I never once bothered with transport systems

[O'Lucky]

This isn't a gripe or anything with the game, just my experience and wondering if others did the same.

When it comes to trains/tractors/trucks/flying machines.
I never once bothered with actually setting them up.

I mean i built them, two connecting truck stations and such but I always found it all to be just so finicky. And by the time I needed them (for example going to get OIL etc...) I didnt have the means yet build a train or the care to set up a truck network between the two locations, trying to find an optimal direct route.

So I always just ended up building over everything with BELTS. And when I did finally have trains, I didnt bother with them, instead just opting to upgrade my double conveyor belt line across the map to steel and then aluminium.

I feel like trains should come with OIL research and trucks should automatically just destroy all trees it touches to clear a straight path.

Belts are just so much easier, they require no power, are direct, are upgradeable, never need to worry about glitching. So why would I ever bother with vehicles?

Anyone else did/thought the same as me?

[Wasur]

I have never warmed up to the transport system in game either, my entire map has Belt's stretched across it. However they have seem to do a lot to the train system and I may try to give it a chance again, for me the biggest issue it's just not easy to see where to build it, I don't mind having my belt system in the air but doubt I would want my train system there.

[Mogges]

In theory you are right; you can easily play the game without any vehicle, when your goal is to construct the items needed for the space elevator; even the last ones, which really take a very long time. But is this the goal? For me it is more: it is the overall set-up of many single factories combined to one big production site, maybe spreaded all over the map with different production sites, one more different than the other: placed at the slope of a hill, an oil production site in the middle of the sea, massive iron ingots production with 5 different trains stations delivering items to 5 different corners of the map, bridges over rivers and lakes, etc. etc. It is more the fantasy and creativity, that makes me use trains, not their usefullness. In 99% of the cases my trains are totally oversized. I never needed a train with 5 trailers and all full with 4.800 iron ingots........but it looks great, when you take care developping your tracks through your main factory, 6,7 or even 10 trains passing in different levels, you have underground stations for them etc. THIS is the fun. Breaking it down to functionality only, you can "finish" the game ( at the current stage ), with using only MK2 belts only, no trucks, no trains and of course no drones, in 100 hours. If finishing is your goal, mine it is not. For me the game is a huge toolbox to be creative, constructive and use my imagination and fantasy to build a world inside a world.

[Shane]

i dont like belts (visually) but your right, and the transport system has never ever done what i want it to achieve in fact its just impossible for the most part really

the new update on trains when i see how it works might have a better result for my goals.

[Vectorspace]

Trains are far less cpu intensive over distance than belt highways, meaning as your factory expands the game will perform better.

Also easier to set up, as one railway line from A to B could carry multiple trains each carrying multiple resources in either direction. For a new resource you would just need to build a new station/platform at each end and schedule a new train (or add a platform/wagon to an existing station/train), instead of building a new belt the whole distance in between.

Case in point: I have an extensive rail network: https://imgur.com/a/ouKj6gi
I needed to transport an item from a factory in Blue Crater (south east) to the far noth west of the map. You would have had to build a new belt the whole distance. I already had a railway serving both locations, so I only had to add a station at each location and schedule a train

[Wasur]

actually I haven't even started the final elevator parts yet and i'm in no hurry too. I have 696 hours in a few hundred on my current build and I have factories all over the entire map, I just chose to use belt buses to transport my goods and hyper-tubes to transport myself, I do use the explorer. I see the appeal of the trains as I said I think I am going to give them another go, its just as the OP said the belt system is so much easier but as you said I do believe the trains would look cool and surely be a faster mode of transportation, for parts and my pioneer my tube rides can be pretty long and time consuming.

[O'Lucky]

Originally posted by Vectorspace:

Trains are far less cpu intensive over distance than belt highways, meaning as your factory expands the game will perform better.

Also easier to set up, as one railway line from A to B could carry multiple trains each carrying multiple resources in either direction. For a new resource you would just need to build a new station/platform at each end and schedule a new train (or add a platform/wagon to an existing station/train), instead of building a new belt the whole distance in between.

