A lot of people are mentioning logistics floors. I'm sure that's a great method, but the reason I use this method is that it's easy and fast, which for me makes my designs a lot more flexible and maintainable as requirements change and as my belts and miners go through upgrades. This method helps a lot with the early to mid game, which a lot of people struggle to get past. If you go further in the game, this method doesn't stop you from using logistics floors, but it can easily scale without them as well. It is a method for limiting the technical debt incurred in the early game. That said, despite the sarcastic tone I took, this remains only a suggestion. I'm not sincerely going to tell you my way is superior, it's just a technique you can choose to try. I appreciate people engaging with the video, and I'm glad so many people like it!
Dimensional depot has changed the way I play. I use the same factory from day one to feed the depot for Iron plates, rods, etc. into late game, I upgrade each depot injection point once at mark 3 logi. Never touch it again. Updating for each phase of assembly is its own supply line, each factory parts logistics is routed sub floor. I use these same methods to keep the logistic floors clean and traversable. Nice explanation.
@@Vherok Yeah, they've removed so much of the friction from the game, it's much easier to play now. I'm a little sad that there's no longer any need to build a good storage system, but not so sad that I'd want to get rid of the dimensional depot. They did a great job solving the pain points without hurting the core gameplay.
"There's a space for me to exist in this factory" That resonated with me a lot because it sums much of the trouble with modern work life. Thanks for this video! My building style has a lot of improvement in it and this gave me quite a few incentives to care.
I didn't even think about it that way when I said it, but you're right. The themes about industrialisation in Satisfactory touch on exactly that, the mechanisation of the individual in the pursuit of production, and good sci-fi is always about real world issues. In this game I roleplay as the perfect worker who never sleeps, and ADA basically tells you that's what you are. The only concessions I make in my architecture are to allow me to traverse more efficiently, which works because as you may have noticed, I never stop moving in this game lol.
Just commenting to let you know the algorithm popped this up on my front page today. I'm not sad about it, I would definitely check out more satisfactory content.
I enjoyed your video a lot, and you made a compelling case for sending logistics upward. I've tried following other verticalisation strategies from other youtubers, but couldn't really get a satisfying "composable" and modular idea - because most send the belts underneath. I'm a slow gamer; it took me ages to get coal and haven't enough Silica yet to place glass floors - so debugging is still painful. But you convinced me; having the belts up, allow to to debug and visualise the whole thing from its inception just by looking up and in addition, frees up floor space for moving. I'll start following your guidance on my ongoing game. In addition, you're the first youtuber I've seen talk about the exceptionally beautiful natural world design in Satisfactory as a commentary about industrialisation and its impacts. I am of the same mindset - I also struggle to damage the natural world in-game, because it was obvious to me that a message was there - how willing are we as a species to destroy something that doesn't really belong to us in search of material benefits? It took me ages to gather bio-fuel (I didn't want to cut down the old trees) and I've been trying to move my belts upwards. Such a great game.
Thanks so much! I hadn't heard this commentary either, but then weirdly between recording and uploading this video, I saw JoeHillsTSD playing with some other Hermitcraft people and they basically said the same thing.
@@JasonEllingsworth That's exactly how I felt! Though it does help some in builds where I use the frames instead of solid foundations. I'm really liking these more compact and elevated builds though. Troubleshooting requires a lot less movement!
Two things heavily sold me here. Not having to manually line up the splitters/mergers in my manifolds and driving your explorer through the factory. I don't know that I'll go nearly as compact with my blueprints, but this is very convincing.
Smart way of doing things indeed, but the irony of calling people babies while complaining about any and every insignificant issue is just too damn funny mate! 😂👍🏻
The almighty algorithm put this in my feed. I agree with your theory wholeheartedly. But my major eck with doing it this way is how splitter/merger clips into lift's end section. If it didn't clip into it and rather slot into its side properly i'd definitely use it. Also the nose (horizontal) part of lifts are kinda unnecessary long IMO.
exc, I really identify with your journey here. My second playthrough I constructed a very similar megafactory in the grassy plains. Originally all my stuff was on the floor, quickly transitioned to a logistics floor when I discovered floor holes, but my factory became so expansive and complex that eventually it became untenable as my spaghetti outgrew my logistics floor and I landed almost exactly where you did on ceiling logistics. In my third playthrough with 1.0 I now work almost exclusively off the floor except in places where I want walkways for aesthetic reasons. As a fellow traveller on the journey of enjoying the terrain, I thought I'd share something I learned that may be useful to you too! If you break up your megafactory into separate superstructures within the same complex, with open space between, you can use vertical expansion and ceiling logistics within each project, with an attached logistics "tower" for vertical transfer and a single logistics "basement" and "arteries" at the bottom of the factory strictly for transferring parts from one large production site to the others within the larger megafactory. This gives you stunning glimpses of the terrain, and allows a lot more natural light into the facility. The vertical construction minimizes your footprint on the landscape, and the connective tissue between structures at ground level can really highlight the flow of production. I know you said you're not so much concerned with aesthetics, but man with your skill your factories already look awesome.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have under 100 hours in Satisfactory and I really needed to hear this. This will be a huge help as my factories grow.
