Threshold in Buffer Chests

[chris13524]

Currently, buffer chests don't do much "buffering". Instead they just make items quicker to access. But as soon as something is retrieved from a buffer chest, another bot is dispatched to restore the stuff into the buffer chest. It's more of a pit stop than a buffer.

I suggest that there be another slider associated with each item: threshold. It would define the number of items fewer than the requested amount where items will being to be requested.

So for example, if you request 50 repair packs with a threshold of 10. If a bot is damaged and a single repair pack is taken out of the buffer check to repair it, no bot comes to replenish the buffer chest. It is only once the amount drops to 40 or below where a pack of robots are dispatched to replenish the chest back up to 50.

This would be particularly useful in my base. I have a train stop that delivers repair packs (and more) to a section of wall. Then I have several buffer chests closer to the wall which will aid in immediate damage recovery. Currently, every time a single repair pack is consumed, a train is dispatched to deliver supplies. But once it gets there, the stop only needs 1 (!) repair pack. With a threshold in place, trains would only be dispatched when a large amount of items are needed.

I realize my example could be aided by adding a threshold with combinators in the stop itself, but I think that having a threshold in the buffer chest would make sense and be more efficient in the long run.

Of course, in the current version, a threshold could be designed with combinators, a requester chest, and a buffer chest. This works because buffer chests do no deliver to requester chests. However, the devs noted that buffer chests could deliver to requester chests in the future so this solution would break.