Two questions.
For DNA, slugs, etc, can I set up a single constructor, put a sumersloop booster on it, and just manually feed that animal protein and slugs and such? The things you really want to multiply?
And if I deconstruct the constructor, do I get the sumersloop back?
I guess a third question, should I sink all my animal matter as DNA, or will I need vast quantities later?
Yes, and yes.
For the third, it depends. In the start, alien protein is an incredible source of biomass. Eventually you can make healing potions (inhalers) from protein and beryl berries. I just use whatever berries I need if I make a jumping booboo, because DNA is just too good for tickets, and I NEED those customization options.
I actually knew about both of those options in theory, but figured biomass was kinda obsolete and so far haven’t really needed healing (I actually haven’t died at all yet!). But I also haven’t ventured into very hostile zones…
In other news, I did enough work at the Caterium mine to get smart splitters. And I now sort the output of my steel mill. I also have pipes and beams that overflow my production line make their way into storage.
I think it’s time assemble some space parts. I have all the components I need at base for all of the parts now. It’s time.
Alright, confession time… I don’t feel like building dedicated spacepart factories right now. I know I will need them later, but I can do that when I have more toys. Mk 4 belts are gonna be revolutionary.
So I cooked up some spaghetti and brought conveyor lines from my storage to a handful of assemblers right next to the space elevator.
And when I realized how slow smart plating is and added more assemblers… dear god, the pasta!
OK, I just did the math. My handful of assemblers are gonna take 3 hours to do the job! I need to build a dedicated factory after —
KTCHHHHH
Ah, crap, power went out. Gonna need to build more power plants instead
Three hours is nothing. Nothing! When I decide to build the parts, I generally do them one at a time, starting with the easiest, and then go to other stuff while the very, very slow process happens.
This is the way. While your elevator parts are running, do more exciting things: build new factories and power plants, go hunting for hard drives/mercer spheres/somersloops, watch grass grow.
But aren’t Phase 2 parts used in the production of phase 3 parts? I need 1000 now but won’t I need tens or hundreds of thousands later?
Deal with that later. With upgraded power/recipes, it’s easier then, and you need about 4k total. Fortunately, Satisfactory doesn’t ramp up difficulty by just making the numbers bigger; it just adds a couple more part requirements for the next tier. Right now, I have smart plating being made on a single iron node, right next to another node making motors, all to feed a manufacturer making modular engines. But that works because I can make reinforced iron plates without screws and rotors, stators, and motors without copper or caterium.
But that manufacturer isn’t entirely automated, because I’m not running 4km of belt just to bring in a couple thousand rubber. I have an inventory for that (threw it in a storage container and connected that). Is it efficient? Nope, but only needed 500. I can carry that back to the space elevator. But my current phase requires another 625 of those to go into ANOTHER manufacturer for thermal propulsion rockets, and I don’t really feel like hauling that, plus the other couple thousand parts, so I’ll update that (rebuild closer to oil) to feed another manufacturer. My general rule is to automate everything from the previous phase, and build a couple manufacturers with shards and sloops right by the elevator, fed from storage containers.
I’ve reached the point where belts just aren’t going to cut it. I COULD spaghettify the countryside, but throughput would be much lower than necessary. And it would be confusing beyond belief. Running a single manufacturer for those thermal propulsion rockets requires 100 buildings and 10 resources. Running that all back and forth is virtually guaranteed to mess things up somewhere. The main factory is gonna be a doozy.
You can definitely end up building too much early on, and end up wasting some effort. Last night, I spent a bunch of time getting my steel factory up and running. I mostly focused on rotors and stators , both of which use a lot of steel pipes. As a result, I have a ton of pipes, but not a whole lot of beams. So I then spent a bunch of time running over to the next coal node and bringing it home. The next job was to bring in iron.
Right before bed, I popped in a hard drive let it run while cleaning up my base and inventory. When it finished, one of my options was iron pipes.
So now I need to refactor my steel factory. The call I brought yesterday is going to be useless, at least until I am ready to increase total steel production again. Instead, I need to bring in a bunch of extra iron which I can use to make pipes directly, and then I can free up the machines that currently make pipes out of steel to make more beams instead. I will then need to mess with the connections between floors, although since I kept everything on its own floor, this actually shouldn’t be too hard.
I think I will probably make pipes out of iron in a tower adjacent to the main factory. I will then bring the pipes across the bridge to the floors where stators and rotors are made. The machines currently making pipes can be directly converted to beams instead.
Man, this is taking for goddamned ever. I’ve got #1, #2, and #4 going, at last. The storage warehouse only has organized input, though. I haven’t begun to tackle output. I’m thinking I’ll want to alternate floors: one floor for storage and input, and then another floor for output from that floor. With twelve storage containers per floor, I think that’s going to be the best way to prevent spaghetti.
#3 is gonna have to wait. And I think #5 is going to have to be multiple factories: one with about 20 assemblers building the assembler items, and one with manufacturers building next-tier items.
I haven’t broken down any of my pre-existing factories, because I worry about having space for all that junk. We’ll see how that goes!
Steel beams are your builders - notably, Mk3 belts.
Second, your other coal node can be used for moar power, so not entirely wasted, assuming there is water somewhere nearby.
Feed the current factories into the new ones while you build up supply chains, then turn off the iron/copper/limestone spigots?
So I did end up starting a new game. Used the “hard” desert starting area.
Just finished Phase 3. The next one looks like a beast. I’m still annoyed that it takes so long to build things. I don’t like the blueprint designer, but I think I’ll have to bite the bullet and start using it for the next phase. Why couldn’t they have scaled everything down by 2x or 4x so it’s more like building a model?
Either somersloops didn’t do anything last I played or they hadn’t unlocked yet, but they’re a huge benefit. I have around a dozen now but I suspect collecting a lot more will be an enormous savings. Double production on top of a 250% speed modifier is incredible.
Power is ok for now but I’d like to tear down my old coal plants. I’m also not sure it’s worth bothering to upgrade my oil facilities given the prospect of nuclear. I think it might be worth speedrunning that before doing anything else.
Somersloops were a surprise 1.0 change. And there’s a late game building that makes an even more significant use of them.
Yeah, I spent one of them to unlock that. I regret that now since the building requires 10 more of them, and they’re way more valuable (at least for now) for increasing production. Especially for relatively high-grade production that only has one input, like steel or cables. Double the output with no change in inputs, and only one somersloop required.
The somersloop cost does go up with the tiers (manufacturer uses 4, for example). There ARE a grand total of 106 on the map, so even a few of those late buildings can do fine without severely harshing the sloopin’ goodness flow.
Alright! Space parts sent and onto Phase 3.
I unlocked oil right away because I had a feeling it would take an epic journey to get there.
Just gonna set up encased beams, and then I’ll head over.
Oh, and I finally unlocked Blade Runners. HOLY CRAP! What was I doing until now???
Yeah, I noticed that for the full 2x bonus, you need somersloops equal to the number of building inputs. Which under some circumstances might mean you’re better off using them for lower-tier things. Especially if you have a temporary bottleneck where you need to beef up the production of some specific parts.