Factorio Forums

Hello,

First post. Very much enjoying this game, though there are a couple bugs that I've been experiencing and not sure if anyone else has.

1. inserters are not working with loading labs. I can put an inserter next to the lab, with the required science pack in a box, and it just sits there as if there's nothing to load. I have not successfully been able to get this to work in the vanilla game or with mods. I have been having to load the labs by hand, which as the game progresses can start to get too time consuming.

2. Bots don't bring my character the red ammo. It works just fine with the yellow ammo as well as any other thing that I request. It shows the red ammo in the logistics network, but for whatever reason bots won't bring me any red ammo even though it is requested (requiring me to grab it by hand every time it runs out)

3. Inserters don't load ammo into turrets, either.

Sorry if anyone has posted this before, but I hope these are some bugs that can be ironed out. Thanks!

Screenshots and/or a savegame would make it easier for us to see what is wrong.

FactoryPwner wrote:Hello,
1. inserters are not working with loading labs. I can put an inserter next to the lab, with the required science pack in a box, and it just sits there as if there's nothing to load. I have not successfully been able to get this to work in the vanilla game or with mods. I have been having to load the labs by hand, which as the game progresses can start to get too time consuming.

Inserters only put science pack into labs if you have selected a research topic (that is not finished yet).

Can't tell for sure, but probably

FactoryPwner wrote: 2. Bots don't bring my character the red ammo. It works just fine with the yellow ammo as well as any other thing that I request. It shows the red ammo in the logistics network, but for whatever reason bots won't bring me any red ammo even though it is requested (requiring me to grab it by hand every time it runs out)

You have enough red ammo attached to your submachine gun. Try to request more

FactoryPwner wrote: 3. Inserters don't load ammo into turrets, either.

Turret already have 10+ ammo

Zavian wrote:Screenshots and/or a savegame would make it easier for us to see what is wrong.

Would you like me to post a savegame here or send it privately?

Bauer wrote:

FactoryPwner wrote:Hello,
1. inserters are not working with loading labs. I can put an inserter next to the lab, with the required science pack in a box, and it just sits there as if there's nothing to load. I have not successfully been able to get this to work in the vanilla game or with mods. I have been having to load the labs by hand, which as the game progresses can start to get too time consuming.

Inserters only put science pack into labs if you have selected a research topic (that is not finished yet).

The research topics are set. I can manually feed the science packs into the labs, but if I try to put an inserter and a filled chest next to it, it doesn't trigger the inserter to start working.

Bauer wrote:

FactoryPwner wrote:Hello,
1. inserters are not working with loading labs. I can put an inserter next to the lab, with the required science pack in a box, and it just sits there as if there's nothing to load. I have not successfully been able to get this to work in the vanilla game or with mods. I have been having to load the labs by hand, which as the game progresses can start to get too time consuming.

Inserters only put science pack into labs if you have selected a research topic (that is not finished yet).

1. Exactly. I also noticed a similar effect "sometimes, not always" when chain feed directly from one assembler to another.

This behavior is obviously an intentional design choice of factorio, but it is counter-intuitive. Maybe it needs improving.

2. Depending on how you setup your logistic chests, there are configurations that confuse the bots. For example, Passive Providers are usually reliable, but using more than one buffer chest for the same item can lead them to fight each other and fail to deliver.

I had a similar problem to yours. During my early game I placed blueprints with lots of concrete. Later I built a concrete factory and had unlimited supply, but my hundreds of construction robots were not placing concrete. Eventually I tried removing the Buffer Chest I had placed and replacing it with a simple Passive Provider... and finally the robots went into a concrete placing frenzy!

Moral of the story:. Beware of Buffer Chests. They are awesome, but they can also bite you in the rear.

SilverShadow wrote:Can't tell for sure, but probably

FactoryPwner wrote: 2. Bots don't bring my character the red ammo. It works just fine with the yellow ammo as well as any other thing that I request. It shows the red ammo in the logistics network, but for whatever reason bots won't bring me any red ammo even though it is requested (requiring me to grab it by hand every time it runs out)

You have enough red ammo attached to your submachine gun. Try to request more

FactoryPwner wrote: 3. Inserters don't load ammo into turrets, either.

Turret already have 10+ ammo

I see. So, it includes ammo loaded and not just in the general inventory? Let me try to increase it and see if it starts working. I tried the inserters with no ammo loaded and they don't trigger. Full disclosure, the savegame now has a mod related to loading ammo into turrets via ammo chests, but I did try it with vanilla with the same result, so I figured it didn't hurt to mention it.

zOldBulldog wrote:

Bauer wrote:

FactoryPwner wrote:Hello,
1. inserters are not working with loading labs. I can put an inserter next to the lab, with the required science pack in a box, and it just sits there as if there's nothing to load. I have not successfully been able to get this to work in the vanilla game or with mods. I have been having to load the labs by hand, which as the game progresses can start to get too time consuming.

Inserters only put science pack into labs if you have selected a research topic (that is not finished yet).

1. Exactly. I also noticed a similar effect "sometimes, not always" when chain feed directly from one assembler to another.

This behavior is obviously an intentional design choice of factorio, but it is counter-intuitive. Maybe it needs improving.

2. Depending on how you setup your logistic chests, there are configurations that confuse the bots. For example, Passive Providers are usually reliable, but using more than one buffer chest for the same item can lead them to fight each other and fail to deliver.

I had a similar problem to yours. During my early game I placed blueprints with lots of concrete. Later I built a concrete factory and had unlimited supply, but my hundreds of construction robots were not placing concrete. Eventually I tried removing the Buffer Chest I had placed and replacing it with a simple Passive Provider... and finally the robots went into a concrete placing frenzy!

Moral of the story:. Beware of Buffer Chests. They are awesome, but they can also bite you in the rear.

I'll look into it. I'm still fairly newish to the game (the savegame file is only my third attempt). My designs are pretty crude and just kind of experimenting with stuff to see how it works. I haven't delved much into using blueprints yet, but I intend to start. I'm not sure if I have any buffer chests or not. I'll have to check. Mostly, I've got some storage chests for random stuff in the logistics network, and I use passive provider chests for almost everything, except for when I need requester chests (I'm loving those, makes getting stuff around the factory a bit smoother).

For many entities including turrets and labs, inserters only insert items items when the entity wants some more. From memory an inserter will only load a turret if that turret has less than 10 clips, and a lab if that lab has less than 2 flasks. The lab also need to need the flasks for it's current research. Assemblers also work a similar, for most recipes inserters will only insert enough for 2 cycles. They will also stop inserting if the assembler has too many items still in it's output slot. In all these cases you can manually insert a full stack or so before filling the input slots.

FactoryPwner wrote:

Zavian wrote:Screenshots and/or a savegame would make it easier for us to see what is wrong.

Would you like me to post a savegame here or send it privately?

Up to you, but posting publicly will let other people respond if I'm not around for a while.