Set speed

[Euchale]

Hi all,

it would be great if you could set the efficiency with which assemblers work. So if one of your machines produces too much, you can just turn down the production speed. Maybe it could use less energy? Just an Idea, I hope that not 100 people before asked for this.

[ssilk]

Hm. Not bad.

A possibility is this: use accumulators to reduce the power for parts of the factory (the accu can be used as a transformator, one accu can transfer maximum 300 kW), more accus for more power. In the night and with solar cells only, this will stop production, when you have solar cells only and switch off the steam engines. Stopped production = no energy use = no pollution.

But yes, I could think to some mechanism, that the construction bots plug in modules, dependent on the current situation:
- High input resources but low output resources: Speed modules
- Low input and high output: efficiency.
- Low input and low output: productivity.

[kengonakajima]

How about a power switching by green and red cables?
New item: power switch that can be attached to an electricitiy pole, and it can turn on and off the power.
You can turn the switch by hand and also by green/red cable.

[ssilk]

Oh, yes, well, then also the logistic network. I mean it's logical, that if you have 20000 iron ore in a LogNet, but only 20 iron plates, that you need faster smelting.

Yes I like that and it would make really sense to me. And it gives the construction bots a new job. The big open question is more or less, how to program that, that it is easy understandable...
Or perhaps it needs a module slot to include that automatic.

[Euchale]

The idea came from Industry Giant II. You are able to adjust the speed of every factory to 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. Something like this would already suffice. Bonus points for the ability to link it to a conveyor belt so that you can do "If conveyor belt full increase to 100%, else 50%"

[Cos]

...was thinking about module insertion for a slightly different reason in another thread but switching priorities is interesting.

e.g. Power:

Some want to run steam flat out.
Some want to run steam only at sundown.
Some want to run steam only as a backup - when the accus have run dry after a laser fight at night for example.

Personally I like setting up option 3 using exisitng equipment (main grid powered belt loop > burner inserter > steam engine > inserters to fire the backup steam system).
Once it's set I can forget it.

Same for module equiped buildings:

I know module settings have been mooted but...

I'm not so sure about giving settings (Efficiency / Productivity / Speed) because it relies on human intervention and removes the automation 'place and forget'.
If it could be made somehow reliant on sensors (perhaps conencted by wires as mentioned above) that would be preferrable - to me at least.

When WE choose which modules to use we are weighing up a number of factors. How can we use the physical and environmental conditions to allow the automated factory to make broadly the same decisions?

Lets look at modules.

What makes us choose efficiency?

1) Lack of power.
This can be monitored already through the grid though switching invidual machines (examples of how to do so via accumulators above) is cumbersome. Possible upcoming daylight sensor too.
Problem is that once the power drops low it is often too late. We use modules to prevent brownouts / blackouts - not to recover from them.
2) Pollution.
This one is interesting. Many cities now have 'air quality' monitors scattered which record polutiuon levels and other data. What if we had a polution monitor?
What if outside my base I have a group of 8 mining drills, beyond that is a band of forest, beyond that open ground, beyond that biter nests:

BASE - MINE - FOREST - OPEN - BITERS

I place a polution sensor just beyond the forest and link it to the miners:

BASE - MINE - FOREST - POLLUTION SENSOR - OPEN - BITERS

As soon as the pollution sensor reaches a set level it relays a signal (red / green wires?) to the miners and tells them to run in 'efficiency' mode. As some of the mines deplete the pollution level drops and we switch to 'speed' mode.

For the record I think efficiency (if available) should be the default because it is the only module that produces exclusively positive effects.

What makes us choose speed?

1) errr.... we want to make things faster. Duh.
This can be monitored several ways. Visually - 'that belt is empty so I need more throughput'. This would require a 'belt loaded' sensor which I think is a messy solution.
LOG NETs / Smart Chests - ability to count how much of a resource is available and relay a signal (only to smart inserters for now).
What if I can connect the LOG NET / smart chest at the output end of my mine to the miners themselves?
We already have 2,000 coal in the LOG NET / smart chest - efficiency mode please. Or - we have less than 2000 available - switch to speed mode.

What makes us choose productivity?

1) Alien artefacts.... just kidding.
1b) We want to maximise a rare resource.
This cannot be easily monitored in game if it is not in the LOG NET so things like my mine are out. However - the excellent resource monitor mod does allow us to research a monitor that tracks the quantity of a resource and the rate at which it is being consumed.

Perhaps we should have a LOGNET for all of the obtianed resources and a SURVEYNET for those that are still in the ground.
Few applications for this one - unless one day we add a super rare resource(s) - unobtainium?

That's my (incomplete and far from bulletproof) take on how we obtain the input conditions for the auomatic system of distributing or using the right modules:

Grid Monitor / Daylight Sensor / Pollution Monitor
Belt Loaded Sensor / Smart Chest or LOG NET
Resouce Monitor (mod)

I belive these are some of the building blocks. They may be the wrong shapes and sizes and not fit together properly but if you can start to build something out of them I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

-Cos

edit: whats the point of a preview button if the user is daft enough to submit before he reads his typos anyway!

[ssilk]

Let's see, what 0.12 brings for new possibilities with the circuit network and maybe this can be modded.

For completeness the mentioned article https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... =18&t=9346