Proper Steam Engine and Boiler placement?

[Solarstrike]

This is for the beginning/start of the game. Can someone post a picture of a proper setup for the Steam engines along with the placement of the boilers? Thank you

If i place 5 boilers side by side and then 1 Steam Engine, does that do anything differently than having a Steam Engine connected to each boiler?

[The Chaotic Coder]

There are a lot of different ways to do it -- there isn't really a "right" or "wrong" way to do it, just find what works.

You need 1 offshore pump to provide water. Pipes connect the water to the boilers.

Boilers have 2 connections for water to go in/out on opposite ends. Doesn't matter which end you connect to, it can go in or out on either end. You can chain boilers together by directly placing their ends together. 1 Offshore Pump provides enough water for 20 boilers.

Boilers have a steam output on one side, from here you connect a pipe to the ends of your steam engines. You can run 2 engines off each boiler.

If you press Alt it will help you see where to attach the pipes.

Hope that helps!

[Solarstrike]

引用自 jchardin64：

You can run 2 engines off each boiler.

Thanks! This is what i was looking for. Wasn't sure if there was a limit to how many boilers per engine, if the power stacks, etc.

[Warlord]

引用自 Solarstrike：

引用自 jchardin64：

You can run 2 engines off each boiler.

Thanks! This is what i was looking for. Wasn't sure if there was a limit to how many boilers per engine, if the power stacks, etc.

They do produce enough steam to let 2 engines run at full (or nearly) blast. But like a lot of liquids, the overall throughput of liquids can get slowed down by long pipes or multiple intersections. Which is why the popular setup is to have the boilers side-by-side, and exactly 2 engines coming off from each of them.

If you try to connect all the boiler outputs together, then run them to a long bank of engines, it may not work as well as you'd want tit to.

[Madmod]

The ratio for waterpump, boilers and steamengines are:

1 (waterpump) can give enough water to 20 (boilers) which in turn can give steam enough for 40 (steam engines). Usually when i deploy a setup like that, I have 10 boliers on each side, making a corridor, and a conveyor belt with coal running in middle, so inserters can insert coal into the boilers.

[Solarstrike]

As example, this is what i have. The Steam output does not increase (stays at 0.1). Is this a bug or something I've done wrong? Should i add more water/water pump/water source to the opposite side of the boiler? What's a proper way to place these things? If someone can post a picture per reference that would be very helpful.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1803631985

edit: I do have mods installed. Not sure if that may be an issue? Didn't see any problems though upon load

[Madmod]

https://i.redd.it/5z6wxo1bx1vz.png


Ps. it's not mine, but it's in practice very identical to the setup i described. The picture is from a reddit thread called " Best early game steam engine setup". SOurce: https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/79rnn4/best_early_game_steam_engine_setup/

[The Chaotic Coder]

Yes, the ground water pump is probably not giving nearly as much water as a vanilla offshore pump.

Looks like you're using modded engines as well. Is that Bob's Power mod?

In Bob's Power, the ratio of engines to boilers is still 2:1, IF you upgrade the boiler and engines to keep them at the same level (Mk 2, Mk 3, etc). Higher levels need more water, though, so you can't run a full set of 20 boilers / 40 engines of a single offshore pump.

[Fel]

You might want to avoid throwing mods in your game before you learn the basics, because it's much easier to adapt to what mods add or change when you understand what eerything does first.
It would probably also help to do the "campaign" once as it is really a tutorial to teach you how the game works (mods might mess some things in it so disabling them before trying it might be required).

You should also go in the settings and lower the UI scale because the informations about your steam engine on the right are cut short (and given your screenshot's resolution you are not exactly playing on a low resolution so it would most likely benefit you).

[Warlord]

引用自 Solarstrike：

引用自 Madmod：

https://i.redd.it/5z6wxo1bx1vz.png


Ps. it's not mine, but it's in practice very identical to the setup i described. The picture is from a reddit thread called " Best early game steam engine setup". SOurce: https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/79rnn4/best_early_game_steam_engine_setup/

I think i may know the problem. I'm not using the default pump, I'm using a water pump mod and/or different pump. Going to switch back to the default water pump. Thank you!

That IS the problem. That water pump takes power to run, and since you need water to generate power, you are stuck in a loop. It should either generate enough water to ramp up to full power (which should be enough power) or it doesn't generate enough, which slows it down, which generates less power, which slows it down even more.... etc. It's likely the latter.

The only mod I use now is that one, so I recognize it. Not having to worry about water sources is a god-send to this obsessed person.

[Solarstrike]

引用自 Fel：

You might want to avoid throwing mods in your game before you learn the basics, because it's much easier to adapt to what mods add or change when you understand what eerything does first.
It would probably also help to do the "campaign" once as it is really a tutorial to teach you how the game works (mods might mess some things in it so disabling them before trying it might be required).