Case in point: I have an extensive rail network: https://imgur.com/a/ouKj6gi
I needed to transport an item from a factory in Blue Crater (south east) to the far noth west of the map. You would have had to build a new belt the whole distance. I already had a railway serving both locations, so I only had to add a station at each location and schedule a train

Thats not entirely true. for example in later game i just put multiple resources onto my two HIGH speed belts then used SMART splitters on the end. No need to build additional belt lines.

[Vectorspace]

Originally posted by Alex'O'Lucky:

Thats not entirely true. for example in later game i just put multiple resources onto my two HIGH speed belts then used SMART splitters on the end. No need to build additional belt lines.

True, but that depends on you guaranteeing that all those resources will be used at the destination. Else if any one resource backs up it blocks the whole belt and everything on it.
Which you can accomplish with overflow splitters and AWESOME Sinks, but not everyone builds their factories with the intention of them all always running at 100%

[Xuhybrid]

I play the same way. Belts for everything. However i would recommend at least trying the Trains. They are pretty similar to belts since they can only run on a track, plus they're fun and interesting to setup. Power by the time you have trains is also a non issue really.

[The Big Brzezinski]

I suppose belts are fine if you just want to move product from one spot to another. Anything less simple, and the investment really goes up. Running more conveyors is always going to be a bigger deal than loading up an existing route into a tractor and sending it on its way.

For instance, I've got one facility producing iron ore and copper sheets, another making cement and copper ingots, another turning iron ore into coke steel ingots and copper sheets into circuits, and one making heavy modular frames and motors. All this then gets loaded into trains and sent to other facilities, ultimately becoming cooling systems, fused modular frames, and turbo motors. I could run a whole bunch of conveyors everywhere across a half mile stretch. Instead, I have one big truck doing a four stop loop. I even have it drive through a single dedicated fueling station as well so I don't have to distribute fuel.

Do before you start building cross country conveyors, think about how you can get more use out of that first coal tractor, especially when you can use smart splitters to separate combined loads.

[lodizal]

I wonder if they ever introduce exponentially increasing cost of belts past the certain length....

[nfgman]

Never bothered with trucks. Trains were just around the corner. Just for transportation around the map, trains are worth it, but the primary purpose has been aluminum. Have several factories located to use local resources and are mostly independent. Even if, say the quartz, was a long distance away and it was just a single belt, it wasn't worth the effort and mess for multiple train stations at a single factory. Later, you find yourself stacking belts and extending that little bit further until the distance between source and destination seems silly. Could'a, would'a, should'a?

However, resources are becoming fewer and further. Going to need trains more. Drones are utilised for things like heavy frames/fused frames, electromagnetic control rods and heat sinks, not raw materials.

[God of Snacks]

Vehicles are just for aesthetic.

Transport belts only will always be more efficient.

But im still gonna use trains and stuff. Why? Cause train go choo choo

[Sputnik]

The trucks are very rough but this new update is supposed to fix that, plus they allow you to build roads with barriers which could help a ton. The trains and drones on the other hand I found immensely useful late game. I have a central hub factory that makes most of my parts and the project parts, then I have trains and drones bringing in anything I can't source locally. It feels really satisfying seeing the trains and drones coming into the stations and adding to the factory chain, and I find them far better looking than just having massive conveyor lines.

[Ravenblade]

Yes, belts are easy to set up, but over time I grew a distaste for uneven and cluttered setups. That's why for long-range transportation I prefer trains and drones now. Drones where throughput isn't the issue and trains where I want to haul as many items around the map as possible.

Disadvantage of belts are mainly of technical nature, since they put more load on CPU and GPU than other transportation alternatives. Otherwise, it's just a question of aesthetics and accepting innate limitations. Trains can serve and collect from multiple stations, and you know what goes where. It's a lot more difficult with belts, where even in the instance that you built them all on foundations you quickly lose sight, so in terms of organization they suffer a lot.

[TITANIUMsmoothy]

I only use trucks, trains and some drones, I can't stand belt highways so have near zero through the world. I mainly have smaller factories feeding medium sized factories through a massive train/truck bus around the world, so vehicle logistics allows me to reroute production or increase production easily. Adding another train or truck takes mere seconds to do without having to add/upgrade kilometres of belt highways. World looks way more alive with trucks and trains supplying everything compared to belts.