Can someone explain the Spidertron to me?

[Malidictus]

Not how it works or what it does - I have one, I've played around with it.

What I mean is: why is everyone seemingly obsessed with the thing? The mod portal seems to be like a quarter Spidertron mods. Early Spidertron, automated Spidertron, more Spidertron, bigger Spidertron, Spidertron with guns, etc. I never found the thing very useful, but clearly I'm in the minority.

So what am I missing? What functionality does the Spidertron have that can't be accomplished by going there and doing it myself?

[PunCrathod]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

So what am I missing? What functionality does the Spidertron have that can't be accomplished by going there and doing it myself?

It's best function is doing stuff without having to go there and doing it yourself. Just like construction bots can build blueprints without you clicking down each and every little thing.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by PunCrathod:

It's best function is doing stuff without having to go there and doing it yourself. Just like construction bots can build blueprints without you clicking down each and every little thing.

So all it saves me is the trip? I understand the benefit of Construction Robots - they automate an otherwise very labour-intensive, precision-focused manual activity. With construction bots, though, all I need is to be present and the facility will build itself.

Besides, the Spidertron also needs to be able to reach the designated location. Last I tried using it, it wasn't very good at pathing around water and was fairly slow.

[PunCrathod]

While your spidetrons are traveling you can be doing something else and check up on them every once in a while. Especially with the fact that you can have more than one spidetron. They can be saving you multiple trips at the same time. That is why I compared them to construction bots. Havin just one construction bot is pretty much useless. But having a lot of them suddenly makes doing things yourself a waste of time and you are better off just managing the bots/spidetrons instead.

[Malidictus]

Hmm... I suppose maybe if I used this mod[mods.factorio.com]. Or maybe some other means of automatically generating request lists for the Spidertrons. As it stands now, I don't know of a good way to fill Spidertrons with the correct ingredients I'd need which won't boil down to doing it by hand... at which point I may as well do it myself. At least that way, I can be there in person to fix issues and experiment with specific implementation.

[knighttemplar1960]

The Spidertron has an equipment grid just like you do when you are wearing modular or better armor. The spidertron can have logistic requests and logistic trash set just like you can. The spidertron can be equipped with explosive rockets, shields, lasers, roboports, construction bots, and batteries just like you can. It can be assigned to a remote control and other spidertrons can be programmed to follow a "lead" spidertron. Its has built in radar.

What the spidertron can do that you can't is go over forests, over cliffs, over banks of machines that block your path, over trains without taking damage. Be set to fire rockets automatically if any bugs get near, cross short and narrow stretches of water, be repaired by robots if they take damage and take 12 times the damage that the player can. The remote control can be used to set way points that the spidertron will follow to its destination.

The spidertron can carry all most as much as you can and a group of them can have 3-4 roboports EACH. A group of spidertrons can be sent to a location without requiring rails to be laid. Can eliminate the bugs and nests located in the terrain that they are going to be building in (unlike a train that is vulnerable). You can then drop any blue print that you want where the spidertrons are and they will build it. If you sent 10 spidertrons they can potentially carry as much as a supply train and 10 times the construction bots means that they can build the blueprint 10 times faster than you can all while you are in a different part of the base working on something else.

Its like having teammates that won't make any bad design choices and will build your base exactly the way you want it built. Its perfect for an anthropophobic introvert.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

The spidertron can be equipped with explosive rockets, shields, lasers, roboports, construction bots, and batteries just like you can.

It can work like an improved tank, in other words. OK, this makes sense.

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

What the spidertron can do that you can't is go over forests, over cliffs, over banks of machines that block your path, over trains without taking damage.

So essentially similar to a lot of flying vehicles. OK, fair enough. And I'm not saying "mods make it obsolete" so much as people keep modding the Spidertron, instead. I suppose that still makes sense, considering there aren't very many good flying vehicle mods (that I can find). OK, this also makes sense.

