Is this video, trains. Consider supporting what I do: / zyllius Yes, is it actually under three minutes. Music Used: Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland - Butter Building
Sup lads, Still hard at work on the final episode of Space Exploration. I've been devoting pretty much all my free time to it but it's still going to take a bit longer so I banged this out real quick since people have been asking. I've beaten SE, but there's some extra stuff I'm currently struggling with, and then there's the process of actually making the video, but I hope to see you guys in the next two weeks.
I see this as the main benefit of trains, especially in a multiplayer game where I'm the only one actually placing any trains. It's also why it's so important to use nuclear fuel to maximize the train's lethality (Or, like, quark-gluon plasma fuel or whatever modpack you're playing may offer).
@@KubiaSpeed I use circuit conditions, a bigass tank petroleum, light oil and heavy oil if heavy oil is more than %90 deposited, turn on the chemical plants that break it down to light if light oil is more than %90 deposited, turn on the chemical plants that break it down to petroleum there you go, your production will never stop now
This is it. No 1-hour-tutorial, no series with complicated examples and what not. It's just what it needs to be, and now I actually understand these things that I'd was guessing about for hundreds of in-game hours. Thank you Dosh!
@@averagefirstcurseenjoyer5684 Nilaus indeed. He forgets what he’s talking about mid-sentence 🤷♀️ so long-winded with little to no substance. Sorry to say. And also his hatred for KoS 😳
Compared to the one and a half hour train signal guide, this video is so much better for new players. Wish I had this video when I first tried to learn trains. Fast, barebone and kirby music make any guide better.
Maybe for someone who already knows the game mechanics it's true, but for me who just picked it up I didn't understand much from this. Looks like I need a better explanation
@@Guido181 Just watch a video on actual trains and you'll have an easier time. A lot of factorio content creators like to find the most convoluted way of explaining the simplest of concepts. A concept that can be summarised in 3 sentences will take them 3 paragraphs.
@@miorioff It helps when youve tried and failed to properly use signals before, if youve never used trains before this video will probably seem needlessly vague
You have no idea just how much I want a video like this. Nothing's more soul crushing than trying to learn about trains in Factorio, only for it to be a 40 long unedited video that slogs through the explanations. I wish Factorio RU-vidrs edited more like you do.
Yama Kara really helped me get trains in his "Factorio Beginner Guide" playthrough. The tl;dw is "Rail chain signal going into the intersection, rail signal going out of the intersection." Chain in, rail out. Simple as that.
Mostly yes, chain in, rail out is a good rule of thumb. But also, any time you have a regular signal, there needs to be enough space after it to fit a whole train. That makes sure the tail of the train doesn't get stuck blocking the last intersection. That's why my straight section blueprint only has the signals at the beginning of the block.
yes, there are a couple of times where i have had to break this rule, at least for when the outgoing block is to short for the train to fit. but that is how all my blueprints are set up
@@DFPercush well, yes, but actually no I mean, you are absolutely right, but only on intersection exit - if block after regular signal is too short to fit a train, then train's tail will block the intersection. But on a straight without any intersections there is no risk of blocking, so you can place signals more often there. (technically speaking, you could place those signals right next to each other :D)
@@norbertkowalik6854 Ok, you're right, on long straightaways it doesn't hurt to have them more often, as long as the block after an intersection is adequately sized. It can actually help clear up traffic congestion faster because the trains behind can start moving sooner. But for the purpose of having a blueprint library that you can just slap down and not worry about it, I tend to keep it in full blocks.
1:38 I knew there'd be a "Draw the rest of the f*cking owl" step somewhere! Janky bi-directional setups are probably in the top 3 most common issues that new players have with their train networks. You addressed the complexity perfectly...by glossing over it and explaining better and simpler ways of handling trains. Brilliant work as always. Thank you.
I think it's explained pretty well, you need signals on that side so the train knows to use that rail that way. Nothing else changes chain signals will stop the train going in if a train is in that section regardless of if it goes forward or backward.
