How to make assemblies for factories that require 4 items

[Kaiser Biggie]

I've been making assemble lines for factories that require three items but I've been tuck trying to get a four item assembly line that doesn't become a sushi line which would end up stopping as the factories don't have the items they need anymore thus stopping production and therefore the sushi line.

[Vyndicu]

Long inserter on outer convey belt for two lower quantity inputs.

The inner convey belt for two higher quantity inputs can take advantage of a faster inserter.

Both outer/inner convey belts have one good on one side of the convey belt.


There are other variants on this which will give you four inputs per assembler.

[Khaylain]

You have 4 sides you can use per assembler, meaning you can have the simple solution 2 belts of input on each side with one normal and one long handed inserter, meaning you get 6 inputs if you want to keep one side for output.

Additionally you can use the different sides of the belt for different things, effectively doubling the amount of things you can put into the same assembler without changing belt configuration.

And then you can do some more thinking to get access to 3 belts per side of assembler (many people use this type for supplying science to labs). So without turning belts into sushi and keeping one whole side exclusively for output we can have at least 3x3x2 = 18 different inputs.

If you start dealing with some cursed belt weaving you might get more than that as well.

Figuring out how to do some of these things are the best part of playing the game, IMO.

[Nico]

Per side you can supply at most 6 items, if we assume that the supplying betls just go past it and you actually have a line of assemblers next to each other, so that the 3 belts on a side easily can supply all assemblers. You can place a regular and a long handed insertre right next to the assembly machine to reach belts that are 2 or 3 tiles far away, and one long handed inserter 2 tiles away to reach a 4 tile far away belt. Though for that last long handed inserter you must also use undergroudn belts for every inserter since it's placed on the track of the closest belt. And since each belt has 2 sides, with 3 belts you can supply 6 different items from that one side.

When assuming that the opposite side of the assembly machine is also free you can even place another 3 belts over there, though you need at least 1 output belt, so you can only have at most 5 supplying belts, or 10 input items at most, with the exception of pure consumers like labs that can take the full 12. Though that's ofc just for assembly lines, for single factories you don't have to make it that complicated and can just put in three belts directly from every direction, but I doubt that that's somethign you would ever need or want to do.

Also, be aware of that even though it might transport up to 12 different items, their throughput is not as high. You might want some more used materials on both sides of a belt if you need many of it and the long handed inserters are also slower. Though for scenarios where throughput is not a problem, or when you use just 3 materials on your 3 belts to increase the throughput, you can even put another assembly line on the other side of those 3 belts, when you somehow lack the space to make the line longer but you can make it wider.

[blademan619]

Originally posted by Nico:

Per side you can supply at most 6 items, if we assume that the supplying betls just go past it and you actually have a line of assemblers next to each other, so that the 3 belts on a side easily can supply all assemblers. You can place a regular and a long handed insertre right next to the assembly machine to reach belts that are 2 or 3 tiles far away, and one long handed inserter 2 tiles away to reach a 4 tile far away belt. Though for that last long handed inserter you must also use undergroudn belts for every inserter since it's placed on the track of the closest belt. And since each belt has 2 sides, with 3 belts you can supply 6 different items from that one side.

When assuming that the opposite side of the assembly machine is also free you can even place another 3 belts over there, though you need at least 1 output belt, so you can only have at most 5 supplying belts, or 10 input items at most, with the exception of pure consumers like labs that can take the full 12. Though that's ofc just for assembly lines, for single factories you don't have to make it that complicated and can just put in three belts directly from every direction, but I doubt that that's somethign you would ever need or want to do.

Also, be aware of that even though it might transport up to 12 different items, their throughput is not as high. You might want some more used materials on both sides of a belt if you need many of it and the long handed inserters are also slower. Though for scenarios where throughput is not a problem, or when you use just 3 materials on your 3 belts to increase the throughput, you can even put another assembly line on the other side of those 3 belts, when you somehow lack the space to make the line longer but you can make it wider.

