Need tips for mid-game/late-game.

[Thryden]

So I usually stick with a bus, not because it's my favorite, but because it's what I do the best. I can keep it organized really well. However, once I start getting to red circuits and higher, my organizations starts to fall apart and I start having a lot of inefficiency. I'm thinking on my new factory to split it up into several areas. Each area would be independent from one another, so basically I guess I'd have several factories. I was thinking of having three or four areas or so.

1. Liquid. This would be the only area that interacts with the others. I'd make all my liquids in one spot (possibly excluding water) and transfer them to the other areas by train where needed.

2. Entities. I'd make all belts, assembling machines, furnaces, concrete, etc. here. Anything that my character would need to help expand the factory.

3. Science Packs. All science packs would be made in one area along with a huge laboratory field.

4. Rockets. This would be the final area I'd make and would build everything required for rockets.

What do you all think? Good idea or not? Any tips/ blueprints/ guides/ etc. that would help me be effecient would be great!

[jgacton]

Having factory blocks connected by train is a pretty good and efficient way of building a base in the late game, however I would do more than 4 blocks, and have something like this:
- Oil processing block taking in crude and water and producing sulphuric, lubricant, solid fuel and petroleum
- Iron + Steel smelting block, or several
- Copper smelting block, or several
- Green circuits block, or several
- Red circuits block
- Blue circuits block
- Mall block (To produce all the items that you need to build with)
- Rocket Block
- Science Block

This Video shows off something pretty similar to what you described at quite a large scale.

[Cortexion]

Power usage would be a good sign of the size of your base for future posts

I don't know how you actually build your bases so i'll try to keep to general suggestions based on my own play style

keeping things in sections is a good idea for large bases, I would usually go steps further and separate types of science and all types of raw/simple materials to separate sections (including circuits or anything used in high volume)

as your base will grow rapidly with the help of bots you should take note of power usage because thats something thats hard to catch if you let it slip

bots in general are very usefull for re-designing primary manufacturing as they excell in high volume over short distances

for later game/large bases I prefer to use standardised blueprints for all the different things you need to the size of roboport logistics areas so that they can be scaled easily

I hope my clumsy input can be useful to you

[Thryden]

Originally posted by RaisedByNinjas:

- Oil processing block taking in crude and water and producing sulphuric, lubricant, solid fuel and petroleum
- Iron + Steel smelting block, or several
- Copper smelting block, or several
- Green circuits block, or several
- Red circuits block
- Blue circuits block
- Mall block (To produce all the items that you need to build with)
- Rocket Block
- Science Block

I plan on smelting ores right at the patches (I have Angel's unlimited Ores on). My "areas" that I'm thinking of aren't just going to be one block each. They're going to be there own mini-factories, at least that's what I have planned in my head so far. For example, my science area will have a block of iron, probably two. My Mall area will have a block or two of iron also. Each area will grab the raw resources from different patches, but everything within the same area will share from the same ore patch(es). Hopefully I'm explaining that correctly.

The problem I'd run into with my previous buses is that I would be trying to supply EVERYTHING with the same ore patches, causing really long buses that weren't effecient. They were also squished and very hard to expand. So my plan is to instead of having one bus with everything branching off of it, have a few smaller ones independent of each other, with the possible exception of liquids.

Before I start with this method, I decided to post this discussion, in case anyone had any ideas or could point out any flaws.

[Akmotu]

I enjoy the idea of separate factories with separate or at least segmented ore patches feeding them. Also the idea of trains connecting the various areas, I like that idea as well.

[Thryden]

For those confused as to what I mean by areas, think of them as towns of blocks working together to produce large quantities of several items. I want each area as independent of each other as possible.

[Killcreek2]

You seem to be mostly on the right track [heh].

If you try to do several smaller buses, each with multiple of the same products, then balancing between the buses can become a nightmare. Rather than try to evenly supply the same raw materials to every production site, I suggest you split those sub-buses into processing specific item types, or for specific production purposes (such as listed in RaisedByNinjas first reply).
Eg: Iron ore mines >> centralised (iron) smelting site turning ore into plates >> plates delivered to various other production sites for use.

