2 questions: Fluid transport over +1000m distance

[Fox]

So, I'm about to transport crude oil from the site over to my base over 1100m away. Luckily the terrain is somewhat flat over the entire distance on this Rocky Desert map.

My question are:

- Are pipes reliable enough to transport over an extreme distance like that with good flow rate or would I have to make everything there and ship the items using belts (I couldn't be bothered with trucks or trains)? I know belts have been very reliable for me over that kind of distance, pipes on the other hand have been a bit finicky for me in the past. I don't know how they are now though.

- My other concern is about multiple extractors connected to the same main pipeline. Is it possible to prevent back flow using pumps or valves to maintain a steady flow down the main line? Reason I ask is because I see 3 oil deposits in the same area and would like to harvest from all 3 if I can using a single MK2 pipeline or better at some point. Last time I tried this with water (months ago and was still new to the game), I had back flow issues and would like to avoid this kind of frustration.

[Maehlice]

Yes, and 1km is not an extreme distance.

Backflow should only occur if you're exceeding headlift -- in which case pumps will address that.

When I use pipes over really any distance, I create a "water tower" right next to the extractors. Build a tower as tall as your highest peak during travel (over a hill, up the factory, etc.). Pump the fluid to the top of that tower, then run pipes down the side of the tower and out across the countryside.

Since a water tower overcomes and "pre-sets" the headlift, you can just run pipes from the tower just like you would belts. No power. No pumps. Just pipes. Easy peasy.

[Fox]

Oooh, I hadn't even thought of doing that. I also didn't know the game mechanics worked that realistically either. Water towers... genius! Thanks for that. That answered my questions much better than I could have hoped for.

[DrNewcenstein]

There is absolutely no such premise as "I couldn't be bothered with" any of the available transport options. None.

Manufacture solid goods on site, transport via truck, which is insanely easy to set up and automate.

[Fox]

Given that this is my 2nd map play through and have yet to even attempt to use automated trucks / trains due to my lack of trust in AI, I'd say it's definitely possible I may never use them. However, if the other 2 maps are 2x the size or larger / more spread out, then who knows. Right now though, belts (and probably pipes now) work great for me.

I have used the scout car during my first play through and remember it being very sketchy at higher speeds on any surface as I think it occasionally clips through stuff causing it to go nuts and become uncontrollable like a wet noodle.

I just don't really like or feel like I need vehicles in this game right now.

[Johnson]

Fox a écrit :

So, I'm about to transport crude oil from the site over to my base over 1100m away. Luckily the terrain is somewhat flat over the entire distance on this Rocky Desert map.

My question are:

- Are pipes reliable enough to transport over an extreme distance like that with good flow rate or would I have to make everything there and ship the items using belts (I couldn't be bothered with trucks or trains)? I know belts have been very reliable for me over that kind of distance, pipes on the other hand have been a bit finicky for me in the past. I don't know how they are now though.

- My other concern is about multiple extractors connected to the same main pipeline. Is it possible to prevent back flow using pumps or valves to maintain a steady flow down the main line? Reason I ask is because I see 3 oil deposits in the same area and would like to harvest from all 3 if I can using a single MK2 pipeline or better at some point. Last time I tried this with water (months ago and was still new to the game), I had back flow issues and would like to avoid this kind of frustration.

Build a Train pls

[Grandaddypurple]

Fox a écrit :

Given that this is my 2nd map play through and have yet to even attempt to use automated trucks / trains due to my lack of trust in AI, I'd say it's definitely possible I may never use them. However, if the other 2 maps are 2x the size or larger / more spread out, then who knows. Right now though, belts (and probably pipes now) work great for me.

I have used the scout car during my first play through and remember it being very sketchy at higher speeds on any surface as I think it occasionally clips through stuff causing it to go nuts and become uncontrollable like a wet noodle.

I just don't really like or feel like I need vehicles in this game right now.

