Question on how much to make of things

[Kalvix]

I'm on the cusp of remodelling my entire factory, but this is the 1 thing that has got me paralysed and not sure how to even start. Basically, what ratio of each thing should I make?

Are you better off doing a 1:1:1 of pretty much everything? so if you make 4 plate constructors make 4 rod, 4 screws (with the 8 rods that'll need), 8 advanced plate etc. Or is there a good way to calculate more efficient ratios?.

Currently I've got a setup where I have I think like 1200 steel and a similar amount of iron all going into large storage containers, ready to be pumped into the factory. So I'm ready to get things constructing, I just don't want to create things in equal ratios say then figure out actually further down the line I needed double the amount of rods, and now I need to double up on that, or just be forced to overclock and accept THAT means when I need to increase production later on I can't just overclock the whole thing equally.

[Wolfgang]

That fully depends on how big you want to go. IMO ratios don't hold up, especially not in the later game when you need a lot of resources to just make 1/min of something.

Also, don't be afraid of tearing things down and rebuilding. You will have to do that.

[🎮AliveSince1961🎮]

It doesn't work that way, take the screw for example, it's needed in large quantities compared to the rod and plates.

I build a production building and a single item on each floor with plenty of room for expansion. That way, as new items are produced, I can build more of what's needed.

[Kalvix]

Ugh I was worried that was going to be the case... I might have to do a redesign then and just make the ground floor be the base materials warehouse. Or just spread far wider than I intended to.

[Ryzilynt]

Hard to say how much you'll need. Probably best to err on the side of more. Leave some room, make factories big, use logistics floors, makes it a lot easier to walk the production floor , especially before you unlock the hover pack. Don't be afraid to build vertical.

Use the sinks to eat up any extra materials/products so that everything always runs at full speed and nothing backs up. Sinks are a good way to test that you are getting proper throughput and that source materials are not bottle-necked.

I never tear down a factory and rebuild. Plan it out well to the best of your current ability , then move to a new spot on the map when you need more production/ new products/materials. Take what you have learned to your new factory.

Electricity can be hidden in foundation pieces using the wall outlet. Try not to build on bare earth. Use foundations, and as previously mentioned try to use logistics floors. Use the lifts and the floor holes.

Make your factories actual factories. Not just a bunch of machines sitting on a single bare slab out in the elements. Avoid filling massive amounts of storage containers when possible. A buffer is fine here and there , but don't get crazy. It is reliable consistent and efficient production that you will need to hit the big parts and production lines in the end.

[Fenix]

Screws you should make as needed, Also you should go HDD hunting,
Both Cast Screws (Directly from Iron Ingots), and Steel Screws (from Steel Beams) are so much better than the regular Recipe. I do have one single constructor making screws tuck away, going into a Storage Container with a Depot on top, but that is all you really need.

Need Screws for a recipe? Route some steel beams or Iron ingots and build the screw next to the machine you need them for, or use alt recipes that removes them completely

I try to max my current max belt speed out of each, low end Item, except Concrete, as I need a ton of it.

But there is no right amount just give yourself room to expand as needed.

[RadioIesbian Fluid]

I mainly go off on on what i got available, what nodes, what recipies etc. Theres no real disadvantage to overproduce, as you can just sink excess.

[sergier]

Was/am in the same boat as you. Wanted a hardish number to base things off of. For the basic stuff plate/rein plate and eventually encased beams you will need a lot more of simply cause of building belts.
screws you dont need much of in general but when a end product wants it you will need LOTS. screws build on site.
Rods you need a fair bit of cause power poles and buildings need them. I tend to have 2-4 stacks on me atways.
Build big leave room for expansion. Personally i use modular factories over megas cause my comp is "eh" and it make more sense to me.
Once you start down trains systems. Expansion is much easier to have reasorces get to another.

[RadioIesbian Fluid]

with the right alt recipies you can completly ignore screws :)

[Honorable_D]

If you shoot for at least 1 machine running at 100% (no underclock) producing the final set of Elevator parts, then you'll have a VERY nice factory. The final Elevator parts all take previous Elevator parts so you'll need to have all of those automated too, this makes the Elevator parts the most complex parts in the game so having at least 1 machine producing them at 100% will see you with a respectable final factory where you'll be producing and automating almost every part in the game at 100%.

You'll for sure want to use something like Satisfactory Planner and looking ahead in the wiki, trying to do this blind will in no way work out for you.

[Kage Goomba]

Make as much as you need - except power - always overproduce (within reason)

[nfgman]

During progression. we are not presented with recipes and alternates of higher tiers in game. That knowledge is external, like the wiki or SCIM. We finally have 1.0 so we presumably have final recipes and quantities. You can work backwards from those recipes but that ain't the whole story.

You'll also need components for milestones and building. Filling the elevator is only part of the game. For myself, the starter base became the construction base, where you only need a little of everything, and the real production spread out over the map. That paradigm is outdated with remote storage.

It's not just the number of units, it's the number of units per building. For example, heavy frames/ fused frames are 1:1 but it takes 3 heavy frame manufacturers @100% to feed 2 fused frame blenders @100%. Easy enough to adjust clock rates but there's a whole chain of supply before that.

End game, when you have the mk3 miners and mk5 belts, you probably make as much as the local resources or belts allow, try to use it and sink the overflow.

For two of the final elevator parts, you probably only need one building for each that you'll probably also sloop.

Or. you can be like the rest of us and just try to figure it out as we go. Make a mess. Tear it down. Rebuild or start again.

[Kage Goomba]

Originally posted by nfgman:

During progression. we are not presented with recipes and alternates of higher tiers in game. That knowledge is external, like the wiki or SCIM.

Not true - it's called exploration - when you start picking up alternate recipes - doesn't take a genius to start asking the question - "I wonder what else I could find?"

Course getting people to google anything these days is a miracle itself.

[Obz3hL33t]

You're new? You're going to need a lot more modular frames than you think.
Really great advice for me was to expand rather than optimize. There's always more iron, limestone, and copper. Instead of shaving off surpluses to allocate somewhere else just tap another vein of ore.
You don't need great monuments to excess with fancy recipes. This thing I built called "The Great Sluice" turns a bunch of crummy impure ore nodes into a massive downpour of iron ingots using the insanely efficient purified iron ingot recipe, but you don't need ridiculously overbuilt projects like The Great Sluice. Just go get more iron and smelt it.
A nuclear power complex is a great first megaproject. You'll make a huge mess, but it'll be fun.

[Kalvix]

Not new new but its been a while, I think I just set myself to much on the path of "make 1 big factory" and need to accept that they give you lots of ways of moving things around as you'll need to make lots of mini factories making different things and move them to each other.

[KeltonFornit]

A way to work out approximate ratios would be to allow one storage container for each item to fill up, then disconnect the inputs and connect a dimensional depot to each. As long as your DD is already all-full or all-empty of every item, this should let you see how quickly each item is used up, regardless of the relative unit numbers. This is approximate because it depends on what you're building.