First time doing robot logistics!

[thereaverofdarkness]

I am a veteran of Factorio but I have spent very little time in the endgame segment. Initially it did not interest me, but now as I have a better understanding of circuit networks and robot logistic systems, and with the new science packs that 0.15 brought, my interest has been re-kindled! I also am much better at building factories that can handle the large amounts of throughput necessary for producing expensive items such as high-tech science packs.

I found a cool spot to make an outpost. It has a nice large iron patch right next to water, with enough coal nearby, and oil patch in close proximity, and a decent-sized copper patch not too far away. I got a very lousy setup running on a different outpost for production and high-tech science packs, and I barely scraped up enough high-techs to research logistic system, but as I was building the wall on my new outpost, it made me think this would be a good time to work with robot logistics for the first time. Instead of making major changes to an existing base, I could setup the base to use robot logistics from the get-go. I think this could revolutionize a few things, most importantly perhaps wall defense! I'm going to try making a series of turret clusters separated with big electric poles and requester chests, as opposed to my older method of placing 1-2 turrets per medium electric pole and putting a cumbersome feeder belt wrapping all the way around the base. I then plan to build the base using blueprints and construction robots as much as possible. I had been using roboports more recently, but I just placed them in existing bases with a few wall supplies and construction robots so that I didn't have to come repair the wall after attacks. Now I'm diving in deeper!

I won't be seeking advice just yet because I want to stumble through this on my own, but I wanted to share this experience with you guys. I'm sure several of you veteran players can remember back to the first time you got acquainted with robots, and the excitement of revolutionizing your logistic systems. So I'd like you guys to regale me with tales of your first times (and struggles) using robots, blueprints, circuit networks, automated railways, and any other of the more complex parts of Factorio. I look forward to hearing your stories!

[Nich]

My first time playing I did not use robots because I felt they were too cheaty/easy. However now on my second game I am realizing that robots come with there own set of problems that keep them interesting.

[thereaverofdarkness]

My first time playing I did not use robots because I felt they were too cheaty/easy. However now on my second game I am realizing that robots come with there own set of problems that keep them interesting.

Yes, I agree. We watch veteran players on YouTube absolutely owning the game with robots, and it looks too easy. But really it's a mark of championship. It's sort of like a frigate crew upgrading to a battleship. Sure, war is much easier to wage when you have a battleship, but it's actually pretty difficult to run a battleship compared to that frigate.

[purdueme91]

I'm on my 2nd 0.15 playthrough. Didn't use requester chests on first one and this time I'm playing with Bob's. I cannot wait until I get robots this time through. Seems like all I'm doing is replacing walls that the new spitters can one shot My last 0.14 playthrough I was at 3000 logistic robots and I was using robots for the first time supplying ore directly to furnaces. It was the first time I broke 400k iron per hour and at 600k or so the belts couldn't bring ore fast enough. Power drain was enormous, I think I maxed out at 400MW for supply. But yes it was tons of fun setting up the networks, building things instantly and not having to worry about how to transport stuff through the maze of belts and pipes. And now being able to place blueprints through the map view...oh the possibilities.

[Kelderek]

I've always used bots in pretty much every game I've played, but often in only limited ways - for example, I never used them for loading or unloading trains, I never used them for smelting, etc. Each new playthrough I try using them for something new. In my current 0.15 game I am making heavy use of bots and have several parts of my factory and outposts that have no belts at all, just trains, bots and inserters for moving items.

I'm in the process of planning out an outpost entirely focused on making high tech science at (hopefully) 2 packs/second to start without modules or beacons. I estimate I will need over 250 assemblers, and I want to do it without belts, so that should be a lot of fun! I'll be bringing in only copper and iron plates, plastic, and sulfuric acid by train, everything else will be made on site.

[Lav]

Tried using robots once.

Quickly discovered that my habit of placing tons of ghosts for markup / measurement / planning doesn't mesh well with them for some reason.

[realm174]

It took me quite a while to get started with bots. At first, I just couldn't see the point, since I could do everything with belts anyway.. My first experience was with construction bots. I quickly realized I built the same thing over and over, and it just became tedious really fast doing it by hand. (Think of things like, mining areas, or smelting areas, or a bunch of assembler with inserters in and out). So I discovered blueprints, and haven't gone back since then. Whenever I start a new game, one of my most pressing goal is to get blueprints/bots going. Saves a bunch of time and planning. The next thing I discovered is to have separate networks (roboports clustered in separate groups). I found out accidently, sorta, that it was better that way. I had a base that was getting quite large. I enjoy paving the road for my trains with concrete. Construction bots are awesome for that. Until such time where they are trying to reach an area that is very far, in a straight line, over a territory that has no roboports. So they go to the nearest roboport, recharge, and attempt to make it to destination, run out of power, and head back to the same roboport they just left. And there I was, wondering where my 20,000 construction bots were hiding... (then, I learned to limit the number of bots being assembled.. LOL!)

I typically have 2-3 games on the go, and alternate between each, depending on the mood. In one of them, I use only construction bots, no logistics. So that forces me to use belt/trains/pipes to move stuff around. On another one, I use mostly bots. I have maybe 200 pieces of belts layed out, and even those I could probably get rid of.. It's just fascinating to see swarms of bots unloading trains, or moving thousands of green circuits at once...

Bots are lots of fun, but can be frustrating at times. You'll find your niche, whatever fits your play style.