regarding my blueprints and other neat things

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ranzolger
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regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by ranzolger »

introduction
over the last couple of years i published various late- or endgame blueprints. i just wanted a central place to discuss questions and explain some of the things i created. of course i'm open for enhancements, other refinements and points of view.

i'm still working on most of the bps, as some still have some (minor) flaws :oops:. version history is provided, also a (hopefully) proper description and screens. i may add, delete or correct things within this post without further note (i do not intend to do so). due to character limitations i will not post blueprints, but all are linked (i may link to: factorioprints.com, imgur.com, pastebin.com, kirkmcdonald.github.io, docs.google.com, factorio.com).

for the creation of those blueprints i set myself some limitations/must-haves:
main goals:
  • blue belts only
  • avoid robots where possible (except construction)
  • 8-beaconed assembling rows (10 tiles high)
  • tileable
  • 'production islands' connected by trains
  • vanilla
with production islands i mean dedicated production facilities which handle big amounts of related products (eg. green/red/blue circuits, copper/iron/steel plates, everything with chem plants,...). each of those islands should be supplied by trains and be stackable with itself (to increase production easily). this lead to the general setup as it is.

production island example
train station design
first of, i decided to go left hand drive (LHD) as at the time i started making those bps we used LHD. in some cases its easier to put signals but, as you leave a train you pop out on the left side of the train and will not stay in between the tracks. also LHD is way cooler ;). i wanted train stations which have the same height as a standart 8-beaconed assembler row (=10 tiles) so it would be easy to stack them (best seen in 'The Smelter'). also i used the 2-track design which, in perfect circumstances, could double train throughput (-> forum discussion), in my experiences throughput may be increased by ~40%. as with this system a couple of stations with the same name (un-/ loaded item) may be stacked on top of each other, all stations whose buffers fulfill the storage requirements should turn off. this might be simple to achieve but may lead to a 'no path' error when all stations are deactivated (-> station circuitry).

there are 4 and 8 wagon versions. the 8 wagon version uses 4 chests instead of 6 as it was impossible (at least for me) to find a proper belt setup which made it possible to use 2-4 and 2-8 trains. also the belting itself was way easier :D. the other big difference are the thresholds that are used in the (->station circuitry).

train-stop naming scheme
universal stacker
as the name may suggest this stacker works with all the stations in my bps. there are 2 versions: for 2-4 and 2-8 trains. they are supposed to be build below the first train-stop of any production island. they provide an unused track for players use (eg. building trains, fuel supply, playertrain parking spot, whatever...), it can be used by trains to bypass the station too.

there are some things those stackers provide aswell:
  • 'always active' CC: this one will overwrite the station circuitry and activate all train-stops regardless of their un-/loading thresholds (its off by default).
  • set fuel CC: here you can set the desired fuel for all train-stops within the station (preset to 10 nuclear fuel).
  • easy extension via 'Universal Stacker Tracks' blueprint (overprint the big electric pole in the red circle)
in case you do not use this stacker feed any fuel signal to the big electric pole at the rear of each station via green cable. each station (train-stop stack) has to be set individually. all blueprints have two stations: unloading (left) and loading (right), there are some exceptions at 'The Refinery'.
also make shure that there are only chain-rail-signals between the stacker exits and the station.
station circuitry
as mentioned above i wanted train-stops that deactivate themselves when they can't fill or empty a trainload. this alone may be achieved quite simple, but i wanted it stackable and without the possibility for the 'no path' error. so here is my (maybe overcomplicated) solution:

selfdeactivating train-stops

i made a spreadsheet to calculate the buffer thresholds and a little more. i may work on that later on. an offline version can be downloaded at the end of the post.

this circuitry may become obsolete with factorio version 1.1, just read this FFF 361. i'll try to adjust the blueprints if necessary.
loading/unloading buffer chests:
i got this circuitry a long time ago in a multiplayer game. i cannot recall who made this, so credits go to another random factorian!
just found an official source at the factorio wiki.

this setting makes shure all chests are at an quite even storage level and incoming trains will always be unloaded with 6 inserters (into the buffer chests). loading and unloading are capable of consuming a full blue belt of items (with stack size >10).

