azoundria wrote:This is a major issue to me, because everything depends on logistic robots now and I had no idea of the limitations of this new technology. Conveyer belts take forever to construct across the map, so I have no practical alternative.
Well, belts are the only alternative.
Logistic robots are not transport robots! Transport: belt or train, logistic: logistic bots.
The reason is just pure physics: while a belt doesn't need to return (it returns on the downside) and the train hits all with its huge amount and speed, the logistic robot needs to return and cannot load much.
The consequence is: They are not thought for long distances or huge amount of stuff. You can observe that clearly, when you watch them: the chance, that a robot returns with something carrying is much higher in a small area, than far away. Or in other words: the chance, that a logistic robot drives without freight becomes near 50%, the longer the way is, that he needs to fly.
So belts are very useful in transporting a constant flow over large areas. Trains are useful to transport enourmous masses over extreme distances, but logistic bots are thought to transport stuff more or less inside a radar-area (with many exceptions!) to keep the interlooping of belts and inserters etc. low.
As an immediate solution, it would be good to be able to upgrade that limit in a setting of some kind.
I use them a lot and even with ultimate large factories I didn't come to those limits.
A slightly longer-term solution would be to have logistic robots carry twice as much. That would cut what is required roughly in half. I don't know why robots couldn't be upgraded to carry even a whole stack of items.
Because it is too heavy?
why are up to 4 items (or is it more?) not enough, what the hell are you doing?
ok, seriously: Not that I'm against it, but I fear, that this changes the whole gameplay into a ordinary build-up game. Factorio has this special element, where
form is function. I don't know much games, which have that, and it would be a big pity to lose that!
Another reason is, that - as far as I know - logistic robots are planned to use some energy and needs to be loaded, because they are currently to mighty. See this:
https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... =917#p7629
Btw: Do you know, that you can use the car to built belts really fast?
Each robot stores the following data:
- Supply chest identifier.
- Requester chest identifier.
- Direction/speed to supply chest.
- Direction/speed to requester chest.
- Boolean mode (supply/request).
When they arrive at a requester chest, and deposit material, they check that the chest is not full. They can then immediately switch mode and the task data is already loaded and ready to go. When they arrive at the supply chest, check to ensure there is still some supply. They can then immediately switch mode and the task data is already loaded and ready to go. There is no need for any operation except one comparison and flipping one boolean.
Inefficiencies arise when new chests are introduced closer, so the system can optimize existing robots when there are no idle robots left to be assigned.
I think this is a nice idea, but I think the idea of the charger points is much more useful, because this will bring again in the concept of form is function, because depending on where you place the charging poles and the chests, they will have different functions. This could be a quite interesting new task.