The only time conveyer belts are acceptable at floor level is if it’s a deliberate design choice to make part of your factory aesthetically pleasing, and even then, get them out of the way of your walkways
I do something similar, but in the opposite direction. I like to belt my machines into a logistics level in the floor space. I sometimes add glass foundations too so I can see what's going on beneath me.
i refuse to put anything in the air, its the only way i get some exercise. also: once built, i very rarely go back to a certain factory, build once, move on is the motto... *sarcasm mode off last note: you did have some nice tips mate, thanks for sharing!
if you want a better fix for belts then do the sandwich method having beltwork running below each machine floor. it looks super clean. also build foundation over the node before placing the miner. this way it get to have same height as your machines and is easier to align.
Yup, a lot of people are telling me about this method, and it's totally valid if that's the way you like to build. This is more of a rule-of-thumb to follow when starting buildings which you can choose to continue to later stages. There's nothing stopping people from extending this method into a logistics floor. I honestly haven't tried the logistics floor myself, since I don't feel a need to hide the logistics, and also I like being able to immediately run a belt on the ceiling without anything in the way.
I do logistics floors myself. The main issue, just like every other construction project, is to make sure I budget enough room! And if you like to see it all in action (for aesthetics or troubleshooting) use lots of windows! It looks pretty cool.
@@sandorpek7486 You can do foundation first, as long as the foundation isn't too high over the node (i.e. 4 meters above is too much, but 2 meters seems fine in most cases). Something to keep in mind, though, is the miner will not line up to the foundation piece. It will always snap to the exact position of the node.
I really like what you've done here and I'll probably implement your ideas and maybe refine them a bit. I think the only thing I would change is the spaghetti above. Instead of going to the ceiling, I will most likely make logistic floors between the factory levels, so that I can scale vertically as needed without the spaghetti in the way. This would not only be between factories themselves, but above in the "hallways" as needed.
This is an early game problem that really isn't a problem. Once you get the jetpack and then the electric hover thingy, not one bit of this matters and I would dare say makes things worse, at least for me. If I'm setting up a ingot, rod, screw setup the most compact way to build it all is to jam them as close as possible to minimize belt usage. If you set it up correctly to begin with, it should be "set it and forget it". I'm not against getting belts off the ground, but for me it's only because you have to in order to belts clipping through each other. Putting lifters between everything is just silly and not needed.
A lot of people struggle to get past the early game, and this is a method that helps with that. Not everyone even reaches the jetpack stage, and if this can help people get there then I consider that a win. And if you're at the point where you're building new factories from the ground up with the highest tech level, and you can plan them perfectly to "set and forget," that's great, but if you still have higher level miners and belts to unlock, then you'll need to adjust them as you go. Not everyone has that much energy to put into planning. I prioritise heuristics like this that optimise for ease and reducing the amount of time I spend on planning, so I can spend more time building and experimenting. I prefer to play the game from inside without too much reference to external tools. That's why I focus on legibility and modular designs that can be adjusted and upgraded.
Yup! And a more advanced technique is to snap the heads of lifts inside splitters that already exist. You can use this to get shorter lifts or to have a more compact footprint for a splitter.
@@excrubulent how do you make lifts snap inside the spliters/mergers? i 've started doing it a bit, and i love the look of it, plus the space-saving is great... but i can't seem to make them snap inside existing splitters, just hang off the side.
@@tzxazrael Great question! I've got another video in the editor on just this, but in short there's a technique you can try: Stack up three splitters from the ground and delete the bottom two. Then aim a lift at the ground and make sure the default/reverse build mode is correct for the input/output you want. Then press H to hold, move it until it's overlapping the input/output you want. Then click to place it, scroll to rotate until you hear the attachment beep, and click again to place it. It should connect. You can actually set the offset to a number of different positions this way by moving them in & out.
@@tzxazrael Yup, it won't nudge if you snap it to the machine. You have to position it either on the floor or with a separate scaffolding piece, so you need some independent way to position the other end exactly where you want it, then have the head of the lift intersect the input/output that you want.
