As I was editing the video I realized I could easily make 6 Assembler/Foundry blueprints in the same style as all of these. So I did and added them to the google drive. Thanks for watching!
Love that you use load balancing. I load balanced my way to my golden mug in early access and can't wait to do the same for 1.0. There's something very satisfying about a perfectly system where there are no backed up manifold belts. I did find myself using 7 way splits a few times. But never needed a blueprint for it. And if I had sufficient beltspeed on the input, I'd use a 9-2=7 split for symmetry.
I couldn’t agree more! I love seeing all the belts moving and all the machines starting up at the same time. Now that you mention it I did kind of use a 7 way split for my Thermal Propulsion Rocket factory. It was 2 next to each other since I needed 14. The symmetry of the 9-2 is a much nicer look. Good luck with 1.0!
I have watched all videos about load balancers, while all of them explain how it works and why, your video is the best since it shows useful example in compact mode.
Load balancing can take up a lot if space but you can reduce that a lot with some verticality. One blueprint I have and will be using is a balanced 4 constructor setup where the input belts are entirely under the floor (lifts attached to the machines) and the outputs are on the floor. The blueprint is 4x3 and blueprint I/O is under the floor. The design allows for a second floor with another 4 constructors to be added, again balanced. A similar blueprint I have made has 2 assemblers, with 2 more on an upper level in the same floor size.
I love these! I'm definitely load balancing in 1.0 to change things up. I was thinking how to balance manifolds using overclocking to match the manifold ratios. If you're interested, I made a reddit post called "Load balanced manifolds". I think it matches perfectly with this play style.
Thank you! It’s a great way to change things up, great nerdy fun. I checked out your post. I was curious if this sort of thing would work and it’s so cool to see all the math and diagrams. Very well done! Especially with being able to make power shards in the end game this seems like very feasible way to do it. Good luck!!
@@moo121 Thank you! I think it requires less splitters than normal load balancing, but I didn't check that. Unfortunately you can't just build 20 machines in a row and overclock the first to 2000%, so it has its limits. But as you said, it's all nerdy fun!
Unless you have a supercomputer, I would advise against a mega-factory. The performance hit to your computer makes the save almost unplayable in the late game. At least break up your mega factories into tiers so you can spread out the load.
You make an excellent point. I certainly do not have a supercomputer. I should probably stop saying mega factory, saying 4-5 large factories just doesn’t sound as cool but it’s much more accurate. I’m hoping that all the optimization will let my computer still handle that.
very cool. Some good tips in there the first time around I've tried to keep things very compressed, but I've decided since I have a giant world with almost endless resources. There's no reason not to make everything big/open. Plus like you said easier to see what's broken when your belts are not packed in like sardines.
Thank you! Letting it take up space is a lot of fun and gives you a lot of flexibility for when you forget a couple machines. Not like I’ve ever done that. Hahaha
@@moo121 I downloaded your blueprints. very impressive in action. I do feel they are compact, yet easy to manage and upgrade. Except for that one little belt. You really have to be standing on top of it to get to upgrade unless there's some trick I don't know about. Anyway great job. Thanks for your hard work and sharing.
I’m so glad you like them! I think that short 1m belt is always going to be tricky unfortunately. My plan is to load up the blueprint and then add the correct recipes and change belts where needed and resave it for each specific project. That will make it so hopefully I’ll only have to change it one time.
Making the blueprints with no material cost is genius! You probably didn't come up with it but still. I just got blueprints in my 0.8 game and the cost is rediculous this early (just got tier 5).
Thanks! I most certainly stole that from someone haha. It’s really handy to play around with anything. Something I always forget about is after you save and then clear the BP it should put all the items in the crate on the little bench at the end of the blueprinter. Good luck with blueprints, they are a game changer! Have fun with 1.0!
I'll also create a second world just to make blueprints when i start over with 1.0 i was always annoyed to not be able to create a full set of blueprints for different tiers (that i hadn't unlocked yet) and having to adjust and add higher tier belts later. it will be much easier to create one blueprint and "virtually upgrade" all the belts in advance, instead of later reloading and editing them all the time. edit: how nice would it be when the blueprinter would offer resources (for building inside itself) for free, and delete them afterwards instead of putting them in that chest. it will also benefit a more realistic playtime in a save, instead of adding lots of hours just for doing blueprints (often even going afk or researching something while doing so), and it will also avoid all my storages running unrealistically full in all that time that i spend on creating blueprints, practically voiding the positive effect of having balanced setups.
Sincerely! Thank you for making your blueprints available! And for taking the time to explain how you made them. I have subscribed! Looking forward 1.0 on Wednesday (by the time I'll get the load it up) and seeing what you do with your save! Personally, I've used the blueprint mod extensively for early access. You don't even need to use mk 4 or 5... These are enormous! Mk3 gives you an 8x8 grid to build on and that's enough to make a whole factory. It's awesome having a factory blueprint (ie a whole building in one blueprint) for each component! Want an aluminium factory...? Click - done! 😋 Need some cement here...? Click - done! By the way I go by the name Noo 😉 Keep building! 😁
Hey Noo! Thank you so much for the kind words! The blueprints are such a game changer and it took me way too long to realize it. Enjoy the 1.0 journey!
