Why would I build a container?

[some moron]

Or vault? It doesn't seem to be usable for construction, or at least it's not adding to my count for construction. It doesn't add to my offplanet. Why would I ever build one and why would I build the unloader

[Arpente Reves]

You can link containers and vaults directly to the core to have more input and storages and using the unloader you can make really compact machines

[Redrune75]

In general they function as buffers/stockpiles for times of scarcity. Consider the following scenario: You're feeding a turret with copper, and the turret only needs to be active for short bursts defending during waves. When firing, the turret consumes 10 copper per second, but you only produce 2 copper per second. If the turret is being fed directly by drills/belts, you will very quickly run out of ammo during waves and the turret will not be able to fire 100% of the time it wants to. If you have a container between the drills and the turret, however, it can stockpile plenty of copper and feed it to the turret as fast as the turret can consume.

Not usually useful for connecting to the core, at least as far as I've seen. Maybe if you needed to build with more resources than the core could hold in a short time period, but that seems like a very niche scenario.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Generally vaults and containers are like liquid containers or batteries. They're useful for stockpiling. Best use them for important multi-purpose things like coal, thorium, or excess for later waves when you'll get like 100+ enemies and having on-demand ammo or power for your turrets is needed without fear of having them run out of ammo/power. Also when you're expanding and building having excess helps start up your new buildings (this is especially true for things like steam/thorium generators and new turrets that will require a bit of starting materials/power before you get anything from them).

As someone else said you can also place them near the core or buildings to prevent belts from being clogged when you're low on a certain material to make things and the belts get clogged, or if you have reached the max and re-route them into launch pads to get rid of them without losing them. Though an incinerator would work too but they require power lol.

[Simpson]

i use them before launch pads, the launch pad can only send 100 items every 16 seconds, so it's good to have a bigger buffer than just conveyor belts.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by Simpson:

i use them before launch pads, the launch pad can only send 100 items every 16 seconds, so it's good to have a bigger buffer than just conveyor belts.

i mean you can just use an incinerator to get rid of any excess materials but yeah it's an alternative if you don't wanna lose any materials.

[ZerVexon]

Its a battery, but for items instead of power.

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by some moron:

Why would I build a container?

Try loading your gun line with Blast Compound or Pyratite and then find having a flyer with pyratite or some boss with flamers getting close enough to set off your ammo. Setting a container on fire is a lot harder than setting free floating highly flammable ammunition ablaze... its real fun when all your ammunition starts to cook off and you have a chain reaction going through your production line.

Learned that the hard way.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by Ishan451:

Originally posted by some moron:

Why would I build a container?

Try loading your gun line with Blast Compound or Pyratite and then find having a flyer with pyratite or some boss with flamers getting close enough to set off your ammo. Setting a container on fire is a lot harder than setting free floating highly flammable ammunition ablaze... its real fun when all your ammunition starts to cook off and you have a chain reaction going through your production line.

Learned that the hard way.

isn't there an achievement for having your thorium reactor explode lmao

[PhailRaptor]

Using a Vault or Container is also the most efficient way to sort the output of a Separator. Vaults work better due to the size, allowing you to input more to a single unit, but they cost Thorium to build.

[SOUP ALT SOUP]

unloaders are also used in alot of surge designs I've seen, connected directly to the core

[Aeolípila]

Originally posted by Redrune75:

In general they function as buffers/stockpiles for times of scarcity. Consider the following scenario: You're feeding a turret with copper, and the turret only needs to be active for short bursts defending during waves. When firing, the turret consumes 10 copper per second, but you only produce 2 copper per second. If the turret is being fed directly by drills/belts, you will very quickly run out of ammo during waves and the turret will not be able to fire 100% of the time it wants to. If you have a container between the drills and the turret, however, it can stockpile plenty of copper and feed it to the turret as fast as the turret can consume.

Not usually useful for connecting to the core, at least as far as I've seen. Maybe if you needed to build with more resources than the core could hold in a short time period, but that seems like a very niche scenario.

Fine, so you're proposing that players:

1. link drills of, let's say, copper, to a container by means of conveyor belt;
   
2. put a copper unloader on the other side of the container;
   
3. link the unloader to the turrets that require copper as ammo.

Have I understood it correctly?

[Panterich]

Yes. Though use of containers to hold copper in this example would be rather inefficient in terms of cost and space per gained value.

Reasons for containers arise with more complex and advanced scenarios, as well as use of logic and blueprints. And definitely separators. They can also be useful to simplify logistics for production chains with 4 resources (ie 3 input +1 output) as long as you have spare building materials.

[Grimmrog_SIG]

Usually on maps where you need to utilise Scrap a lot, I use them as core delivery sorthers. It's a lot less annoying when you have many different products as an outcome to utilise a container with attached unlaodes to place the stuff on green belts than filtering them on regular belts and deploy them on a green one directly.