Just started playing this game. This popped up this morning after was rearranging my belts..again. Bang on idea on getting them up off the floor. Redid my parts area and assembly area and so much nicer. Now need to get it more modular. Still have things all spread out, still unlocking Tier 1 and 2
Glad to hear it! I discovered this method during my first playthrough when my factory was getting out of hand, and I went through and retrofitted the entire thing and made a bunch of extra space for myself, it works well even if you don't start with this method. Back then putting the belts on the ceiling was much more difficult because I didn't have access to the ceiling connectors, so I had to run beams from the ceiling and attach my belts to them. It was still worth it :)
Current Mood: "A bunch of fuses just got blown. Don't worry, that's normal". Also, this is a nice alternative to logistic floors. It's no more or less efficient than well made logistic floors but gives a different aesthetic. Will do this with a couple of factories just for the feel alone.
A number of people have mentioned logistic floors to me, and I've realised the reason I like this method instead is because I'm not the best at planning.
@@excrubulent I kinda suck at planning too which is why logistics floors saved my brain lol. For the most part it's really just putting a floor in and raising your raised belts to that floor. Technically, your constructor floor running all mats up to your Assemblers/Manufacturers floor makes the constructor floor a logistics floor for your Assemblers. Only step left for an actual logistics floor would be an additional 4-5m high floor on the bottom with all the belts and splitters moving the materials between the smelters and constructors. In saying that, the way you do it still looks great and I'm doing at least one factory that way.
I have taken to a mix of the 2 ... logistics for a manifold there around it ... then drop it all down to a logistics floor to move to a different part of factory
Pretty cool video. You spent a lot of time talking about why you didnt like the way everyone does manifolds on the ground. Would have liked to see more time spent on how you make vertical builds work. I'm going to give this build method a shot and it would have been nice to see more examples of how you connect a double stacked assembler array.
Yup, I've had other comments on these lines, and I've wanted to make a video on the stackable blueprints for a while, so I'm planning to get to that soon.
Oh and it's not just disliking the way other people do it, it's because I did it that way for a long time and I had to change it or else give up on the game, because it was just unmanageable.
Oh good point, also up off the floor and on the ceiling! I didn't even think about it tbh. All my factories have internal pillars because I want them to look like they could stand up. Those pillars also carry power from floor to floor, and I connect the power lines in a grid on the ceiling. There are a lot of redundant connections but that's not a bad thing imho. All the blueprints have two power connectors on opposite corners. When I stack them, I daisy chain those connectors vertically and the top connector connects to the ceiling grid.
If you go to the previous video, there is a link to the blueprint I cover there. I refined the blueprint a lot making that though, so I think I'll release them as I refine them so they're consistent.
Hmm...your latest video looks interesting..."Last video I talked about compact design...", clicking away, need to watch the previous video first "Last video I talked about how you can get belts of the ground"......d*mn it, clicking away need to watch this first. Going to watch all three, expecting greatness!
I generally have upward turns on inputs & outputs for pipes to the maximum height for a standard pipe support, and I use horizontal to vertical mode and keep the vertical part as close as possible to the machines. To my understanding this helps the liquid flow into the inputs before the pipes are full, and as long as you have enough head lift to fill the pipes it all works well. There's a whole PDF showing different liquid building techniques here: drive.google.com/file/d/1MdZ8Xr8P_SF_FL7B6WDjCZGS-x9Cwt-x/view Generally I keep them fairly low and put any belts above them. Pipes are a lot more flexible in how they're arranged so they don't need as much fiddling as belts in my experience.
I just discovered the joy of lift first, ask if you need to later, don't get me wrong, sometimes ground belts worked, but this method as like...a first pass at logistics is A+
Also try raising your machines by two. It gives you one level downwards for logistics. I prefer this rather than a separate distribution floor because you can see it all.
Not a bad thought, but I know that if I did that I'd clutter up the floor and get that claustrophobic feeling again. I like having the machines on the ground, because it makes their footprint really easy to read, and it helps me keep them from getting too tall. If I keep the floors to 32m height, I can jump between them with a single jump pad.
@CampfireRachael Easy way is to place 2m foundations on top of your floor, then machines on top, and then you can delete the 2m riser. personality, I use the blueprint designer. Place 2x2 two meter foundations. Then, I put two machines and join both input and both outputs. Delete the foundations and save the blueprint.
I'll be honest I barely know it. I just remember being told in the 90s that my computer that lacked an internet connection was a simple stone. I didn't know the reference, probably because I lacked an internet connection.