A better (imho) approach for large-scale item supply is to fully embrace a train-based system instead of belt-based. Basically using trains to deliver whatever items are needed between the various dedicated production areas (belts can still be used inside those areas, of course).
This works very similarly to a belt bus: trains will "back up" at drop-off stations, just as a belt "backs up" when supply > demand, meaning that both systems can self-regulate due to "back-pressure".
There is a point where trains become the more-efficient choice, as item delivery routes get longer (distance between item producer & consumer). Bots for very short distance, belts for short to medium, trains for long ~ I use all three types throughout my factories for whichever job they are better suited for, & it seems to work nicely.

Think BIG, then build Bigger. Make sure to leave extra space between production lines (and between train junctions).
TBH, you will get your best data from trying it out ingame yourself, than from reading a dry text response such as this one. Nothing quite like a hands-on experience to drive the learning process.

[Thryden]

Question about gears: Should I allot a belt or two on my bus for them or only build them where needed?

[Killcreek2]

Originally posted by Bramblestar:

Question about gears: Should I allot a belt or two on my bus for them or only build them where needed?

Good question.

1 Gear = 2 plates (1.43 plates with 4x prod3 in gear crafter), so a belt of gears would require half (50%) as many bus lanes as the equivalent iron plate used to make them (71.4% with 4P3).

Vs: the modularity & direct insertion possiblities of crafting on-site from raw plates.

No clear winner there, so it would be up to each player which approach to use. (Unlike copper wire, which uses twice (200%) as many bus lanes as the copper to make them (though only 142.3% with 4P3) = usually better to craft on-site.)

[Ekimusha]

Well, i had a pretty large base, and i had it split up into multiple "blocks"
Refinery - trains drop ore take out plate
Oil Refinery - Oil water plate etc comes in all oil products come out plastic etc...
Green circuit
Red Circuit
Blue Circuit
Nuclear refinery
Nuclear Proccessing
Rocket silo
Mega mall
Giant blocks of solar
and a mega mall type thing for all science

I also had a giant train station where everything went to that could hold 1mil+ of all the basic materials each section i would also keep bots seperated so they didnt have to go to far, and lots of train stations (about 80 - 120 trains)

[Thryden]

I'm staying away from a train base for the most part. I tried that once and I didn't really enjoy it.

[Mike]

Personally i have made smelting and production of basic compressible items done at the same spot (green circuit boards, steel etc) and that have helped alot in my last bases track system (4+4 tracks) and also made some s/r latches that seems to actually save ups when a part is powered down due to overproduction

[RLS0812]

You need many sub 'blocks' in each block - ot you'll end up with a huge mess.

I usually have several spaghetti factories feeding into eachother until very late game ... at which point I spend a huge amount of time 'moderinizing' the product lines, and working out delivery routs.
My current map is 100% vinilla ores - no infinate reasources, no spawned in patches, and no spawned in items. It makes life a pain in the tail - especiallly working out production lines and power :)

[Mist of Majora]

At the minimum, I usually find that my similar sized bus flows well past a launched rocket if i make anything with a 'circuit' in it's name with materials NOT supplied by my bus (as they're all very hungry and usually are the culprits to my bus going from full flow to trickling/empty).

I'd probably give different advise if you were worried about space/organization, but I think you'll find your bus is much happier without those three things eating up the bulk of their respective resources.

[Ekimusha]

Here is an example of my train network for the science mega mall

https://imgur.com/DVR4trH

Raw goods come in on the left offload in the middle, items are made, bots then transport them to the right side where they are shipped off to a mega storage / turned into science, then shipped again to the labs, sounds complicated, but works very well

https://imgur.com/9TgXtxF

This one is when i started to turn it into a mega base and make all the diffrent blocks, alot has changed since then thoe

[Thryden]

Ok, so I got my first bus up and running. This bus is a "mall" as some might call it, producing belts, inserters, assemblers, miners, etc. I've just started getting the iron ready for my second bus, for the science. I plan to have 8 rows of iron, 4 for steel, 4 for copper, 4 for coal, 4-8 for electronic circuits (not sure how many yet). When I unlock the red and blue circuits, I plan on producing those all at one location and shipping them by train to my other buses where needed.

With just one bus up, I can tell this is going to work well and am excited to get my science going. It's keeping me very organized, which is key to building an effecient factory. No more of spending 5 minutes trying to figure out where I am producing something.