How to store trade rocket product while rocket is gone

[Wig Bang]

So I have auto crafters set to generate pulsar quartz and load them into rockets when they arrive. But what do I do about how the auto crafter fills up before the rocket gets back.

[Tirandys]

I try to have 3 auto crafters per rocket. Only other way that works for me is to manually move stuff into a temp container set to supply. That way at least the stuff in the auto crafter is ready to go as soon as the rocket lands.

[Wig Bang]

Ok, so multiple auto crafters. Gotcha

Thanks

[sheldonp55]

I have three auto crafters setup making Pulsar Quartz + a nearby T2 storage unit, and then three auto crafters setup for Fusion Cores and the cores are supplied to the trade rockets. Feeding the pular quartz auto crafters can be challenging. In total I have multiple trade rockets getting supplied with fusion cores from just three auto crafters.

[BRO46]

I have drones moving items from the autocratic to storage units and then drones moving them to the rockets.

[Wig Bang]

Originally posted by BRO46:

I have drones moving items from the autocratic to storage units and then drones moving them to the rockets.

I would have done this without ever even posting (it was my first obvious thought)

But it is not possible. You can't be doing that.

You can't have a locker with a demand and a supply for the same item.

[wyldfae28]

Originally posted by Wig Bang:

Originally posted by BRO46:

I have drones moving items from the autocratic to storage units and then drones moving them to the rockets.

I would have done this without ever even posting (it was my first obvious thought)

But it is not possible. You can't be doing that.

You can't have a locker with a demand and a supply for the same item.

You are right. You can't set something to both supply and demand an item. My solution, although imperfect, was as follows:

I only have two rockets running (although I'm carrying close to a 2 million balance at the moment, so it's been plenty). I have 2 auto crafters in the zeolite mine making pulsar. There are T2s around them to store the needed minerals coming from the extractors. 6 Methane extractors and a full production fuse optimizer rounds out the little factory.

The drones take the pulsar and fill the rockets, and they run pretty much independently. Because the rockets are sometimes off planet at the same time, I didn't want pulsar just sitting in the auto crafters, waiting. So, in addition to the two T2's I use to store pulsar for other things, I have one for "pulsar trading" set to demand at a lower setting. The drones fill the T2 while the rockets are gone. Since I wander by this locker frequently, I check it to see when it's full. Then I flip it to supply, and my rockets fill up fast. It empties pretty quickly and I set it back to demand again.

Unfortunately, this isn't a fully automated function as you do have to switch the storage container from one to the other fairly often. But it does help my rockets move pulsar a bit faster and if you keep that locker in a part of your base you visit often, it's not really onerous to keep tabs on.

[archmag]

Originally posted by Tirandys:

I try to have 3 auto crafters per rocket. Only other way that works for me is to manually move stuff into a temp container set to supply. That way at least the stuff in the auto crafter is ready to go as soon as the rocket lands.

Isn't this making the issue worse? The question was about dealing with autocrafter filling up and the solution of adding more autocrafters just makes it that more autocrafters will fill up while the rocket is away.

Actual solution to this issue is to place more rockets. So while one rocket is away autocrafters are filling another rocket instead of just doing nothing because their storage is full.

There is also a rare fuse which reduces the amount of time trading rockets spend in space. It can be found in wrecks in random portals.

[Tirandys]

I guess for me it works in a way. You are correct if you are after not having extra in your auto crafter.

For me, when the trade rocket gets back, there are 24 pulsar quartz setting ready to go in the auto crafter, when the drones show up to load the trade rocket the auto crafter can make 1 more to fill the rocket and there is minimal delay in the rocket launching.

[Jeronimosss]

Build more rockets :)

[Wig Bang]

Originally posted by Jeronimosss:

Build more rockets :)

Yep

[archmag]

Originally posted by Tirandys:

I guess for me it works in a way. You are correct if you are after not having extra in your auto crafter.

For me, when the trade rocket gets back, there are 24 pulsar quartz setting ready to go in the auto crafter, when the drones show up to load the trade rocket the auto crafter can make 1 more to fill the rocket and there is minimal delay in the rocket launching.

Yeah, you are optimizing rocket downtime, but not autocrafter downtime which the OP was asking about. Both are good options, but they focus on different things - you either reduce rocket's downtime by building more autocrafters (and increase autocrafter downtime at the same time) or you reduce autocrafter downtime by building more rockets (but increase rockets downtime). Choose which ever is working for you or combine them for balanced approach. Multiple rockets so that one comes back as soon as autocrafters become full and multiple autocrafters so that they instantly fill the returning rocket and start getting ready for the next one is the perfect solution.

[Wig Bang]

Originally posted by archmag:

Originally posted by Tirandys:

I guess for me it works in a way. You are correct if you are after not having extra in your auto crafter.

For me, when the trade rocket gets back, there are 24 pulsar quartz setting ready to go in the auto crafter, when the drones show up to load the trade rocket the auto crafter can make 1 more to fill the rocket and there is minimal delay in the rocket launching.

Yeah, you are optimizing rocket downtime, but not autocrafter downtime which the OP was asking about. Both are good options, but they focus on different things - you either reduce rocket's downtime by building more autocrafters (and increase autocrafter downtime at the same time) or you reduce autocrafter downtime by building more rockets (but increase rockets downtime). Choose which ever is working for you or combine them for balanced approach. Multiple rockets so that one comes back as soon as autocrafters become full and multiple autocrafters so that they instantly fill the returning rocket and start getting ready for the next one is the perfect solution.

Why would you ever care about rocket downtime?

It seems to me like it's best to just build lots of rockets so your autocrafters can stay busy. Building lots of autocrafters just... keeps your rockets busy but what's the point in that? If that's ever the case,, building more rockets would just.. net you more tokens.

[archmag]

Originally posted by Wig Bang:

Why would you ever care about rocket downtime?

Because it is the same as autocrafter downtime. When rocket is being loaded longer than it needs to be, it is not selling your goods for tokens. When autocrafters are idling, they are not producing your resources to sell, so also not giving you tokens even though rockets can afford to give more.

It's basically distributor and producer. When rockets are idling it means distributor has capacity but there is not enough production. When autocrafters are idling (because the output is full) it means production is more than enough but there is not enough capacity for distribution. Both cases limit your gains so to improve the situation in that specific case you either need to increase production or increase distribution to balance them out so that neither is a bottleneck. When they are balanced already, you can increase one of them, create new bottleneck and then solve it by increasing the other to increase total gains from the system.

Which is why it was surprising when you were initially given a suggestion to increase your production when you already had enough of it to be bottlenecked by distributors. In that specific case increasing distribution was the actual solution leading to more balanced system.

[satans_favourite]

when youre pulsar production is so much greater then needed, why not switch to the power cells. they are worth a lot more tokens per full rocket load. and it instantly reduces youre pulsar quarts surplus. they do need a big increase in osmium production. but that is worth the investment

[Wig Bang]

Originally posted by satans_favourite:

when youre pulsar production is so much greater then needed, why not switch to the power cells. they are worth a lot more tokens per full rocket load. and it instantly reduces youre pulsar quarts surplus. they do need a big increase in osmium production. but that is worth the investment

I've worked out the numbers on it, and power cells are slightly worse than pulsar quartz for overall terra