Logistics Car mod?

[Malidictus]

As I've noted in other threads, I really like using my Car for transportation and general goods-hauling. There are better alternatives, but this is the one I like using. Restocking its trunk by hand, though, gets to be a little annoying. I was hoping to find a mod which allows me to plug the car into my Logistics Network and have my Robots restock it automatically, like they can my character. I was surprised not to find a single current mod that does this, however.

There's Logistics Equipment[mods.factorio.com] which seems to do EXACTLY what I want, but it's been "Deprecated" and doesn't seem maintained any more. Latest version is 0.17, when I've finally joined the 21st century and upgraded to 0.18 (glad I did).

There's also Angel's Logistics[mods.factorio.com], which doesn't do exactly what I want but looks like it could have worked. That one's ancient, however, with the latest version it supports being 0.15.

The only working mod I found was Logistics Cargo Wagon[mods.factorio.com]. That's not what I was looking for, but it looks interesting. Integration with LTN, as well, which is definitely nice. Not what I was after, though, since it doesn't impact the Car trunk.

So... Does there exist a mod which can add Logistics support for the trunks of my vehicles? At the very least the car, but ideally the trunks of other vehicles, as well - like the LJD Truck[mods.factorio.com]? I know there's a whole series of AAI mods, but I can't really find one that does this.

[Fel]

While I was searching for something completely different I came across an updated (and apparently improved) version of the logistics equipment mod that you said as being exactly what you want, so here is the mod in question:
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/EquipmentGridLogisticModule

I did not test it so I have no idea how well it works if at all but hopefully it does what you want.

[Malidictus]

That... Looks like exactly what I want, yes :) It looks to be a revival of that mod I mentioned before, but updated to the current game version and slightly refined. Thank you kindly :) I can't test it yet either, since I'm not equipped to produce yellow science yet. However, I will try it as soon as it becomes available. Thanks again.

[Fel]

When you eventually get to use the mod by all mean keep us updated on how well (or poorly) it works for what you want, I'm sure you are not the only one that wants or will want this and a confirmation or afirmation from someone that wanted and tried it could be fairly valuable for those that search for this at a later date.

[Malidictus]

Will do. I'm having some performance issues with a mod so I'm still running around replacing items, and will be for a while. But I'm not that far from producing Yellow Science :) Just need to set up a few more facilities. I'll definitely keep you posted as soon as I'm able to try it.

It does concern me a little bit, though. The research says that it enables an equipment grid item to link the Car to the Logistics network by means of invisible chests. It doesn't sound like Vehicle Grids are included in the mod, and may need to be enabled by another mod. However, there's no explicit dependency, so a vehicle equipment grid may be provided when doing the research.

[Fel]

I'm not sure why it is an optional requirement but the mod relies firmly on the vehicle grid mod to provide the equipment grid to vehicles:
https://mods.factorio.com/mod/VehicleGrid

The reason why it is optionnal might be because other mods also provide a similar idea or because the mod has functions that still work without the grid, not completely sure though.

[Malidictus]

OK, finally managed to research the module. I can say two things about it:

First of all, you are correct - the Module absolutely does require the "Vehicle Equipment Grid" mod. Without it, you can't actually intall the mod into the car. I guess the "soft dependency" might really be there in case players want to use a different source of vehicle grid mods.

Secondly, IT WORKS! Exactly as you might expect, too. My vehicle is instantly refilled with everything I've requested. The only annoying bit is that any mods NOT filtered are immediately discarded. I have a burner set up at my warehouse area into an overflow chest, meaning that items discarded from the car go straight into the furnace :)

An unexpected benefit from the Vehicle Equimpent Grid mod, as well, is being able to mount Construction Bots and Roboports in the car, using it as a spare source of construction. THAT is going to help a lot, since sitting on my hands waiting for bots to slooowly cover a large area has been really irritating. Bonus points, though - I'm using the Burner Generator mod, so now my car's constantly smoking :)

Now, the only question is... Is there any way to automatically reload an on-board Reactor in the equipment grid via bots or some other mechanic, or will I need to manually dump fuel into them every time they run out?

[Zaflis]

AAI vehicles mod is similar, it doesn't connect at all to any ingame logistics network but you configure its automation with the depots. Each depot is basically like a buffer chest, it can send and receive from the vehicles simultaneously. It fills them with fuel and deals with cargo. The vehicles can even distribute fuel or cargo to other vehicles.

But i always found land vehicles a little derpy and i'd have to deal with issue of them needing space to drive on, so my recent discovery was using cargo planes.

Basically you just set their item configurations, create paths between 2 or more depots and assign vehicles to those paths, mod handles the rest. There is a deployer building to program the same settings to multiple vehicles automatically. But really.. 1 cargo plane is like a 3 wagon train or so, you don't need many on a path. It also fills and empties way faster than wagons do because it doesn't need inserters for it. Ofc you still need inserters or loaders to take stuff out of the depots, or to it.

[Malidictus]

Yeah, I looked into AAI vehicles. It's a neat idea, but I chose to stick to conventional trains and railroads. It's clunkier, to be sure, but LTN takes care of a lot of the overhead for me so I just need to worry about station design. With the Bulk Rail Loaders mod and the Compound Splitters Mod (I hope the latter is still being maintained...), I don't really have that many issues left.

Mostly, I'm using my car for personal transport, and secondary inventory. My primary interest was finding a quicker way to restock it once I'm back to the depot, and this seems to have been it.