I did a playthrough in which I had one not-so-mega factory with a tall, vertical, doughnut-style(ellipse really) main bus. Any overflow from the processes that were drawing from the bus would just circle back around. Not sure if it was a waste of time to use this method, but it had the advantage of being able to "plug in" just about any process I needed on any open spot of the bus in no particular order either to add resources or to withdraw them. I didn't bother with using nuclear power, coal and fuel was enough.
Very cool! I’ve seen setups using those big main buses and I can definitely see the appeal. Having everything come from and go to the same place is nice.
You can build even smaller, by placing the merger and splitter inside the head or tail of a conveyer lift. Comes in really handy with foundries and assemblers. I really liked building 9-way perfect splits and underclock the machines. When you get faster belts you only need to upgrade the higher levels of the splitter, and underclocked machines consume less power so you get a bit more running before you need to scale power. With the refinery, you can put the load balancer of the input underneath the structure and fit a manifold for the output. Adds a little bit of height but gets the smallest footprint possible.
I just saw a video about that! I’m not sure how I feel about having them clipped like that, just not crazy about the look. It certainly works and is definitely a personal preference. There might be a few places where I use it, we’ll see! The 9 way split and just underclocking is a great way to do it. The savings on power really do add up. Going underneath the refineries and probably some of the other large machines is a good idea. Trade a little bit of height for saving a lot of space in front and behind could make a big difference. Thanks for the suggestions!
@@moo121 i dont like that clipping either. one thing you could do is place a foundation and a floor hole and then connect the lift ends and then get rid of the foundation. it'll get rid of the shute, skirt, or whatever that black part that sticks out is called. however i dont think you can the short connections you are doing in this vid that way as the floor hole does add a bit of space vertically
@@moo121 yeah the clipping is a preference. When I built it by accident the first time I didn't like it either. In a manifold with both input lanes on top of each other and supported by beams etc. i like it.
That’s a great idea. You could have the floor holes trade 1m of space in the x or y axis for 1m of z. lol I hope that made sense. But yeah that’s a great way to get rid of whatever that part of the lift is called!
I think you nailed it. With the right cosmetics you can definitely make some of that kind of clipping look good. The aesthetics part of the game is where I have a LOT of room to grow.
Great Video. The black on black makes it a bit hard to see what's happening though. Some colours thrown in would help to differentiate the mergers from the splitters, the return belt, etc.
Thank you! And I totally agree. I wish I made the concrete a lighter color. Adding a little more color to different parts to make it easier to see is a great suggestion, thanks!
having the main platform built from standard foundations also adds a lot of "optical strain" to detect and see what is really important. at first, i almost didn't notice that there were blueprinter machines on it :-) for optics (and also to not having to carry different materials when building) i mostly use alternate foundations from the awesome shop. but thanks for showing this kind of setup. I always wanted to do it like that, but never had the patience to do such larger and more complicated (at least more work) setups than doing simple and fast manifolds. I also often build a few machines first that then can be extended in a long row when using manifolds, but would require partial rebuilds when building like this. And thanks also to showing how to place the lifts (with temporary stackable belt supports). Even though i have a few k of playtime, i was always struggling aligning lifts depending on whether i build them upwards or downwards from splitters or mergers, and they often didn't connect properly. ps: the one time i absolutely needed to build a balanced setup instead of a manifold was after i did the calculation how long it would take for a manifold to fill all nuclear powerplants. it would have been months of realtime, LOL, and of course also poisoned the world with kilometers of belts full of nuclear fuel.
Thankyou, these are very cool. I was thinking about trying a load balanced factory for 1.0. The only bits that seem to be annoying are the weird fractional numbers that pop up everywhere in certain processes. Or bulk transporting of materials. Especially from all the way across the map, it feels like there's no way around having the train network and buffers effectively be a manifold without having many more trains on the network, even if the factories are load balanced. Is that something you've managed to solve through better planning, or just going for best effort?
Thanks! You point out some of the big challenges with a load balanced factory. Once things scale up the logistics can get pretty interesting. What made these things a lot easier was definitely planning ahead. Really taking a look at different combinations of recipes, some weren't the most efficient on paper, but the numbers would magically line up and I could get all whole numbers instead of those crazy decimals. The other change was not maxing out every node because I wasn't going to use them all anyways. If I needed copper for wire and copper sheets in a factory instead of using 1 node and having to split it, if it was feasible I would use 2 nodes so I could clock each one to exactly the amount I need. Trains do help but the first time I ever beat the game was on a playthrough where I only used belts and drones so I could have 1 power grid that everything was on 100% of the time. In my last save I was able to load balance right out of the storage buffer coming from the trains and it worked pretty well.