equal unloading
station lane balancer
as the belts and lanes may be consumed uneven i decided to put a 4-belt balancer into the station setup. but this one is kinda special as it also balances lanes (as soon as it backed up a little). i found it ages ago, the only source i have is this picture. it was important to use input balanced versions to consume all 4 (or 8) wagons evenly, the only necessity for the output were 4 compressed belts.
The Smelter
link: factorioprints

inspired by this topic: 4x0,833 belts (ore) go in, 4 belts (plates) come out; uses the minimal amount of furnaces per belt.
i don't think i have to explain anything here, otherwise feel free to ask!
Circuit Book (Green/Red/Blue)
link: factorioprints

various designs for circuits, everything should be explained in the description. as said above: feel free to ask my anything ;)
The Refinery
link: factorioprints
level indicator
the 'refinery storage big' has a level indicator which can be adjusted to your needs. before i made this i used displays with coulours which used one combinator per lamp. i wanted something more compact, so here it is:

the level indicator consists of 9 lamps (which can be de-/increased without problems) and a handfull of combinators. it can handle any signal (except virtual-signal-blue) and you only need to adjust a single combinator. it uses 4 colours (red-yellow-cyan-green; from low to high)!

4-colour level indicator
Tileable Kovarex
link: factorioprints
kovarex enrichment
i dont know why this kind of signalling wasn't posted on the energy subforum, yet. its super simple and kind of module safe. this is for late game only, as stack inserters must be able handle 10 items per swing and enough productivity modules 3 must be provided.

example kovarex enrichment step by step

the example shows a part of a longer centrifuge chain (just like in the linked bp). it can be modified to be self-feeding, but that would require priming of each centrifuge. using lower tiers of productivity modules or adding them after the centrifuges started working will clog the system eventually. speed modules in the centrifuges are no problem at all.

pros:
  • can be infinitely extended in a row
  • quite compact
  • simple circuitry
  • can be used as self feeding standalone centrifuge
cons:
  • needs t3 productivity modules in centrifuges before usage (workaround: no or speed modules)
  • if used as self feeding standalone each centrifuge it will need priming first
  • may be problematic with blackouts (i'm not shure)
  • stack inserters must be able to handle 10 items
The Reactor
link: factorioprints


its making was inspired by this creation. but it didn't work as i hoped. so i fiddled around and made 4-reactor tiles which can output true 640MW, most tileable reactors won't manage that (due to limited water, steam or heatpipe throughput).
reactor control
every reactor tile (4 reactors) has two large steam buffers (left and right). each buffer is big enough to store enough steam to go from zero to full energy consumption without power drops. as it is tileable each segment has its own 'intelligent' reactor control. it uses 3 combinators per 2 reactors. this system might be edited to work for smaller stand-alone setups using 2 combinators for the whole reactor.

reactor control

i used a combinator for each reactor to make it failsave. tileable setups are a little different than stand-alone setups which should work with 2 combinators.
45sps/2700spm All Science Book
link: factorioprints
belt mixer
nothing really special, i just like to show of this one ;)

4-4 belt mixer
module production
in case you need a potent, tileable module production.

module production
final thoughts
example setup
this is a suggestion for one of the science bps:

1x labs
1x science production

3-4 'all my circuits'

refinery:
1x sulfur/lube/acid
5x plastic
1x batteries
4x rocket fuel

smelter:
9x iron plates
15x copper plates
10x steel plates
3x stone bricks

save example
tl;dr
the promised offline spreadsheet:

Factorio station thresholds V1.1b.xlsx
(7.82 KiB) Downloaded 311 times

like i said in the introduction:
please feel free to ask questions or let me know what can be made easier/better. it may take some time for me to answer, but i will try my best.

you made it this far... thank you very much for reading. im looking forward for criticism and glorification.


the factory must grow...


english is not my first language, so please excuse clunky expressions or other mistakes. if something isn't clear, wrong or can be misunderstood, please let me know.
Last edited by ranzolger on Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by ranzolger »

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by slartibartfast2 »

Hey ranzolger, first I'd like to just say thanks so much for your hard work uploading and documenting these blueprints!

I'm a fairly new Factorio player (about 100 hours) and I've been using your circuits blueprints extensively and I absolutely love them.

I'm now starting to build my first "mini-mega" base - aiming at 500spm as a first goal, which requires me to bring in large quantities of raw materials. I don't have a lot of experience with trains and I'm looking at the outpost stations included with "The Smelter" for several of my deposits. However, there are a few things I can't quite figure out:

1. The station is meant for a train with 4 cars yet there is room for 5 cars (or a gap of one car length between the locomotive and the cargo cars). Is the assumption that every train has an artillery wagon? Or something else?
2. Any tips for how to build the train station to unload these materials? Basically a simple station connected to a stacker on both sides?

Thanks again!

