Factorio Forums

Perhaps I am missing something obvious, but numbers from beacons and modules don't add up to 2245% this lab have:


^Crazy 2245% lab


^Normal lab

Lab speed is one of the few if only place that the speed modules work in a multiplicative fashion rather than additive, resulting in what you are seeing.

Pretty sure those numbers are right and expected.

Starting with the normal lab. Speed (1 - 2 x 0.15) x (1 + 2.5) = 0.7 x 3.5 = 2.45 = +145%
The - 2 x 0.15 comes from the 2 productivity lvl 3 modules. The + 2.5 comes from +250% lab research speed bonus.

For the beaconed lab the calculation is (1 - 2 x 0.15 + 12 x 0.5) x (1 + 2.5) = 6.7 x 3.5 = 23.45 = +2245%
Where the 12 x 0.5 comes from the 12 beacons, and everything else is the same as before.

So I guess the only possible bug is whether the UI is clear enough on where these numbers come from.

Should they be multiplicative like that whereas everywhere else it's additive?

Zavian wrote:Pretty sure those numbers are right and expected.

Starting with the normal lab. Speed (1 - 2 x 0.15) x (1 + 2.5) = 0.7 x 3.5 = 2.45 = +145%
The - 2 x 0.15 comes from the 2 productivity lvl 3 modules. The + 2.5 comes from +250% lab research speed bonus.

For the beaconed lab the calculation is (1 - 2 x 0.15 + 12 x 0.5) x (1 + 2.5) = 6.7 x 3.5 = 23.45 = +2245%
Where the 12 x 0.5 comes from the 12 beacons, and everything else is the same as before.

So I guess the only possible bug is whether the UI is clear enough on where these numbers come from.

Damn, 22.5 is a lot. Enough to convince me I really ought to rethink my approach to laying out science labs in late-game play.... especially since in my big-ish campaign lack of labs (or room to place them without huge hassle) has become the binding constraint on my science consumption.

A 4x4 beacon grid could only be replaced by a 3x3 lab grid without beacons... even then there'd be no way at all to feed the lab in the middle, even if we left a gap like in the picture... so that's well over 2x space efficiency and we can still optimize further in one dimension when building a field-of-labs (if you build it, the science packs may not come )

Probably lab research speed should add to module bonuses rather than multiply so the increase is less ridiculous (~+900% instead of ~+2000%), but I don't have strong opinion either way.

Unless one of the other devs wants to change it I don't see this as a problem. Increased research speed doesn't make things easier it just means less total labs - the science pack cost remains fixed.

How about the reverse?

Productivity modules in mining drills currently add with Mining productivity research, making them almost useless if you researched a high level of Mining productivity.