Factorio
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
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Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Yeah, I've been doing some reading about where I should use my beacons and which modules, and almost everyone talks about how SE is nice because you build around the beacons as opposed to just throwing them haphazardly all over everything in vanilla.
I don't have wide area ones yet, but I do like the idea of only being impacted by one or your building shuts off.
I don't remember seeing anything in the FFF's about them implementing that, which is unfortunate.
I don't have wide area ones yet, but I do like the idea of only being impacted by one or your building shuts off.
I don't remember seeing anything in the FFF's about them implementing that, which is unfortunate.
Yeah I just got the K2 beacons, and while I still don't like having to build a million of them, they at least look nicer than the base game beacons. I always thought that beacons should be a one-per-machine effect, not 12 or whatever.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Back from vacation. Just automated spaceships for the first time. It's something I've been looking forward to doing for a looooong time and it was just as goofy and satisfying as I thought it'd be.
The below spaceships are pretty dumb and unoptimized. The circuits largely follow this guide:
The left spaceship takes probes and rockets from Nauvis Orbit and travels to Calidus (my star system's name, not sure if that's random) orbit, where it's launched to create these science cards that are shipped back by this other spaceship to the right.
The location, clamp IDs, launching etc are all controlled by signals. I think signals in Factorio are pretty ugly and I'm verrry tempted to get this assembly in Factorio mod. fCPU
I hear that spaceships are UPS inefficient, which is kind of a let down since I would want to replace my rockets with them. Oh well.
The below spaceships are pretty dumb and unoptimized. The circuits largely follow this guide:
Code:
https://imgur.com/a/txBhWKGThe left spaceship takes probes and rockets from Nauvis Orbit and travels to Calidus (my star system's name, not sure if that's random) orbit, where it's launched to create these science cards that are shipped back by this other spaceship to the right.
The location, clamp IDs, launching etc are all controlled by signals. I think signals in Factorio are pretty ugly and I'm verrry tempted to get this assembly in Factorio mod. fCPU
I hear that spaceships are UPS inefficient, which is kind of a let down since I would want to replace my rockets with them. Oh well.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Finished my first space science, energy.
I have one of these double-blocks for each of the space sciences. Each quadrant produces one of the sciences and they meet in the middle. I'm not sure if this is a great design. The amount of different ingredients is staggering and my approach was to space everything out enough to give it the illusion of being neat.
I have one of these double-blocks for each of the space sciences. Each quadrant produces one of the sciences and they meet in the middle. I'm not sure if this is a great design. The amount of different ingredients is staggering and my approach was to space everything out enough to give it the illusion of being neat.
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Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Finished my biology science. Trying to figure out how to make and host decent images, work in progress.
Bio science is the hardest of the four sciences in terms of internal logistic complexity, easiest in terms of external logistic complexity and hardest in terms of value of input since it competes with production modules that are ludicrously exponential in cost but oh so tempting.
In this factory I've got all the shared resources (biomass, culture, gel, etc) in the center and the four sciences in the corner. The center also processes the used data cards and produces the biological insights (like all the science factories).
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Bio science is the hardest of the four sciences in terms of internal logistic complexity, easiest in terms of external logistic complexity and hardest in terms of value of input since it competes with production modules that are ludicrously exponential in cost but oh so tempting.
In this factory I've got all the shared resources (biomass, culture, gel, etc) in the center and the four sciences in the corner. The center also processes the used data cards and produces the biological insights (like all the science factories).
Full resolution:
20% resolution:
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Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I decided to try rushing space elevator and holy shit was it a mistake. I'm like 28% of the way there and it's just slowed everything to a crawl. I don't produce nearly enough science because I'd need about 10x the resources in space to keep up. And the backend infrastructure just isn't there.
I did go back to all my outpost planets (holmium/cryo, vulcanite/iridite, beryl) and setup some on-site production. I had been shipping the crushed resources all back to Nauvis (except the cryo rods) and it was kind of ridiculous. I've got ingots now on all 3 planets. Went ahead and setup cannons on the vulcanite planet because using a rocket was overkill since a single stack of ingots is basically a rocket load of crushed stuff. And sending a rocket with just 1k ingots was stupid. Need to go ahead and do the same for the other two outposts. My vita planet isn't doing shit because I have a massive stone shortage and the planet has none that I can find.
