Becons and Modules

[Nich]

I am still trying to figure out where Becons and Modules fit into the game. I mean for nearly 4k resources I can add 50% speed to a unit or for 400ish resources I add in another level 3 assembler and get a 100% speed bonus.

Productivity kind of makes sense as if you apply them to end products (blue and red circuits or rocket parts) you will multiply all the resources condensed into them but again it is a lot cheaper to make more miners and oil rigs.

I did have a little fun making a super efficient base using all green assemblers with 3 level 1 modules and level 2 on pumps and plants.

Maybe I just need an end game factory that spans 10,000s of tiles before I will appreciate the need to make things more compact.

[hansinator]

Maybe I just need an end game factory that spans 10,000s of tiles before I will appreciate the need to make things more compact.

Mhh my reasoning was like that: If you plan bases with 100k-200k per minute iron/copper plate production rate (or 1 rocket per minute) with max prod and speed you need 40% less input and 40% less belt throughput between train stations and furnaces. So you can get away with less train stations and less furnaces, but the reduced belt spaghetti was most appealing to me. Who cares if I need to setup a few more solar plants for that. And if I fire enough rockets the costs of building all those modules will eventually amortize.

[BlakeMW]

The low level modules are very good value when used in high production recipes: Like the prod1 modules provide +4% but that becomes +16% in assembler 3, to offset the speed penalty you need to use speed 1 modules either in beacons or you can replace one of the prod1 modules with a speed1.

Anyway when you're using prod1 modules in multiple steps (say RGB circuits) it becomes 1.16*1.16*1.16 = +56% production and I reckon the lvl1 modules will be cheaper than increasing the scale of everything below the RGB circuits by 56%.

Once you're using the lvl1 modules you can progressively upgrade to lvl2 and lvl3 modules, each level of productivity makes the next generation of productivity a bit cheaper once you have 3 steps of prod3 you're gaining1.4*1.4*1.4 = +174% production or another way of expressing this is it reduces the cost of lvl3 modules to only 36% of what it would be without modules, if you're planning to stick with the factory for a few hours this will pay off.

A big advantage of this kind of productivity is it greatly eases logistics: When you're employing prod3 modules at 3 steps you only need 1 belt of input instead of 3, making a copper belt go 3x further can be easier than finding room to add 2 more copper belts.

Note that using prod and speed modules in combination greatly magnifies the power of the prod modules, a +400% speed bonus from speed beacons, becomes a +1000% real production speed boost when used on an assembler running at -60% speed due to Prod modules, the increased speed also offsets the increased power consumption to the extent that prod+speed beacons is not any more energy intensive (per item produced) than pure prod modules and by using prod+speed beacons you need a lot fewer modules overall (having your prod3 modules operate at +1000% speed is much better than making 11x as many of them! To get that +1000% speed boost you only need to make 2 speed3 modules for every 1 prod3 module)

[Daid]

Best tip I've seen is using it for oil production. Pumpjacks can contain speed modules and becons add on top of that. As oil is infinite, but slow. This really helps.

[Nich]

So the productivity and speed multiply but the power and power only add?
4 productivity 3s add 40% items at-60% speed for 320% energy
16 speed 3's add 400% speed for 560% energy

Totaling 516% items for only 880% energy?
I am guessing this follows an area law thus you want to keep your speed bonus an and productivity bonus roughly equal?

Assembly machine 3 uses 210 KW base so that is 2 MW
8 beacons use 3.84 MW together that will require roughly 173 solar panels and 180 accumulators valued at about 46,200 materials which is in the same ball park as the modules them selves

Is this a bug? Shouldn't all the speeds and productivity's multiply?
i.e. 4 productivity 3s add 284% items at-97.44% speed for 950% energy
16 speed 3's add 3,452% speed for 12,171% energy

Totaling 349% items for 128,845% energy

I guess at the end of the day they do have a guaranteed ROI. I saw a post that said level 1s pay for them selves in 8 minutes in top end recipes. I dont think they took into account the extra energy required but that would really only double the time. I guess I wanted to go straight to level 3 because that is end game but working your entire factory up is probably a better idea

[BlakeMW]

Yup that's right, the way that module effects interact is *very* favorable, they end up using surprisingly little energy per item - even considering the energy consumed by the Beacons. It is a bit more than making items without modules, and a lot more than making items with efficiency 1 modules but electricity is very cheap and spammable so energy use is pretty much a non-issue.

Generally alternating rows, such that each beacon covers 8 assemblers and each assembler benefits from 8 beacons is considered the optimal layout - however since speed3 beacons are a good deal cheaper than prod3 assemblers there is a justification for going "beacon rich" - for example it's more important that each assembler benefits from 8 beacons than that each beacon benefits 8 assemblers, so on the edges of an alternate rows layout you'll have under-utilized beacons so that all the assemblers can get maximum speed bonus.

[aober93]

I am still trying to figure out where Becons and Modules fit into the game. I mean for nearly 4k resources I can add 50% speed to a unit or for 400ish resources I add in another level 3 assembler and get a 100% speed bonus.

Productivity kind of makes sense as if you apply them to end products (blue and red circuits or rocket parts) you will multiply all the resources condensed into them but again it is a lot cheaper to make more miners and oil rigs.

I did have a little fun making a super efficient base using all green assemblers with 3 level 1 modules and level 2 on pumps and plants.

Maybe I just need an end game factory that spans 10,000s of tiles before I will appreciate the need to make things more compact.

In my first game i didnt see the effect too. But later in the game when u go big it becomes apparent. You save like around 80% resources just by productivity. Adding speed modules and beacons saves like in the regions of 80% all modules and buildings needed, and therefore it saves power and even more resources.

This is the most efficient for big bases.

[Linosaurus]

So the productivity and speed multiply but the power and power only add?
4 productivity 3s add 40% items at-60% speed for 320% energy
16 speed 3's add 400% speed for 560% energy

Totaling 516% items for only 880% energy?

Yeah. And something like 1272% extra pollution, which is not that bad. A few game versions ago speed modules also had an explicit pollution penalty, not just production modules. Pollution ahoy!

Pollution is another reason efficiency modules are nice early/mid game, since pollution scales with both power usage and pollution penalties. At least on death words

[bobucles]

Eco modules are excellent early on for exploiting the difficulty system. Biters scale based on pollution, and efficiency reduces pollution. Great way to stay ahead of the tech curve.

At the rocket stage a handful of production modules go a long way. The power of production modules depend on the sheer number of resources going through it. A rocket pad burns more resources than anything else by far. Say hello to 40% free rockets.

Late game is all about the scaling. Speed and productivity modules make the most of your postgame resources.