Factorio Forums

TL;DR

Recycling recipes should use the most efficient option when multiple recipes are available. This is most relevant on Aquilo, where recycling rocket fuel can let you ignore crude oil entirely.

What?

Recycling rocket fuel gives 2.5 solid fuel. It should give 0.75.

Why?

With 8 productivity modules (heck, even just with research) it is trivial to generate a loop of two cryo plants and two recyclers making rocket fuel from ammonia and water only, which can be pumped from the ocean directly. Pump->separation->water->rocket fuel->heating tower & turbines can be blueprinted and pasted literally anywhere, it generates excess ammonia, rocket fuel, power and heat, and even ice platforms if you want it to, and that kinda trivializes the planet. It's not even that expensive in terms of imports if you have a space mall in orbit.
It could be argued that this is a cool trick that should be left in the game for the people who figure it out, but to be honest, removing one of the resources on the planet entirely from your logistic chains seems a bit much.
Comparatively, the blueprint I described could be set up to use oil, but that requires an additional solid fuel step (easy) and all the logistics of delivering crude oil there from your pumpjacks (not as easy). You should not be able to generate heat anywhere on the map from scratch, is the main issue.
Rocket fuel recycling is used nowhere else. Nerfing it impacts nothing else.

I just checked and it takes about 30% productivity to make this loop work. Arguably rocket fuel production is a chemical process and shouldn't be reversible anyway, so rocket fuel would reasonably recycle to itself and remove this exploit.

Rocket fuel recycling is used though. How else will you make quality rocket fuel for quality nuclear fuel for your trains?

Setting aside that I don’t use nuclear fuel to begin with, you can still quality cycle items that recycle to themselves. Just put quality modules in the recycler.

Arguably rocket fuel production is a chemical process

Arguably the base one is not, because it happens in an assembler, not a chemplant.
(Because it's supposed to represent mechanically packing solid fuel into shape and sprinkling light oil over it ??)

BlueTemplar wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2024 10:22 pm

Arguably rocket fuel production is a chemical process

Arguably the base one is not, because it happens in an assembler, not a chemplant.
(Because it's supposed to represent mechanically packing solid fuel into shape and sprinkling light oil over it ??)

I stand by what I said. It would make more sense as a chemical plant recipe.

ngl while that interaction kinda OP i like it as "smart easy solution" to aquilo fuel problem