I watched a video prior to going to the vita planet to make sure you didn't need some kind of extra to mine it (like beryl), and the guy had just fuckloads of resources everywhere. He setup like a dozen city blocks almost instantly. Shit would've taken me hours. About 100 hours earlier in my playthrough I mentioned I suck at scaling things up, and that still holds true. I'm not even sure where to start to get something like that going.
For instance, in the video, guy had hundreds of red solar panels ready to go. I've got about 750MW of power from them total. I just can't think big enough, or how to scale up better. Maybe I need to start going with core mining to really pump shit up?
I did go back to all my outpost planets (holmium/cryo, vulcanite/iridite, beryl) and setup some on-site production. I had been shipping the crushed resources all back to Nauvis (except the cryo rods) and it was kind of ridiculous. I've got ingots now on all 3 planets. Went ahead and setup cannons on the vulcanite planet because using a rocket was overkill since a single stack of ingots is basically a rocket load of crushed stuff. And sending a rocket with just 1k ingots was stupid. Need to go ahead and do the same for the other two outposts. My vita planet isn't doing shit because I have a massive stone shortage and the planet has none that I can find.
I watched a video prior to going to the vita planet to make sure you didn't need some kind of extra to mine it (like beryl), and the guy had just fuckloads of resources everywhere. He setup like a dozen city blocks almost instantly. Shit would've taken me hours. About 100 hours earlier in my playthrough I mentioned I suck at scaling things up, and that still holds true. I'm not even sure where to start to get something like that going.
For instance, in the video, guy had hundreds of red solar panels ready to go. I've got about 750MW of power from them total. I just can't think big enough, or how to scale up better. Maybe I need to start going with core mining to really pump shit up?
meStevo
I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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Yeah, im never getting to the point with this game that you guys are, even on a conceptual level, lol. We're fumbling through establishing a foothold on the vulcanite planet and im just now setting up our first supercomputer in orbit, all spaghetti-like. Also peeled off some enriched iron to start making our first iron bars. So quaint compared to the amazing stuff in this thread.
For whatever reason I want to setup some nuclear, but it looks like we'd maybe only use it during a CME, and we have so many planets for the CME to choose from that it's unlikely to hit us anyways. May go ahead and finish a 2-reactor setup and then have it just sitting there ready to go just in case. We've been mining uranium for days and have like 120 of the rare one. I get anxiety thinking about turning it on and wasting resources since our solar power output dwarfs everything and it would only run at night basically right now, where wind and 11gj of accumulators normally handle the load.
My buddy is on the vulcanite planet and I told him he didn't need any defenses because it was 0% threat. Apparently he said he managed to find bad guys somewhere anyways and they nearly killed him, lol.
This is so meager compared to what you guys are doing, lol.
For whatever reason I want to setup some nuclear, but it looks like we'd maybe only use it during a CME, and we have so many planets for the CME to choose from that it's unlikely to hit us anyways. May go ahead and finish a 2-reactor setup and then have it just sitting there ready to go just in case. We've been mining uranium for days and have like 120 of the rare one. I get anxiety thinking about turning it on and wasting resources since our solar power output dwarfs everything and it would only run at night basically right now, where wind and 11gj of accumulators normally handle the load.
My buddy is on the vulcanite planet and I told him he didn't need any defenses because it was 0% threat. Apparently he said he managed to find bad guys somewhere anyways and they nearly killed him, lol.
This is so meager compared to what you guys are doing, lol.
Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I mean, I posted a screenshot that looks almost identical to that a few weeks ago. I'm only now, like 100 hours later, where I have about 16 city blocks in space built with an incredibly rudimental train system (only moving cosmic water, chemical gel, thermofluid 25, and plasma). And probably half of it doesn't even have floors because I haven't been able to scale up heat shielding enough to make the tens of thousands I need. Otherwise everything is coming via one rocket, and moved by bots.
Regarding nuclear though, I've got everything running on it except for space stuff. I had started doing steam and panels on my outposts but nuclear is so much easier. And since it took me so dang long to get kovarex processing, I had probably tens of thousands of the shitty uranium sitting around. I've just been processing that and every couple hours it fills up a chest with reactor fuel where I ferry it to my outposts. I haven't mined any uranium in the last 50+ hours.