Unironically a great and useful video, as I did not in fact know, despite my hundreds of hours in this game, that you can name the same multiple train stops the same and a train with a stop there will pick whatever's open. I've been manually naming every single one.
That's how I set up most of my input stations. Since there's only so many types of basic resources needed for one product, you can have a bunch of stations named "Copper" and your trains that are set to drop off at those stations will go service them as they become available (i.e.: if the station becomes enabled due to the buffer chests going below a certain limit). No need for fancy LTN mods, simple is the way to go! Copy pasted stations also keep their name, so do blueprinted ones. I think you can quick-name them too by selecting from a list of currently existing stations.
This also works GREAT for mines. Literally just name all of them [insert ore] pickup and your trains will pick whatever one's available (do take care to limit stations)
The next bit of fun is using the circuit network to only open a train station when it has enough material to fill a train, or enough room in the chests to empty a train. This makes sure that your trains only leave when there is a place for them to go. If you see an empty train sitting at an unloading station, you know what you need to make more of. Once that is figured out, you need to see what the next item missing is and make more of that, etc. A fancier setup will open the station for as many trains as it can fill/empty, with a second limit of the max number of trains you want coming in at any time (so you might have enough room in the chests for 7 trains of cargo, but if you only enough space on the tracks for 3 trains then you better put in a limit of 3). Of course then it is like the Malcom in the Middle sketch where the dad comes home and a bulb burns out. Cue the sequence of stuff where he eventually winds up working on the car to go to the store. "Oh, I need more Blue Circuits, but I have an empty train at the Red Circuit unloading, that means I need more Red Circuits, but that is waiting on a train at the Green Circuit unloading, which is waiting on an Iron Plate Train, which is waiting on an Ion Ore train, and apparently my Iron Ore patches are running low. Time to head out, kill more Biters and get another Iron Ore patch being mined."
Some missing details: - train signals are right handed - chain signals look to the status of the next non-chain-signal block _along the path the train wants to take_ - ie. chain signal, fork, block signal on each arm of the fork, will be passable even if one block is occupied, so long as that block isn't the one the train wants to path to - Trains in motion reserve blocks in advance based on required stopping distance.
Bless you, finally someone who doesn't overcomplicate it. I want to learn the mechanics, not be told exactly what to build - figuring that out is like half of the fun! Explain the Lego pieces, not the whole build
You forgot to mention that only manual trains can be driven in both directions, if you want an automatic train to be able to do that you will need at least 1 locomotive facing each direction. I think this is important to include because beginner's first train line will usually be only 1 track with a station at each end.
Thanks! Just doing demo on the Switch and have first bit with train. Built two locomotives with three cargo carts in the middle. Can’t seem to get it to move automatically or manually. It has enough fuel… I’m going to try making sure I have signals. Fingers crossed! (Trying to avoid looking at too much instruction as I know a lot of the fun is figuring it out, but I figured I’m missing something significant 😅)
The tip “chain signals on entrance, rail signal on exit” for intersections is enough for 99% of all intersections and helped me a lot when doing my rail system
Dosh, I really have to thank you for your videos. You brought me from the ever repeating cycle of creating a base capable of automated blue science and then creating a new game since everything would simultaneously bottleneck to a completed game of both Krastorio and vanilla. This video is just the cherry on top of a lovely cake which will now put me into another game of factorio with a more train based base. So an honest thanks for being such a great creator.
dosh explains something in 3 mins and makes it pretty clear and easy to understand, while others take over a hour or multiple episodes to poorly explain how trains work. dosh is the best
i genuinely understand about 90% of this decently well. My single biggest issue with trains? GETTING THE RAILS TO GO WHERE I WANT. i swear i spend more time trying to get the rail to go where i intend than i do setting up the trains.
Are you placing it 1 piece at a time? if you click on the end of the rail (yellow arrow) it will give you a way to place multiple bits at once, once you get bots it's much easier
@@mrlegodude96alt2 nah, I mean getting the track to curve the way I think it should. Maybe it's just cuz I haven't really sat down and messed with it for long enough, but whenever I do the yellow arrow, the track seems to try and twist every direction except where I think it should
This is the train tutorial I think more people need to watch! As trains are really this simple! Yet most tutorials are very long, and often have "do intersections this way", and sometimes even "wrong"... :) Yet this video is perfect in its simplicity!
