Factorio Forums

TL;DR

Introduce recipes that consume a fraction of an item, like how turrets consume a fraction of a magazine and labs consume a fraction of a science pack.

What ?

Add recipes that consume a fraction of an item, like how labs or turrets gradually consume their inputs. The item would remain in the machine's input slot, its durability diminishing with each craft, until it disappears.

This potentially could use the same game logic as other durability-based item usage.

Why ?

With recipes like this, a high-throughput production line can require input from a very low-throughput production line, requiring players to mix low-volume logistics solutions like bots and manual delivery with high-volume ones like belts and trains. It is, like Factorio 2.0's recyclers and spoilage mechanics, a small adjustment that adds some depth to the existing logistics system, so it can complement the other changes in the expansion.

Some mods have recipes that consume an item and output the same item with slightly less than 100% probability. Some mods have recipes that consume an item as fuel that lasts for many crafts. These designs achieve the same logistics pressures, but they add incidental complexity that distracts from the central mechanic: removing and re-inserting items in the first case, a new machine type that uses the special fuel in the second case. The new recipe type would present this mechanic more cleanly.

It should be noted that turrets and labs are able to consume partial amounts of their input simply because the items are of a different type. So this proposal would require making all items like ammo (which have a set quantity) or bottles (percentage), which increases the memory required for each item for something that won't be used in vanilla.