Top 4 double blocks are my four science productions, just below that on the right three are the on-site thermofluid and then the train stations for all the fluids for the future. And below that in the middle bottom two blocks are where I'm doing fluid processing for all of em. The middle left block is where I started and is just a hodgepodge of shit that will need to be moved, and the bottom left is where I'm starting a loading/unloading station for everything to manage it better so the bots aren't shuttling it so far away.
Regarding nuclear though, I've got everything running on it except for space stuff. I had started doing steam and panels on my outposts but nuclear is so much easier. And since it took me so dang long to get kovarex processing, I had probably tens of thousands of the shitty uranium sitting around. I've just been processing that and every couple hours it fills up a chest with reactor fuel where I ferry it to my outposts. I haven't mined any uranium in the last 50+ hours.
Top 4 double blocks are my four science productions, just below that on the right three are the on-site thermofluid and then the train stations for all the fluids for the future. And below that in the middle bottom two blocks are where I'm doing fluid processing for all of em. The middle left block is where I started and is just a hodgepodge of shit that will need to be moved, and the bottom left is where I'm starting a loading/unloading station for everything to manage it better so the bots aren't shuttling it so far away.
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Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Scaling up is kind of a mistake I've made a ton. A key thing Space Exploration drives into you, especially during the space science stage, is that it's better to have a small amount of production and bounce between all the different things you need to do. I find myself finishing a new science and then immediately wanting it to be done, but the truth is that by the time I go work on the other three sciences, do upkeep on my Nauvis base and some outposts, that new science will be long done and everything buffered.
That being said, some amount of scaling is needed, especially for Vitamelange which is used for production modules and Iridium which is so damn slow. It's like every other game, most of the people that build really fast have done this shit before, either in this mod or another. Some people have beaten SE multiple times and they keep their blueprints, lol. You really can't compare yourself to them.
Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Speaking of power, although maybe you don't have an answer, is there a certain amount I should push for before space elevators? I thought I read someone say something about it being a huge power drag and it destroyed their factory once they started using it.
I'm currently making about 750MW in nOrbit, and like 250MW on Nauvis.
I'm currently making about 750MW in nOrbit, and like 250MW on Nauvis.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Just scrounge up whatever power you need however you can. I built tons of solar panels but nuclear is fine too if you prefer and have a good source of uranium. Once you get space elevators, solar in space is A+++ since you can transmit it down to the surface. I'm probably going to build a space elevator on all my planets and moons for that reason. I've got it on a few already.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Since I learned that you can actually build around the star, I moved my beam emitters and solar farms to orbit the star, creating something of a dyson.... patch.
I've now got 6 beam emitters with 20 injectors each. I just finished clearing another moon, this one has 67% threat which made the biters extremely dense. Doing my first planet and it's a big one but only 33% threat. I've stopped producing beam emitters because I don't want to have an even larger glut of solar panels that become obsolete.
I've now got 6 beam emitters with 20 injectors each. I just finished clearing another moon, this one has 67% threat which made the biters extremely dense. Doing my first planet and it's a big one but only 33% threat. I've stopped producing beam emitters because I don't want to have an even larger glut of solar panels that become obsolete.
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meStevo
I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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The joys of trying to figure out trains and cybersyn... 
Actually didnt realize this was only the cargo car and the next time the train blew through here it also went through the engine that was still on the track, just off screen from me with a loud 'boom'
Actually didnt realize this was only the cargo car and the next time the train blew through here it also went through the engine that was still on the track, just off screen from me with a loud 'boom'
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Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
- 48,901
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I did core mining on all of my outpost bases and on Nauvis, with one exception. My cryonite rod outpost was one of my first and I didn't dive into outpost core mining yet. It's easily my least hassle outpost, happily consuming the cryonite patches I have set up while ensuring delivery of cryonite rods without issue. Meanwhile my other bases that are larger, more complex and heavily use core mining break down regularly, lol.