I agree with the principle, but it annoys me how lifts clip to mergers/ splitters when connected directly, so i need to stack them and then delete a lot
I have a new video showing some different techniques for this. If you like having the belts not clip into the mergers then yeah, this technique will get tedious. My general philosophy is that I don't clip moving parts, and I make a general exception for lifts into mergers because the game implicitly endorses it.
You keep talking about the problem of troubleshooting convenior belts on floor levels but using so much short vertical conveniors you can't even see any item, every little mistake that puts one single wrong item will make you delete all your belts because you can't see anything inside short vertical belts and mergers.
You had me, until you started adding the splitters to the conveyor lifts. If you had the conveyors all facing outwards you could add a splitter to them all quickly and then run a belt across them. You layout gets really top heavy as soon as you get faster belts and wanna run 10 smelters off one miner.
Fair enough, but I prefer to balance everything so production starts ASAP, and by the time I'm up to Mk3 belts, I'm using blueprints and I can compactify the balancers down and fold them back on themselves till they don't take up any actual space, they just fill the gaps between the existing machines. Also, the technique doesn't require balancers, I show a manifold on the output right after that. The off-the-floor method works either way.
I think the main things I have a problem with here, is it is ugly. But functionally I can not build this way because I believe the superior way to build is use manifolds with overflows to a storage/depot and sink. The idea of trying to load balance some of the systems you create in this game sounds like the 9th layer of hell. I use a blueprint with a single raised splitter and another for a merger. Makes building the manifold off the ground super easy. I tried logistics floors but it is a pain bouncing above and below, and diagnosing where you forgot a belt or something.
Whatever you take or don't take from this is fine, I definitely came off too aggro right off the bat lol. But if you put manifolds into the air, that definitely still works. I cover how to load balance with blueprints in the next video. The point for me is not to get perfect 1:1 ratios of every item but just to make sure items are spread relatively evenly.
@@tomhendriks8304 I only go to that much trouble once I'm doing blueprints. The point of this method is that it's an easy way to do organisation. It's the most efficient in terms of effort. But yes, when I make blueprints I squeeze out all the free space I can, and the extra space taken up by the belts with this method leaves space for the slightly larger, high-density blueprints.
I really want to like the idea but in practice it's not that fun and easy. It's annoying to put belts in the air because of the crappy belt and lift system satisfactory uses. You sometimes have lifts that should connect but don't and then you have to take everything down again and start over and since you have to build the belt support first it just costs me precious time and overall the benefit is rather small imho. I see the benefit when your have logistics inside a factory. And just connect modules but in general it's more annoying than anything else.
My latest video covers lift building techniques and hopefully some info in there can help with making lifts that are more consistent and easier to build. Particularly using a second merger/splitter as scaffolding to adjust your buildings can alleviate the pain of rebuilding from scratch. The system isn't the easiest, I agree. I think one of the big design challenges of doing a first-person factory game is how to give the player the right tools.
A lot of people are mentioning logistics floors. I'm sure that's a great method, but the reason I use this method is that it's easy and fast, which for me makes my designs a lot more flexible and maintainable as requirements change and as my belts and miners go through upgrades.
This method helps a lot with the early to mid game, which a lot of people struggle to get past. If you go further in the game, this method doesn't stop you from using logistics floors, but it can easily scale without them as well. It is a method for limiting the technical debt incurred in the early game.
That said, despite the sarcastic tone I took, this remains only a suggestion. I'm not sincerely going to tell you my way is superior, it's just a technique you can choose to try.
I appreciate people engaging with the video, and I'm glad so many people like it!
Dimensional depot has changed the way I play. I use the same factory from day one to feed the depot for Iron plates, rods, etc. into late game, I upgrade each depot injection point once at mark 3 logi. Never touch it again. Updating for each phase of assembly is its own supply line, each factory parts logistics is routed sub floor. I use these same methods to keep the logistic floors clean and traversable. Nice explanation.
@@Vherok Yeah, they've removed so much of the friction from the game, it's much easier to play now. I'm a little sad that there's no longer any need to build a good storage system, but not so sad that I'd want to get rid of the dimensional depot. They did a great job solving the pain points without hurting the core gameplay.
"There's a space for me to exist in this factory"
That resonated with me a lot because it sums much of the trouble with modern work life.
Thanks for this video! My building style has a lot of improvement in it and this gave me quite a few incentives to care.
I didn't even think about it that way when I said it, but you're right. The themes about industrialisation in Satisfactory touch on exactly that, the mechanisation of the individual in the pursuit of production, and good sci-fi is always about real world issues.
In this game I roleplay as the perfect worker who never sleeps, and ADA basically tells you that's what you are. The only concessions I make in my architecture are to allow me to traverse more efficiently, which works because as you may have noticed, I never stop moving in this game lol.
@@excrubulent Yes, I noticed. There are strong hummingbird vibes. 😁
Belts on the floor
Belts on the floor
Lookin' like a fool with your belts on the floor
Just commenting to let you know the algorithm popped this up on my front page today.
I'm not sad about it, I would definitely check out more satisfactory content.
Thanks, it's my first time back in a while and I've had this video in my head for ages, so it's great to get feedback like this :)
I agree, love this unique approach
Yep, showed up on my feed. The tube isn't all bad!
I enjoyed your video a lot, and you made a compelling case for sending logistics upward. I've tried following other verticalisation strategies from other youtubers, but couldn't really get a satisfying "composable" and modular idea - because most send the belts underneath. I'm a slow gamer; it took me ages to get coal and haven't enough Silica yet to place glass floors - so debugging is still painful. But you convinced me; having the belts up, allow to to debug and visualise the whole thing from its inception just by looking up and in addition, frees up floor space for moving. I'll start following your guidance on my ongoing game.
In addition, you're the first youtuber I've seen talk about the exceptionally beautiful natural world design in Satisfactory as a commentary about industrialisation and its impacts. I am of the same mindset - I also struggle to damage the natural world in-game, because it was obvious to me that a message was there - how willing are we as a species to destroy something that doesn't really belong to us in search of material benefits? It took me ages to gather bio-fuel (I didn't want to cut down the old trees) and I've been trying to move my belts upwards. Such a great game.
Thanks so much! I hadn't heard this commentary either, but then weirdly between recording and uploading this video, I saw JoeHillsTSD playing with some other Hermitcraft people and they basically said the same thing.
I do basements. Then you get a really clean factory
But those basements get REAL dirty lol
@@GaryBoggs-yk1otIt's like sweeping the dirt under the rug.
@@Phant0m51right it looks a lot cleaner than dirty belts on the ceiling 😂
I tried that on one factory but I will never do it again. It is painful bouncing back and forth from one floor to the next connecting up everything.
@@JasonEllingsworth That's exactly how I felt! Though it does help some in builds where I use the frames instead of solid foundations. I'm really liking these more compact and elevated builds though. Troubleshooting requires a lot less movement!
Two things heavily sold me here. Not having to manually line up the splitters/mergers in my manifolds and driving your explorer through the factory. I don't know that I'll go nearly as compact with my blueprints, but this is very convincing.
Put your extractor on foundations if you’re really ocd about having stuff on the same level
Smart way of doing things indeed, but the irony of calling people babies while complaining about any and every insignificant issue is just too damn funny mate! 😂👍🏻
If it helps, I apologised for that in the follow-up video :)
@@excrubulent Ahh no need to apologise for having an opinion mate, it's what makes us human at the end of the day. 👌🏻
You're my kinda crazy mate, please keep making satisfactory videos
The almighty algorithm put this in my feed. I agree with your theory wholeheartedly. But my major eck with doing it this way is how splitter/merger clips into lift's end section. If it didn't clip into it and rather slot into its side properly i'd definitely use it. Also the nose (horizontal) part of lifts are kinda unnecessary long IMO.
exc, I really identify with your journey here. My second playthrough I constructed a very similar megafactory in the grassy plains. Originally all my stuff was on the floor, quickly transitioned to a logistics floor when I discovered floor holes, but my factory became so expansive and complex that eventually it became untenable as my spaghetti outgrew my logistics floor and I landed almost exactly where you did on ceiling logistics. In my third playthrough with 1.0 I now work almost exclusively off the floor except in places where I want walkways for aesthetic reasons.
As a fellow traveller on the journey of enjoying the terrain, I thought I'd share something I learned that may be useful to you too! If you break up your megafactory into separate superstructures within the same complex, with open space between, you can use vertical expansion and ceiling logistics within each project, with an attached logistics "tower" for vertical transfer and a single logistics "basement" and "arteries" at the bottom of the factory strictly for transferring parts from one large production site to the others within the larger megafactory. This gives you stunning glimpses of the terrain, and allows a lot more natural light into the facility.
The vertical construction minimizes your footprint on the landscape, and the connective tissue between structures at ground level can really highlight the flow of production. I know you said you're not so much concerned with aesthetics, but man with your skill your factories already look awesome.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have under 100 hours in Satisfactory and I really needed to hear this. This will be a huge help as my factories grow.
The only time conveyer belts are acceptable at floor level is if it’s a deliberate design choice to make part of your factory aesthetically pleasing, and even then, get them out of the way of your walkways
I do something similar, but in the opposite direction. I like to belt my machines into a logistics level in the floor space. I sometimes add glass foundations too so I can see what's going on beneath me.
