, computers.
Say no more! Laxori's Central Request System (TM) is here to save the day!
Laxori's CRS saves you time and energy in micro-managing your resources by providing you with one central location where your resource demands can be modified.
The interface couldn't be simpler! You simply enter the amount of the resource you want into the constant combinator:
Interface - Request Rounds
I had quite a bit of a bug infestation on my hands at the time which may explain my need for piercing rounds!
The light above the combinator is on if the resource needs are met, and off if they are not. Nothing beats a glaring five kilowatt lamp shining in your face to let you know that your resources are ready!
The proof is in the pudding: those rounds are indeed sitting right there at the producer chest, ready for pick-up - and not a single bullet more, of course!
Chest of Rounds
Let's test this baby out. Say I decide I need a little more. No problem! I just set the new desired output:
More Rounds Plox
The light is already off, of course, as the rounds weren't produced yet!
In short order the new request is fulfilled, which we can easily discern at a glance via the glowing filaments of our trusty Lamp:
Request Fulfilled
Nothing beats the satisfaction of a factory efficiently executing your commands - and now via an easy interface! Just picture it now: solar panels, spare iron plates, steel, engines, all tweakable from one central location, regardless of where in your domain - your no-doubt vast expanse of conveyors and inserters, gleaming streams of copper and iron ore, packed to the brim giving you that satisfaction that *yes!*, the very life force of your factory, the arteries that its raw material conveyors truly are are packed to the brim, ready to be smelted and transformed into whatever your heart desires! - they are being produced.
Call our number now to talk to our top-notch consultants, which will determine your needs and get you the best deal possible on installing your very own Central Request System!
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</roleplay off>
This was my first playing-around with the circuit system and I thought this would be cute!
The implementation is simple enough. There are two circuit networks running through the base: red for request/demand, and green for available supply. The requester combinator gets negated and sent out as negative on the red wires:
Request Combinator
The red/green wires run all the way through to the production, where they are summed (using generic operator for simplicity/not having to think about it):
Production Combinator
If the sum is less than zero, this means there is still more request than demand - and so the inserter must insert!
Inserter Configuration
Finally, back at the requester, the circuits are summed again to see whether the production needs were met:
Production Display Settings
Each light must be configured with what need it's showing, of course:
Light Settings
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Some more thoughts: Ideally the ALT display would show what the constant combinator is set to, which would make it more obvious which resource is what. It would also be cool to be able to hook up the combinator to the light to give it the left-side variable of "the thing that this combinator is sending out" (e.g. piercing rounds in this case) - that way the lights wouldn't require their own config.
This could all be done with just the one constant combinator, and multiple lights, actually - but I thought it'd be nicer to group the request together with the display.
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Questions, comments, suggestions, feedback, are welcome!
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UPDATE: Now with progress bar!