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

If you sent 10 spidertrons they can potentially carry as much as a supply train and 10 times the construction bots means that they can build the blueprint 10 times faster than you can all while you are in a different part of the base working on something else.

That bit I don't quite follow. Regardless of how large the Spidertron carry capacity is, they need to be carrying the right stuff. I can't reasonably just load them with "everything" because there are far too many items in the game and some facilities need multiple hundreds of many of them. Or is there some way to make them request exactly the pieces needed for a specific blueprint?

I ask, because the mod I listed earlier seems to be designed to do just that specific thing - tweak Spidertrons to request items, then move towards ghosts to build them. That bit seems reasonable, albeit possibly too overpowered... and possibly a bit too slow. I suppose it's a matter of playstyle, though. I personally don't really see enough value in building things remotely that I can't accomplish by just going there and doing it myself. More roboports would certainly help, but those can be built on site if needed.

[RiO]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

If you sent 10 spidertrons they can potentially carry as much as a supply train and 10 times the construction bots means that they can build the blueprint 10 times faster than you can all while you are in a different part of the base working on something else.

That bit I don't quite follow. Regardless of how large the Spidertron carry capacity is, they need to be carrying the right stuff. I can't reasonably just load them with "everything" because there are far too many items in the game and some facilities need multiple hundreds of many of them. Or is there some way to make them request exactly the pieces needed for a specific blueprint?

I ask, because the mod I listed earlier seems to be designed to do just that specific thing - tweak Spidertrons to request items, then move towards ghosts to build them. That bit seems reasonable, albeit possibly too overpowered... and possibly a bit too slow. I suppose it's a matter of playstyle, though. I personally don't really see enough value in building things remotely that I can't accomplish by just going there and doing it myself. More roboports would certainly help, but those can be built on site if needed.

Set 4 spidertrons to follow a lead spidertron, for 5 spiders total. Equip all of them with 4 roboports; 2 fusion reactors; and all the exoskeletons that can still fit. You'll have a buttload of construction robots available.
Then configure logistics requests for each spidertron. Grab 400 of this; 400 of that; 200 of the one thing; 300 of the other thing; etc. One spidertron filled to bursting? Switch to the next. There are four others, after all.

And yes; you literally can fit every item (from the vanilla game) into a series of 5 to suitably build mega-base scale bases. Just ask Nilaus and his 'buildertron' squad.

[brian_va]

Everyone blueprints will be a bit different but there is a lot of overlap if you are building outposts. If it's a production blueprint, they'll all need a bunch of blue belts, assembly machines, stack inserters, power poles and so on. Even oil derived products are mostly the same just swapping chem plants for assemblers and adding some tanks and pumps. Mines are largely the same idea.

I don't use the spidertron but I do use a building train. Same idea, it carries the core essentials and I grab the oddball stuff when I need to do something aside from the usuals.

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

If you sent 10 spidertrons they can potentially carry as much as a supply train and 10 times the construction bots means that they can build the blueprint 10 times faster than you can all while you are in a different part of the base working on something else.

That bit I don't quite follow. Regardless of how large the Spidertron carry capacity is, they need to be carrying the right stuff. I can't reasonably just load them with "everything" because there are far too many items in the game and some facilities need multiple hundreds of many of them. Or is there some way to make them request exactly the pieces needed for a specific blueprint?

I ask, because the mod I listed earlier seems to be designed to do just that specific thing - tweak Spidertrons to request items, then move towards ghosts to build them. That bit seems reasonable, albeit possibly too overpowered... and possibly a bit too slow. I suppose it's a matter of playstyle, though. I personally don't really see enough value in building things remotely that I can't accomplish by just going there and doing it myself. More roboports would certainly help, but those can be built on site if needed.

