whats the best way to pull items from the bus?

[Ultra]

Im building a new factory and I have decided to do evrything as efficient as possible because I plan to turn the factory into a mega base. So the question is. What is the best way to pull items from a bus.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847069673

the setup on the top is the one I use all the time and it seems to work descent. The setup on the bottom is the one I have seen KatherineOfSky use in her belt Diva series. Can someone please explain the difference between the two and which one should I use. As far as I can tell both setups makes it possible to grab items from all belts.

[!?!]

What you're doing is directing the throughput of all 4 belts into 1 belt which isn't even possible.
You just need 1 splitter on an unused belt, then further down the line 2 splitters to pull from the next belt etc.
Afterwards, put a balancer and you can pull from 1 belt with 1 splitter again.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847084463

[Emmote]

Yeah, I do kind of what chris suggests.

For each time you want to take from the bus, use a different lane. Once you have used all available lanes, put a belt balancer in (in your case a 4:4). Then repeat.

I have tried what you've done Ultra, but you end up using an obscene amount of splitters balancing your entire belt every single time you want to take from it, which apart from anything else, is really bad for your FPS/UPS.

Edit:
Something like this:
I used red belts just to make it easier to see what's going on.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847093274

[Nellvan]

Originally posted by Ultra:

As far as I can tell both setups makes it possible to grab items from all belts.

The bottom one pulls only from the right belt, then shifts stuff from left to right behind the branch. That one id for when you don't need a full belt at all times on that branch.

Originally posted by chris:

What you're doing is directing the throughput of all 4 belts into 1 belt which isn't even possible.
You just need 1 splitter on an unused belt, then further down the line 2 splitters to pull from the next belt etc.
Afterwards, put a balancer and you can pull from 1 belt with 1 splitter again.

If you do it that way, you get one half of a belt into the branch, and even less if the bus isn't conpletly full.

That's why you direct 4 belts into one, to make sure you get a full belt whenever possible. (if you want to give priority to that branch)

[Ultra]

Originally posted by chris:

What you're doing is directing the throughput of all 4 belts into 1 belt which isn't even possible.
You just need 1 splitter on an unused belt, then further down the line 2 splitters to pull from the next belt etc.
Afterwards, put a balancer and you can pull from 1 belt with 1 splitter again.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847084463

I dont quite see why its benificial to use one less splitter than I do. I forgot to mention that I use 4 lane balancers once in a while when I notice that it gets to unbalanced.

Originally posted by Emmote:

Yeah, I do kind of what chris suggests.

For each time you want to take from the bus, use a different lane. Once you have used all available lanes, put a belt balancer in (in your case a 4:4). Then repeat.

I have tried what you've done Ultra, but you end up using an obscene amount of splitters balancing your entire belt every single time you want to take from it, which apart from anything else, is really bad for your FPS/UPS.

Edit:
Something like this:
I used red belts just to make it easier to see what's going on.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847093274

I like your idea alot. I have not noticed any problems with lag using my setup and my factory is not small. I produce about 12k iron and copper and about 6k green circuits a minute. I also as about 15 trains. And I run at constant 60 fps, no problems at all.

Originally posted by Nellvan:

Originally posted by Ultra:

As far as I can tell both setups makes it possible to grab items from all belts.

The bottom one pulls only from the right belt, then shifts stuff from left to right behind the branch. That one id for when you don't need a full belt at all times on that branch.

Originally posted by chris:

What you're doing is directing the throughput of all 4 belts into 1 belt which isn't even possible.
You just need 1 splitter on an unused belt, then further down the line 2 splitters to pull from the next belt etc.
Afterwards, put a balancer and you can pull from 1 belt with 1 splitter again.

If you do it that way, you get one half of a belt into the branch, and even less if the bus isn't conpletly full.

That's why you direct 4 belts into one, to make sure you get a full belt whenever possible. (if you want to give priority to that branch)

correct me if Im wrong but isnt my splitter doing the exact same thing?

[Nellvan]

Err the top one ? yeah that's what it does, when I pointed out why you'd sometimes want to direct 4 into one I forgot to mention it specifically

[Nailfoot]

Here's the best way, simply because *I* am never wrong!

LOL, that's a laugh.

But, yeah, this is a self contained balancer and split. It will give you a fully compress belt, assuming you are feeding it correctly.

