I haven’t blogged in a while, mainly due to lack of content (in my opinion) and some personal stuff going on. I thought that I would start keeping short, bite-sized “Factorio logs”, explaining what I’m doing in my world and why.
Recently, I completed both Shapez.io and the overhaul mod Shapez Industries, which were a BLAST. I really wish it was much longer; technically it has infinite levels, but once you get past level 26 (opens free play), it just gets boring to watch your fully automated machine do all the things for you.
This got a craving started for some good ol' Factorio. I setup a headless server on my NAS, added a few QoL mods like Far Reach and Even Distribution, and it’s ready to go. Heck, I even created a simple backup script and Ansible playbook for when updates are available. Pretty nifty. Factorio is one of the few games that I’ve put ~500 hours into.
Just for information purposes, I am playing a vanilla game with only 3 mods in total. Nothing special, no overhaul mods.
Let’s get caught up on where I’m at right now.
Expansion Time
After getting to building Red, Green and Gray Science Packs in my initial base, I expanded a few days ago to the west to start oil refining and processing, not to mention Red Circuits, Speed Modules, and Blue Science Packs. Researching pretty much all of the things at this point was super simple and took no time at all. Most research was done while I refined my initial base and started building both solar panels and accumulators for more power later on.
But the time finally came: I felt like my initial base was at capacity with my main bus of iron and copper plates, not to mention that all of my steam engines were at peak performance. It was time to expand again . . but I thought about doing it in a different way. Instead of focusing on rebuilding bases or moving entire bases, why not just transport everything to a single base where the most advanced things could process or be created? I could then build smaller bases, or modules, around the map, and then just connect it to a train network for long distances. I’ve never taken this approach before. Typically, I would just abandon my initial base and start over when I found a patch of iron and copper close enough together where it made sense.
I was able to build a basic train network today, specifically making multiple train loading stations at each base. Another thing I’m doing differently is utilizing the built-in filter in Balancers. Not sure if this feature is in Yellow Balancers, but maybe just the Red ones? Regardless, everything that is produced in my initial base is sent north to the train depot, where each item sits in a buffer chest, waiting to be put on a train. Each train has 2 Cargo Wagons, with 2 different items designated per Cargo Wagon. Once it arrives at the new “fancy” base, everything is simply dumped out, then filtered by the Balancers.
I haven’t yet figured out the best way to keep things at the new base. Do I just have a mall type setup where everything is easy to reach and get to? Or do I create a massive main bus to make the more advanced things? I haven’t decided yet.
Each train has a schedule to where it will pick items/liquids up twice, dump them twice, then go to a refueling station near one of the coal patches I found close to the new base. Pretty simple and straightforward.
Finally, I have liquids starting to be transported to the new base from my oil processing module.
Next Steps
I didn’t get to finish lining up all of the liquids and running pipes up to the liquids train station; petro and lube are left to run.
At my oil processing base, I started to create things like Plastic Bars, Sulfur, Red Circuits, and Blue Science Packs. All of that has mostly been ripped up, but I still have chests filled with each of these items so I will have to probably transport them to the new base via the Car Trunk.
The new base needs some decisions on how I want to do things, but that should be easy once I can get some goals lined up for it. Also, I need to start bringing in iron, copper and stone ore. Actually, scratch that. I need to setup a smelting module/base where I can bring in all kinds of ore, smelt it, then get it ready to ship out to the new base. Sounds like I need a better name for this new base so I won’t confuse you (or myself!).
Purple Science Packs and Blue Circuits are my next big tasks but I’m still a bit early for those items. I still don’t have modules/bases setup just for Green and Red Circuits; that’s a pretty important one to have.
And lastly, the train network will probably expand as these items get done. See you guys on the next one.
This is Day 14 of #100DaysofOffload.