Best way to place a mass storage

[Woodiey77]

Like the title says. How do YOU place a mass storage. Nearby or far away? One item per mm or several bars combined? Do you use rooms for it and how? one per room or multiple per room?
How big are you making them? Are you making them 5x5, 3x10 or perhaps just 2x2?

Just trying to make better use of them. Pics always welcome

[Fayte]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1281554712

Don't do that. A long rectangle kills drone item retrieval time. Input is fast, output on the far end is slow. I'm goign to try a square next time.

[DirtyCamper]

Oh... My mass storage looks like honkong by night. Just as massive, and just as colorful :-).
I know it is frowned upon. But I have 1.4 million items in my mass storage.
Next to that I have mass storage in the cold caverns holding cry bombs. It takes an I/O port, a falcor and mass storage crates as supply lines to keep my caverns free from spawn.
The cry bombs are created top side, put into mass storage, and at the right point pulled from mass storage and send down, and put into mass storage of the cold caverns.
That same mass storage also distributes freezone to the geothermals and lasers.

[Aikano]

I started to use them to supply different belts with different materials without having conveyor belt spaghetti. I make them as small as possible. The storage in my pic is 3x4 and has copper tin and iron bars stored. I am making 13 different machines in a 15x20blocks big room.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1288146948
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1288147050
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1288147006

[Ecclesia]

I am more a fan of 1 block deep MS (and x blocks wide). This way you have the highest input/output port to MS block ratio (1:1), which means that for each MS block you have a port. And since MS should mainly be used for distribution, it is best to have the shortest distance between an input and output port, and as few blocks as a buffer.

[steveman0]

I use mods so a lot of my mass storage systems tend to be tendrils saturated with manufacturing lines branching off. If I'm only building a little buffer storage for distribution I try to keep it no bigger than about 5x5 square. If I'm only using freight at the storage though I build it however it best fits with the location since distances don't matter then.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=723520488
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1613798569285630553/F3C13949C12936E5790D3EA4C9B5A9C7F301D022/

[zzmmorgan]

I mostly use mass storage with a single item (gold bars, iron plates, etc.) in them and mostly just for a bit more density than hoppers and controlled access. I can't tell you how often I've had to rebuild a conveyor line because I suddenly realized part of it went next to a hopper and started pulling stuff out of it......
Obviously I'm still working out spreading things out more...... :) Every time I start a new world I try to spread out more early on and still find parts of the base where it's just way too crowded and unhappy things happen with conveyor lines and I can't easily get where I need to be to figure out what's run amok.....

Overall I'm tending to keep my mass storage smaller to keep the drones moving a bit faster. I was keeping them no more than 5x5 but have a couple exceptions in the current world due to interruptions in my train of thought.........

[Munda]

I’m glad you made this thread. I was actually gonna make the exact same one. I’m not at home right now but I can probably get some pics this weekend.

Originally posted by Fayte:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1281554712

Don't do that. A long rectangle kills drone item retrieval time. Input is fast, output on the far end is slow. I'm goign to try a square next time.

Very true. I tried a real MS setup for the first time this playthrough since the stocking ports weren’t in last time I played, and it started out awesome. I loved it cause I didn’t have to route belts around in a big mess, I could just pull everything from anywhere.
But now that the system is probably 20-25 blocks long and only about 3 deep, my production lines at the far end that need a lot of T1 bars are really struggling.
Now that you mentioned a square I might try that. Or making the stacks lower as someone else suggested so it forces the bars to spread out. Or I guess another option is to add second bar inputs at the far end.
Or I could just tear it all down and just make a Flexible Games style bus. That seems to work out pretty well.

[zzmmorgan]

Originally posted by Munda:

I’m glad you made this thread. I was actually gonna make the exact same one. I’m not at home right now but I can probably get some pics this weekend.

Originally posted by Fayte:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1281554712

Don't do that. A long rectangle kills drone item retrieval time. Input is fast, output on the far end is slow. I'm goign to try a square next time.

Very true. I tried a real MS setup for the first time this playthrough since the stocking ports weren’t in last time I played, and it started out awesome. I loved it cause I didn’t have to route belts around in a big mess, I could just pull everything from anywhere.
But now that the system is probably 20-25 blocks long and only about 3 deep, my production lines at the far end that need a lot of T1 bars are really struggling.
Now that you mentioned a square I might try that. Or making the stacks lower as someone else suggested so it forces the bars to spread out. Or I guess another option is to add second bar inputs at the far end.
Or I could just tear it all down and just make a Flexible Games style bus. That seems to work out pretty well.

Tearing things down to try a potential improvement seems to be a big part of this game :)

[Munda]

Originally posted by zzmmorgan:

Originally posted by Munda:

I’m glad you made this thread. I was actually gonna make the exact same one. I’m not at home right now but I can probably get some pics this weekend.




Very true. I tried a real MS setup for the first time this playthrough since the stocking ports weren’t in last time I played, and it started out awesome. I loved it cause I didn’t have to route belts around in a big mess, I could just pull everything from anywhere.
But now that the system is probably 20-25 blocks long and only about 3 deep, my production lines at the far end that need a lot of T1 bars are really struggling.
Now that you mentioned a square I might try that. Or making the stacks lower as someone else suggested so it forces the bars to spread out. Or I guess another option is to add second bar inputs at the far end.
Or I could just tear it all down and just make a Flexible Games style bus. That seems to work out pretty well.