Behold, this monstrosity.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088060434

All jokes aside, besides for modded games or really really high throughput, you shouldn't need this many anyways. This would be 10 items on one side with 1 belt being shared by 2 inserters...couldn't think of a way to get 2 belts in the one blue belt spot that wouldnt get items mixed on belts.

However if you reversed the blue belt splitter line, you could make this a 8 item in, 1 item out production line, all on one side. You just wouldn't be able to have another row of machines on the opposite side, unless you could send the output past the assembly machines. And if you had the space to do that, then why not just put the output line on the outside of the machines anyways?

[Chindraba]

I'll see your monstrosity and double it. 14 lanes of input, 8 of them shared, and 2 lanes of output. Access from both sides for a double row of assemblers and only 12 tiles wide.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088104258

[knighttemplar1960]

There are several ways depending on how dense you want to keep your assembly machines, how fast you need the raw materials and how much of each raw material is required.

Each belt has 2 lanes. Splitting materials so that each belt carries 2 different items (1 type per lane) is one way to input 4 different items. 2 parallel belts using long and stack inserters is another way. Separating your assembly machines by 3 tiles and using a splitter lets you get away with only stack inserters for up to 4 different inputs on one side so that you can output into the middle is another way. Layering underground belts is another way to get up to 8 different products into one assembly machine using only stack inserters.

Edit - here are 3 more examples that allow 4 or more possible inputs.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088360519

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Chindraba:

I'll see your monstrosity and double it. 14 lanes of input, 8 of them shared, and 2 lanes of output. Access from both sides for a double row of assemblers and only 12 tiles wide.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088104258

Now that's just showing off.

[Chindraba]

Spidertrons take a crap ton of LDS, along with plenty of other goodies. Only way to get all the stuff in is to pulls something like this. All blue belts and the unshared red barely feed 6 ASM-3 of spidertron, repeat for the other side. One of the shared red belts is two lanes of RCU. The rest is shared in one lane each for the fish, rocket launcher, exoskeleton, eff-3 mod, radar and fusion reactor. Without beacons or modules that's pumping out 90 spiders per minute.

[Hurkyl]

For variety, you can actually put more than 2 items on the same belt. Here's a proof of concept

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088158530

I just built this off the top of my head to convey the idea, but it's definitely not foolproof: the system can jam up, although splitting and recombining does help prevent that somewhat.


As I understand it, there are a number of use cases and patterns for the basic idea. For example, a very early game factory might just dump all of the iron plates, gears, circuits, inserters, and transport belts onto the same conveyor belt, so that things further up the line can use them, or so they can get dumped into a chest.

(e.g. Nefrum's Factorio speedrun records do this for the starter base)

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Chindraba:

Spidertrons take a crap ton of LDS, along with plenty of other goodies. Only way to get all the stuff in is to pulls something like this. All blue belts and the unshared red barely feed 6 ASM-3 of spidertron, repeat for the other side. One of the shared red belts is two lanes of RCU. The rest is shared in one lane each for the fish, rocket launcher, exoskeleton, eff-3 mod, radar and fusion reactor. Without beacons or modules that's pumping out 90 spiders per minute.

I just use bots for that.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088360447
I only need 31 spideys solo and 42 if I'm teamed with my wife.

[Chindraba]

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

I just use bots for that.

For reasons of my own I don't use logistic bots as flying belts most of the time. I primarily use them like Amazon and Door Dash, and even then within restricted and isolated zones.
My build style and play style seems to not mesh well with bots, and experiments have been less than satisfactory.
To each their own.

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

I only need 31 spideys solo and 42 if I'm teamed with my wife.

I don't know how many spidertrons I will need, use or want. I'm not yet to the point where I can use them. Perhaps this
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3088393863
explains why the asemblers do not have any recipes selected, even though Alt Mode is clearly on, as indicated by the arrows on the inserters..

While I may not know how many I will want, I am reasonably confident that my mall will be stocked with sufficient amounts that what I request will be available. I also know from the behavior of the other factory units that once the demands of my needs have been met the factory will sit idle, ready to produce more without notice.