Building Backpressure with Combinators

[dragontamer5788]

Since I posted the last update on Reddit, the official Factorio Forums get word of today's update. Please enjoy!

http://factorioguide.nfshost.com/

This guide is a work in progress! I only have 3 sections written up (backpressure introduction, red and green wires, and remote backpressure), that covers only red/green wires and constant combinators. Still, I have an ambitious outline and video-editing + text style that I hope you all can enjoy.

I'll be adding more sections as time goes on. My original outline was discussed on reddit, although I'm going to cut it short due to length. This project is taking far more video editing and writing than I expected.

The next section planned is "Pulse Mode Backpressure", which will introduce arithmetic and decider combinators.

[grouchysmurf]

Fantastic, thanks for this, finally something written not for a post-graduate in combinator logic.

Example with ammo counting I find amazingly useful in my factories in which I solely defend with gun turrets.

[brunzenstein]

Thank you indeed for your dedication dragontamer5788 - that was long awaited / needed!

[Deadly-Bagel]

On the "Remote Backpressure with Negative Numbers" page you say you add -15 iron to a box containing 100 iron equalling -85 iron (which it doesn't), but the GIF shows -100 iron constant combinator adding to a box containing 15 iron which is I think what you meant to write.

Also while I vaguely know the definition of an actuator and a read entity, it may be worth clarifying exactly what these terms mean given the level of detail of the guide.

Otherwise looks pretty good ^^ Looking forward to the rest of it. Out of curiosity how do you create your GIFs?

[dragontamer5788]

Example with ammo counting I find amazingly useful in my factories in which I solely defend with gun turrets.

The main thing is that my next section will describe a much easier wiring system that uses far fewer clicks and fewer resouces / fewer wires, but you need to learn pulse-mode first before you can understand it. IMO, the methodology I filmed is "easy to understand" but not the best way of doing things.

[brunzenstein]

Example with ammo counting I find amazingly useful in my factories in which I solely defend with gun turrets.

The main thing is that my next section will describe a much easier wiring system that uses far fewer clicks and fewer resouces / fewer wires, but you need to learn pulse-mode first before you can understand it. IMO, the methodology I filmed is "easy to understand" but not the best way of doing things.

Any timeframe for the next update?
Will we find a reminder here?

[dragontamer5788]

Example with ammo counting I find amazingly useful in my factories in which I solely defend with gun turrets.

The main thing is that my next section will describe a much easier wiring system that uses far fewer clicks and fewer resouces / fewer wires, but you need to learn pulse-mode first before you can understand it. IMO, the methodology I filmed is "easy to understand" but not the best way of doing things.

Any timeframe for the next update?
Will we find a reminder here?

I'll bump this topic on the next update.

No timeframe. Its taking a week or so to write out a section and film it.

Otherwise looks pretty good ^^ Looking forward to the rest of it. Out of curiosity how do you create your GIFs?

Fraps -> Sony Vegas 10 -> UTVideo (lossless render) -> FFMpeg WebM/VP9 (for Chrome / Firefox) or FFMpeg MP4 / H264 (for Internet Explorer / Safari).

Gotta get those high-quality videos under 3MB. Most of the videos are under 500kb actually. The longest is the 45-second "remote backpressure" video at 2.1MB. Unfortunately, it looks like I messed up Mpeg4 encoding and it isn't decoding on my phone. Gonna have to play with my FFMpeg settings...

[brunzenstein]

dragontamer5788 should enter that clever idea to your wiki: https://youtu.be/_63N3QuPZF0

[Theurgist]

Wow great miniguide. I've been playing Factorio for ages and done a lot of circuit work, but this is the first time I've truly understood Anything or Everything properly, thank you! Also the thought never occured to me to wire up an entire belt to limit flow, I usually just limit the output chest and call it a day. ^^