What do you guys actualy automate in this game?

[Los]

I never realy felt the need to automate anything apart from mining/smelting and the science part is semi automated so does anyone actualy automate more than that?

[Nedrith]

Currently all the basic things that you need to craft with. So Copper wires,servo motors, tin plates, LWMH, Charged Lithium Coils, alloyed machine blocks, Primary, secondary, ultimate upgrades, ect. I automate Tranport pipes and MK3 LETs, the later because I find it more convienent than having 7 hoppers of alloyed blocks and I tend to go through 20-30 at a time quickly.

Honestly the bar change is great. It's easy to just see it as before we had iron bars, now we just use iron gears but it's more than that as you also have to make sure the system can handle the speed at which they are needed. With the latest patch Nickel for example can be used to make Low Grade Steel or Hardened Machine blocks or Secondary Upgrades. Those Secondary upgrade modules can be used to make alloyed upgrade modules and can then be used to make ultimate upgrade modules. Making a system that can split your nickel between all of those intermediaries yet be fast enough is fun.

If your method of playing is I'll stand next to a H.E.I.S.T and leave the game run for a long time rather than improving your infrastructure to the point that it will support your needs, then yes I can see how the changes would be annoying or boring.

[Provengreil]

Most "automation" in this game is smelting and pre-processing into partial ingredients, to be picked up and hand crafted into final pieces. I consider "full automation" to be in effect only for pieces that go all the way from ores to a useable product or machine without me touching it. Exactly what you go all the way for is dependent on your play style, needs, and difficulty.

For partial automation, it's simple: if there's a machine specifically to make it, you need at least one of those machines.

I go full automation for:

-All research, up to and including feeding it into the lab. I press the research button and forget about it.
-Imbued missiles. they go all the way from ore to launched without me helping. Armor piercing missiles are fed via priority splitter, and I just dump stingers into a storage hopper from time to time.
-Plasma heads, up to and including mounting them.
-Transport pipes.
-Induction plates. This involves making MK 1 and 2 power blocks, so those are automated as a part of the recipe: having a hundred or so MK2 blocks ready to grab at any time is also handy.
-Construction paste.
-MK 1 solar panels. I don't automate MK2's simply because even on rapid, the rate I can get the MK4 blocks I need to mount them put together is slow enough to not bother.
-Technically, power boosters count although I only use them for ingredients.
-In previous worlds, MK5 forced inductions. However, I hear those won't need to be used for elevators anymore, so I doubt I'll still do that.
-In my new world, conveyors, now that they can be automated early enough to bother. That there's a tangible resource reward for doing so is, of course, helpful.

Things I haven't automated, but have considered automating:
-Storage hoppers
-MK3 power storage blocks
-Falcors(into a minihopper instead of a storage one)
-Jet turbines
-Ore xtractors

IMO using the manufacturing center to make things often feels clunkier and more annoying than is worth, particularly since certain things get replaced without being upgraded. Lasers come to mind: I'd automate every tier of laser is each tier built out of the last, extending the manufacturing line as I unlock each tier, but in reality all that'd get me is a few hundred useless lower grade lasers in my inventory.

[Los]

i dont feel the need to automate anything that can be crafter instantly from the manufacturing plant as i just do it myself... so stuff without crafting time i never bother with automation

[zzmmorgan]

Ultimately almost everything gets automated. Some stuff like rack rails I do immediately because the first thing I use the cargo lift for is lithium and that still will mean a couple hundred rack rails so that's all in place before I even start to build the controller. So far I've not automated turrets as by the time I can build manufacturing plants I've pretty much got my defences all in place. But things keep changing between patches and how I approach each world....
Plasma cutter heads almost have to be automated or you'll never have enough to be useful and the same for a lot of the things like hardened machine blocks.

[Pyrotemplar]

more like what DONT we automate! you can pretty much automate and auto craft everything in this game, so just do the things you dont feel like crafting by hand.