The Romanesque Factory
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:45 am
This factory is what I've been working on. I've put currently over 110 hours into it, though most of that time has probably been spent idling as well as fighting biters to expand the territory. I had a pretty nice starting area, pretty well surrounded on all sides by water, making for a very defensible position. I had early incursions by biters living across the water in what I'm calling South Base. My pollution floated across the water triggering aggressive actions by the biters who had to travel around the body of water, only to get shot down my my laser turrets.
Resources on this map were plentiful, so there was very little actual need to push out from the home territory, though most initial resources in the region have been exhausted so rail transportation has started to become necessary to continue production. Biter base settings were either Big or Very Big.
The main purpose of this factory was to figure out rail and how the signals work to get multiple trains working and sharing the same rail network. Beyond that, I didn't have any particular plans to research rocket defense, or achieve 'victory'.
My territory is protected by hundreds of miles of walls and 2.9K worth of laser turrets with a base energy drain of 17MW. My territory is connected by a rail network where using my personal train, I can travel the length of the empire. Otherwise, the rail network has otherwise been laid down in preparation for the establishment of mining colonies when nearby veins of ore run dry. In order to allow trains to operate while my train remains unattended numerous parking areas have been implemented so as not to interrupt automated rail transport.
The train network currently has five trains running. Two trains hauling a single wagon in what I call the Oil Loop, consisting of several stops where I've been running Pumpjacks and working out the logistics of transporting barrels of crude and returning the empty barrels back to be refilled.
A third train operates on a separate line that runs between two oil wells though the resources spent in setting this up was far more than the amount of crude I've gained from them. They very quickly went to 0.1 crude/s. Regardless, they've been operating a while, so
The last two trains haul two wagons each and they run along the West Line hauling copper and Iron. When long distance mining is required, I plan to run several 4-wagon trains along the East Line and West Line to bring in a massive amount of resources in to Home Base. So far these routes are not required.
The Factory boasts 1.5K worth of solar panels and 945 Accumulators (3Gj of capacity) and production of solar panels and accumulators are ongoing. There are currently 3 solar fields. The first is west of the main base, the second is a smaller one north of the main base, and the third is to the north east that has room to expand.
Now for some highlights:
Biter Park
Biter Park is a place where new colonists can view the majestic Biters in their natural habitat... from behind the protective walls and turret positions of course. It was built as a safe refuge for all Biter kind. There are plans once planetary settlement occurs to declare Biter Park a national park and protected sanctuary so that future generations will remember what the native life was once like. The name was inspired by a popular earth movie franchise about some silly Dinosaurs which was apparently the only in-flight movies available on the ship.
Compact Factory Design:
Based upon the Science 1-4 designs by sparr and Topas found here: ( Flask production Tier 1 and Tier 2 ). It's been modified to suit the research and automated production needs of one lone space-travelling terraformer. The 12 Fluid Storage Tanks at the top are max capacity Crude Oil. There are additionally 8 tanks of Petroleum and several Heavy and Light Oil. The factory features resource belts that primarily transfer iron, steel and copper plates as well as other essential components for limited production needs. Otherwise, most resources are transferred by Logistics Robots on Demand. All Science Packs are stored in Provider chests until required by the Science division. Due to an 'unknown operator error', some 5,000 Blue Science Packs were inappropriately produced when no more than 100 were desired to be kept in storage for use at any one time. As a result, the factory currently has no Science Pack 3 production, though none is expected to be necessary for a very long time.
Map of Home Base and environs:
South Base Transfer Station:
South Base was the first main outpost established outside Home Base. It was planned to serve as a transfer hub of all resources in the region to express trains to Home Base. At this time though, due to the nearby biter threat it has been decided that South Base shall have essential local Production facilities and resources to ensure the safety and security of the area, rather than hauling in such needs from Home Base.
North Base Transfer Station:
North Base was a new development and transfer location of resources coming in from the north back to Home Base. The rail lines are still under development and the exact resources to be gathered in the region are still yet to be determined. The station will be home two four southbound loading platforms and two northbound unloading platforms for needs as yet to be determined.
North Loop:
North Loop is a spur line established to take advantage of the oil, iron and copper veins in the area. The Loop is intended to house a number of loading stops for mining resources that come from the northern territories via future rail spur lines. This rail loop has yet to be utilized due to plentiful resources elsewhere, but was laid down in preparation for exploitation in the north.
Solar Fields: