i just cannot for the life of me keep it organised!

[VigilantPhase449]

i start off really well, i have a nice factory making plates, rods, screws and the copper stuff... then....

i tier up and my factory starts getting so disorganised and hellish that i stop playing it and start over...

i think i have started a new game about 15 times now saying "this time i will keep it all neat and tidy" but it ends up the same every time i reach coal power

what do i do? any tips?

[Suzaku]

Accept your fate. Mess WILL happen. What you do is continue making a mess, reach end-game, and fix it at that point.

[Armadylan]

Tip: Embrace verticality.

A lot of keeping a factory neat is planning for the future and preparing for everything to scale. Yes, you only need 40 screws/minute right now, but you KNOW that later you're going to need 400 screws/min. That means, when you set down your VERY FIRST constructor, you need to have the thought "where do the other 9 go, once I need to eventually build them?"

The answer is on top.

Prepare to fall to your death a lot. ;_;

Also, there's a concept known as a "main bus" you might want to look up. I'll probably do that on my next factory, but for now I've learned to love the spaghetti. My understanding is that your main bus is like the trunk of a tree, carrying the fundamental resources such as ingots (and maybe screws, or whatever you think is fundamental). Then branches come out of it that produce end-products like versatile frames, which you intend to yeet into space.

[Grandaddypurple]

You don't have to restart, just revamp or relocate. By restarting, you'll end up facing the same problem at almost every new tier you discover, and you'll just burn yourself out.
I revamped my factory twice during my one and only playthrough. Deleted all machines, extended my floors, rebuilt more machined

[DivineEvil]

The idea I'm trying to implement is to run logistics underground, i.e. you set you Space Elevator somewhere where it doesnt take a lot of functional space, and then you extend the foundation to the best areas with having at least one full foundation height purely to run conveyors through and only lifting them up at factory buildings.

Also helps to remember where different components come from and when they come together to produce the advanced items so that you don't run conveyors through the entire base and instead place the production in adjacent sections/buildings.

And yes, it is better to simply cut off all the raw materials, reduce the number to components in-world to minimum and revamp the entire base from the ground up. Since you can very quickly remove all the buildings without any loses, it actually doesnt take that much time to rebuild the factory with all the new production lines in mind. I've done that two times already in my first playthrough.

[matke587]

I went over the top OCD and sat there with pen and paper. I went over what makes what etc and worked out how to build a single factory that will make everything. So everything would be nice and organised, with each product flowing to the next. Turns out the factory I was building, was far to small....about 1/10th the size it needs to be. So having to build it all again!

Of course I will more than likely need to redo it all again, when the next patch comes out. And when we get tier 8!

[[spacebar]]

use foundations and walls. even if its a mess, it'll look better and maybe organized.

[Maehlice]

Originally posted by VigilantPhase449:

... i stop playing it and start over...

Don't start over from a 'New Game'; start over from a new location. It's almost feels like restarting in "creative" mode, since you start with abundant and instant access to resources.

The map is HUGE, and there are literally dozens of each resource node scattered throughout the map. Go on an adventure and find somewhere you like, then try your new ideas.

[Jeff]

Originally posted by Maehlice:

Originally posted by VigilantPhase449:

... i stop playing it and start over...

Don't start over from a 'New Game'; start over from a new location. It's almost feels like restarting in "creative" mode, since you start with abundant and instant access to resources.

The map is HUGE, and there are literally dozens of each resource node scattered throughout the map. Go on an adventure and find somewhere you like, then try your new ideas.

I do this as I Tier up. I make smaller out posts to solely do each component and then get them cargo to the Main Factory / end storage point via conveyor or truck at the mo . each new area I *start* at will help me tidy the older area as I clear disused factory parts to new outposts.

Also some really good tips and tricks vids out there.

[stealthXG]

If you build everything in one place I suggest you abandon this approach and spread out your factories. Have certain areas only produce certain resources.

[Bobucles]

Spaghett is delicious and nutritious. Just like mama used to make.

[Edmund Greyfox]

As has already been mentioned, from the moment you place your first constructor down you have to be thinking about where to put more as demand goes up, and how you're going to feed the ingots (or whatever raw material you need) to all of those machines.

Running things through the floors is a good way to keep things neat. https://imgur.com/a/D4927DK
This is an image of my 2nd floor production line for iron plates with part of the floor removed so you can see how all the belts, splitters and lifters are put together. I am running 10 machines doing nothing but iron plates currently on this floor, and there is enough room left on the platform i built to add another 40 if needed.

https://imgur.com/a/Wh5Ks5I
This is the other side of the same line showing how i buffer everything through storage and then recombine them into two lines that run up through the ceiling to be used on higher floors. Each floor of this factory (11 so far) runs on a nearly identical pattern. The only thing that really changes is that as you start making more complex things the distance between machines and splitters will increase, and that you might need to make the below the floor channels 2 tiles wide to fit in all the belts and splitters.

It's not really obvious, but the way i built the floors was to layout the whole floor using 1x8 foundations, then put a 4x8 foundation on top of them. That way i can remove some of those 4x8's to make the channels for the belts and such, then cover them back over with walkway tiles once everything is built and running.

Anyway, my suggestion would be to find a spot you like that has a lot of space and layout a platform that's at least 50 tiles long and 20 wide, then just add a new floors as needed, with everything flowing up. The basic things may need a whole floor to themselves as you progress, but for the more complex things you can build multiple items per floor without running out of room.

[haplo73]

I put a floor down, even on ground level. Also remember you can deconstruct anything for the full build cost, moving stuff around does not cost you anything.

[Owl]

slow down. there is no need to research and build so fast. take your time, move stuff. think aboot it.

[VigilantPhase449]

thanks guys, really good tips here that i will be acting on. my saves aren't gone they're all there still i think ill load up one of my best "ish" ones and try the factories at different locations idea. smaller factories linked together somehow later on, maybe i can keep each individual factory that makes one thing organised easier.

[Edmund Greyfox]

Building stuff in various places can work, but you will need to tie those factories together with belts, trucks or trains to get products to the next machine that will use them.