playthrough of Space Age I'm finding space platforms easier to create and maintain. I'm not a good lateral thinker (hence my question about flushing the pipes) so I've gone on the Factorio forums to the Space Platform 101 Discussion thread for some ideas and help.

I've gotten to the white flask science pack without first done the yellow flask first, I guess it makes no difference. But before I build a second platform to send to another planet I need to get my belts in better shape.

[Unagi]

Tear down to bones is immanent.

I knew it was going to be messy, but I wanted to re-do a major section of my factory.

Fun times:

[LordMortis]

I opted for a start over. Slow and steady. I'm working toward yellow science...

[jztemple2]

I've got my first space platform operating, sending white science and carbon down from orbit. I'm working on building my second platform, this one is for travel to another planet. On my previous playthrough it was a disaster, but I learned a lot. Still, I'll make a special save before I send it.

Meanwhile, production is going great guns. I have the full logistic robot support which makes building a lot easier.

[The Meal]

Personally, I find ratio-perfect to be more spreadsheety and annoying than fun, but

There’s a new feature (I assume in 2.0, but possibly only in Space Age) when you mouse over an assembly building (not click into) which shows the updated-for-modules-and-beacons production rate of the item along with the required input rate of its constituents. It’s WAY EASIER now to create (nearly) ratio perfect factories without exiting the game and this has amplified my fun level meaningfully. I start with the intended end product desired rate and work my way backward to the core input products (slightly overproducing each level up, with the assumption that Future The Meal can figure out hypothetical distribution-related issues). Sublime.

[The Meal]

Meanwhile, production is going great guns. I have the full logistic robot support which makes building a lot easier.

Pay close attention to power draw for a bot-distribution base! (Also take advantage of personal logistics to keep your inventory clean whenever your within the Roboport network.)

[Unagi]

Under the context of "there is no wrong way to play" and also understanding the 'need for speed'....
Pro-tip, relating to the comment that The Meal made earlier about blue belts.

Blue Belts aren't really there to make things just get from A to B quicker (well, yes - that's all they do, but bear with me)


In the screenshot - I see all these blue belts that are almost entirely empty. That's a tell-tale. The blue belts (and the reason they cost so much) is because they are there to solve through-put bottle necks. If you produced enough to over-fill a yellow belt, it should be upgraded to red. If not - you aren't really changing anything when you make it red. (or even more true with blue). The rate of copper plates hitting your assembler is still the rate it's being produced - not the rate it's being thrown.


Just wanted to point that out. A full Blue belt should feed two full red belts, which can then feed two full yellow belts.


All that being said, it looks like you may have that capacity/through-put need in some places - so I will 'shut up' here. But I wanted to point that out. (Also, a screenshot could be taken when throughput isn't being challenged because of a temporary production shortage / or just plans for the future. - so I'll shut-up again).

[Unagi]

I've just started to (well, a couple days ago now) play around with Quality. I haven't unlocked Recycling though.

It's really quite interesting and has just really shattered the convention on just about any old 'perfect' build concept, as now parts can be made better, and the combination of elements in one's solutions are just astronimical. There are a lot of approaches to make something more efficient, or faster, or more cost effective, etc.


At first though, I didn't understand how it was implemented, and I think it's a tiny bit unintuitive.

Main thing being that I thought I could make better parts, and those better parts could be used in my Assemblers and have a chance at making their end product better quality.

No sir. Quality parts are used in their own recipes. So that quality copper ore that turns into a quality copper plate - it will gum up your works unless you filter it off the belt and collect it for use elsewhere. Same with any quality component you manage to make. Also, I started to just do that. I have no specific plan for it all yet - but all of my RGB Chips Assemblers have Quality Modules in them - and before they make it to the main bus - I have a splitter filtering them off into a little treasure chest. For later. So now I have thousands of Uncommon Green Chips (for instance), and hundreds of 'Rare'. Lesser ammounts of Red and Blue, but I still have some of those too. These will all likely be used in recipes for higher quality Modules (I've manually done some now).

