Satisfactory has clawed me back for now.
I have been really enjoying Captain of Industry and played it a bunch, but I was getting the Satisfactory itch again, especially after watching Coffee Stain’s Big Break event and getting excited for the upcoming expansion. I have begun work on updating my logistics systems to follow more of a star topology rather than a web of point-to-point routes.
First step: New concrete factory
The first step was making a new concrete factory, even though it wasn’t necessary for my transportation overhaul. I have unlocked an alternate recipe that is far more efficient with the use of limestone so I switched to that. For the same amount of limestone I am getting 160 concrete/min instead of the 80/min with the default recipe.
I grew tired of the spaghetti at my old factory, and it was never much of a permanent solution. It also offered me an easy start to the new logistics system I am creating on this server. I built it on a road and only needed to truck limestone and water in. Easy peasy.
I am quite happy with the building itself. It is an interesting shape and fits in with the existing infrastructure. I especially like the curve I was able to give it. It is not a perfect building, but no building is. It does exactly what it needs to do, and it does it well.
Next step: Just the Basics Ltd
I am planning a mega factory for all the basic parts up to steel. This will replace nearly all of my starter factories so I can free up those resources and the space they take up. I might leave some buildings for prosperity but I am moving towards larger buildings with better appearances and organization. My first step is to decide what I want to produce, and then plan the production lines and what inputs I will need. I also need to consider the factories I have and what is being exported from them currently and accommodate that. Either building a small factory nearby the consumer, or packing enough capacity and send some parts back to my desert logistics hub.
What have I learned?
Tracking inputs and outputs is essential, and surprisingly easy
I built a simple spreadsheet with a list of inputs and outputs, then run SUMIF statements for all the resource types. I decided to limit my tracking to raw materials to keep it simple, and my production line design philosophy is to construct everything needed onsite with exceptions as needed and in-game signs will suffice for that.
Higher upfront setup, but huge payoff
There is an extra step now to creating a factory and getting resources to it, but I think it is worth it. I touch on it more below but I have better resource utilization with this method. Everything comes from one central location to distribute (per region). I can pop some truck stops or train stations down in my factories and know that all the materials will enter that way. No need for belts running across the factory with resources from all sides.
Better resource utilization
This one can be seen either way I think. On one hand I am still using whatever resources I use and miners can be idle. However this method does not require me to allocate miners to specific factories (not strictly necessary before). I can run them all at 100% capacity and I am tracking resources out vs in and can add more miners as I approach maximum capacity. Now instead of having miners running at 80% because that is all a factory needs I run them at 100% and can allocate those resources as needed, anywhere in the map (once I get my map-wide logistics transportation going).
Still figuring out
I am still working on the best way to get resource from areas that are further than practical for conveyor belts. I am torn between trains and trucks. I think a mix of both is in order. Trains where I can bring a bunch of resources together, and trucks for extremely far, or isolated, resources.
Factories are supplied in much the same way, I am supplying my new concrete factory via truck because I built it on a road and it is pretty small. My next factory for the basics parts will be supplied by train because of the amount of resources required.
In conclusion
I have finally found a system that gets me past my barrier of freezing at the thought of connecting loads of resources to factories in the late game. I am finally excited to keep building and working on more complex lines. I think the separation of tasks really helps me.
I have three phases to factory building now, actual building construction which happens on and off throughout the process of building the factory. Production line construction is the second. Third is either bringing resources to my hub to distribute, or simply distributing them if I already have the resources there.
Anyways, back to the factories for me. I must continue being efficient and rebuilding my old lines to optimize them so that I may continue working on mid-game parts and factories for that. The classic rebuild old lines vs build new. One day I will beat the game and provide all the parts to the elevator.