How to build vertically?

[HumanMirthquake]

This is where my creativity starts to peter out in the game; I don't know how to build vertically while taking into account the bottom floor(s). How do the big tower builders do it?
Thank you!

[rimmer66]

i just stick another floor on and lift stuff up/down to it , simple,

[kLuns]

use a foundation on the side for elevators

[Hammer Of Evil]

i just realized my explanation makes zero sense.

i'll try to paraphrase it so more can understand it, but no promises.

[goemerick]

I enjoyed this post, think i'll let you learn how to build vertically.
But I must warn you about gravity

[SmallGespenst]

it's real easy, when you want to put more stuff in but there's too much in the way, just build a wall up to above everything and slap a foundation onto it, then use lifts to get stuff up to/down from your new upper level.
It's not something you should really force, you'll know when it's time to go vertical.

[Shurenai]

Just like a ground level factory, you can bring in materials from up high, down low, or the sides.. That's about it.

As for taking lower floors into account, it's about the same as if you're ferrying materials from Factory 1 to Factory 2 or from one section of a factory to another.


In fact, that's pretty much what I do with my vertical building- Every floor is dedicated to creating one specific material. Figure out what all I want the factory to produce, list out the different material types, and then organize them into what I perceive as an optimal order.

So, For example, I might have a floor for Iron Plates, one for Iron Rods, one for Screws, one for Reinforced Plates, and one for Modular Frames.

I would lay them out as follows (top floor to bottom)

5F: Modular Frame (Uses Reinforced Plates and Iron Rods)
4F: Reinforced Iron Plates (Uses Iron Plates and Screws)
3F: Screws
2F: Iron Rods
1F: Iron Plates
B1 OR offsite: Iron Refining

In this way, the raw material hungry crafts are at the bottom, the intermediary crafts(rods->screws) are adjacent to one another, and the slow crafted complex ones are at the top. So the flow of materials here is all upward
Iron Ingots move from B1->1F+2F
Iron Plates move from 1F->4F
Iron Rods move from 2F->3F+5F
Screws move from 3F->4F
Reinforced Iron Plates move from 4F->5F, and the production line is complete.


Mind, I have yet to progress beyond unlocking and barely beginning to craft steel previously- So my way of planning might be challenged. But, that's rather the point of these factory games. And you of course aren't prevented from carrying materials DOWN as well as up.. I just personally prefer to bring in raw at ground level and ferry things Up whenever possible.

I aim to beat the game this time in update 6. :) Just about to unlock steel; just rebuilt my base in a new location and working on optimizing it anew before I make the push.


Anyway, if I had to put it into words.. Just think of extra floors as additional floor space- Nothing less, nothing more. If you can build it on a big flat area, you can build it in multiple floors too.

[Lazydrones]

Depending on where you build verticality comes into play usually when you have a limited amount of space. (Mostly only the forest area, which is why I never build there, I like space)
I usually build in the desert biome and really only start building vertically much much later when I get upgraded miners and manufacturers. (space isn't much of an issue out there)

Some of the items available in the Awesome shop really help with building vertically as they provide floor and wall access points, instead of just having a big hole in the floor / wall.

Simply put. Build outwards using foundations, build walls up over your existing structures (usually 4 or 5 high) add a layer of foundation to create a second level then cover with floors. That's the easy part.

When I am building vertically, my base level contains smelters or foundries and storage boxes. Don't be afraid to give yourself lots of space. Then my second floor contains constructors and assemblers as well as a Truck stop (fill it and automate shipping to manufacturers via trucks / tractors). Learn to automate over raised roadways too.

(Though some people will use excessive conveyor systems to stretch distances, I find it silly when you can move so much more via automated trucks and later trains)

Later when manufacturers come into play I will separate out everything in two segments, initial assembly, which contains "base" parts (usually those made by constructors / assemblers) and a separate segment with manufacturers along with a sorting hub. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a severe cluster!@#$. By separate, I mean a different location where everything is shipped to.

Manufacturing / blender hubs - At this point; my first floor is separation and organization using containers (of course and lots of them) and spaghetti conveyor systems for filtering where things need to go. If a manufacturer provides parts to another manufacturer - I filter it back down through the first floor and upwards again as lots of things can be used in multiple recipes.