Spoiler:

Very cool way they managed to basically crack open an entirely new layer/dimension to the game.

[jztemple2]

Meanwhile, production is going great guns. I have the full logistic robot support which makes building a lot easier.

Pay close attention to power draw for a bot-distribution base! (Also take advantage of personal logistics to keep your inventory clean whenever your within the Roboport network.)

Thanks for the heads up! I've got two reactors plus a bazillion conventional boilers and turbines. I do have to remind myself to set up a warning horn tied to an accumulator so I can get an early warning if there's an issue. I've got coal and carbon and solid fuel feeding the boilers so there's no shortage there. I might end up draining that lake though

Also, anyone want some U-238, cheap? I've got loads of it

[LordMortis]

I've just started to (well, a couple days ago now) play around with Quality. I haven't unlocked Recycling though.

It's really quite interesting and has just really shattered the convention on just about any old 'perfect' build concept, as now parts can be made better, and the combination of elements in one's solutions are just astronimical. There are a lot of approaches to make something more efficient, or faster, or more cost effective, etc.


At first though, I didn't understand how it was implemented, and I think it's a tiny bit unintuitive.

Main thing being that I thought I could make better parts, and those better parts could be used in my Assemblers and have a chance at making their end product better quality.

No sir. Quality parts are used in their own recipes. So that quality copper ore that turns into a quality copper plate - it will gum up your works unless you filter it off the belt and collect it for use elsewhere. Same with any quality component you manage to make. Also, I started to just do that. I have no specific plan for it all yet - but all of my RGB Chips Assemblers have Quality Modules in them - and before they make it to the main bus - I have a splitter filtering them off into a little treasure chest. For later. So now I have thousands of Uncommon Green Chips (for instance), and hundreds of 'Rare'. Lesser ammounts of Red and Blue, but I still have some of those too. These will all likely be used in recipes for higher quality Modules (I've manually done some now).

Very cool way they managed to basically crack open an entirely new layer/dimension to the game.

I read a bit about quality because the tech was sitting there with no explanation. I kinda wish I hadn't researched the basics this early. It's annoying to have to click twice to set up recipes now. So spoiled. Right now I'm just trying to reacquaint myself with the basics nuclear power, even as I don't have the full research online yet. Bit by bit. I go slowly and am trying to build a framework I won't have to gut this time. I'm using the boring megabus method as it is what I accustomed to and building it out is relaxing. Actually getting to Space Age content might still be a long way off yet. I am not even sciencing in a semi permanent way. Just using it as a means to an end to get more puzzle pieces to fit together more nicely.

Very soon it will all be halted as I will need to start working the perimeter defense. The area around my base is getting more and more aggressively red and all I'm defending with are a few stronghold of red bullet turrets.

[Unagi]

I kinda wish I hadn't researched the basics this early. It's annoying to have to click twice to set up recipes now. So spoiled.

I'm not sure what you are saying - it seems to default to just a standard recipe (just 1 click still) ?

[jztemple2]

Under the context of "there is no wrong way to play" and also understanding the 'need for speed'....
Pro-tip, relating to the comment that The Meal made earlier about blue belts.

I know I've been over-killing it with blue belts, but I was determined to get and keep my main bus full. Plus I've been manufacturing blue belts for quite a while and I have a boat-load of them.

Comment on quality: I was starting to watch a video about it but decided to hold off for now since I'm doing space. But I'm glad you posted about it, I'm going to give it another look at some point.

Meanwhile, I'm working on my first platform to send to another planet. During my morning walk today I kept thinking of all the nuances about sending my avatar to another planet's surface and starting up a base there. It is really more involved than you might think . I won't post anymore detail about it without spoiler tags for those who want to figure out that stuff for themselves.

[Unagi]

Yeah, I've not looked anything up and I'm actually afraid to make a platform with an engine. I've just got one - sending down free Space Science. - and it took me until about 2 days ago to get that far.


Baby steps.

[LordMortis]

I kinda wish I hadn't researched the basics this early. It's annoying to have to click twice to set up recipes now. So spoiled.

