How do you filter items in truck stations?

[Qdude]

Can you make tractors only collect/drop off certain items from a truck station? Can you make truck stations spit specific items into one of the two output conveyor belts they have? Or do I have to make Smart Splitter spaghetti for every truck station to filter all the possible items it has, or do I have to build one truck station and tractor for every single item a factory might need?

If the latter, do you have suggestions to make smart splitter spaghetti/multiple truck stations look neat and tidy?

[Dessembrae]

It's very difficult to answer without any idea of how many bands you need to put your items on, and how many different items you are transporting.

For scaling belts you can build a spaghetti tower where all the ugly is hidden inside. Good for some areas where space is limited. Or, if you have horizontal space you can put everything on the same belt, fold it around, and add smart/programmable splitters on the folded line. That will also let you expand the number of truck stations without rebuilding the belt system. It also lets you build a second stacked level if you need more than 780u/m.

[Qdude]

Originally posted by Dessembrae:

It's very difficult to answer without any idea of how many bands you need to put your items on, and how many different items you are transporting.

For scaling belts you can build a spaghetti tower where all the ugly is hidden inside. Good for some areas where space is limited. Or, if you have horizontal space you can put everything on the same belt, fold it around, and add smart/programmable splitters on the folded line. That will also let you expand the number of truck stations without rebuilding the belt system. It also lets you build a second stacked level if you need more than 780u/m.

So I'm guessing by your answer there isn't a way to filter items without doing smart splitter insanity. Just out of curiosity, do train stations also have this problem?

[EdibleSponge_]

Originally posted by Qdude:

So I'm guessing by your answer there isn't a way to filter items without doing smart splitter insanity.

Yeah, pretty much. If you're wondering whether you can set a station to only accept/receive certain items, then I don't think so. They just exchange inventories with the trucks, and you sort with smart splitters after the fact.

Originally posted by Qdude:

Just out of curiosity, do train stations also have this problem?

Train stations function the same way, but you can avoid the problem much more easily. Each train station will load/unload only one train car, so if you have a 10-car train, you need at least 10 stations. But that just means you can have one car/station per item. I built a mega-factory style world with a 20-car train delivering to the factory, one ore type per station. Worked pretty well. You can also have multiple trains running on the same track (so long as you have it set up so they don't collide).

tl;dr Train stations work the same way but unlike trucks they're scalable. So it's much easier to organize.

[Mr.America]

Here's a tip for truck stations, if you're transporting big throughputs: You can save on fuel by setting up a track with a pause position somewhere (not on the station itself) then calculate how long it takes to fully deplete a full station and then set your pause node to something fitting (e.g. it takes 20 minutes to deplete the 48 stacks of a station => set the pause to 10-ish minutes) and if you want to be perfectionist, you can measure the travel/load/unload time as well, plus any irregular breaks from waiting for other vehicles. That also allows you to bring in ressources from multiple sources and then just add buildings to your factory setup, assuming you need less than 2x 780 ppm.

I would advise AGAINST splitter spagetti, with multiple items in single containers. Unless you're guaranteeing that this will never build up, you may eventually have a traffic problem on the belts because stuff didn't get delivered equally, e.g. you need part A and part B to make part C, but through RNG the station unloads only A then B and that gets your belts stuck because your machines are full of A and starving for B, thus your belts jam. Only do that, if you're guaranteeing continuity by over consumption, for example via Awesome Sink.

[Qdude]

Originally posted by Mr.America:

I would advise AGAINST splitter spagetti, with multiple items in single containers. Unless you're guaranteeing that this will never build up, you may eventually have a traffic problem on the belts because stuff didn't get delivered equally, e.g. you need part A and part B to make part C, but through RNG the station unloads only A then B and that gets your belts stuck because your machines are full of A and starving for B, thus your belts jam. Only do that, if you're guaranteeing continuity by over consumption, for example via Awesome Sink.

So do you think having a station and tractor for each individual item is the way to go? Really unfortunate that this basic feature isn't in the game, I hope it gets added one day.

[dendriti]

Originally posted by Qdude:

Originally posted by Mr.America:

I would advise AGAINST splitter spagetti, with multiple items in single containers....

So do you think having a station and tractor for each individual item is the way to go? Really unfortunate that this basic feature isn't in the game, I hope it gets added one day.

Even if you could reserve slots for a particular item in your vehicle, you'd still have to ensure that the item remained available in the station. Which would mean that for such a feature to be useful, you'd have to find a way to feed the station multiple items in a balanced way.

Let's say you could also reserve slots in the station too. But then your feeder belt would back up when the reserve slots for another item were full.

You could add separate intake/output for each item, but in principal that's just adding more stations.

I's a harder problem to solve than it appears at first glance.

If you find yourself wanting to send multiple items from the same place, consider 1) trains; 2) combining the items on site and sending the products.

[stealthXG]

Originally posted by EdibleSponge_:

Originally posted by Qdude:

Just out of curiosity, do train stations also have this problem?

Train stations function the same way, but you can avoid the problem much more easily. Each train station will load/unload only one train car, so if you have a 10-car train, you need at least 10 stations. But that just means you can have one car/station per item. I built a mega-factory style world with a 20-car train delivering to the factory, one ore type per station. Worked pretty well. You can also have multiple trains running on the same track (so long as you have it set up so they don't collide).

tl;dr Train stations work the same way but unlike trucks they're scalable. So it's much easier to organize.

Train stations don't function the same way, you can filter items at the train station. Trains can drop and take specific items. This was added a long time ago. Trucks can't do this.

[kLuns]

I use smart splitters, eat the spaghetti and build beltwork. I need to keep my pants up.

When it comes to throughput I check if mixing multiple items gets over the limit of two mk5 belts. That's 1560 items per minute. For unloading I use smart splitters directly in front of the output line into dedicated big storage containers. Any item can unload at 1560 per minute.
If an item can stack to 500 I probally will use it directly on site because it will take too long to load/ unload.

[Mr.America]

Originally posted by Qdude:

So do you think having a station and tractor for each individual item is the way to go? Really unfortunate that this basic feature isn't in the game, I hope it gets added one day.

Basically, yeah. Although I did say you can do it if you guarantee continuity. For example, I have a oil rig that makes lots of turbo fuel for vehicles and some minor polymer resin I'm not using atm. I put both in the same tractor, then transport them to a trainstation, then sort them into different platforms/freight cars, then transport them away to a central hub, wherrer I distribute the fuel and store/sink the resin, until I find a use for it. That central hub uses mixed belts, but only because it's a somewhat "final" storage complex, where overflow literally means I don't have a need for that item right now, but I'm not going to just shut down the plant it comes from.

Originally posted by stealthXG:

Train stations don't function the same way, you can filter items at the train station. Trains can drop and take specific items. This was added a long time ago. Trucks can't do this.

I thought I saw that feature, but I can't for the life of me find the option when I'm trying to look for it. How do you set freight stations / trains to pick up/drop off specific items?

[kLuns]

you can always make more rubber or gas filters if you don't know what do with resin.
On the other hand, do you know what you want to do with the extra rubber/ fabric? :)

[EdibleSponge_]

Originally posted by stealthXG:

Train stations don't function the same way, you can filter items at the train station. Trains can drop and take specific items. This was added a long time ago. Trucks can't do this.

Huh, I never knew. Well that's nice then, it rewards using train signals and having multi-train tracks. Even more reason to look forward to unlocking trains!