Very interesting. I will try the in the air method
i refuse to put anything in the air, its the only way i get some exercise.
also: once built, i very rarely go back to a certain factory, build once, move on is the motto...
*sarcasm mode off
last note: you did have some nice tips mate, thanks for sharing!
Great tips, really enjoyed the video and had some good laughs. Bad for performance but good for the soul got me lol
if you want a better fix for belts then do the sandwich method having beltwork running below each machine floor. it looks super clean.
also build foundation over the node before placing the miner. this way it get to have same height as your machines and is easier to align.
Yup, a lot of people are telling me about this method, and it's totally valid if that's the way you like to build. This is more of a rule-of-thumb to follow when starting buildings which you can choose to continue to later stages. There's nothing stopping people from extending this method into a logistics floor. I honestly haven't tried the logistics floor myself, since I don't feel a need to hide the logistics, and also I like being able to immediately run a belt on the ceiling without anything in the way.
I do logistics floors myself. The main issue, just like every other construction project, is to make sure I budget enough room! And if you like to see it all in action (for aesthetics or troubleshooting) use lots of windows! It looks pretty cool.
I tried to put a foundation over the node but didn't want to snap into it, is there a way or do you have to put the extractor down first?
@@sandorpek7486 You can do foundation first, as long as the foundation isn't too high over the node (i.e. 4 meters above is too much, but 2 meters seems fine in most cases).
Something to keep in mind, though, is the miner will not line up to the foundation piece. It will always snap to the exact position of the node.
@@kythian thank you for your fast response, was very helpful ;)
I really like what you've done here and I'll probably implement your ideas and maybe refine them a bit. I think the only thing I would change is the spaghetti above. Instead of going to the ceiling, I will most likely make logistic floors between the factory levels, so that I can scale vertically as needed without the spaghetti in the way. This would not only be between factories themselves, but above in the "hallways" as needed.
This is an early game problem that really isn't a problem. Once you get the jetpack and then the electric hover thingy, not one bit of this matters and I would dare say makes things worse, at least for me. If I'm setting up a ingot, rod, screw setup the most compact way to build it all is to jam them as close as possible to minimize belt usage. If you set it up correctly to begin with, it should be "set it and forget it". I'm not against getting belts off the ground, but for me it's only because you have to in order to belts clipping through each other. Putting lifters between everything is just silly and not needed.
A lot of people struggle to get past the early game, and this is a method that helps with that. Not everyone even reaches the jetpack stage, and if this can help people get there then I consider that a win.
And if you're at the point where you're building new factories from the ground up with the highest tech level, and you can plan them perfectly to "set and forget," that's great, but if you still have higher level miners and belts to unlock, then you'll need to adjust them as you go.
Not everyone has that much energy to put into planning. I prioritise heuristics like this that optimise for ease and reducing the amount of time I spend on planning, so I can spend more time building and experimenting. I prefer to play the game from inside without too much reference to external tools. That's why I focus on legibility and modular designs that can be adjusted and upgraded.
Also, I didn’t know you could snap splitters directly to lifts. That’s huge
Yup! And a more advanced technique is to snap the heads of lifts inside splitters that already exist. You can use this to get shorter lifts or to have a more compact footprint for a splitter.
@@excrubulent how do you make lifts snap inside the spliters/mergers? i 've started doing it a bit, and i love the look of it, plus the space-saving is great... but i can't seem to make them snap inside existing splitters, just hang off the side.
@@tzxazrael Great question! I've got another video in the editor on just this, but in short there's a technique you can try:
Stack up three splitters from the ground and delete the bottom two. Then aim a lift at the ground and make sure the default/reverse build mode is correct for the input/output you want. Then press H to hold, move it until it's overlapping the input/output you want. Then click to place it, scroll to rotate until you hear the attachment beep, and click again to place it. It should connect. You can actually set the offset to a number of different positions this way by moving them in & out.
@@excrubulent hm, i'll have to try that. i just get "this building cannt be nudged" usually.
@@tzxazrael Yup, it won't nudge if you snap it to the machine. You have to position it either on the floor or with a separate scaffolding piece, so you need some independent way to position the other end exactly where you want it, then have the head of the lift intersect the input/output that you want.
Just started playing this game. This popped up this morning after was rearranging my belts..again. Bang on idea on getting them up off the floor. Redid my parts area and assembly area and so much nicer. Now need to get it more modular. Still have things all spread out, still unlocking Tier 1 and 2
Glad to hear it! I discovered this method during my first playthrough when my factory was getting out of hand, and I went through and retrofitted the entire thing and made a bunch of extra space for myself, it works well even if you don't start with this method.