I'm not sure what you are saying - it seems to default to just a standard recipe (just 1 click still) ?

it's a nothingth of a second but it is a change to my flow. Every time I drop down an assembler I either need to click the recipe twice or click OK to confirm the basic quality.

[Unagi]

I kinda wish I hadn't researched the basics this early. It's annoying to have to click twice to set up recipes now. So spoiled.

I'm not sure what you are saying - it seems to default to just a standard recipe (just 1 click still) ?

it's a nothingth of a second but it is a change to my flow. Every time I drop down an assembler I either need to click the recipe twice or click OK to confirm the basic quality.

Ahhh yes - the green check box.

I'm not sure if this will help you - but it helped me when I learned I could click the recipe (once), and then with my left hand, click E and it shuts the window with the recipe confirmed.

[Isgrimnur]

In the screenshot - I see all these blue belts that are almost entirely empty. That's a tell-tale. The blue belts (and the reason they cost so much) is because they are there to solve through-put bottle necks. If you produced enough to over-fill a yellow belt, it should be upgraded to red. If not - you aren't really changing anything when you make it red. (or even more true with blue). The rate of copper plates hitting your assembler is still the rate it's being produced - not the rate it's being thrown.

[Unagi]

look man. this whole thing started with JZ saying he couldn't keep up with his need for lubricant needed for blue belts and ended with 'I just use em cause I've got so many' .

[jztemple2]

So I've traveled to another planet, or at least my avatar has. I'll spoiler the rest of the post so folks who want to find out the stuff on their own won't have it, err, spoiled. In my post I'll discuss what I did as well as some of the interesting aspects the Space Age DLC has added. I'm making this two or maybe more posts to avoid chucking too much stuff into one post.

Spoiler:

In my previous playthrough I put up a platform into orbit around Nauvis, the starting planet. And later I did send that platform to another planet but it didn't survive the journey. I decided that I would faithfully try again because I didn't want to stop believing it was possible.

In my current playthrough I reached that same point where I was ready to put up a platform, called Nauvis One, around Nauvis to generate white science and carbon to send back to the surface.


After a while I made a second platform, called Explorer One, to send to Vulcanus. I had done some googling to see which was the best first planet to go to. While there was no obvious best choice, I decided that Vulcanus had some merit. Eventually this is how Explorer One was configured:


And here's how the trip looked:


And when I got to Vulcanus, I found out something important... unless my avatar is actually on board the platform around Vulcanus, I can't actually do anything on Vulcanus, even see the surface.

[jztemple2]

The next part of my story about traveling to another planet.

Spoiler:

Since I had found out that I couldn't do bupkis on another planet I brought Explorer One back to orbit around Nauvis. It took some damage, actually a lot of damage, as my turrets ran out of ammo. So while Explorer One was orbiting Nauvis I beefed it up with a more substantial facility to make ammo onboard


With Explorer One ready to go back to Vulcanus I found out another interesting aspect of traveling to another planet in the Space Age DLC, to wit, my avatar cannot travel up to a platform and back down to a planet's surface if he has anything more than his armor and his weapons. He can't even carry ammo . So no personal inventory of resources. Anything I would need on Vulcanus I'd have to make myself on the surface... or bring on the platform.

So I made a bit of a shopping list of items I might need on the surface of Vulcanus and sent them up from the surface of Nauvis to the Explorer One platform. And then it was time to launch myself into space:


I made some last minute purchases on Nauvis and sent them up to the Explorer One platform. This is another interesting aspect of Space Age, if your avatar isn't present at the location you can only operate in Ghost Mode. You have no personal inventory, anything you might need to put down must be available through the logistics system. And if you don't have a certain item? Well, you'll need to build a factory to make that item. Coming to this realization really blew my mind. It changes how you play the game. Very cool.

So I traveled on Explorer One to Vulcanus, then went down to the surface:

[jztemple2]

The story continues....