Get really really REALLY good with learning how to use smart splitters and overflow redundancies. If you are managing overflow - sort it away from your main traffic and back in at the root again where possible. Otherwise you can get clogged up quickly and spend an hour trying to sort it out.

Don't be afraid to rip up a section and re-position it higher when you are strapped for space. Moving things upwards to alleviate conveyor congestion can save a life.

Make a theme for your floors if it works better for you - first floor smelters, second floor constructors, third floor assemblers, fourth floor shipping (drones when you get them) - conveyor lifts can stretch an insane distance so don't be afraid to go upwards.

Experiment, start small and give yourself plenty of room to expand, you have plenty of open space available so don't try to do too much in too small of a space.

[goemerick]

type (R) to open up build direction, after you select the foundation you"re using.

[nfgman]

First factories used triple elevator walls {4 high} and I ran elevators outside. Not pretty but industrial looking. Later, no walls but used framework visual support. Again, not pretty but simple, expandable and effective with natural light. A lot of this was before glass and elevator floor portals were ever part of the game.

Started with a potato of a computer. Upgraded but now at 100 GW consumption so keeping it ASAP to maintain FPS.

[Faustus]

For me one of the key aspects on building vertically is how I'm going to supply the machines on each floor. This comes in two parts: (1) getting material to the floor, and (2) distributing it to the machines.

For (1) I really like the aesthetic of conveyor lifts and pipework on the outside of my buildings.

For (2) there is a huge range of options from running things on floor level level, building the space high enough to run the supply lines at the underside of roof level (don't skimp on headroom above the machines), building a raised floor with the distribution below it to keep everything neat, running the supply lines around the internal walls like a racetrack, etc.

Aside from that, on a pragmatic level, how do you move up and down between floors and move about on floors?
Even though not 100% required, I like my external stairs, and in my big turbine hall I have a high speed conveyor on the perimeter to act as a travelator!

[DrNewcenstein]

Originally posted by Faustus:

Aside from that, on a pragmatic level, how do you move up and down between floors and move about on floors?
Even though not 100% required, I like my external stairs, and in my big turbine hall I have a high speed conveyor on the perimeter to act as a travelator!

Hyper tubes. Put the entrances high enough to walk under, then let them draw you straight up to the next floor. Have them spit you out upright. Line them along the wall according to the floor they take you to, so you can go from 1st to 5th in one pipe.

As for the OP, the "how" of verticality is simple enough, but the design aesthetics are the challenge. One thing I've noticed with Update 6 is that if you start with a foundation tile and stretch a wall up, then lay another floor, the tiles are offset from each other between floors. Apparently the wall tile sits on top of the floor tile, but the next floor tile joins the side of the wall, which is where things get off-center.

At any rate, routing of production is going to influence the layout of the floors. If you have a row of 7 smelters and a lift on #7 to the next floor by the wall, then that's where that floor's production starts. By contrast, if you merge the smelters and lift the results at #4 (direct center of 7) then your production starts there instead.

I run miners up into short storage, then split from there into 7 smelters in a line, merge up one level into a container at #4, then split to 7 constructors, then merge the final output at either end, depending on whether it's going for further processing (iron plates to make reinforced plates, etc) or transport (motors, etc). Also, fold every level back over the previous one, so miners face North (as an example), smelters face South, constructors face North, and final output drops down to a truck station directly in front of the miner that started it all, or wherever you want it based on design and terrain.

[x_equals_speed]

Three things that helped me:

Early on the ladder from the awesome shop made it much easier to get between floors inside my factory. It's 2 tickets and can go as high as you want while having a really small footprint compared to ramps ro stairs.

Also from the awesome shop: Conveyor walls. Put two on different floors one above the other and then you can conveyor elevator directly from one to the other. Made it trivial to get things between floors without making an ugly mess.

Later on: The hover pack. Being able to fly anywhere near power meant I wired up the place first and then could get wherever I wanted inside the thing.

[chronobomb]

Use your tickets for Conveyor Wall mount and floor holes for conveyors and pipes. Then go vertical. Otherwise you will have a real mess on your hands. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Kackstift]

i use floors between always for my belts, lifts and pipes..

[goemerick]

There are plenty of videos on youtube, to help beginners with their factory's. Just remember what goes up, must come back down. Also getting fluids and gasses in the elevated factory, is harder to manage. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2867361567