When you look at a blue print in your library the totals of everything required to build that blue print are listed at the bottom of the print. You can use those numbers to set up logistic requests for your spidertron building crew. I have a set of 12 spidertrons that I use and they can build any blue print in my library at least once with what they carry. Mining outpost, smelter array, nuclear power plant, huge swaths of solar panels and accumulators, an oil refinery or coal liquefaction plant, and a couple kiloometers of rail roads tracks plus much more. Spidertrons can go anywhere I can go (and some places I can't) and build anything I can build except for pump jacks on an oil field. I still have to do that by hand but my spidertrons can come along and build the rail loading station.

I also have a spidertron deconstruction crew. I send them out and they clean out all the bugs, then I use the deconstruction planner to have that crew remove all the trees, rocks and coal. While they are doing that I have the construction crew on the way to build what ever I want. My building crew also carries materials to build defense bunkers with artillery on rail road tracks. I can use the bunkers to clear out a huge swath of territory and once its clear I can use the building crew to set up permanent defenses and then the deconstruction crew can go out and dismantle and recycle the defense bunkers that are no longer needed.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

I have a set of 12 spidertrons that I use and they can build any blue print in my library at least once with what they carry.

Originally posted by RiO:

And yes; you literally can fit every item (from the vanilla game) into a series of 5 to suitably build mega-base scale bases. Just ask Nilaus and his 'buildertron' squad.

So what you guys are proposing sounds like a mobile mall. I'm tempted to argue that this would be pointless as I already have a mall and flying vehicles, but being able to bring the mall itself to the build site would be useful. Would certainly save me making multiple trips. Although I was recently alerted to the possibility of putting logistics robots in my flying vehicles (I'd previously tried using construction robots) so that I'm auto-resupplied from the vehicles. In so doing, it acts like a de-facto extra inventory, even if it's a pain to manage with slot filters.

That could work. I'll have to see how much of what I actually need and could just move a large number of Spidertrons to carry that. Or maybe grab a mod to increase the inventory capacity of a single Spidertron because a group of them looks really silly. Either way, that's a legitimate use, for sure. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Nonotorious]

Spidertron is love, spidertron is life.

[Cryten]

Spidertrons are effectively controlled additional players but with far more strength. They benefit from all the botting commands a player does so you can request items, command drones, fight. All the things a player can do with the exception of self crafting. It just needs some supporting logi and build bots to make it 100% remote.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Cryten:

Spidertrons are effectively controlled additional players but with far more strength. They benefit from all the botting commands a player does so you can request items, command drones, fight. All the things a player can do with the exception of self crafting. It just needs some supporting logi and build bots to make it 100% remote.

"Remote" in the sense of remotely operated, sure. My issues stem from my desire to have a central location to draw building resources from. By its very nature, that's in just one place on the map, meaning that the Spidertrons would need to make long treks to get to and from there - possibly around bodies of deep water. I'm trying to weigh the benefit of having mobile "malls" vs. the effort to set them up, considering I can also just use an aircraft with a large hold.

Modded games be modded, I get that. Not trying to criticise, so much as figuring out what to do.

[shadain597]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

Originally posted by Cryten:

Spidertrons are effectively controlled additional players but with far more strength. They benefit from all the botting commands a player does so you can request items, command drones, fight. All the things a player can do with the exception of self crafting. It just needs some supporting logi and build bots to make it 100% remote.

"Remote" in the sense of remotely operated, sure. My issues stem from my desire to have a central location to draw building resources from. By its very nature, that's in just one place on the map, meaning that the Spidertrons would need to make long treks to get to and from there - possibly around bodies of deep water. I'm trying to weigh the benefit of having mobile "malls" vs. the effort to set them up, considering I can also just use an aircraft with a large hold.

Modded games be modded, I get that. Not trying to criticise, so much as figuring out what to do.

In order for the travel time to actually matter, that's got to be a really big map you're on. And, generally, pathing around water isn't a huge detour. In areas where you know it will be, there's always the option of building stepping stones to give the spiders a more direct route. And, as you've pointed out, there's a number of Spidertron mods out there; without checking, I'm pretty sure at least a few have improved versions that have bigger inventories, bigger equipment grids, and possibly a faster base move speed.