Spoiler:

I arrived on Vulcanus. It was similar to the start of the original Factorio:


I stared collecting up resources and building the usual furnaces, belts and drills. Since I could go back up to Explorer One in Ghost Mode, I could tell the platform to start sending me down my cargo. First thing was the cargo landing pad I had fortuitously brought, which made getting the rest of the cargo easier, as otherwise the drop pods fall randomly across the landscape.

My current Vulcanus base:


And not only do I have to build a base from the ground up, I have to do it without some resources I had back on Nauvis. Like trees.

So if this all isn't mind blowing already, remember that while I'm putzing around on Vulcanus my main base on Nauvis isn't in stasis, everything is still running, producing, using, etc.

Oh, one final thing. Turns out that while I could bring a cargo landing pad with me on the platform and send it down to the surface, I couldn't bring a rocket silo as it is too large to launch from the surface of Nauvis. So I'm stuck on Vulcanus until I can build a rocket silo on Vulcanus and fill the rocket with fuel. Which probably means that, while I can make some of the resources I need for the silo on Vulcanus, I'll need to bring the rest on a platform . Probably a number of platforms.

[LordMortis]

Trying to continue my journey to yellow science and my first space platform I get

Failed to load mods: bad allocation: __base__/graphics/entity/biter/biter-decay-2.png

Ran fine earlier today.

Edit: Reboot and runs fine. Only now Windows is getting testy about upgrading to 11. I suppose it's about about time...

[jztemple2]

Only now Windows is getting testy about upgrading to 11. I suppose it's about about time...

Nonsense, you've got months before the apocalypse that is the end of Win10 support

[stessier]

Only now Windows is getting testy about upgrading to 11. I suppose it's about about time...

Nonsense, you've got months before the apocalypse that is the end of Win10 support

Years if you are willing to pay a small fee for continued updates!

[Paingod]

At first though, I didn't understand how it was implemented, and I think it's a tiny bit unintuitive.

I've found that feeling in a number of places with the Space Age expansion. I think they're still refining the in-game documentation because early on some things simply weren't explained at all and now they are in some detail. All I can offer is what other people have been screaming every time someone complains about a feature being obtuse: RTFM. I did. Like 500 hours ago. They CTFM. I have to re-read the whole thing again? Maybe.

I'm currently occupying three planets and have two bases in stationary orbit with no engines around two of them, sending down White Science to Nauvis and Carbonite to Volcanus.

I very useful tip about Space Age buildings.

Spoiler:

They're by far more efficient than standard Assemblers or Chem Plants, and while they can only be constructed on alien planets, once made they can be moved anywhere. My base at Nauvis is about to get overhauled for combined use of EM Plants for Microchip productions and Foundries for smelting Iron & Copper ores into Plates, Wires, Poles, Gears, and Steel. Recyclers fit anywhere you want to make Quality products and don't care how many resources you waste.

I look forward to skipping turning Iron Plates into Steel beams and just transport molten metal around in my trains. I don't know what the next planets have to offer but I'm sure it'll be interesting to add to the mix on Nauvis.

Thoughts on Quality.

Spoiler:

My Fulgora base is designed heavily to produce Quality parts. Though my base there is relatively small, it runs on a massive loop that gets fed Scrap and breaks down component leftovers until there's nothing left. First on the belt I make Normal components to expand - Drone Hubs, Power Substations, Lightning Rods, Accumulators. Then what's left goes down the line to make Yellow Science - Engines (Gears/Pipes/Steel) to Electric Engines to Drone Frames, Blue Science, Lightweight Materials. All in abundance from breaking down Scrap. That leads to the Rocketry section where I peel off Lightweight Materials and Blue Chips for Rockets. Then I've got my Logistics Department. Inserters, Belts, Splitters. What's left continues down the line to my EM Science lab. After that I have a Drone automation - producing Construction & Logistics drones until I hit a specific number and automatically replenishing them if one dies to lightning. From there it all continues to the Quality Sector. First I have my Quality Mod fabs getting priority on Normal Chips. They feed each other one to the next over time; it's slow but works. After that I use Filter Splitters (a Splitter that has a filter assigned, a new feature with Space Age) to break off all Rare products into one belt for sorting and storage for use later. No need to use it now when Normal and Uncommon goods can make Rare items sometimes. Then I work with Uncommon materials on the line. I make whatever I think I need, and either return "not good enough" to the main belt or store it for later. Finally I have Cleanup. I compound any leftover Iron Plate into Gears (Normal and Uncommon), Copper Plate into Wire (again, Normal and Uncommon), and then Steel into Steel Chests (Normal and Uncommon). All of those products get placed back on the belt. Anywhere along the line I have Rocket Fuel production to use the Solid Fuel that rolls by and Water Chem Plants to make water from what goes by.