The one on the left is a normal 4-lane balancer (Not output count perfect, as that isn't needed) and the one on the right is modified to give you a feeder line out of either or both sides.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847129272

[Ultra]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

Here's the best way, simply because *I* am never wrong!

LOL, that's a laugh.

But, yeah, this is a self contained balancer and split. It will give you a fully compress belt, assuming you are feeding it correctly.

The one on the left is a normal 4-lane balancer (Not output count perfect, as that isn't needed) and the one on the right is modified to give you a feeder line out of either or both sides.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847129272

That is a very interessting design, it takes up alot of space however. it might not fit in a main bus when you need to branch off resources all the time. But I can definetly see how it could be usefull if you build something that requires alot of resources like circuits

[Nailfoot]

Here is a output count-perfect 4 lane balancer, just in case you are interested.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847133624

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by Ultra:

...

That is a very interessting design, it takes up alot of space however. it might not fit in a main bus when you need to branch off resources all the time. But I can definetly see how it could be usefull if you build something that requires alot of resources like circuits

Yeah, it does. But no more so than balancing the belt after you split off a line. The only difference is, you can plop in the balancer anywhere it is convenient and this has to have the space available right where you want to split.

It works great for feeding a lot of copper to green circuits, and no balancing required afterwards.

[Ultra]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

Here is a output count-perfect 4 lane balancer, just in case you are interested.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847133624

What is the difference between that one and the regular hourglass design that we see evrywhere.

[!?!]

Originally posted by Nellvan:

If you do it that way, you get one half of a belt into the branch, and even less if the bus isn't conpletly full.

That's why you direct 4 belts into one, to make sure you get a full belt whenever possible. (if you want to give priority to that branch)

It's a full belt if everything after it is backed up.
If you can't keep your bus filled, you shouldn't have that many lanes in the first place.
Also planning for a half-compressed bus is irrelevant since it is either completely full or completely empty anyway.
Or at least it will be once your starting ore patch ran out and you're bringing plates in with trains.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by Ultra:

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

Here is a output count-perfect 4 lane balancer, just in case you are interested.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=847133624

What is the difference between that one and the regular hourglass design that we see evrywhere.

Here you go. I use this EVERYWHERE in my base. Every single furnace setup. At every train loading/unloading station.

Everywhere. It keeps things perfectly balanced and makes sure trains load/unload 99% evenly instead of having a train with 3 empty cars and one full.

https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4d3per/belt_balancer_compendium/

[Ultra]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

Originally posted by Ultra:

What is the difference between that one and the regular hourglass design that we see evrywhere.

Here you go. I use this EVERYWHERE in my base. Every single furnace setup. At every train loading/unloading station.

Everywhere. It keeps things perfectly balanced and makes sure trains load/unload 99% evenly instead of having a train with 3 empty cars and one full.

https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4d3per/belt_balancer_compendium/

On the 4:4 belt balancer they dont use the well known hourglass design. Im wondering why not. the hourglass design seems balanced.

[The Chaotic Coder]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

Originally posted by Ultra:

What is the difference between that one and the regular hourglass design that we see evrywhere.

Here you go. I use this EVERYWHERE in my base. Every single furnace setup. At every train loading/unloading station.

Everywhere. It keeps things perfectly balanced and makes sure trains load/unload 99% evenly instead of having a train with 3 empty cars and one full.

https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4d3per/belt_balancer_compendium/

...so does the "hourglass" design, except it uses 1 less underground belt and doesn't shift everything one tile to the side.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by Ultra:

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

Here you go. I use this EVERYWHERE in my base. Every single furnace setup. At every train loading/unloading station.

Everywhere. It keeps things perfectly balanced and makes sure trains load/unload 99% evenly instead of having a train with 3 empty cars and one full.

https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4d3per/belt_balancer_compendium/

On the 4:4 belt balancer they dont use the well known hourglass design. Im wondering why not. the hourglass design seems balanced.

Yeah, the 4 lane isn't the best example. The current design, I believe, was discovered after that Reddit was published.

I just ran a bunch of tests on both designs and there is a tiny variance in how the output lines are loaded, but both are output count perfect.

I would amend my original post in this thread but its already been quoted and needs to stay for clarity.

Appologies on jumping the gun and posting a solution before I tested it myself. However, the other count perfect balancers seem, well... perfect.