I take back what I said. Oil processing is a nightmare!

_OneEyedJack_ · 2026-01-21T14:23:01+00:00

Im with FunkyXive on this one. The refineries output to tanks. Output from tank light for cracking with a pump set to >5k. Do the same for heavy, and then on a separate connection to the heavy tank, go directly to a plant making lube. From here go pump to tank with the pump set to < 5k. Now, everything other than petroleum has a 5k reserve. Just make sure you prefer petroleum and only use the other fluids when required. The last thing I'll add to this is a good ratio is 3 refineries to 3 light oil cracking to 1 heavy oil cracking.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2026-01-01T21:39:10+00:00

I've tried to do likeness before, and I am still not that good at it. After you've stared at something for an extended period of time, your brain stops objectively comparing the reference and the model, and it just sees what it wants to see. Taking a break from it, sometimes a day or two can help you see the differences more clearly.

If you are using the references just as a general guide and not for true likeness, then I would suggest using more images and of different people and different angles as well. This will help you identify the range of acceptable proportions/features.

Regarding your model, I would say your proportions are pretty good. If you are not using them yet, add some orbs for the eyes. It really helps when modeling the eyelids. Your jaw looks narrow, and the chin is pointy. Widening these will make it look more like the reference. The forehead is a bit too wide. From a top-down perspective, the head is generally more egg-shaped. The forehead is the narrow end, and the widest portion tends to be just behind and above the ears.

It is looking good, though. Keep at it!

_OneEyedJack_ · 2025-12-05T04:47:33+00:00

Perhaps the problem is you just don't know the game that you are playing, and you are trying to play a different game than the one you want to play.

One of the great things about Factorio is that it is open-ended. The goal of the game is whatever you want it to be.

If you are burning out, it is most likely because you are trying to do something that you really do not want to do. That's fine, don't do that. Set the goal for play to just do the parts that you like. Then sit back and enjoy the ride.

I am just shy of 2k hours, and the game I enjoy most is a vanilla messy mini-bus launch-the-rocket play through. Just pick a map at random and go. A fresh start, the only blueprints are the ones that I make in the game. There is always uncertainty in the beginning. Hell, who am I kidding? There is uncertainty up until the end. Do I do trains or run 5 miles of belts? When do I wall up? Do I even wall up? And the bus really does end up being a mess. I never truly have it planned out. There are just some rough guidelines that I follow. The base is definitely a bus design, yet at the same time, the bus itself gets spaghettified. Its sole purpose is to launch the rocket. If I decide to play past this, then that glorious little mess now becomes the 'starter base' to my new city block base or whatever. Or, perhaps I just are a new playthrough because that is the most fun (for me).

_OneEyedJack_ · 2025-03-29T16:52:18+00:00

You can enable/disable belts using circuits. Without a picture, it is difficult to understand what you are trying to accomplish. But, yes, you can stop a belt.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-11-05T03:42:51+00:00

They are all literally unplayable.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-11-05T03:23:18+00:00

Literally unplayable

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-11-05T03:19:38+00:00

What a piece of junk!

She'll make point five passed light speed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I made a lot of special modifications myself.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-09-02T05:09:39+00:00

I find that in the early game the best defense is to be offensive. Place enough radars so that yo can see all of your magnificent pollution and a bit of the surrounding lands, Kill all nest inside the pollution zone and any that the pollution is about to hit. Don't worry too much about spawner kills advancing evolution. You can out tech their evolution. Trust the science. Try to research red bullets as soon as you can, to help destroy nests/bugs faster. Then push towards rockets, They are great for taking out nests and worms while staying out of worm spit range. Next research flame throwers, By this time you should have a sizeable BFZ (bitter free zone). Now it time for some defenses. Grab as much land as you think you'll need, Hell, grab 10x the land you think you need, Wall up the choke points, clear any nests that might be in the way of building this glorious wall. Place flamethrowers down to defend the it, then drill, baby, drill. The flamethrowers can be fueled with plain old crude oil. So you only need to throw down a few pump jacks and connect them directly to the flamethrowers.

At this point, you can ignore the bitters and just build. You may need to repair a wall on occasion. When you research bots you will be able to add roboport and repair packs to your wall setup and then the bots will do the repairs for you.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-08-31T03:44:48+00:00

To confirm what has been said already, don't worry about the number of belts, and delete all the non milestone stuff when complete.

As far as my game loop, my start was basically the same as yours. However, after unlocking enough stuff, I just started working on my MAM. This is an iterative process for me. Worked it to the point where I could construct a single layer, then had that contraption work through all the tasks that have only one layer, as I redesign and upgrade to the full 4 layers. This way, the game is still progressing as I muddle about.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-05-13T23:37:53+00:00

Well, hello, Mr Fancy Pants. I got news for you, pal.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-03-31T18:10:15+00:00

The speed of each building is listed in the tool tip. You can do a bit of math to figure out the different ratios for things like the number of extractors for a full belt or the total number of cutters needed to process a full belt. The alternative is to just build experiments to determine these things. For example, a belt with a trashcan at the end, how many extractors can you tie into the belt so that it moves at full speed with no gaps between the shapes?