The fun part is that the final exit from the assembly line, which is one LONG-ass belt, combines with the incoming fresh scrap to revisit the Recyclers. It all gets chewed up and spit out for another chance to be a tier higher. Those Gears, Wires, and Chests become Iron, Copper, and Steel again - sometimes higher tier. Unused Chips become Iron, Wire, Plastic, Green Chips, and Red Chips.

It all goes around and around until it's either Rare, something Normal/Uncommon that I want (like more Quality Mods), EM Science, or gets recycled into oblivion.

It all runs on lots of Filtered Splitters and Filtered Inserters and down one long belt.

Quality Mods themselves end up getting placed into everything. Recyclers, Mining Equipment, Assemblers, et. Anything and everything gets a shot at being Rare.

On other planets I drag around Recyclers and Quality Mods. I set them down together and use a Rare Assembler, Requestor Chest, and Provider Chest. I fill the Recycler and Assembler with my best Quality Mods. I set the Assembler to make what I want with the ingredients being requested. Anything that doesn't pass muster gets handed back to the Recycler to be turned into new materials. You can easily make 5 Rare Chem Labs by recycling maybe 100 Normal ones and 20 Uncommon ones.

Why go through all the hassle?

Rare Power Armor has a much larger Inventory bonus and interior inventory for modifications. Rare Tanks have more health and internal inventory space. Rare solar panels are beautiful on Space stations. Rare Chem Plants are equally awesome on Space Stations. A Rare Tier 2 Assembler (the blue one) has a crafting speed of 1.2 - almost the same as an Assembler at half the power consumption. Rare mining equipment uses fewer resources to output the same volume. Rare Machine Guns have a range value that almost rivals laser towers. The list goes on.

It's a rabbit hole I've gotten lost in.

[jztemple2]

I've kind of hit a wall with the game. I'm on Vulcanus and have built some things there, but having to in some ways start from scratch on another planet is making me reluctant to put in more time. I might need a few days to figure things out

[Paingod]

I've kind of hit a wall with the game. I'm on Vulcanus and have built some things there, but having to in some ways start from scratch on another planet is making me reluctant to put in more time. I might need a few days to figure things out

I hear that. If you've got a good production line on Nauvis (or another world) you can always ship more goods to help you build up quicker. Chem Labs, Assemblers, Inserters, a Cargo bay, the components needed to make a Rocket Silo. They take up a lot of space on a rocket, but save a lot of time building up to make them there.

Understanding how to work Volcanus was interesting. I was frustrated with Foundries until I had a few running and then it was a "Well, this works nicely" moment. Now that I've finally unlocked Cliff Explosives I'm currently rebuilding my entire Voncanus base to be 2-3x the scope that it was in one heavy lift. From there it should be self-sustaining and more organized. But it started small and messy, just like Nauvis did.

[LordMortis]

I'm still not even to my first rocket launch and my line is sort of mess as I don't know the game well enough to have a vision for where I want it to be and I still don't have nuclear power up and going because I can't remember how it's really done and haven't built in preparation for that either. Still my little line, and now constant tear down and rebuilds are relaxing enough to just keep on keeping on. Soon the biters and spitters will change that though, as I am not also out ahead of their scale up and quickening growth with my growing pollution.

