The problem with having myriad choices is making a decision. After many iterations on the belt-path theme, I've narrowed it down... Floors n Paths 2.jpg I really like all of them. :roll: The left and rightmost paths with outer 'rails' are eight tiles wide, the others six. I'm (supposedly) making a b...

Thank you folks I appreciate the appreciation. I thought maybe I come across as cantankerous (true) or something :lol: Just like you-tubers want their likes and subscribers, regular forum posters might like to know there's people out there too. I'd do playthroughs if I didn't have sciencing the shit...

Excellent. It sounds like you've given this a great deal of thought already. I wish I could code I'd gladly help with such an imaginative project. Just a thought on an enemy base... maybe it has construction robots that will turn to your side if you destroy a command building. I also think finding a...

OK. I really do think this has awesome potential. And it's great you actively seek to improve it. Please excuse if I sound harsh I lack tact at the best of times my intention is not to be insulting but to communicate. Imagination however, I got in spades. The maze felt like part of an adventure. The...

I loaded this with whistle stop. I found a blue belt assembler. I hooked everything up thinking this is great, the belt assembler was not hooked however to lube - and I cannot rotate it. Wasted 3 hours to get to the point to realise it is unusable. Loaders also weren't connecting red belt to them. N...

This was the first run with a completed model. I did it with a disability that makes me clumsy. When I even try to go fast I make more mistakes than place entities. A speed runner using these methods would finish under 2 hours easy. There's plenty of ways to get it wrong. Enjoy figuring it out. With...

Great feedback. Amarula - yes I had considered aliens eat dirt/mineral matter. On earth creatures of this type (e.g. the lowly worm) are actually eating microbes. So Factorio worms could very well be eating 'dirt'. The biters I see as the potential predatory types. The spitters as herbivores with co...

Some Ecological rules/principles that might help map generation. Specific land types have specific plant types. The patterns: some plants ONLY go on their own land types some plants can grow on more than one land type edges (where two land types meet) always have more species than the interiors of s...

Seventeen days later, my idea has come to fruition. Of course using mods fast start and 2x red/blue is totally cheating... but who cares, look at this result. Presenting the Totally Cheated AAA1 Team Robot Superior Speedrun Strategy. by Dry Hairy Tree Chief Robot Commander. :shock: AA1 Team Robot 2....

I gave it a dry run, and... Oh hell yes. This is the business! 2:23 minutes, high tech science packs start rolling out. There is still some smelting/belts/inserters/modules to upgrade/add to get full speed. MiniBus 13.jpg Important mods: Quick start. Not so important but you'd need to build bigger w...

Behind the scene... MiniBus 12.jpg Very good. Halfway into Kovarex and all science packs are still sitting in the same position on the line as when it began. The research is 30 seconds, so, with my 30 labs, and my alleged 1 per second science pack production, the job has been done. The extra iron no...

MiniBus 11.jpg Other than belt array issues, this went very smoothly. I'm researching Kovarex now (not in picture) as large multi-pack researches like that point out flaws in the system. My red belt assemblers were rubbish the copper coil not hitting the belt fast enough. Fixed. The blue circuit as...

Problem solved. Ideally I'd place this belt array early, as I have mentioned is important myself.... :D I'm not making blue belts yet as it will demand too much from a factory not designed for blue belts. My initial thinking, prior to supply issues, was to add resource inputs and make an extensive b...

OK, this is shaping up really well, but, I've hit a wall... In the first iteration I had a belt array set up and switched to red belts as soon as I required them. In this set-up I did not make the belt array. Now the factory is demanding more than yellow belts can deliver. The plan was to hit logist...

I automated assemblers and mining drills over by the green science. Then, I had enough assemblers, and switched over to more mining drills and some pipes in preparation for blue science and oil building. Military science isn't scrimped on this round. Ratios are pretty good, not perfect. Put belts in...

Changed already. There is a convenient gap for my boxes between drawing off resources for red and green science - so I put the boxes there.

Making life easy for myself. Space for coal steel stone and oil products. Boxes in one convenient spot for gears circuits and plates. Building is now a piece of cake as I can craft all manner of things quickly with these basics. And, no more trying to locate my box of (insert missing item here)... :...

Here's a tidier version to kick off the minibus. Smelting lines to gear and circuit production to minibus.

A look at the base overview is revealing. Plenty of ways to improve this. Where the green circuits and gears are being made, between the bus and the smelting lines, is also enough room to build red and blue circuits. This would allow the design to be tidied up considerably. Also, the labs could go e...

Factory making was a lot of fun but there were several issues that made me decide to try again. The way I opened the game up, without production and high tech science, denied me a lot of things e.g. blue belts, tier 3 assemblers, beacons, kovarex, etc. What I've been after is a simple way to 'open t...