Back then putting the belts on the ceiling was much more difficult because I didn't have access to the ceiling connectors, so I had to run beams from the ceiling and attach my belts to them. It was still worth it :)
Nice :) Had to chuckle at the software development analogy.
Current Mood: "A bunch of fuses just got blown. Don't worry, that's normal".
Also, this is a nice alternative to logistic floors. It's no more or less efficient than well made logistic floors but gives a different aesthetic. Will do this with a couple of factories just for the feel alone.
A number of people have mentioned logistic floors to me, and I've realised the reason I like this method instead is because I'm not the best at planning.
@@excrubulent I kinda suck at planning too which is why logistics floors saved my brain lol. For the most part it's really just putting a floor in and raising your raised belts to that floor.
Technically, your constructor floor running all mats up to your Assemblers/Manufacturers floor makes the constructor floor a logistics floor for your Assemblers.
Only step left for an actual logistics floor would be an additional 4-5m high floor on the bottom with all the belts and splitters moving the materials between the smelters and constructors.
In saying that, the way you do it still looks great and I'm doing at least one factory that way.
I have taken to a mix of the 2 ... logistics for a manifold there around it ... then drop it all down to a logistics floor to move to a different part of factory
Pretty cool video. You spent a lot of time talking about why you didnt like the way everyone does manifolds on the ground. Would have liked to see more time spent on how you make vertical builds work. I'm going to give this build method a shot and it would have been nice to see more examples of how you connect a double stacked assembler array.
Yup, I've had other comments on these lines, and I've wanted to make a video on the stackable blueprints for a while, so I'm planning to get to that soon.
Oh and it's not just disliking the way other people do it, it's because I did it that way for a long time and I had to change it or else give up on the game, because it was just unmanageable.
Have you considered: floor holes and logistics sub-floor
Would love to see more details on your blueprints!
@@skavensam A video about that has been in my head recently, hopefully I can put it together soon.
@3:30 i always buld an extra splitter at the end even though it isnt technically needed. Visual symmetry and less to rework when expanding.
I'd be curious to see your process for power also... Seems like your million power lines are basically nowhere to be seen... :D
Oh good point, also up off the floor and on the ceiling! I didn't even think about it tbh.
All my factories have internal pillars because I want them to look like they could stand up. Those pillars also carry power from floor to floor, and I connect the power lines in a grid on the ceiling. There are a lot of redundant connections but that's not a bad thing imho.
All the blueprints have two power connectors on opposite corners. When I stack them, I daisy chain those connectors vertically and the top connector connects to the ceiling grid.
i'd love to see your blueprints. Are they available somewhere?
If you go to the previous video, there is a link to the blueprint I cover there. I refined the blueprint a lot making that though, so I think I'll release them as I refine them so they're consistent.
Hmm...your latest video looks interesting..."Last video I talked about compact design...",
clicking away, need to watch the previous video first
"Last video I talked about how you can get belts of the ground"......d*mn it, clicking away need to watch this first.
Going to watch all three, expecting greatness!
Impressive factory. I am really Satisfied with Spagetti Carbonara!
Well damn, I’m not a baby… I guess I need another rebuild lol.
wondering about the limits of this for pipes and their upward flow
I generally have upward turns on inputs & outputs for pipes to the maximum height for a standard pipe support, and I use horizontal to vertical mode and keep the vertical part as close as possible to the machines. To my understanding this helps the liquid flow into the inputs before the pipes are full, and as long as you have enough head lift to fill the pipes it all works well.
There's a whole PDF showing different liquid building techniques here: drive.google.com/file/d/1MdZ8Xr8P_SF_FL7B6WDjCZGS-x9Cwt-x/view
Generally I keep them fairly low and put any belts above them. Pipes are a lot more flexible in how they're arranged so they don't need as much fiddling as belts in my experience.
I've been looking for inspiration and I just found it, was originally going to do a bus base like Nilaus but this just looks more fun tbh
I just discovered the joy of lift first, ask if you need to later, don't get me wrong, sometimes ground belts worked, but this method as like...a first pass at logistics is A+
Yup, this is what I do so I don't need to plan ahead so much. It's worked out for me so far.
19:33 "look at the flowers, just look at the flowers"
😭
Also try raising your machines by two. It gives you one level downwards for logistics. I prefer this rather than a separate distribution floor because you can see it all.
Not a bad thought, but I know that if I did that I'd clutter up the floor and get that claustrophobic feeling again.
I like having the machines on the ground, because it makes their footprint really easy to read, and it helps me keep them from getting too tall. If I keep the floors to 32m height, I can jump between them with a single jump pad.
