⚙️ Loadbalancer Collection 🔧

[TheOrigin]

I finished my next guide with a loadbalancer collection. This should help you out from early to late game. Three differend kinds and techniques - ranging from one to three layers.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3312075742

Feel free to ask and comment - also dont forget to leave a rating/vote - Thanks!

Happy building 🙌

[TheOrigin]

- added more options
- added two more blueprints

[TheOrigin]

- added another balancer which i created today (the most complex so far) it handles 3 input layers and puts them onto 3 output layers equally.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3312610836

- reworked guide structure (b/c steam is eating up my code)

[Malidictus]

I'm curious what your goal is. For instance, a 1-2 split does not require balancing. The split itself handles that. If one line becomes saturated, the other will take up all capacity. I don't follow.

[TheOrigin]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

I'm curious what your goal is. For instance, a 1-2 split does not require balancing. The split itself handles that. If one line becomes saturated, the other will take up all capacity. I don't follow.

Pretty simple - there is no way that your game is always running on 100% perfection- thus meaning there is always some lagging behind, clogging up, waiting for material etc. Load balancers help to distribute the available material equally upon your running processing plants. I.e. - splitting up from 1 lane to 3 (to keep full saturation but slower throughput) and merging it back together to 1 lane after processing. Without a balancer all your spacelanes are filled differently which influences your next production buildings and so on.

Also there will be the situation that you have to switch layers vertically or distribute evenly among them. There are many possibilities. People already build platforms to handle clogged up belts, because THAT will be a major problem later on.

[Malidictus]

That's not what I asked, though. Why do you need to load-balance a 1-2 split when the belts will balance themselves naturally? Simply forking a belt will do that. The game will split the input evenly between the two outputs by default. If one output gets clogged, all input will go to the other output.

1-2, 1-3, 3-1, 2-1 are all automatically balanced just by splitting and merging belts. What does trying to balance them accomplish?

[TheOrigin]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

1-2, 1-3, 3-1, 2-1 are all automatically balanced just by splitting and merging belts. What does trying to balance them accomplish?

Actually - they are not. I already answered your question. Balancers distribute moving shapes EVENLY among all outputs if your inputs are unequal. Watch the sceenshots in the guide. If you don't see the use cases, that's not my problem.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by TheOrigin:

Actually - they are not. I already answered your question. Balancers distribute moving shapes EVENLY among all outputs if your inputs are unequal. Watch the sceenshots in the guide.

No, you didn't answer my question. You keep answering a question I didn't ask while ignoring the one I did ask. I know what balancers do and how they work. You don't need to keep re-explaining that.

I'm asking you why you need to balance a system with 1 input and 2 outputs. Can you answer that? What does your 1-2 balancer do that simply splitting a single belt into 2 belts doesn't? Can you give me an example of where a balancer is needed in that case?

[TheOrigin]

There are pleny of builds where you share different shapes on a single belt level and not always use 4 full belts. i.e. a dedicated stacker platform with 4 different shapes.. there are also scenarios, especially in early game when you dont have the research where you only have 1 or two belts from extractors. Those can be balanced too.

[Malidictus]

Can you give me an example where a single belt needs to be balanced? Specifically, where not balancing it would cause issues? I can't really think of any.

[TheOrigin]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

Can you give me an example where a single belt needs to be balanced? Specifically, where not balancing it would cause issues? I can't really think of any.

I just told you! i.e. balance extractors to funnel several single belts into a full belt or share upon different outputs.. i wont comment this any further. You dont have to use it if you dont need or want it.

Here is one specific example: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2162800/discussions/0/6929437446240949446/

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by TheOrigin:

I just told you! i.e. balance extractors to funnel several single belts into a full belt or share upon different outputs.. i wont comment this any further. You dont have to use it if you dont need or want it.

That doesn't require balancing. Extractors scale with belt speed, so 4 extractors always supply a single belt and extractor platforms offer sources in groups of 4. Simply daisy-chaining the extractors will ensure a full belt.

I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I'm trying to understand what some of your balancers are supposed to accomplish. What problem are they solving? I understaynd many-to-many, but 1-2 and 2-1 don't really fit that desctioption.

Originally posted by TheOrigin:

Here is one specific example: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2162800/discussions/0/6929437446240949446/

This example doesn't really apply, though. It's not a matter of balancing so much as synchronisation, but even if it were - it's not an example of splitting 1 belt into 2 belts. If you wanted to balance both sides, that would be a 2-2 balancer, not the 1-2 that I was asking about.

[Shabazza]

Silly question: Are those just labels or actual belt counters?

[Rasjel]

for me i try to balance the maschiens not the belts.
full belt goes in full belt comes out. so i never run in an unbalanced belt.

[Shabazza]

Nah, I mean, those orange numbers on the belts, are those just labels?
Manually placed, not belt counters that show actual throughput?

EDIT: Nevermind. It's in the "Wires" upgrade. I did not dig into it yet. Neat!
I think wiht the Wires package, the game is "touring complete".
Just waiting for the first guy to make a computer in Shapez.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Shabazza:

Silly question: Are those just labels or actual belt counters?

Belt throughput counters. Every Belt Reader will display throughput like that over itself, and output I believe the last shape which entered it to the signal netowrk.

Originally posted by Rasjel:

for me i try to balance the maschiens not the belts.
full belt goes in full belt comes out. so i never run in an unbalanced belt.

That's not always possible, unfortunately. For instance, I have a facility processing circles which are 3/4 red and 1/4 white. The miners pull 4 belts of those out, but processing only produces 3 full belts, due to discarding 1/4 of the mined resource. Belt balancing is required in this case if I want to still output 4 belts out of the whole facility.