Tearing things down to try a potential improvement seems to be a big part of this game :)

I’m always afraid to do that. I almost never do it unless I have to. That’s something I really need to get over lol.

[zzmmorgan]

Originally posted by Munda:

Originally posted by zzmmorgan:

Tearing things down to try a potential improvement seems to be a big part of this game :)

I’m always afraid to do that. I almost never do it unless I have to. That’s something I really need to get over lol.

I keep starting new worlds as I try to figure out just how to spread things out. I've even deleted a couple worlds that got so messed up with my cramped bases....... I could have killed the overminds by now probably if I just focused on fixing one world. I do have one that I'm starting to build the HODOR and have a nice automated missile setup so the missiles are all automatically produced and distributed to the batteries of launchers. Although the resources need to get the OET going are somewhat overwhelming...... I'll get there....eventually :)

[hmkagm]

the way i do mass storage is as follows.

for bulk items like coal and bars i use a standard 10x10x6 = 150,000 units.

for making items that need parts i cut that down in half so its 5 x 5 x 3

When making mass storage you got to consider what your going to use it for.

1. what is the mass storage for ? bulk or items ?

2. If for bulk do you want it close or far away

3. If for production does it need to be off a bulk storage or is it connected to a production line.

4. How many lines are you having come from the storage.

5. Is your imput close to your out put.

most of the time i only use my mass storage as a overflow system and a buffer and the rest of the time i make production lines.

if you make one big mass storage your going to struggle to make good production and its far better to use smaller compact mass storage for production.

Always consider when you make a mass storage to put it in a 10 x 10 zone even if its only a 5 x 5 because this gives you space to expand.

Now your going to ask why 10 x 10 x 6

the answer is because 10 x 10 x 6 is the max size you can get from a automated production line if you use 1 hopper that stores 100 units of mass storage items.

I normaly have about 9 bulk mass storage units.

they are as follows.

All bars, coal & there upgrades.

Smaller mass storage is mainly for sorting items like the wasp drops which is 10 x 3 x 2

you can see my mass storage in action on twitch when i live stream it.


https://www.twitch.tv/hellsmasterkight

[Fayte]

Originally posted by zzmmorgan:

Originally posted by Munda:

I’m always afraid to do that. I almost never do it unless I have to. That’s something I really need to get over lol.

I keep starting new worlds as I try to figure out just how to spread things out. I've even deleted a couple worlds that got so messed up with my cramped bases....... I could have killed the overminds by now probably if I just focused on fixing one world. I do have one that I'm starting to build the HODOR and have a nice automated missile setup so the missiles are all automatically produced and distributed to the batteries of launchers. Although the resources need to get the OET going are somewhat overwhelming...... I'll get there....eventually :)

A bit hard to see, but you can fully automate 5 sets with 1 induction charger. It's a bit hard to feed at full speed, so I run dedicated iron into 3 smelters into 5 empty fuel cans, 1 gold lift to 3 smelters for wires. Then I feed those 2 into the missle creation, and output into the assembler, where i mix in fuel. There's a bunch of way so doing it. I borrowed most of this from flexible games on youtube, take a look at his vids. I don't run dedicated biomass though, since even with missiles and turbines on the defences I keep up ok. On rapid this keeps 8-11 launchers going full time. On plentiful I used 2 of these setups :)

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/920292040213800770/65D662FC438D0D7315D5C914191FF269ED96BA3D/

[Munda]

One thing I’ve started getting over is the need to make setups as compact as I can. My first 2 worlds I hated wasting a single belt in a setup, or belting crafted items a long distance because I didn’t want to ‘waste’ the ones sitting on the belt. Now? Who cares. You’ll never notice the bars missing and it makes life a lot easier to spread out a little.

[syro]

I prefer to make mine a highly concave shape with an interior and an exterior side, having the input (stocking) ports on interior in roughly the center and the outputs on exterior side. Sometimes I have tendrils on the exterior to maximize surface area while trying to minimize volume and especially distance between input and output ports.

[Munda]

Originally posted by syro:

I prefer to make mine a highly concave shape with an interior and an exterior side, having the input (stocking) ports on interior in roughly the center and the outputs on exterior side. Sometimes I have tendrils on the exterior to maximize surface area while trying to minimize volume and especially distance between input and output ports.

So do you have multiple inputs for each bar? My setup right now just has one for each bar type and (although it's fine now since the system has backed up) when it needs to produce a lot of stuff, it struggles to grab everything it needs.
This is my setup right now. I've lowered the stocking limit for each bar from 800 down to 400, and reduced the height of the system from 6-4. So hopefully that'll help spread things out a little more.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1290170783

Inputs

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1290170818

EDIT: I think it's definitely too close to the rest of my base because my framerate dips when I'm near it, so I may tear it down and move it. I don't even have my OET built or charging yet, so I'm sure that won't help matters.