Smelting onsite or shipped in

[sergier]

Do you all smelt ores onsite at the ore spots or move it in proccessed bars? Mainly looking at iron for my steel. Using the Solid steel bar alt recipe so i need proccessed bars. Would free up a fair bit of space at my steel plant and reduce the number of belts there as well.
Main issue i see is if you need to change recipes or upgrade things due to a new miner level or belt level.

[LazerRay]

It depends on the node location for me, iron and copper are at my main base so I can smelt them on site, while caterium, steel, and aluminum are smelted remotely (caterium gets made into quickwire before being trucked in, while steel and aluminum are brought in as ingots and processed at my main base).

Two of my remote areas are close enough that I just use my zipline on the power cables, others have hypertubes connecting them so I can head over to make changes if needed.

[Maehlice]

In my latest session, we've been smelting everything onsite.

Since most ores are 1:1 (base recipe), there's no belt savings to be had by sending ingots versus ore.

Once I set up a factory, I don't change its recipes. I'll just build a whole new factory before I do that.

Specific to using "pure" recipes later, whatever belt was bringing in raw ore can be used instead for finished ingots easy-peasy.

[Tenzek]

There are positives and negatives to both. It depends on where you are in the game and how you structure your factory or factories.

Personally, I like to centralize the ore from a biome and smelt it all in one place, but that only becomes practical once you've reached a certain size. Assuming you have new locations yet to be harvested, I wouldn't tear down what is built already. I would just plan out a smelting facility based on currently unharvested nodes.

Once that is up and running, if you want to reorganize the other base to make it more efficient, at least it has already had its function replaced. Then maybe you can eventually direct the ore that was being used there to a smelting facility for that biome.

[Aven]

Always be minimizing. Transport the least amount of items needed. If you need reinforced iron plates: ship the plates themselves, as one RIP is equivalent to 12 ore. On the other hand, if you need quickwire, ship in the ingots, as 1 ingot is equivalent to 5 quickwire.

Edit: And to add: high volume stacks like quickwire are better shipped via transport rather than belt. A stack of 100 caterium ingots and a stack of 500 quickwire take up the same space in a truck, but on a belt the ingots are far more units per space.

[kLuns]

Originally posted by Maehlice:

In my latest session, we've been smelting everything onsite.

Since most ores are 1:1 (base recipe), there's no belt savings to be had by sending ingots versus ore.

Except Caterium: 3 in, 1 out

Caterium ores won't often max out your belt capacity but if they do smelting is the best solution next to upgrading belts

[Maehlice]

Originally posted by kLuns:

Originally posted by Maehlice:

In my latest session, we've been smelting everything onsite.

Since most ores are 1:1 (base recipe), there's no belt savings to be had by sending ingots versus ore.

Except Caterium: 3 in, 1 out

Caterium ores won't often max out your belt capacity but if they do smelting is the best solution next to upgrading belts

Hence the "most" part.

Even still, unless the node is forever away and needs a vehicle of some flavour, I still prefer to belt in the raw ore.

[ADMNtek]

I ship all my ores to my refineries for purification and then redistribute it again from there. I just wish it was possible to micro-manage trains better. like being able to specify how much to load/unload and be able to do both on the same platform.

[Maehlice]

Originally posted by ADMNtek:

I ship all my ores to my refineries for purification and then redistribute it again from there. I just wish it was possible to micro-manage trains better. like being able to specify how much to load/unload and be able to do both on the same platform.

By choking (limiting) the output of the platform, you can.

Limit the flow of the I/Os, and you ensure only certain amounts of product are available for pickup or empty space available for filling.

[ADMNtek]

Originally posted by Maehlice:

Originally posted by ADMNtek:

I ship all my ores to my refineries for purification and then redistribute it again from there. I just wish it was possible to micro-manage trains better. like being able to specify how much to load/unload and be able to do both on the same platform.

By choking (limiting) the output of the platform, you can.

Limit the flow of the I/Os, and you ensure only certain amounts of product are available for pickup or empty space available for filling.

I know but it's a pain to have to basically pre-load every platform. and in that case, you need to have dedicated platforms. and I have several locations where it would be a lot more efficient if I could just better control the train station.

[sergier]

Originally posted by ADMNtek:

Originally posted by Maehlice:

I know but it's a pain to have to basically pre-load every platform. and in that case, you need to have dedicated platforms. and I have several locations where it would be a lot more efficient if I could just better control the train station.

Honestly this game needs a lot more micromanaging. The whole no limiting boxes thing is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stupid.

[Tenzek]

You severely messed up that quote, Sergier.

Originally posted by ADMNtek:

I know but it's a pain to have to basically pre-load every platform.

All you need to know is how long it takes for the train to make 1 round trip. Then you can calculate how much you need to feed a freight platform per minute to reach the total you'd like transferred by the time the train makes its loop.

[ADMNtek]

Originally posted by Tenzek:

You severely messed up that quote, Sergier.

Originally posted by ADMNtek:

I know but it's a pain to have to basically pre-load every platform.

All you need to know is how long it takes for the train to make 1 round trip. Then you can calculate how much you need to feed a freight platform per minute to reach the total you'd like transferred by the time the train makes its loop.

that only works if you have a train that only goes from factory A to factory B. what I want is a train that picks up let's say all the copper wire and then distributes it to all the factories that need it. and only unloads a previously specified amount.

[tritscwa]

I've done both. My later builds are doing smelting remotely, but my earlier builds did it on site. Basically, I've tried to keep my number of logistic inputs to my main factor to a minimum to avoid massive sorting and since ore > ingot is generally either 1:1 density or better, and you don't need ore for alternate outputs, shipping it in seemed to work better for me later. That said, I think you can actually save a few lines of sort by bringing in the raw ore and processing it on site, you'll just need that much bigger a main factory to handle it all.

If you're planning a full exploit of the map though, I'd strongly suggest doing it remote as bringing that much material to your main base would be a total nightmare.

[sergier]

Originally posted by Tenzek:

You severely messed up that quote, Sergier.

I am aware been using steam for 10 years and i still ♥♥♥♥ it up XD

[sergier]

@tritscwa Also if you do it remotly. Your frame rate and computer would love you. Thats a lot less computing if its only a belt rather than dozens of smelters with Dozens more belts.