If I wanted a quick path to victory I'd definitely either avoid core mining on outpost planets or just ship the generic core fragments to Nauvis and eat the shipping cost. But I enjoy the concept of unlimited stuff, so I'm totally embracing core mining. I'll probably fix up my cryonite rod base to use core mining next time I visit it.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
- 48,901
- 86,217
- 1
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
- 48,901
- 86,217
I use LTN instead of CyberSyn but I regular have lockups in my network and everytime I do it's because of an error in my network that, when corrected, should make the same problem theoretically impossible, though intense congestion can cause lockups. It's pretty satisfying that it almost never happens due to pure congestion even though my network is fairly busy.The joys of trying to figure out trains and cybersyn...
View attachment 523565
Actually didnt realize this was only the cargo car and the next time the train blew through here it also went through the engine that was still on the track, just off screen from me with a loud 'boom'
View attachment 523567
View attachment 523566
One of the fun parts about SE with the space elevator is reducing the risk of lockups near the elevator. I'm going to change my outposts to launch a lot of resources directly to Nauvis Orbit instead of to Nauvis or building it on Nauvis. Haven't figured out how to do this properly yet though.
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meStevo
I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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I was using no rail signals, so now im adding those and then resolving the problems that is creating.
This whole thing is kind of a shit show because to learn im just kinda stealing / bolting onto 2 different coal and uranium trains me and another friend had setup that were their own lines, creating a rail depot, a fuel depot, etc. So not even doing city blocks or anything, just adapting the concepts to an existing network and that's the source of many of my problems as I make the routes more flexible and less one-way, and then work on learning and adding rail signals.
I'm going to plan on using trains a bit more 'properly' for my first planet I go to, and considering how I'd do it in orbit for my current setup (especially now that I have multiple things that need the same resource in different areas, so simply filtering them off the landing pad or an adjacent storage doesn't scale as well.
I'm sure you're seeing kernals of the natural progression we all go through as we take on more complexity of the game and can relate to some degree, lol.
Fun shit though. Conceptually the game really changes when you bring some of these techniques in.
Our current Nauvis base, you can se the depot, but the green and black squares show the uranium and coal stations (south are providers, north are requestors)
This whole thing is kind of a shit show because to learn im just kinda stealing / bolting onto 2 different coal and uranium trains me and another friend had setup that were their own lines, creating a rail depot, a fuel depot, etc. So not even doing city blocks or anything, just adapting the concepts to an existing network and that's the source of many of my problems as I make the routes more flexible and less one-way, and then work on learning and adding rail signals.
I'm going to plan on using trains a bit more 'properly' for my first planet I go to, and considering how I'd do it in orbit for my current setup (especially now that I have multiple things that need the same resource in different areas, so simply filtering them off the landing pad or an adjacent storage doesn't scale as well.
I'm sure you're seeing kernals of the natural progression we all go through as we take on more complexity of the game and can relate to some degree, lol.
Fun shit though. Conceptually the game really changes when you bring some of these techniques in.
Our current Nauvis base, you can se the depot, but the green and black squares show the uranium and coal stations (south are providers, north are requestors)
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Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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Yep. Learning how to use the rail signals and chain signals to make your network unstoppable is a lot of fun, but not easy.
meStevo
I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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Yay. 118 hours to my 2nd space science pack... lol. Now to scale it better.
I really need to get better at managing resources to/from orbit, I've got gobs of shit I thought I needed like 6k blue circuits and then run out of iron plates every time.
Think soon I'm going to sit down and learn how to do the signal stuff from orbit and back. Depending how comfortable I get with that will start to automate some more on the surface to provide materials as requested maybe depending on what it is. Have a laundry list of things to do still in orbit though just for cleanup.
How random are the other environments? Did I read it right that there are 600 potential environments? Once of the asteroid belts has what looks like a crashed ship. Guessing everyone gets that to seed some of those concepts.
I really need to get better at managing resources to/from orbit, I've got gobs of shit I thought I needed like 6k blue circuits and then run out of iron plates every time.
Think soon I'm going to sit down and learn how to do the signal stuff from orbit and back. Depending how comfortable I get with that will start to automate some more on the surface to provide materials as requested maybe depending on what it is. Have a laundry list of things to do still in orbit though just for cleanup.
How random are the other environments? Did I read it right that there are 600 potential environments? Once of the asteroid belts has what looks like a crashed ship. Guessing everyone gets that to seed some of those concepts.
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