Most of the complications of rail design comes from... that deadlock thing, plus trying to maximize throughput. All that !!science!! and you wind up with "Here, use this because it works 2% better than the next-best idea for reasons that are too complicated to explain (and might not even apply to you unless you do everything else exactly the way I say to as well)."
Honestly your abridged content is what new and intermediate players need to sink their teeth into rather than 10-15 minute videos that are padded for ads. I hope you make more.
Thanks Dosh! Been needing a train guide for factorio. Looking forward to both the last space exploration video and whatever weird indie game you make a video on next!
This actually genuinely helps, and is the most concise description of trains I've ever seen. And you didn't even make me feel like an idiot for not realizing the simplicity! Good on ya, Dosh, keep it up
Damn I do wish that people would make more tutorials like this. quick, consistent and to the point. no 3 minute long pre-amble to a 5 minute video with the standard "please help me by liking and subscribing." The format you used for this, good sir, makes me way more likely to like and subscribe. the former I just did, the latter I already had been for a good while :)
A pretty succinct tutorial that explains all the fundamentals, and also the key point that anything complex can usually be simplified, that things that look complex are sometimes complex just for the sake of saving trains all of 3 seconds (and a bit of fuel). All in all, pretty darn good!
Wth. I spent seriously five hours learning how this stuff works and you explain it all so well in just three minutes. Obviously I’d need to rewatch it a few times, but still. Incredibly awesome
Bro you are a legend and are so careful with your words. I watched many longer videos where people would talk about filtering options at a stop. Your one sentence: "set conditions before heading to the next stop" was all I needed.
Just started 3 separate playthroughs with my friends and when it came to trains literally yesterday, it took me about 15ish minutes to explain Signals. This will help a LOT. Thank you Some more ideas for future video‘s like this one: Reactors/Uranium in 3 Minutes, Oil Refinery in 3 Minutes and Mining Outpost in 3 Minutes.
I can see reactors/uranium in 3 minutes, and oil in 3 minutes (kinda need that one tbh). But mining outpost in 3 minutes? Doubt... Just gotta know how to make belt balancers :D
ig you would have like buffers labeled like "Iron ore buffer" where trains would go to the buffer, then go to the iron ore stop. This lets you have trains wait right next to it, providing you with a little bit of high throughput.
Pretty good for 3 minutes! I think most newcomers struggle with chain signals, or rather, how to really think about them correctly. You did a pretty nice work showing many of their uses.
You sir are a god. Best video I've ever watched on YT of any kind. "HELLO. INFORMATION. BYE." thank you so much, no BS, no filler, no having to scroll 46 minutes to get to the point, not even a sensible delay to get more watch time, just pure gold. thank you again.
One thing that might be useful to note is that you can see where the train waggons will end up by hovering over a station oder by selecting a signal and bringing the mouse close to the rail. This way you know where to place inserters or fluid pumps.
This is honestly everything I needed to know about the signals. All the hour-long videos made me think they were incredibly complicated, so I just copy and pasted a template and never bothered to look it up. Now that I know the basics, I can just experiment and figure out what's best for myself. Thanks!
900 hours in. I had no idea thats what chain signals did. I just placed them everywhere and it just worked. thank you man who showed up in my recommendations.
Another tip for those that still have trouble with understanding this but want to start using trains anyways: Chain signals into an intersection, Rail signals out/at the end. Chain in, Rail out. It's not the most accurate and may cause the occasional issue but it will get the job done and will help give you a bare basic understanding of signals. Also I highly recommend using train limit especially on places that are named the same and can potentially have more trains going to it than its buffer zone allows. You don't want to block the main track if possible. Say you make an Iron Mine Stop at several places, you'll figure out over time/experience how many trains are necessary per stop per item input/output. Also when naming stations you can put the item(s) image in their name to help find them more visibly faster. Oh and you can copy/paste trains/stations just like assemblers etc. Shift+R click, Shift+L click. Copying a train and pasting onto a station will only paste the color of the train.