It's all just one map, what you pick at the beginning is just the starting area.
And while those automated transport methods may seem intimidating at first, I strongly suggest you get to taming these mechanics as they are super convenient and fun. Even for short distances I use the trucks to haul ingots within a single biome.
Now to each their own, if you really want to stick with pipes and belts go ahead, there's no right or wrong way to play so no one will judge

[Ravenblade]

Fox a écrit :

Given that this is my 2nd map play through and have yet to even attempt to use automated trucks / trains due to my lack of trust in AI, I'd say it's definitely possible I may never use them. However, if the other 2 maps are 2x the size or larger / more spread out, then who knows. Right now though, belts (and probably pipes now) work great for me.

I have used the scout car during my first play through and remember it being very sketchy at higher speeds on any surface as I think it occasionally clips through stuff causing it to go nuts and become uncontrollable like a wet noodle.

I just don't really like or feel like I need vehicles in this game right now.

You can, of course, bridge very long distances with belts, but they come with their downsides such as that they have an upper transportation rate limit, you also need to precisely remember which conveyor goes where and this can be pretty challenging already within a large fab. Trains, drones etc. do work reliably. Trains come with the added benefit that they take up less computing power than belts over all, but gameplay-wise they allow you to serve multiple stations, they can achieve higher throughput, and you always know where each train is going, and it's much easier to expand throughput on-site by connecting more stations. Just like in real life, you wouldn't make a conveyor band from China to Spain. You'll find that probably out on your own just like everyone did when they found out that it's all just one huge map.

[jhughes]

Fox a écrit :

Given that this is my 2nd map play through and have yet to even attempt to use automated trucks / trains due to my lack of trust in AI, I'd say it's definitely possible I may never use them. However, if the other 2 maps are 2x the size or larger / more spread out, then who knows. Right now though, belts (and probably pipes now) work great for me.

I have used the scout car during my first play through and remember it being very sketchy at higher speeds on any surface as I think it occasionally clips through stuff causing it to go nuts and become uncontrollable like a wet noodle.

I just don't really like or feel like I need vehicles in this game right now.

Well sure .. you can also play the whole game using only biomass burners .. it is not very fun though :D

[Fox]

Ok, so it's just 1 massive map with 4 starting areas. Though I have yet to discover / recognize the other starting area, I'll take your word for it. Given that all the resources you could ever need are within the starting area, why would anyone collect from greater distances?

[xxCOOPSxx]

no need to take his word for it, you can google the map for satisfactory and see the whole thing including the starting areas. As for resources you eventually need to scale up and to go bigger you need more resources which means expansion. How you deal with this is up to you. Build one big base and pull all the resources in or build many smaller factories all over the map and just transport resources and finished goods where needed. Its here that things like trucks and certainly trains / drones play a part. I guess you could just stick to one small area and use what limited resources are around, but then making any of the bigger items would take an age due to the time to make everything needed.

[xxCOOPSxx]

By the way i did build a massive pipe line for oil first time out to get it back to my base and it worked fine, needed a pump here and there for head lift but it worked. Trains handle that now and the pipeline has gone

[Fox]

xxCOOPSxx a écrit :

As for resources you eventually need to scale up and to go bigger you need more resources which means expansion.

I accept that challenge. Also, I googled the map... it's much more massive than I expected with a lot more diverse biome variety than it appears in-game.

[The Big Brzezinski]

It seems like a big map until your railroad network matures. Feels rather small when you can plop down an engine and autopilot across the whole length in two minutes.

[Fox]

Btw, just an update on the pipes... they do still back flow. They can't go up the tower obviously due to headlift, but when I dumped the long length of pipe as a test (once everything was full), the large tank at the base unloaded into the long pipe going all the way back to the bottom of the tower which caused a massive delay of several minutes before the big tank started filling back up again, and then back flowed a few more times afterwards. To correct this, I installed a valve at the base near the big tank to prevent that from emptying backwards, one in the middle of the long length of pipe as well as one at the tower for each tank up there as they back flow from tank to tank as well. This seems to have minimized the back flow substantially so far, but it's still not perfect.

Also, there's a bug which I'll be mentioning in the bug section in a minute, where flushing the "pipe segment" occasionally dumps everything, including all tanks connected to the same network as though I selected "full pipe network" which I didn't.