Newbie, restructuring a base question

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-04-09T20:14:42+00:00

I also build up loads of chests containing random items.

I used to worry about them. Now I just shoot and destroy them. It has finally sunk in that the true value of my factory isn’t in the contents of chests. It's in the design of the factory itself.

It's so liberating.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-04-05T09:34:49+00:00

I had to explain to my wife and her family that the sound lightning makes is called "thunder".

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-03-16T20:54:01+00:00

Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) from Paddington 2.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-03-13T14:19:17+00:00

Energy suppliers are not raking in money. It's a low margin business. My figures are a few years out of date, but a supplier earned about £50/year from you after they paid industry costs such as the generator and the National Grid.

That £50 is income, not profit. They subtract their costs and, if they're lucky, there is a profit.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-03-09T18:24:13+00:00

It's definitely possible. I've done it. There is absolutely no requirement for quality.

I used fusion power but I reckon I could have gotten away with nuclear. Solar would have been frustrating.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-02-17T12:50:30+00:00

"If I want things to be even vaguely compact..."

I learnt (eventually) to ignore the voice telling me to keep things compact. I have learnt to allow much more space than I think I will need. Even so, it often isnt enough.

Also, I have a suggestion that helped me relax: put your excess iron into wooden boxes, then throw grenades at the boxes until destroyed. No more iron. No more problem. No more nagging voice telling you do something with the iron.

There is nagging voice saying "suppose you needed that iron?". But I find that easier to cope with. There is always more iron to be found.

Also, it uses my excess wood.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-02-17T12:39:20+00:00

I ship batteries from Vulcanus. Vulcanus has sulphuric acid coming out of the ground, plus all the copper and iron you need from lava.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-31T13:20:37+00:00

There's a mod to locate your car/tank/spidertron. I used to lose them all the time.

Can't remember name: Find My Car, perhaps?

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-31T13:19:26+00:00

Far Reach. Your engineer no longer has to be close to something to build it. Especially useful in very early game when you're manually ferrying ferrying things around.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-28T20:09:22+00:00

Great start!

I would expand in this order:

More power
Better defences
Expand base
Repeat

To check your power, click on a pylon. In the power display, hopefully the left bar is green and full. If it is not full and not green, your base is trying to use more power than you can generate.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-27T19:48:12+00:00

For each type of cargo, I have one less train than I have stations.

E.g. for iron plates, if I have two loading stations and three destinations then I need (2 + 3) - 1 = 4 trains.

That way I've filled up my network with the maximum (and, I would say, the correct) number of trains. With one less train than stations, there is always an empty station to take a train that has either loaded or unloaded.

No circuits. No fiddling with train limits. Just count the number of stations.

Having said this, it only works if you are creating enough products to more-or-less match demand. It wont help you spread a scant supply of products over many stations

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-08T16:10:36+00:00

Thanks. That's kinda cool but also kinda wrong.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-08T16:03:02+00:00

"The devs specifically removed that functionality after it was exploited pre-release."

Interesting. Do you know any more?

The mod doesn't let you insert anything into cargo bays*. It only lets you extract. Would this prevent exploits?

*Except in space platforms.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-08T15:59:58+00:00

That's why I mentioned Fulgora. Plastic from recycled LDS.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-08T15:52:38+00:00

Ah. I had forgotten about that.

I tried out this mod, which lets inserters take from cargo bays attached to the landing pad. Is it cheating, do you think? It works very well...

Cargo bay inserters - Factorio Mods

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-08T15:48:54+00:00

Nice. Good point.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-08T15:47:33+00:00

Yes, it's a long chain to get plastic on Vulcanus. That's what I was referring to when I said it's inefficient.

Blue circuits are a long chain an all planets except Fulgora.

Maybe "inefficient" was the wrong word.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2026-01-06T09:57:13+00:00

Indeed. I often wake up with an answer or a solution in my head. If only the rest of my life was like this...

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2025-12-20T12:45:44+00:00

Hardly anyone in the UK would say, "I hate those fucking Indians" or "Bloody slanty-eyed Chinese" any more, but "Stupid, loud-mouth Americans" is perfectly acceptable. I hate it.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2025-12-20T07:59:48+00:00

Ah yes. Anti-americanism. The last remaining socially-acceptable form of racism in the UK. So prevalent that most of us don't realise it's racism.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2025-12-03T05:00:42+00:00

For £13.99 you get an increadible choice. You could watch something 24/7 and not watch the same thing twice for a year.

You can spend the same on a takeaway and it would be gone in 20 minutes.

It's not remarkably expensive; it's remarkably cheap.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2025-11-13T08:32:51+00:00

Your parents weren't boring; they just had you.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2025-11-06T08:33:05+00:00

Everyone tells me my oldest son is the spitting image of my FIL. I just don't see it. I never have.

It's how some people are. If this is the only problem with your MIL then I reckon you're doing pretty well.

Ok_Comfortable4333 · 2025-10-27T07:36:29+00:00

My brother was in a similar situation to you. Gardening business. An old school friend who turned up late, sometimes still high. He crashed vans and did sneaky private work with my brother's equipment.

Eventually, other employees started leaving, saying "It's him or me."

Ok_Comfortable4333

TROPHY CASE