Buffer chests and provider chests should have the same priority of ordering items

[Bonaducci]

Currently bots are looking for items ordered by user in chests in following order:
- player trash (surely is closest)
- active provider (because it should be empties as soon as possible)
- storage (because it would lay there and occupy space otherwise)
- buffer chest
- passive provider

I think it is obvious last two should have equal priority. As requests are based on distance to chests with the same priority, buffer chests would be used in case they are closer. The problem happened to me is that I started using buffer chests in far away places so I had some buffer of frequently used things far from factory. Obviously I noticed huge delay in logistic requests right in the middle of factory where they should be available instantly. It turned out bots ordered things from far away to deliver to me and at the same time they took the same item from box right next to me to fill buffer chest they just used. It looks stupid and is stupid as buffer is intended to speed up requests, not the other way around.

One workaround would be using storage chests instead of passive providers. It has additional positive aspect that bots will try to place trash there instead of storage. Bad thing is that they might not take things from common storage as they see the same priority for both chests anyways and use closer ones. Moreover it requires setting filters for such provider.

Second solution is to use both buffer chests and passive provider chests so you have both equal priority and option to fill other buffer chests. It works but is unnecessary redundancy.

After all, if you are near factory that has full provider chest you should expect item to be delivered quickly from there. Not from outpost 5m flight away just because outpost has buffer chest and factory doesn't.

So my request is to equalize buffer chest and passive provider priority for character logistic requests.

[bobucles]

Should the rules for filling chests be different from the rules for emptying them? When it comes to filling chests, there is an expectation that items get moved around in some kind of priority. When it comes to emptying chests, bots should probably grab from the most convenient spot. But different rules can also create a loop of bots flying in circles, which is also a mess.

It probably makes sense for requester chests and construction bots to take items from the most local source they can find. The point of buffer chests and suppliers is to place items closer to the requesters, after all.

[csduff]

For the last 10 minutes I've been trying to come up with an argument for or against this. The only argument against I can think of is that your buffer chests should be laid out in such a way that generally precludes pulling from passive providers first, but that is not much of an argument, so I have to side with equalizing them.

It seems that there would be no circular movement of materials if they were levelled, as only the buffer can accept from the network. This could only have a net boost to speed, by reducing unnecessary movement of products.

That's a big +1 from me.

[Bonaducci]

But different rules can also create a loop of bots flying in circles, which is also a mess.

Rules are different anyways, at least regarding options. In this case robots will not take from buffer for any other work then player request (construction or logistic) or requester set explicitly to fetch from buffer. Passive provider on the other hand will never accept foreign items. In this case those rules make it reasonable to equalize priority.

The only argument against I can think of is that your buffer chests should be laid out in such a way that generally precludes pulling from passive providers first, but that is not much of an argument, so I have to side with equalizing them.

I thought about that and after all I made more buffers inside my island to avoid fetching things from entrances (which I use when I want to quickly fill up going back from outposts and go there again). The problem with this solution is that you either have to make big buffer chests or they will still use nearby buffers if closest one has not enough material despite big provider being closer to them. It requires a lot of redundancy to avoid that.
Second problem is sorely on logical side. You build factory with providers, you don't have higher technology. It works, especially when you are close to factory center. Now you make some outpost (or island entrance like me) and finally have buffer chests to make some buffer just near the entrance. Now I'm forced to build buffers everywhere because it broke behavior on the island. It would not be that bad if you could design it right away but passive provider is much lower level and surely you will have bunch of them already before even researching active chests. Now either you have to walk around and place/update buffer chests if you want to add new one with new item, or (like me) create bunch of them with all needed items, blueprint it and place it in various places around factory to have everything handy.

After all it is intuitive that buffer chests and provider chests differ only by option of requesting items. Otherwise they both will not accept foreign items (except ordered ones for buffer) and they both are designed mostly to provide those things where they are. Other than that, the only reason of passive provider existence is that something has to fill those buffers and requesters that don't use buffer chests.

I also wonder how "request from buffer chests" in requester works. Will it use both passive providers and buffers whichever is closest or rather switch to use buffers first similarly to player requests?

That's a big +1 from me.

Thanks.