Helmod vs Factory Planner

[je11693]

Hi guys, I'm really struggling with calculations and the planning aspect of my base in terms of number of machines etc so I am thinking of using one of these mods. What are the differences/pros/cons/etc of Helmod and Factory Planner? Which would you recommend using? Are they both easy to learn how to use, or one is better/more intuitive? I have never used either so looking for any advice people with more experience can give.

Thanks in advance!

[Therenas]

Well, if you ask me, the author of Factory Planner, I think you should use that one obviously! But seriously, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I originally created FP because I found Helmod to be difficult to learn and clunky to use in places. So the focus on FP is very much on the intuitiveness and the ease of getting into it. It's still not super easy, as a mod like this has some inherent complexity. I think FP has succeeded in being better to use than Helmod, but Helmod has recieved a ton of updates in the recent months, so it's useability has probably improved quite a bit as well.

Also, from what I can tell, users prefer Helmod for more complex situations, as it deals with those better. It also has a matrix solver, which mine doesn't (yet! it's in the works) have. More complex situations being things like oil processing and the like, where it's not simply a straight up chain of recipes.

All in all, I guess it depends on what you value most. Helmod might be more of an effort to get into, but might help you should you need it for complex situations. FP is probably easier to get started with, but you might run into some limitations. I think you should just give both a try and see what you think. They are also both in active development, so things might change in the future, of course.

[je11693]

Well, if you ask me, the author of Factory Planner, I think you should use that one obviously! But seriously, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I originally created FP because I found Helmod to be difficult to learn and clunky to use in places. So the focus on FP is very much on the intuitiveness and the ease of getting into it. It's still not super easy, as a mod like this has some inherent complexity. I think FP has succeeded in being better to use than Helmod, but Helmod has recieved a ton of updates in the recent months, so it's useability has probably improved quite a bit as well.

Also, from what I can tell, users prefer Helmod for more complex situations, as it deals with those better. It also has a matrix solver, which mine doesn't (yet! it's in the works) have. More complex situations being things like oil processing and the like, where it's not simply a straight up chain of recipes.

All in all, I guess it depends on what you value most. Helmod might be more of an effort to get into, but might help you should you need it for complex situations. FP is probably easier to get started with, but you might run into some limitations. I think you should just give both a try and see what you think. They are also both in active development, so things might change in the future, of course.

Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts. Just to clarify, can FP be used for oil and related products? I am not familiar with what a matrix solver is/does, so not entirely clear if you meant FP just can't be used for those products.

[Therenas]

Well, you can use it for that, but it'll be more fiddly to get the cracking recipes ratios right by manually entering percentages. Matrix solvers (in theory) take care of that for you automatically, optimizing which recipes too use in which ratio and so on. They don't always work correctly though for all situations, so it's not a perfect solution either.

[KrazyTygr]

I tried Helmod when I first started playing (years ago), but found it too hard to get working. I then discovered Kirk McDonald's online Factorio Calculator, so I now use this to plan overall production, but when I know the total number of factories needed for each product I have started to use Factory Planner in game for the individual builds.

[je11693]

I tried Helmod when I first started playing (years ago), but found it too hard to get working. I then discovered Kirk McDonald's online Factorio Calculator, so I now use this to plan overall production, but when I know the total number of factories needed for each product I have started to use Factory Planner in game for the individual builds.

Thanks @KrazyTygr. How do you typically plan your base? e.g. do you start out with a goal of x SPM, then use Kirk's calculator to work out how many of each building you need, and go from there? Or do you only work out the number of buildings needed as you go through the game?

[KrazyTygr]

Thanks @KrazyTygr. How do you typically plan your base? e.g. do you start out with a goal of x SPM, then use Kirk's calculator to work out how many of each building you need, and go from there? Or do you only work out the number of buildings needed as you go through the game?

I generally start with a bootstrap base, so use Kirk's calculator with 45spm to start (as provided in the link). Then it depends on what my objective is - at present I'm working on a 10,000 spm base so that goes into the calculator, with prod and speed modules so I get an idea of what production/minute I need for each item, then those numbers go into Factory Planner to work out how to set up the factories.

I think my next project will be with Krastorio2, so Kirk's calculator will not be a lot of use, but (unless I'm wrong) Factory Planner will still be able to use the in-game data for Krastorio2 to provide the production chains required.

[je11693]

Thanks @KrazyTygr. How do you typically plan your base? e.g. do you start out with a goal of x SPM, then use Kirk's calculator to work out how many of each building you need, and go from there? Or do you only work out the number of buildings needed as you go through the game?

I generally start with a bootstrap base, so use Kirk's calculator with 45spm to start (as provided in the link). Then it depends on what my objective is - at present I'm working on a 10,000 spm base so that goes into the calculator, with prod and speed modules so I get an idea of what production/minute I need for each item, then those numbers go into Factory Planner to work out how to set up the factories.

I think my next project will be with Krastorio2, so Kirk's calculator will not be a lot of use, but (unless I'm wrong) Factory Planner will still be able to use the in-game data for Krastorio2 to provide the production chains required.

That's really helpful, thank you!

[Therenas]

I think my next project will be with Krastorio2, so Kirk's calculator will not be a lot of use, but (unless I'm wrong) Factory Planner will still be able to use the in-game data for Krastorio2 to provide the production chains required.

Yes being able to incorporate any and all recipes and items that you actually have in your game is one of the major benefits of having a mod calculating stuff.

[Naltar_Orion]

Hey, guys.
I wanted to know if it is difficult to implement the visual component of kirkmcdonald in FactoryPlanner and Helpmod?

[Therenas]

That is indeed quite difficult, although not impossible. Don't think I'll tackle that particular problem though.