Factorio Forums

TL;DR

Include catalysts and fuel in blueprints so factories can more easily start up on their own after blueprinting.

What ?

When one takes a blueprint of an assembler with modules the modules are included in the blueprint. Similar a blueprint of a train includes the fuel in the locomotive. The same should be done with all items that are flagged as catalyst in one of the recipes used in the blueprint as well as fuel inside furnaces (or burner inserters or anything else with fuel slot).

Why ?

There are many processes that use catalysts in a closed loop. The blueprint will include the whole loop and every time it is placed the player has to run through the factory and insert a set number of catalysts to make the factory functional. Similar in Angels mod green algae can be processed into fuel in several steps. One of them involves a furnace and it is practical to feed some of the produced fuel back into the furnace to keep the process going. But with no fuel in the furnace initially no fuel is produced. Again the user has to run around and start things off by inserting some fuel in each furnace.

Unlike bullets in a turret I don't think this would be cheaty but would improve the quality of life a lot.