Pipeline or trains

[BaoBaB]

I've got 4 oil fields and i'm wondering which method to use to transport crude Oil to my base. I never built a train so i don't know how it does, all i know is that the distance is great and its going to be a big project. So which one would you recommend for this thanks for your time.

[Suzaku]

Refine it on site, then move the solid. If you must move it long distances, use trains unless the trip leads downhill, or you'll suffer as you have to deal with headlift (requiring additional pumps to keep the fluid flowing).

[Dark Phoenix]

Trains. Partly because you can use the trains to move power to the oilfields, without having to place down a ton of wiring.

[McDanger]

I really like using trains with the liquid cars, can move a good amount pretty darn fast

[Mister Fabulous]

I'm a fan of trains. Just because. No special reason really. The only thing I don't like is a single freight car will hold more in containers that same car transporting fluid.

[Graf Erik]

I always do the preprocessing on site. This way I have less clutter on the main plant.
In this case it means I have a refinery over the oilfields, producing plastic, rubber, petrol coke and burning the residual as fuel.
Plastic and rubber goes via conveyor to the main plant, petrol coke via conveyor to the aluminium plant.

I thought about using trains several times, but
-trains need power
-trains have limited corner radius and slope
-trains slow down uphills
-train stations are quite big

I prefer conveyors.

[Dervrak]

I just use pipelines because I had them already in place before I got the trains and it seemed to be pointless to switch over as the pipelines were working fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it I guess....

[Lucky-E]

i really haven't used the vehicles for much more than travel, i have thousands of steel beams, pretty good automated factory for it so i go conveyors 90% of the time.

given how many use trains though i may be holding myself back

[Termagant]

From an efficiency point of view, nothing will ever be better than belts. Because even trains are limited by the belt speed unloading their cargo. The best you can hope to achieve is an equal result.

That put aside, you might want to consider the amount of effort to setup a transportation line. If you want to move 20 diffrent products over 4000metres, its much easier to build one train line and stations than to setup a huuuge conveyor stack.

Thirdly, theres style. CHOOOCHOOO! Everyone loves a good choo ;) Subjective point of view, of corse.

Finally, you might want to consider the framerate. It doesnt look like this, but kibiz made a video about performance some months ago. Aparently trains eat a lot more of your framerate than belts do, because objects on the belts are somehow handled differently and trains cause a big frame drop whenever they start/stop. Then again, you might want to weight a single train against a very big conveyor stack.


Tl;dr: As others here already mentioned and as a general rule of thumb: Everything which is closer than a kilometer is going to be a belt in my games, everything further away and/or needs more than 5 diffrent objects is going to be a train. Hope it helps, and stay efficient!

[Loser]

Originally posted by Graf Erik:

I always do the preprocessing on site. This way I have less clutter on the main plant.
In this case it means I have a refinery over the oilfields, producing plastic, rubber, petrol coke and burning the residual as fuel.
Plastic and rubber goes via conveyor to the main plant, petrol coke via conveyor to the aluminium plant.

I thought about using trains several times, but
-trains need power
-trains have limited corner radius and slope
-trains slow down uphills
-train stations are quite big

I prefer conveyors.

your factory must not be very big. Conveyors will quickly turn your game into a slide show. Anyone who has a few hundred hours in the game will all (Well at least 95%) tell you trains.

[Loser]

Originally posted by Termagant:

From an efficiency point of view, nothing will ever be better than belts. Because even trains are limited by the belt speed unloading their cargo. The best you can hope to achieve is an equal result.

That put aside, you might want to consider the amount of effort to setup a transportation line. If you want to move 20 diffrent products over 4000metres, its much easier to build one train line and stations than to setup a huuuge conveyor stack.

Thirdly, theres style. CHOOOCHOOO! Everyone loves a good choo ;) Subjective point of view, of corse.

Finally, you might want to consider the framerate. It doesnt look like this, but kibiz made a video about performance some months ago. Aparently trains eat a lot more of your framerate than belts do, because objects on the belts are somehow handled differently and trains cause a big frame drop whenever they start/stop. Then again, you might want to weight a single train against a very big conveyor stack.


Tl;dr: As others here already mentioned and as a general rule of thumb: Everything which is closer than a kilometer is going to be a belt in my games, everything further away and/or needs more than 5 diffrent objects is going to be a train. Hope it helps, and stay efficient!

you and I have different opinions on what he was saying in that video lmfao. He uses trains as they cause much less lag. First they as you mentioned can carry more than one item so you only need one train, no matter how many different items. Two trains remove the need for power lines. Those alone will save some frames. Also most people won't have a PC as good as his, looking at too many conveyors even when behind a wall will turn your game into a slide show. MAYBE conveyors are more efficient (most people will still say trains are more efficient but you'll never convince those people otherwise, but thats fine doesn't break my game) but trains are better for FPS in every single way.

[Graf Erik]

Originally posted by Loser:

your factory must not be very big. Conveyors will quickly turn your game into a slide show. Anyone who has a few hundred hours in the game will all (Well at least 95%) tell you trains.

Solid 60fps at 4k/ultra.
The perks of running it on a 3080.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2424874935
(There are four more levels below the assembly deck).
The big block on the right is where aforementioned conveyors from the preprocessing plant come in, carring rubber, plastic, steel pipes, steel bars, crystals and alclad.

[DohItAgain]

I used conveyors for awhile for huge distances, but I quickly swapped over after building my first train for the hell of it. For the power/space you spend; you save a *ton* of time that you would've spent building multiple conveyors, power lines, and the resources for them.

The bigger advantage is the double-output/double-input trains have by default, which gives them higher throughout-put then conveyors.

[LuckyDog]

High speed conveyors are costly but easy to place, whereas long distance pipelines are problematic due to requiring pumps to deal with elevation changes. As for Trains - fun but .... a lot of trouble.

Like others have said, I refine and have mini-production facilities on-site where oil is found, and produce related products. (From main base, I empty my (Huge) backpack inventory space & use the TUBE to pop to various remote production facilities to grab items & load up. It may not be streamlined, but is a pretty and relaxing trip & makes the game more enjoyable for me). Cheers

[Anaztazioch]

Definalty Trains over pipes, conveyour belts over trains. Trains suck energy, doesnt provide constant supply like belts and once train fills the station up it leaves even with resources stll on it, making you wait full loop to get them.

Also you can use conveyour belts as one way speedrun, while you have to catch a train... and train is nothing compared to running on mk 4 belt or higher.

[odiy22]

From what i know, for liquid right now in the game you can move more with pipes, for the rest use trains.