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by ranzolger »

all my bps use either 2-4-0 or 2-8-0 trains, so 2 locomotives and 4 or 8 cargo/fluid wagons. this explains the gap you mentioned. both locomotives face in the same direction, this will increase train acceleration by a large amount.

and for design of train stations... thats completely your decision and may depend on what you want to do. i personally prefer repeatable designs (like i used in all my bps). especially in areas where you need a couple of stations (ore deliveries to your starting base, or plates later on).
the stacker is only necessary in front of the trainstop(s), and only in case you use more than one train.

for a simple and short explanation have a look here.
something i read before using trains was this guide (even though it doesnt cover station design). its quite old, but still viable.

feel free to try different approaches, fail and succeed.

i hope i could help.

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by causa-sui »

I made a small change to extend the red circuit blueprint to make plastic onsite. Since I use a lot of coal liquefaction to make petroleum gas this has served me well in a few places. I'm interested in constructive criticism.


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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by ranzolger »

nice edit... good to see other work on those bps as well ;-)

fitting design, inserter throughput is fine, beacons are enough... i don't see any problems, good job

but i couldn't help myself but to fiddle around :roll: :

top: design by causa-sui
bottom: my nitpicking 'enhancement'
edited red circuits.jpg
edited red circuits.jpg (2.96 MiB) Viewed 16148 times
its one tile smaller and a little bit cleaner (at least in my eyes).

(bottom line only)

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by NotRexButCaesar »

Very cool. I probably won’t use them as they aren’t my style, but I can most definitely take inspiration.
—Crevez, chiens, si vous n'étes pas contents!

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by causa-sui »

ranzolger wrote:
Sun Dec 13, 2020 9:36 pm
but i couldn't help myself but to fiddle around :roll: :
Ah, nice. Yeah, I try to keep the entry undergrounds "inside" the beacons when doing these 13-tile type things, and it was bugging me with this one that I didn't see an easy way to pack them in one more tile. The answer was right in front of me all along. Thanks!

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by causa-sui »

I also made some variants of your base grid that have absolute alignment and landfill


basegrid.png
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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by causa-sui »

Might the circuit logic for the smelter w/ stops be simplified in 1.1?

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by DWRoelands »

Thanks for these BPs!

I'm having a heck of a time with The Reactor, and I'm sure it's just my own ignorance.

I can't stamp down the blueprints because there's no water where the offshore pumps are set up. Do I have to use the editor to put water in the correct spots for each "Tile" BP? Or am I missing something obvious?

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by ranzolger »

the reactor is meant to be printed on top of water, thats why it includes landfill.

i didn't wanted to use waterfill or something similar, as it would have included mods.

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by causa-sui »

I'm weighing some blueprints, what do you think of this one? Seems good to use 4 prod modules in the copper wire assemblers no? link

by DaveMcW viewtopic.php?f=202&t=83879

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by kvzp »

Now with an RHD version of The Smelter !

https://factorioprints.com/view/-MY0iqTHvqH2cQ8DP9Cy

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by causa-sui »

I made an edit to the red chip build. Now there are only prod modules in the machines, and I deleted one red chip assembler. I think this gives good ratios though since three of these consume one blue belt of plastic and output one red belt of chips. And using prod modules in the machines seems better in general.


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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by spagno »

Awesome blueprints, I'm using them for a while but i have a couple of questions if I may
how to connect the outpost ore? I also trying to use the "Base grid book" but it doesn't fit well

I also have a lot of queue problems, maybe i'm doing something wrong

regards
Last edited by spagno on Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by ranzolger »

Sorry for the late answer...

causa-sui wrote:
Fri Nov 26, 2021 8:00 pm
I made an edit to the red chip build. Now there are only prod modules in the machines[...]
I've added another version of the red circuit production with only prod modules and full belt consumption of plastic/green circuits.
But good to see new/advanced designs!

spagno wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:19 am
Awesome blueprints[...]
Thanks :D

spagno wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:19 am
[...]
how to connect the outpost ore?
[...]
I actually don't get the question. Just plop down the bp next to an ore patch, connect the ore belts to the station and rename those as you wish. And if course the train tracks have to be connected to the smelter(s).

spagno wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:19 am
[...]
I also trying to use the "Base grid book" but it doesn't fit well
[...]
Thats a rather old blueprint of mine. Its not specifically compatible to anything i made. I made this for full radar/roboport coverage a long time before i startet using trains.

spagno wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:19 am
[...]
I also have a lot of queue problems, maybe i'm doing something wrong
[...]
Could you be more specific about queue problems? Is it about the trains just before the stations? Have you used the provided stacker bps? Then there should be no problem.


Merry christmas to you all!

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by mjones24 »

Is there anyway that you could post a blueprint for the section of track that you are using to connect the main four lines to the various stations? I am having trouble getting the signals right

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Re: regarding my blueprints and other neat things

Post by mjones24 »

Also do you have any blueprints for petroleum and water outposts?

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