Factorio Forums

I purchased this game yesterday after seeing some great demos on YouTube, and am getting through many of the campaign missions, but am stuck when I start a new game. I have chosen a location for my base, and set up some burner drills in the nearest coal, iron ore and copper ore deposits (not yet requiring large amounts of stone, I'm mining that by hand).

The iron ore mine is working great, but the coal and copper mines aren't. I don't know if it is the orientation of the burner drills that is causing the problem. They have the resources under them, and request coal to fire up the drill (which I dutifully supply by hand), but when I connect an inserter to automate the process a little, and deposit the raw ore into chests, it takes the coal FUEL from the drill and places it in the box. I look at the "progress bars" in the drill, and the fuel bar drops regularly to zero, then loads up another "fuel unit" and uses that. The "output" bar gradually increases. If I don't remove the output ore, production stops, so it is producing ore, but when I connect an inserter, it all goes wrong somehow.

I have tried to fuel it with wood, and it does the same thing - take the wood fuel from the drill and place it in the chest.

I don't know if it is the placement of the burner inserter, or the orientation (rotation) of the drill and/or inserter, but it just doesn't seem to work. I have tried just a drill, and picking the ore up manually, and that seems to work, but as soon as I try to automate it in any way , I fail. Like I said, the iron ore burner drill, burner inserter, and transport belt system is working just fine.

Can anyone help me with the reason why my coal and copper production isn't working?

Any help or advice is gratefully received.

Steve

Do you have a screenshot?

The drills can output directly (without inserter) to a chest, furnace or belt. You just have to look where the output of the drill is. (Alt-key) You can rotate every building with the "R"-key

BurnHard wrote:The drills can output directly (without inserter) to a chest, furnace or belt. You just have to look where the output of the drill is. (Alt-key) You can rotate every building with the "R"-key

I wasn't aware that the drill could feed automatically onto a transporter belt. That will save me some effort.

I did look as I placed the drills where the "output" was, and even when it failed, I thought MAYBE it might be because I rotated it to make the output go "Up" (or North) on the landscape, and the actual output seems to be one side or the other, not directly in front of the drill. I then deleted the drill and rotated it 90 degrees so I could see the output a bit better, despite the fact I'd have to re-organise my transport belts. All to no avail.

I'll try some more and if it is still failing, I'll take a screenshot and post it here (or photobucket, or however the requested screenshot can be viewed by forum members).

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Steve

You should play the mission first. Watch some videos. Look into the wiki. In this order.

The "spitting end" of the drills is like the "arrow" end of the inserter. you don't need another inserter for it to unload into something. As seen in the last Malkasphia video (look it up in youtuve, the last ones, named "Deathworld") you could put a furnance in the end of the drill, and the oer minerals will "fall" inside it... you THEN need an inserter to take them off the furnance.

In regard to this... Am i the only one that wishes that the BELTS did the same thing? that you could end a belt into a furnance and make it feed it?? it would be good