Factorio Forums

So this has been talked around a little before, but I am starting a new thread because I haven't found any that discuss how completely it breaks your factory to start using quality modules without doing a complete redesign from the ground up and needing to basically build the same factory five times to engage with the quality system. After building an entire interplanetary factory empire without building a single quality I module, I decided to finally try engaging with the quality system in a pilot program on Fulgora, and I was totally unprepared for how broken it is. WHY do filters on splitters and inserters default to only applying to common quality items? WHY WHY WHY OH WHY can assemblers be set to only accept one quality of ingredient? I saw ingredient quality level on assembler recipes, and assumed that had to be a minimum, because, that was the only thing that made sense. I put quality module 3s on each of my scrap recyclers, so each one now outputs a random mixture of different quality levels. This completely broke my downstream filter setup, because contrary to what any logical person would think, an icon with just an item type and no quality level next to it means that filter only applies to quality 1 items and completely ignores higher quality items. And this is the default. Then I realized my belts were getting completely choked because none of my assemblers were accepting any of the higher quality ingredients because they can only accept Q1 items, and I can only pick ONE quality level for EVERY ingredient that assembler accepts. WHY WOULD YOU DESIGN IT THAT WAY????!?!??!?!??! I'm going to just have to remove all of the quality modules and go back to common quality on everything because I don't have the room to make a separate assembly line for every single quality level of every single ingredient. This exponentially complicates any factory design and I can't imagine it being worth it just for the little boost each higher quality item gets. What am I missing here?

You have to look for technologies that overlap and develop those.

The canonic hint, is to examine beacons, modules, and an assembler at 2 different qualities. The "mistake" is to examine them at legendary.

It is also better to attack the issue with massive economies of whatever you're approaching the problem with. Compared to Seablock which applies calculus, this is easier to get into but harder to operate. It tends to make people either over analyze the problem or over indulge in it.