I have sprawled out before and am going to go compact, did manifolds religiously before, going to do load balancers now. Rushed to end-game before, going to enjoy the ride/story this time. built on ground level before, can you say "floating city"??? hehe Did I miss something while waiting for 1.0? How the heck did you get a conveyor lift to work on a splitter directly above the other one? (saw it on the smelter BP at 14 min)
Haha I know the feeling, it’s been a long early access. I can’t wait. I think I know which one you are talking about. If it’s the one at the top that was short, I used some temporary foundations. Each merger/splitter is 2m tall. And that lets me put a conveyor pole in the right spot to manipulate the lift. Or zoop up the stackable conveyor poles but foundations are easier to delete after. If I guessed which one wrong let me know! Good luck!
@@moo121 It appears I missed something somehow, after more than 3000 hours in game I just figured it out, place the stack of 2 splitters the right way and the conveyor lift just plops into place. Udderly amazing, I know I'll have to milk this new ability for all it's worth. haha
So true! I'm really excited to see what is now possible even with just that extra foundation in each direction. It definitely will open a lot of possibilities!
having twice the volume (4³=64, 5³=125) is nice, but for (almost?) all my previous blueprints, i would prefer 6² x3=108 or 6² x4=144 instead, or sometimes even 7² x2=98 or 8² x2=128 ... except for some taller single machines, i then could build large floors, long bridges, etc, and stack them when needed, instead of planning a small footprint with 3+ or 4+ floors
If you are interested in trying the blueprint mod I'll happily upload my blueprints. I even have a blueprint for a 24GW micro reactor factory. 😜 It uses the Refined Power mod. All in an 8x8 factory mk3 blueprint. Modular so you can plonker down a bunch of them and have all the power you could ever need! Just ask and I'll happily provide my Dropbox links.
I actually just downloaded a blueprint mod yesterday! I don’t think it’s the most popular one but this one has a 5x5 so I could test out the new mk2 in 1.0. I think I’m going to do a very close to vanilla playthrough first, SkyUI and FicsitCam are going to be hard to give up for making the videos. After that I’ll probably dive into the mods like the bigger blueprinters. I can’t wait to see what new stuff everyone comes out with! Thank you for the offer! It may be a while but I’m sure I’ll be interested in those BPs :)
I really like the look of these blueprint being multilevel, gives it a really nice look, but i hope you aren't planning to let those floors floating right?... RIGHT???
so excited for 1.0! what do you think of the new quantum tech stuff? also love shapez 2! I just finished my first MAM, im now optimizing it. your plans for 1.0 seem similar to what I plan on doing! although I dont like compact, im just going to sprawl more lol. I wonder what the changes are to blueprints.
I can’t wait! The quantum tech stuff is super exciting. I think it’ll give a lot of us that first playthrough feeling. So many shiny new toys to play with! The little comment at the end of that video does make me a little nervous that I’ll have to redo all this but that’s okay! I don’t blame you for not liking compact. I rarely ever try and just let it sprawl too.
That really would be a game changer! I don't imagine they will get too big, but it would be really nice if you could fit all the machines in the designer.
Honestly the quality made me expect more subs, but I was surprised to only see 720 (now 721). Anyways is there a way to get these blueprints? I’m still new so it would be cool to use and look at.
Thank you, I really appreciate that! Yes they are available to download here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1os25MYvHKj2e0kalMbe99A4lcQOzEKD_?usp=sharing Have fun with 1.0!
Why do you also "load balance" the outputs? I don't think that has any benefit since there is no machines that need to fill up there, only a belt - you could probably save some more space by collecting the output "manifold-style".
That is an excellent question. Honestly I don’t know why, it started because I liked the symmetry and I wasn’t trying to save space. Now that I’m trying to do it a little bit more compact this time around I very may well start making them more like manifolds. Thanks for the suggestion!
Ok, these are too freaking cool! Where, how in the...did you see or figure out the shorty elevators? I really like when people share their blueprints and saves, but I want to go through the process myself, ya know? I am totally stealing all of these that are not primes over 3. I just can't trust the feedback, it feels icky for some weird reason. I found out the hard way with those 1M belts between the merger/splitter and a machine too. I am still skocked and amazed by your compacted balancers! Bravo!
Thanks so much! Like most things I'm pretty sure I stole it from someone but I've been using them so long I have no idea who haha. I'm right there with you. I like seeing other peoples blueprints but I always recreate them on my own. I like to really understand how it all works and fits together, much easier to troubleshoot later on. Good luck with 1.0!
quick question if i may, if i create some factory blueprints in a creative world and save them to the BP book, can i then go to a normal survival world and use the bp's i created there or do i have to make the bp's in the survival world and save them on that save to be able to use them?
Thanks for the great question! You can absolutely create blueprints on one save and copy them to another. Keep in mind each blueprint is 2 files. They are saved here: %LocalAppData%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\blueprints\{SESSION NAME} This means you can download them from other people or websites as well. There is a google drive link in the description that has all of these available if you want to check any out. Have fun!
