Help - I can't find any oil on my map!

[basementjack]

Hi there,

I'm playing Factorio Vanilla .14.22

I've got a great map, but I can't find any oil!

I'm looking for pink dots on the map view and there aren't any.

My Radar has been running for a few hours and has scoped out a sizable area, maybe 10-20x the original spawn area is now on the map.

there are red nasties all over the map.

but no oil, and also very little in the way of iron ore.

I'm trying not to destroy any spawners as I don't want the biters to evolve just yet, and not sure my current state of amo is powerful enough to take them on in the first place.

I''ve got about 7.5 hours on this map - should I throw in the towel and start a new one?

Any Tips?

edit: map exchange string is:

>>>AAAOABYAAAADAwYAAAAEAAAAY29hbAMDAwoAAABjb3BwZXItb3Jl
AwMDCQAAAGNydWRlLW9pbAMDAwoAAABlbmVteS1iYXNlAwMDCAAAAGl
yb24tb3JlAwMDBQAAAHN0b25lAwMDHWBxPICEHgCAhB4AAwB4aKPG<<
<

if anyone is interested.

[quyxkh]

Green science can get you pretty far with bullet and gun-turret damage, and shooting speed. lvl3 I think? Get a car, get your piercing ammo production going, two A2's is my usual, but if you're starting late three or four might be good, and biters won't be anything more than a nuisance for a good long while. Slot 1 dedicated to turrets, slot 2 dedicated to piercing ammo, slot 5 dedicated to repair kits, start with 100 turrets, car and inventory loaded to the gills with ammo, 100 big poles, 20 radars, that's my first-big-expansion recipe. Leave a lonely turret in the remnants of every biter village you raze. Remember it's easier to clear out space you explored early and keep it clear. Leave turret sentries well beyond radar/power coverage and expect to eventually lose them, their damage and death are your sentry reports. They can be pretty sparse out there, you're not trying to keep the biters out, just to keep tabs on their expansion and maybe slow it down some.

And, it'll definitively answer your question about whether you're screwed on oil.

[basementjack]

thanks quyxkh!

Sounds like you're suggesting I venture out a bit farther and take on some enemies.

I've got piercing rounds being produced so I'll head out on an exploration.

- Jack

[quyxkh]

Seems that's your only option, doesn't it? With seven hours in i expect you've got the bullet/turret/speed research topped out for green, be sure of that tho. I'm guessing if your map's that red it'll take multiple trips, post a screenshot of the overview map? I'm not all that far ahead of you on game progress, I launched a rocket back in 12.33ish, took a break, back a few weeks ago, got sidetracked (heh) on train and combinator gizmos, they're my favorite obsession atm, but the expedition recipe's tried and true.

[basementjack]

I managed to find an oil reserve, but it's surrounded by bad guys.

I've tried using a few methods to clear out the bad guys, and have been roughly 50% successful clearing out the spawner nests.

Unfortunately there are these giant worms that seem to have longer range than I do. Not sure I have what I need to deal with that with only red and green science?

- Jack

[quyxkh]

Post the save? Now I'm all curious. I don't see how it got so out of control, I'm not often reduced to needing walls this early but that might be what it takes to stay alive. Kiting and spiking are generally enough for even the worst bases during my first big push.

[Kelderek]

You should have access to grenades, poison capsules and defender capsules with only red and green science, all of which can be used in a run in and out attack style. It may take a while, but poison capsules will eventually kill those worms while you wait out of reach. Set up some turrets just out of range to protect you when you come back from lobbing grenades or capsules at the worms and nests. I don't think poison affects the nests, but the grenades and defender bots will, and they all work on worms and biters.

Once you get that oil flowing I would invest in flamethrower for future nest clearing.

[basementjack]

I was able to just barely get a few pumpjacks in and put a few turrets around them.
These were out of reach of the Worms attacks, but the turrets attracted a steady stream of bad guys.

I was able to pipe the oil just out of reach into a walled off area protected by turrets, which enabled me to make some flame thrower amo, which still wasn't good enough, as I could never get close enough to the worms and get them long enough..

Then I discovered the flame thower turret.

Since I already had pumpjacks attached to a storage tank, I connected the flame thrower turret to the pipes and much to my surprise, the flamethrower turrets have a HUGE range and damage, and only basically need oil! I was able to clear out all the bad guys around the oil well, so now I can continue forward!

Now on to the daunting task of setting up a proper refinery and associated chemical plants.

- Jack

[steinio]

I was able to just barely get a few pumpjacks in and put a few turrets around them.
These were out of reach of the Worms attacks, but the turrets attracted a steady stream of bad guys.

I was able to pipe the oil just out of reach into a walled off area protected by turrets, which enabled me to make some flame thrower amo, which still wasn't good enough, as I could never get close enough to the worms and get them long enough..

Then I discovered the flame thower turret.

Since I already had pumpjacks attached to a storage tank, I connected the flame thrower turret to the pipes and much to my surprise, the flamethrower turrets have a HUGE range and damage, and only basically need oil! I was able to clear out all the bad guys around the oil well, so now I can continue forward!

Now on to the daunting task of setting up a proper refinery and associated chemical plants.

- Jack

Congratulations for not giving up.