Factorio Forums

A picture is worth a thousand words so I drummed up an example image.

• Backstory:
  At the risk of ruffling jimmies, all I have seen is arguments about bots vs belts. I personally like the belts and figuring out the puzzle of getting things places. However it does become tedious later with bots being the better option for crafting/speed/optimized builds at later game stages.. However I hate seeing 10000 bots flying around and I feel like it causes me performance issues. Maybe it doesn't maybe its just all the chunks that are running because I've expanded.. doesn't matter I just lose the feel and drive at that point.
  I tried to make a mod to do this already and I've realized I'm good at coding, just not at modding this game especially with the lack of resources, the wiki that leaves everything to the imagination, and entities that can only be minor tweaked.
  Now we have the buff the belt people, nerf the bot people, don't nerf the bot people, bots for life omg people, and the few make everything come straight off the train people.
  Keeping everyone happy is always hard... My idea is to introduce a new intermediate system...
  So.. my idea...
• Deep Underground Conveyors & Storage
  Now several ways this could be implemented but let me start with the basic idea.
  An underground conveyor system, the large pipe looking object would be the base object where all items injected into the system would be stored.
  I will refer to that object as the Underground Storage Facility (USF).
  The system can be limited to a field around the USF, or just output to the closest USF that is empty within range, or the whole logistic network that has an USF with room inside (I feel that might be too powerful).
  The small red pipes indicate an entry point into the network. While the small blue pipes represent an exit point.
  Exit points could access everything in the connected USF, be filtered, or only allow access to a limited filter selection from the linked USF.
  Trying to place an item into an entry pipe that is not connected to the USF results in the item just not being placed, held in the inserter just like when a chest is full.
  Now for the USF itself, it should require electric drills, a roboport, maybe some robots to build. Whatever feels balanced. Be a later game technology, some time shortly after logistic bots.
  The USF is mined, the resources inside are returned just like a container, same if destroyed.
• Optional? Balance? Ideas for the latter:
  Now if we had a multiple layer/tile system you could go as far as having to link the things using underground pipes / conveyors.
  Feeling too OP? See that hole in the top of it? Require logistic bots to nest in there and run the "operation" underground.
  Perhaps the more bots inside the faster the system would move / receive the item.
  (Think of the crafting time of item be a moving time. Again optional balance ideas.)
  Require electricity and have a small drain when using exits / entries *Limit
  USF's could only store one type of item. * Limit
  USF might need to be wired to the exit point or entry point to connect them. *Limit
  USF might can only output to a belt or require a bot to bring the product out. *Limit
• Benefits
  You wouldn't have to change the way bots work. *Still necessary for everything else
  You wouldn't have to change much on belts. *Still necessary for everything else
  Local operations would have a new way to transport / integrate while still maintaining a puzzle element.
  Since things would be held *underground* in the USF you would no longer need to draw those sprites or have a bot configured to drag drop / recharge ect.. saving on both server processing and client processing.
  Ultimately solving the bot vs belt dilemma by leaving them both still necessary for long distance operation while offering an integrated solution for most sections of production. And offering more unique ways of solving the assembling puzzles other than tight spaghetti belt or bot army with requester chests.

I post this here instead of the MOD section because with the theme of the game I feel like it would make a better integral feature than a "Brad's Mod" idea.
I have more things floating in my head for it than that but I feel like it will get convoluted to say much more. What you think?

No criticizing at all?

It doesn't seem like it's that different from bots. You have the red/blue pipes doing the same job as provider/requester chests, and they work within the range of the big pipe... like a roboport.

I don't think we need a new "move things from one place to another" system, the bots/trains/belts/carry-it-in-your-backpack system is working really well already. Wide variety of playstyles supported, and I don't see a "niche" for something like this.

Now, if you don't like seeing 10k bots flying around -- perhaps a mod to make bots invisible?

jchardin64 wrote:It doesn't seem like it's that different from bots.
I don't think we need a new "move things from one place to another" system

I have to agree with this. Also the OP said "However I hate seeing 10000 bots flying around and I feel like it causes me performance issues." This is most definitely not the case

10,000 bots on your screen at once might cause fps drops due to all the extra rendering the graphics card needs to do.

But seriously, if you are doing bot based production, you should keep your logistics networks smaller and more compact. If you have 10,000 logistics bots all flying on one screen, you probably have a poorly optimised factory, with 100,000s of bots and lots of long bot routes, and that could result in performance problems. (About the only exception I can think of is deconstruction a large set of chests to move your storage. Even then the hit of 10,000 bots all on screen at once would probably cripple my fps).

Since I think bots are already OP you can imagine what I think about this which is basically a teleportation system. Great mod idea, but not something for vanilla.

bbbower wrote:You wouldn't have to change the way bots work. *Still necessary for everything else

Like what?