How do you raise them?
@CampfireRachael Easy way is to place 2m foundations on top of your floor, then machines on top, and then you can delete the 2m riser. personality, I use the blueprint designer. Place 2x2 two meter foundations. Then, I put two machines and join both input and both outputs. Delete the foundations and save the blueprint.
@deejeh9494 oh thank you for the tip. So then when you place the blueprint it will show supports under the machine and not be floating?
@@CampfireRachael that's right
More Satisfactory content please :)
"Making simple stones" isn't an idiom that your audience is going to know.
I'll be honest I barely know it. I just remember being told in the 90s that my computer that lacked an internet connection was a simple stone. I didn't know the reference, probably because I lacked an internet connection.
This guys videos are opening up my mind. I feel like ive been playing this game with a hand tied behind my back until now 🥲
holy thats so convenient, thank you for this knowledge
I agree with the principle, but it annoys me how lifts clip to mergers/ splitters when connected directly, so i need to stack them and then delete a lot
I have a new video showing some different techniques for this. If you like having the belts not clip into the mergers then yeah, this technique will get tedious. My general philosophy is that I don't clip moving parts, and I make a general exception for lifts into mergers because the game implicitly endorses it.
I need to try this. I hate jumping over belts
You keep talking about the problem of troubleshooting convenior belts on floor levels but using so much short vertical conveniors you can't even see any item, every little mistake that puts one single wrong item will make you delete all your belts because you can't see anything inside short vertical belts and mergers.
Must keep the grass clear for the beans!
I. LOVE. This. All of it.
You had me, until you started adding the splitters to the conveyor lifts. If you had the conveyors all facing outwards you could add a splitter to them all quickly and then run a belt across them. You layout gets really top heavy as soon as you get faster belts and wanna run 10 smelters off one miner.
Fair enough, but I prefer to balance everything so production starts ASAP, and by the time I'm up to Mk3 belts, I'm using blueprints and I can compactify the balancers down and fold them back on themselves till they don't take up any actual space, they just fill the gaps between the existing machines.
Also, the technique doesn't require balancers, I show a manifold on the output right after that. The off-the-floor method works either way.
I think the main things I have a problem with here, is it is ugly. But functionally I can not build this way because I believe the superior way to build is use manifolds with overflows to a storage/depot and sink. The idea of trying to load balance some of the systems you create in this game sounds like the 9th layer of hell. I use a blueprint with a single raised splitter and another for a merger. Makes building the manifold off the ground super easy. I tried logistics floors but it is a pain bouncing above and below, and diagnosing where you forgot a belt or something.
Whatever you take or don't take from this is fine, I definitely came off too aggro right off the bat lol. But if you put manifolds into the air, that definitely still works. I cover how to load balance with blueprints in the next video. The point for me is not to get perfect 1:1 ratios of every item but just to make sure items are spread relatively evenly.
Counterpoint: I can't slide-jump over these
This is actually a very good point lol.
Now do it with manufacturers and blenders.
The Belts should not go up they should go down to the Logistic level of the building .
You sold me.
Game changer - thank you
You said “refactoring.” Are you a software developer?
i do not agree with the first point. any floor space in a factory is wasted space, so both ways are wrong in my eyes.
build the lifts higher and face them inwards so u build ur mergers/splitters above your buildings instead.
@@tomhendriks8304 I only go to that much trouble once I'm doing blueprints. The point of this method is that it's an easy way to do organisation. It's the most efficient in terms of effort.
But yes, when I make blueprints I squeeze out all the free space I can, and the extra space taken up by the belts with this method leaves space for the slightly larger, high-density blueprints.
Ye they really should increase the size of the tiny map there just isn't enough room
Maybe you should instead learn to build a nice railing infrastructure above it all :p
ayoo this is smart
I really want to like the idea but in practice it's not that fun and easy. It's annoying to put belts in the air because of the crappy belt and lift system satisfactory uses. You sometimes have lifts that should connect but don't and then you have to take everything down again and start over and since you have to build the belt support first it just costs me precious time and overall the benefit is rather small imho.
I see the benefit when your have logistics inside a factory. And just connect modules but in general it's more annoying than anything else.
My latest video covers lift building techniques and hopefully some info in there can help with making lifts that are more consistent and easier to build. Particularly using a second merger/splitter as scaffolding to adjust your buildings can alleviate the pain of rebuilding from scratch.
The system isn't the easiest, I agree. I think one of the big design challenges of doing a first-person factory game is how to give the player the right tools.
But. Look at the ground.
Press H to place to hologram and then use arrow keys and ctrl to move them.