Yeah, vanilla spidertron has a movement disadvantage vs a flying vehicle, but those vehicles clearly weren't balanced for vanilla play. I'd expect that a Wube-made flying vehicle would, at the very least, have a smaller inventory + smaller equipment grid, compared to the ground-based spider.

What I don't typically see fully integrated into non-Spidertron mod vehicles is the complete package of remote control, remote viewing, AI weapon control, "personal" logistics, and equipment grid. Some vehicles have some of these things, and other mods like AAI can add similar functionality, but it tends to be a bit clunkier than classic Spidertron. Plus, in terms of it's popularity, it's a quirky, fairly unique vehicle and mods that adjust it can appeal to people looking for a vanilla+ experience--something that, subjectively, might be "ruined" by flying vehicles that probably don't have an appearance that meshes well with Factorio. I don't know about whatever you are using specifically, but as an example I've seen WW2-era propeller planes as mod vehicles.

Oh and since this is a mod-friendly Spidertron thread, I can't help but mention that there's a mod where you can play as an upgradable Spidertron from the start.[mods.factorio.com] Yes, it's the player character. Yes, I'm pretty sure it can enter normal vehicles. But I think this is one of those mods that you only enable at the start, not in the middle of a run.

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Malidictus:

So what you guys are proposing sounds like a mobile mall. I'm tempted to argue that this would be pointless as I already have a mall and flying vehicles, but being able to bring the mall itself to the build site would be useful. Would certainly save me making multiple trips. Although I was recently alerted to the possibility of putting logistics robots in my flying vehicles (I'd previously tried using construction robots) so that I'm auto-resupplied from the vehicles. In so doing, it acts like a de-facto extra inventory, even if it's a pain to manage with slot filters.

That could work. I'll have to see how much of what I actually need and could just move a large number of Spidertrons to carry that. Or maybe grab a mod to increase the inventory capacity of a single Spidertron because a group of them looks really silly. Either way, that's a legitimate use, for sure. Thanks for the suggestion.

Not really. So far I'm still only playing vanilla as I still find vanilla enjoyable. Spidertron groups are more of a mobile logistic network with attack and self defense capabilities that can go from mall to mall to stock up on supplies or recycle supplies that are surplus from outposts that are no longer needed (like played out mining outposts). Without mods you don't have flying vehicles and spidertrons are your go to vehicle. Better than a tank, better than a supply train, it combines the 2 with remote construction capabilities and remote movement capabilities added.

They aren't a pain to manage. Just like with trains you set the first one up and you can copy the filters (or the entire spidertron set up) and after that you can just adjust sliders to suit your needs.

You can also use a remote with your personal spidertron that you are riding in. You can set way points for it to travel and it will take you to that destination. Mis placed your spider? You can use the remote to summon it. Don't have a blue print made yet for what you are building by hand? Fill your personal inventory with what you need to get started building or laying out ghosts, set the logistic requests on the spidertron for the materials you need and use the remote to send it the the mall to stock up on the items you need and then once it has fetched those items use the remote to send it back to where you are to complete the build.

Spidertrons following a lead spidertron.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2916352151
Waypoints set for long distance travel and to avoid water or logistic areas that you don't want to contaminate.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2916352189
Set construction or deconstruction area and let the bots got to work.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2916352252
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2916352280
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2916352222
The beautiful thing is when your base gets huge you can do this from the other side of the base while you are working on a completely different project. You can set your building crew to set up a new mining outpost and/or smelter to supply the material that the new build you are working on will require. You can tell by the minimaps that I'm still near the start pond but the spidertrons are doing their work near the perimeter of my base.

New smelter/mine caused a brown out? Send the building crew to lay out more solar panels and accumulators or another nuclear plant while you continue to work on your new build.