If you're feeling truely gamer you can set up a simple circuit condition that only opens the train stations when they can handle a full load of stuff (and the reverse for the loading stations), this way you can use fewer trains to service more stations
Perfect. All info in one place, just the way you need it, compressed and with visual clues. Makes you wonder why someone couldn't do this video at least 3 years ago.
jfc bro I've been playing Factorio since it was a baby and I never really figured out train signals. I just brute force it and plop 4 signals down at intersections and hope for the best. The "blocks" explanation made so much sense and I feel like I actually understand it now. Thanks so much for this! Also coloring the "blocks" should be a base game feature.
This video makes me both happy and angry at the same time. Happy to understand, angry that hours of frustration could have been avoided with three minutes of learning.
1:24 shows what I love most about Factorio trains: I can build messes like that and, provided I set the signals right, they will STILL happily find their way. Especially entertaining when the junctions become so awful, that even I can't figure out which path gets me somewhere, while the trains just zip through.
Only thing I'd add is just a general 'chain in, block out' when talking about intersection signals. I know you already covered it, but that mantra actually helped a few friends get into trains on factorio, it simplifies the thought process so much.
Short and to the point. Nice! There are some systems surrounding the train pathing logic that may require some additional fiddling and looking up of stuff (making liquid wagon pumps work at the same efficiency across the whole station, for example), but that is admittedly outside of train signal concerns.
this actually taught me more about how the train system works than every tutorial video and ever reddit page ive ever seen. i actually feel like i can sit down and make a functional train system now
This is the PERFECT tutorial, i wish this was out when i started playing, i had to watch through those long ass tutorials before stopping half way through because it got to the 1 part i was stuck on. Its not hard, its simple logic. I would add that you can use a network to turn the train stations on and off but this might come under networking rather than just trains though if you were to extend this tutorial this would be one of the things i would recommend you add, not that this tutorial needs extending, it covers more then the basics and is good enough for any simple base
Trains have always been super intimidating to me and it's a big part of why I fall off of the game around the oil mark. I wish I could say this fixed everything, but it definitely helped a bit! Thanks!
this video really would've saved my ass a few weeks ago when i had started messing with them. Thankfully the game has a fairly comprehensive tutorial set that helped me out there. Great video nonetheless!
This is literally perfect, people over here thinking they need an hour long video to fully learn and understand the basics of trains and here we have all the info most Factorio players really need to have a fully functioning rail system throughout their base. It's really simple honestly if you think of the signals as if they are the stop lights at car intersections and you can figure it out from there in most cases depending on what your trying to do.
Guarantee if you go in game with just a 3 minute video under your belt then you wouldn't know what to do and fumble around lol. I'm that way. I need time for information to sit in my brain before I can actually understand it
This is actually probably the most helpful short video I'm going to end up watching about seventeen times to try and figure out Belt Spaghetti, Train Edition in my first playthrough, thank you so much for making this
A great rule of thumb is that you should use a normal signal if a full train can fit in the block after it, and a chain signal otherwise. This one idea single-handedly carried my early train tinkering, and now signals are just second-nature to me.
This isn't a tip You can place them however you want The game will show you which direction a train can move or stop based on where you place the signal Why would there be a left if you can't place them on the left?
Ayyy one of the first. I deeply enjoy your videos and just wanted to say thank you for hours of re-watches ❤ RU-vid Premium Minutes for you, my dearest Creator!
I don't play Factorio and I probably won't ever, but this was an excellently educational and entertaining video and I feel that after one watch I understand about 50% of how the trains work.
Thank you, good sir, for explaining the mechanic of trains I never really got and tended to have bad(tm) bases that functioned off of one train mass moving things around, since I didn't understand any more about trains than the basics.
I pretty much taught myself everything I know about trains, no was I was going to watch an hour video about them. You showed me how chain signals work though which is pretty mint. Didn't know how to use them before.