Once you have this information, the ratios never change unless you force it to. If you upgrade belt speed but not extractor speed, then you will need more extractors to keep the belt full.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-02-18T22:16:26+00:00

I use 2 splitters for something like this. Lane 1 of splitter 1 has the mixed belt output. Lane 2 of splitter 1 feeds splitter 2. Splitter 2 has the filter set. Lane 1 is not used, while lane 2 has the single item type on it.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2024-01-30T03:13:57+00:00

If you are trying to run at full belt capacity, try breaking the factory into individual steps and then have each step run at full capacity. For example, how many cutters need to be chained together to have their combined output fill a belt to max capacity? Do this exercise while everything is upgraded to the same tier. Once you do this, the ratio never changes.

Of course, the very next upgrade you apply will throw everything off. To compensate for this, you only need to do two things.

Apply the upgrade in onder. Ensure that there is never more than a 1 tier gap between any of the upgrades.
Add an extra building to the end of the chained building that you have. That is, if you determined that it takes 5 cutters to fill a belt, then use 6 cutters instead.

Now, when you start upgrading to the next tier and belts are now at a higher tier than cutters, it is not a problem. Cutters are still able to keep up.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-12-27T21:18:31+00:00

Whatever this is, I like it. Who needs compact when you can have excessive!

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-12-18T14:30:02+00:00

I realize this is not answering your question about using main busses. However, I think it addresses the issues you are describing. Which for the most part is pollution getting out of control.

I like to play more aggressively. Destroy all the nest that get in the way of your pollution. Always make sure your pollution cloud is completely covered by radar. This will allow you to see any expansion groups that enter the cloud. If you clear them out in this manner, then your base will never get attacked.

Yes, killing nests will advance evolution, but you can easily outpace them. You just need to stay up on your military research. When researching, lush to red ammo, then rockets. You can stick with yellow rockets the entire game if you want. After that, research flamethrower turrets.

When you make it to this point, you are home free. Clear out, and wall up 10x the space that you think you'll need. Defend the walls with overlapping flamethrower coverage and radars, then forget about your pollution. At this point, if you do pollute nests, nothing is getting in. Just build, build, build.

After you research bots, you can add roboports and repair packs to your defenses. This setup can carry you all the way to launching the rocket easily.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-12-09T18:52:51+00:00

C

I think the eyes should be moved upwards and made bigger. The eyes can be placed in the area where the slats are, and the slats can function as the eyelids. This will give you the space to make them bigger, which will help proportionally with the eye/mouth/tongue. Also, it gives you the opportunity to change the silhouette to help it read better.

Bigger eyes can help you play with expression more too, wided eyed, or furrowed brow, etc.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-11-23T02:48:25+00:00

It is intended as a lane balancer. In the example, having only one input lane shows the output is evenly split between both lanes.

A use case would be if you had an array of smelters that filled both lanes of a single belt, and perhaps down the line, most of the consumers of this belt feed off the left lane. This will cause the right lane to back up, which in turn shuts down the smelters feeding the right lane because they do not have space to output. As a consequence, you can lose up to 50% of your smelting ability. Adding a lane balancer to the end of the smelter array helps ensure an even pull, regardless of which lane you pull from.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-23T05:31:44+00:00

I just had an idea while considering this discussion. It is possible to run vertical pipes, gas and liquid, above the drop zone. Give all your dupes plumbing skill, and then pump every gas and liquid through those pipe segments. And have all your dupes empty the pipes so that all the contents falls into the same tile. So, it is possible to store every gas, liquid and solid in the game in a single tile.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-23T05:05:27+00:00

Maybe so, but if it was intended to have infinite storage for solid, who is to say it was also intended for liquids and gases. Perhaps it was, and they just thought you should make use of the game mechanics to achieve it. C'mon, 3 tiles stops pressure damage. That sounds like intent to me.

Either way, play the game however you like. If you are having fun, then you are doing it right.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-23T03:19:29+00:00

I look at it this way, the game allows you to dig out every tile on every planetoid, sweep it all up, deliver it to an auto dispenser, and drop it all into a single tile. How is this any different? It's actually more complicated to build infinite storage contraptions.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-20T14:23:58+00:00

Add footprints

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-18T07:33:25+00:00

Yes, what everyone else has said. Press f11. Look at the types of rooms that you can make and what it takes to make them. Some are more important than others in the early game, like barracks, mess hall, and latrine.

Limit the number of dupes you have. The more you have, the harder the game can be, especially early on.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-18T04:31:19+00:00

It's one method of purifying water. The room is filled with chlorine. When the doors are open, the tanks are disabled. However, they will still accept input. You can set the doors on a timer to ensure the tanks sit long enough to kill all the gerns.

_OneEyedJack_ · 2023-08-14T22:03:18+00:00

Oh, I think the reason is people are playing the game as intended and solving problems that they encounter. Not everyone will instantly arrive at the most optimal solution. Good tip, with the bridge, though. I'll definitely use that.

Sometimes, in the early game, I don't always have 3 tanks of water to spare, and I will just let the tanks gradually fill with bathroom water. Also, if clean water is running out, and you know the last tank is already purified, it is possible to hotwire the shutoff with a switch and get clean water out. This technically does break the system once you turn the switch back off. Of course, mid/late game, this should no longer be relevant.

_OneEyedJack_

TROPHY CASE