EDIT : 0.17 VERSION, it doesn't work anymore because some recipes have changed, I'll make a new thread for the 1.0 version soon
This is the new mega base i build with the vanilla game from the start(no "game changing" mods), some choice are the same with my first mega base : viewtopic.php?f=204&t=69802
My post on reddit showing quickly the concept https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comme ... es_my_car/
I use cars on belt because i was lookin for solutions near from a stackable belt and i wish to make megabases without any mods (or just few Quality of life Mods such as Zoom and BottleNeck so far). If i do things right, cars on belt allows inserters to work only with stack of item, inserters no longer needs to take item one by one on a belt but there is a catch... we need to make a true automation with inserters and belt to not make things worst for updates than classic belt (such as inserter lookin for target each tick, car making collisions). I try to handle it with simple method, but it's not enough to be truely ups efficient. I just try to give a shape to an idea (full process with car on belt) without looking for perfection for now, it's a prototype, a draft.
1) Central Quarter
To achieve X kpsm in the game, I need to build X+1 silo, so my megabase starter got :
- Mall to build everything
- Ammo Shop
- AM for bots and vehicles
- AM for each module type
- The "X+1" Silo with 20 beacon to produce the missing space science.
- Train stations for my personnal needs.
Screenshots
2) Self Contained 1 kspm entirely processed with cars on belt
The inputs are train of :
-Iron, Copper, Stone, Coal, Crude Oil (I build it near from water)
-Nuclear Fuel for trains and some space science pack to have a full 1kspm consumption in
Output :
- 1k spm of each first 6 science (military include) and 970 space spm injected in labs.
- The player can take from the module solar panel and accumulator, also some roboports and electrical post to make a ups efficient energy production. My first thought was to not have outputs at all,but if i make all furnaces and AM on ratio, make the good distribution of each item is not so easy. So i decided to make few more furnaces and AM for circuit then i deal with a saturation problem that i can more easily manage to my PoV, solar panel and accumulator are the valve to a slightly overkill furnaces and circuitry set up. Take stuff from the module is possible, it's not an obligation.
I use around 1600 cars to produce and consume 1kspm. I use logistic delivery to set up personnaly every car with the good filter, a nuclear fuel and some ura ammo for the science loop. It can be long and difficult. When cars make the race, the player can block a car, breaking a loop : only the player can break the process when it's started. Make a save before going inside, you can reload if you touch something, try to find his own way, avoid cars can be fun, or not. It's better to use creative mod to see what happen inside in god mode, to make a BP edition of cars on belt...
The Full Set up
A) Train into cars :
I use car as intermediate container to make material transfer, it allows me to use inserter with a positionning i "like"
After drone mining, a challenge was to find a way to put material into cars when it comes from a train :
- I dont truely know exactly what remains in a car
- It's hard to find a way to make balancing between cargo wagon when I load cars
For those reasons, i create a circuitry(3 comparator near from the locomotive, 1 timer, 1 time threshold, 1 materials ammount threshold), each time a train come, a timer begin, after 12 sec (it takes 723 tick for a cargo to be unload by 6 inserter into "chests") i take value from chests, if a chest dont got the good amount of materials (so i take the total), it means one cargo is empty, and the train got order to go at the mining field, even if some materials is remaining in the train.
Each "car stop" need 2 comparator for the stop and the start, and one final comparator to make inserter filter activation.
train station
B ) Car into car
It allows me to have a good throughput when i need to transfer material from a car to an another one. Six stack inserters working only in a "chest to chest" configuration have good results for me. I need to have Filter to be sure to grab the good item each time. I got to repeat the same station sometimes to aim the good amount of material going in or out the "car loop"
Car stop
C) Cars on belt
A tile of blue belt needs 11 tick of activation to release a car, so i choose to make for all "central car loops" 3 different clocks on the same network to control all belt for assemblers. I choose the period of a clock that way : it got to be 11x2x3xN tick lenght to make things easier for the synchro. I do 3 different clocks, one with N=2 (short period, it's for the bus to have high throughput), one with N=3 (for classic line of AM such as science, circuitry..) and the last with N=6 for long process (rocket parts). (Figure 01)
Each signal is divide by :
-11 to use the result to make all belt automation : green signal from 0 to 11, red from 0 to 17 and the yellow from 0 to 35
-5 to use the result to make most of output inserter automation (Figure 02). It's easier for me to find the good moment for activation that way.
I try to let a car/container in front of all input inserter so they suppose to not be active all the time
Furnaces got their own clock :
It takes between 245 and 246 tick for a furnace surround with 8 beacon to process 12 ores. So i release a car every 246 tick, each time a car pass in front of inserters: 1 swing for an input inserter, 2 swing for an ouput inserter (Figure 03)
Belt automation
D) Car inventory
i choose to make filter on most of car inventory to be sure to not go into a deadlock. It's not an obligation, but lot of calculation is necessary to make things effective without, we need to count each item to be sure of each quantity we are dealing with each time etc.. filter make things easier for me, but it's not the optimal choice (ratio issues..)
Inventory filters
3) Updates and production
I try to keep inactive inserters when there is no car in front of it, it improves performance because inserter dont look for a target each tick.
Screenshots
4) The save
https://www.mediafire.com/file/ezoj4gi2 ... e.zip/file
Thanks : Allaizn for showing me lot of tools and tricks about cars on belt.
Suggestion for Vanilla QoL: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=72378
Factorio is Awesome! Cheers!
