Alternate Recipe?

[AdApt*]

So I got my first hard drive and saw the alternate for reinforced iron plates.

The standard recipe is 6 iron plates + 12 screws = 1 reinforced iron plate, 5 per min.
The alternate uses 18 iron plates + 50 screws = 3 reinforced iron plate, 15 per min.

Since the alternate uses more screws to make 3 (with the standard recipe using only 36 screws for 3) what is the point in choosing the alternate?

Is the 15 per min for the alternate 15 lots of 3 plates per minute? If that's the case I'm guessing the point would be faster production at the cost of more screws.

[luntacarsus]

Bolted iron plate is extremely niche. Generally not worth it, unless you really really want to focus on parts-per-minute (which you almost never will).

[Acierocolotl]

There's another alternative recipe, "cast screws", which lets you make 50 screws per minute straight from iron ingots.

This basically means you can hook up one constructor dumping its screws straight into your assembler, which simplifies your infrastructure quite a bit.

[AdApt*]

Originally posted by luntacarsus:

Bolted iron plate is extremely niche. Generally not worth it, unless you really really want to focus on parts-per-minute (which you almost never will).

Originally posted by Acierocolotl:

There's another alternative recipe, "cast screws", which lets you make 50 screws per minute straight from iron ingots.

This basically means you can hook up one constructor dumping its screws straight into your assembler, which simplifies your infrastructure quite a bit.

Thanks. Fused wire would be first choice then. 4 copper ingots and 1 caterium for 30.
The other option was bolted frame.

[kLuns]

Bolted recipes are both recipes for pushingup the production per machine, reducing the amount of machines required.
It can be usefull if you want a temporary factory that doesn't consume too much power and is built fast.

Fused wire is neat in the early game, later iron wire becomes more available because iron is everywhere.

[matteholmium]

With this particular recipe, you're saving on space and power; with one assembler working at 30 power, you make 3x as many plates. This also lets you split it evenly between 3 belts without any stuttering, as opposed to alternating which belt is fed. Extremely useful for controlling power usage and outputs. It was the first recipe I got as well, and I love it.

They are all useful in their own way, but it all depends on your supply & demand. Some will increase your rate like that one; some will increase the ratio, giving you more for the same input; some will let you use different materials, or even skip a step entirely. You can unlock all of them, so don't worry too much; just pick the one that best fits what you currently need, and reinforced plates are VERY annoying to get in the beginning. Good choice!

PS, the way to read that is: it makes three plates at a time, and in one minute it will make 15 plates; for your starter conveyor belts, you can only line up 4 of these in a row before you "max out" and your 60/min belt can't keep up. For everything at the beginning, it's mostly multiples of 10/15/30 for inputs, with outputs reducing with the complexity of the part. And parts on belts will never stack; if it makes 3, it just spits out 3 in a row, not one stack of 3.

[matteholmium]

PPS, I generally disagree with:

Originally posted by luntacarsus:

Bolted iron plate is extremely niche. Generally not worth it, unless you really really want to focus on parts-per-minute (which you almost never will).

Production rate is pretty much the name of this game. Your input needs to equal your output, and you want as much output as possible so that you're not standing around at a crafting bench. Anything that increases your efficiency is immediately worth it; whether it be time or required resources, you want to make more with less.