[coopasonic]

I got to where I need to process oil and all my enthusiasm fell off a cliff. I'm not entirely sure why. I found a couple places with oil relatively close to the main base but neither is anywhere to close to water, well, in a baseward direction anyway. Best water location relative to the oil is in a biter direction and I haven't done anything for military so I really need to get that going in order to get oil going so I just kind of end up sitting there looking at stuff and finding distractions so I don't have to do it.

You'd think Factorio would be the perfect game for me. I have finished it before but there is something about progression in the game that just doesn't work for me.

[jztemple2]

I got to where I need to process oil and all my enthusiasm fell off a cliff.

Yup, oil was a nuisance for me. I ended up with a train to bring in crude to near water. And I wrangled around a lot until I found ways to essentially "burn off" petro gas and heavy oil I didn't actually need right away so as to maintain a steady flow of light oil to make rocket fuel. And I need that rocket fuel because I managed, while my avatar was on Vulcanus, to figure out how to use my Ghost Mode on Nauvis to create and launch the space platform starter pack . And I used a blueprint of my Explorer One for my new Explorer Two platform which is now under construction above Nauvis. And it's going to take a lot of rocket launches to bring up everything it needs.

[Paingod]

Soon the biters and spitters will change that though, as I am not also out ahead of their scale up and quickening growth with my growing pollution.

I remember that feeling, along with the pressure of needing to defend myself while still expanding. I'm not saying I don't need to defend myself anymore; I tend to keep a handful of MG Turrets near the closest spawners until I have the tech and equipment to push them back and wall in a substantial portion of land. Then it's static perimeter defense and expansion attacks.

I wrangled around a lot until I found ways to essentially "burn off" petro gas and heavy oil I didn't actually need right away so as to maintain a steady flow of light oil to make rocket fuel.

My failing was thinking that because Light Oil was "numerically" superior to make Solid Fuel to then become Rocket Fuel, what I was accidentally doing was not using Petroleum Gas for nearly enough. My process issues dried up a little when I went to Petroleum solid fuels for Rocket Fuel.

There were times when I'd accumulate 50k of that Petroleum and just trash it all so the tanks could fill again. I should have figured out that wasn't the right way long before I did.

[Paingod]

Having read more online about what people are doing with condensed designs and Space Age, I wanted to test the waters.

Rebuilding my base on Volcanus seemed like a good time to try. I was looking at how to make Reinforced Concrete. Normally I'd set up an Iron Bar production and a Steel production to support it. It was already using overflow from a concrete fab and water is easy enough to come by. That's an inelegant, brute force, and inefficient way to achieve it. It absolutely works, too.

Instead of laying down two Foundries, I wanted to put down just one and have a circuit configured to swap the output between Iron Bars and Steel based on what the chest contained or what was used. I could, in theory, use half as many supporting structures. I know it can be done and is the absolute simplest version of production control circuit a person might make. Two recipes, all ingredients satisfied by one feed line already, output to one chest.

I spent 30-40 minutes looking at other people's circuits and reading through the Wiki page on circuits. By that point I was so frustrated that I quit playing for the night and watched a bad 90's TV series until I went to bed.

I've been reading the Wiki more at work. I fully expect there will be a breakthrough where something finally clicks and then the rest of it makes more sense. That happens a lot for me. Right now, though, I feel like I need at least an Associates degree in an Engineering field in order to do this.

[Unagi]

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The wonders of the Rare Uranium Round.

92 Physical damage (with my current bonuses)

[Unagi]

I've got my single space-station sending Science, and that's my whole Space Age stuff.

Well that, and the Quality stuff I've been getting lost in (before I've gotten the unlock for the 'real deal' from that planet...).


I have a small little facility that's kinda my 'high quality' factory - that gets filtered ore from Quality moduled Miners. The end goal is to make a Space Ship with 'rare' Solar Panels and Grabbers and Cargo, and what ever else makes any sense - and then... when my base is more secure - I will venture forth to Volcanus.

But I'm still worried about leaving my base behind. And still a few things I want to get straight first - which is fitting my slow play fairly well.