You should also go in the settings and lower the UI scale because the informations about your steam engine on the right are cut short (and given your screenshot's resolution you are not exactly playing on a low resolution so it would most likely benefit you).

I know the basics, what i didn't know was that the water pump mod(s) operated differently. Basically i wanted to attain water where there was none. Being that my only reasonable souce was a few miles to the Southwest of my main encampment.

In that, the water pump mod(s) do help for other things like cement manufacture, etc. But when hooked up to a power generation platform, they obviously are not efficient.

edit: Thank you for the UI tip. I didn't realize that! I will change it. I'm playing in 3840x2160p

[Solarstrike]

引用自 jchardin64：

Yes, the ground water pump is probably not giving nearly as much water as a vanilla offshore pump.

Looks like you're using modded engines as well. Is that Bob's Power mod?

In Bob's Power, the ratio of engines to boilers is still 2:1, IF you upgrade the boiler and engines to keep them at the same level (Mk 2, Mk 3, etc). Higher levels need more water, though, so you can't run a full set of 20 boilers / 40 engines of a single offshore pump.

No. I'm not using anything Bob's related. My mod list as follows:

"base",
"aai-vehicles-chaingunner"
"aai-vehicles-hauler"
"aai-vehicles-miner"
"aai-zones"
"Additional-Turret-updated"
"AfraidOfTheDark"
"Aircraft"
"alien-biomes"
"alien-module"
"AquiferDrill"
"Armored-train"
"artillery-bombardment-remote"
"ArtilleryFlares"
"ArtillerySwitch"
"AsphaltRoads"
"AtomicArtillery"
"Barbed-Wire-Light-016"
"BigStorageTank"
"Bio_Industries"
"bullet-trails"
"cargo-ships"
"cheaper_landfill"
"Clowns-Nuclear"
"Construction_Drones"
"Crafting_Speed_Research"
"crazy-cannon"
"CW-thermal-solar-power"
"Dectorio"
"Dirt_Path"
"DragonIndustries"
"early_construction"
"EndgameCombat"
"Epic-Artillery-Sounds"
"expanded-rocket-payloads"
"extinguisher"
"flamethrower-fluid"
"Flammable_Oils_fix"
"Flashlight On Off"
"Infinizoom"
"LandfillPainting"
"LandMover"
"laser_tanks"
"long-reach"
"longer-belts-redux",
"Long_Range_Radar"
"LR_Turret"
"magic-lamp"
"minime"
"MustardArtilleryShell"
"NapalmArtillery"
"nicefill"
"Noxys_Swimming"
"Nuclear Fuel"
"nuclear-fuel-cycle"
"NuclearScale"
"Nuclear_Artillery"
"OpteraLib"
"PavementDriveAssist"
"platforms"
"PlutoniumEnergy"
"pyindustry"
"qol_research"
"Reinforced-Walls"
"ReStack"
"RoboTank"
"robot_attrition"
"SchallArtillery"
"SchallTankPlatoon"
"SchallTankWoodcutting"
"SlightlyBetterSounds"
"SlightlyLongerPipes"
"SolarWalls"
"space-exploration"
"space-exploration-graphics"
"space-exploration-hr-graphics"
"space-exploration-postprocess"
"SpaceMod"
"stdlib"
"StoneWaterWell"
"StorageTank2"
"textplates"
"TreeSaplings"
"vtk-cannon-turret"
"Warehousing"
"WatchTower"
"Waterfill_v17"
"WaterWell"
"Wind_Turbine V16"
"wireless-power"
"wood-to-landfill"
"yi_engines"
"yi_railway"
"Yi_Tech_Tree"
"Yuoki"
"yuokirails"

-sorry for the wall of text

[The Chaotic Coder]

That's... several mods...

In any case, yeah, go back to a regular offshore pump for your steam engines. Since those are modded engines/boilers, they likely use more water than vanilla engines so the 1:20:40 ratio no longer holds (although I haven't played those particular mods so I'm not sure).

[Fel]

For right now you can have your power in a sub-par position and rush the waterfill research to allow you to create your own "lakes" where it is convenient for you.
I am not sure exactly how this pack of mods changes the default tech tree but I don't see any of the mods that make research crazy complex so it should be fairly easy to just put a bunch of machines to make your research with chests you manually fill as the source.

[Solarstrike]

I'm trying to use just steam power along with coal. So nailing down exactly how the steam generators/engines work is paramount. That said, really wish there was a "steam-punk" type mod. Water wheels, windmills, steam boats and cargo freighters, more variants of steam generators, steam powered mechs/robots, Trebuchets. Basic stuff instead of fancy tech

Some thing like the things below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=859CkMRBSg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucu_N2uq8XA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuSLwE4IpnI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9GZEuYXtNs

[Madmod]

Next time you ask for help, do yourself a favor and mention you're using mods in the initial post, it saves time, both for you and for the ones that try to help you.