Go big, or go home!
This expansion book can be started any time after the first SBF Refinery is built though it is probably best to get through "More Plates" at the end of Phase 4 but skip the Modules block. But if you haven't yet done a complete play-through of the SBF, I don't recommend attempting this.
This requires the same extra mods as the "aux" blueprints of the original:
- Loader Redux (required)
- Merging Chests and Unlimited (both required)
The blocks of this book are 25x the size of those in the original, or 5x as long on each side. Each blueprint is a half block and though there is typically a lot of empty space in the middle, it's important for all four sides to be long enough for a single train in order to eliminate the possibility of deadlock.
Yes, it takes a length 5x as long to fit one train! The trains that supply these blocks are 100 cars long that, pulled by 20 engines, reach full speed in about 7.5 seconds when powered by nuclear fuel.
The blocks are composed if identical "slices" of a factory, replecated to draw from 100 train cars. Each slice is independent but the train cars obviously are not. The upshot is that if the slices get out of sync, then one slice may block causing the train not to fully unload causing the train to wait causing other slices to starve etc. etc. It's deadlock and it's permanent. Only the mines and fluid providers are immune to this. Never add or remove items manually or otherwise adjust production.
There's no power supply block here. The standard SBF blocks will suffice but expect to consume between 30GW and 50GW for one set of 7200 SPM. "Elite" or "ultimate" solar is probably the way to go. Be very careful not to run short of power. Glitching circuits or slow inserters can cause an unbalance in train loading which will then prapogate.
With the "Moar-Radar" mod, setting the "Nearby revealed range" to 20 in "startup" settings will make the entire map visible when radars are placed in the corners.
Each blueprint is a 1/2 block. When the long track is at the bottom, the entrance is on the right and the exit is on the left. Orientation and relative position to a block's source items can improve train efficiency.
Factorio sometimes does not do cliff conflicts correctly and will not create destruction plans for them which prevents bots from placing the overlapping item. If cliffs were not turned off when creating the world, they can be removed using the command-line:
/c for k, cliff in pairs(game.player.surface.find_entities_filtered{type="cliff"}) do cliff.destroy() end
Construction will take a lot longer than the SBF blocks because the new blocks are so big. They're so big that Factorio may pause for a number of seconds just dropping the blueprint.
Construction is handled by base SBF system. Each half-block blueprint has a spot for a construction station 1/2 way along its long side. Build as normal (i.e. Construction Site first) with the following exceptions:
Construction does not build rail grid though it will build the block's connections to it. The rail grid needs to be built manually before dropping construction site and the block blueprint.
There is a "bypass" through the middle and down the exit side of each block that allows exiting trains to use either corner, somewhat reducing traffic on the main grid. This is not built by automated construction. If desired, it'll have to be built manually.
Because all the "slices" must operate with identical throughput, modules cannot be populated incrementally. They must be all or nothing. Until the modules big-block is running, it won't be feasible to populate modules in the blocks being built. This is okay as they can run at a lower capacity without modules for the time being.
If the Modules block has been built...
Construct as normal but under no circumstances launch any trains until construction is complete.
If the Modlues block has not been built...
After placing the block blueprint (which is after the Construction Site has been built):
- Go into the third constant combinator and delete the signals for Prod-3 and Speed-3.
- Go into the constant combinator immediately beside the Ghost Scanner (it has rrocket fuel and nuclear fuel signals) and similarly add Prod-3 and Speed-3 with values of -50000 (i.e. negative fifty thousand).
Start construction.
Under no circumstances allow any modules to enter the block as that will break the syncronization between the slices. That means do not re-place the blueprint as that will undo the changes made above.
When construction is complete, launch the trains even though no modules have been fetched or placed. Do not remove the Construction Site!
Later on, once the Modules block is running, come back to this site and do the following:
- Be absolutely sure that the Modules block has enough of both module types buffered in the provider station. Check the local Ghost Scanner to see how many are needed. The block being updated will be offline for the duration of the update and will not be able to provide material certainly necessary to the crafting of more modules.
- Remove the rail piece after the stacker but before the factory.
- Wait for all crafting to come to a complete stop. It is essential that absolutely no assemblers, furnaces, whatever are running.
- Remove the -50000 entries in the constant combinator beside the Ghost Scanner. Construction will reset and begin fetching the necessary modules.
- Once construction is again complete, replace the removed rail piece.
The block is now complete and the Construction Site as well as all construction roboports (those without check-marks beside them) can be removed.
The standard fueling station requests nuclear fuel for the trains. If none is available (the 2.4GW block creates it) the request can be changed to -500 rocket fuel instead.
Merge all chests in the block by selecting the "merge" tool and dragging it over the entire half-block. It may take a few seconds to run.
Before launching, save the game! Then save again under a new name and continue from there. If things go wrong, you'll want a stable place to come back to because, as a general rule, production problems can never be fully fixed.
Blocks don't start automatically. When construction is complete, all of the trains at the factory stations need to be set to automatic; this is the minimum operating limit. The other trains in the stacker can be launched at any time, either when needed or immediately to allow the factory to "work ahead"; this is the maximum operating limit.
Don't worry that the trains show that some kind of fuel is missing. They request both nuclear fuel and rocket fuel but only need one or the other. As long as the fueling station is working, there will be some fuel in the trains.
In addition, all of the trains can be found in the "Trains" sub-book. If a block cannot get input material fast enough for constant operation, more trains can be launched (from anywhere). Also increase the train-limit on the station receiving those trains if it is not automatically controlled. Extend the stacker if it becomes necessary.
At the corner where the heads of all trains stop is a combinator with signals for every output of the block. Turn it on.
Building these blocks tends to be slow going but luckily there are not that many of them. Of course, in order to fulfill all the requests of the eventual 7200 science-per-minute block(s), more than one of some blocks will certainly be needed. This is left as an exercise to the reader but note that deadlock can happen if there isn't enough supply as the stacker fills up and trains start waiting on the main track.
Placement/ordering of the blocks is important. The junctions do not allow U-turns (trains hit their own tails if they do) so while having inputs being adjacent (short-side) to their source materials output is very efficient and having them on the opposite half of the bloock is reasonably efficient, having them across the tracks (long-side) is the very inefficient. For circuits, having the output of a lower teir next to the input of the next higher teir is most efficient.
Have a plan before starting. For example: Smelter at the top of a block. Green Circuts at the bottom of the same block. Red Circuits to the left of greens (also at the bottom). Blue Circuits to the left of reds. Modules to the left of blues. Refinery above the Smelter.
- Connection
Use the "SBF/BB Connection" to create a link between the existing factory and where the new blocks will go. The two block types cannot sit directly adjacent. If the big blocks surround the small-block factory, which would normally be the case, multiple of these can be used to provide additional access points for construction and fuel.
- Controller
There needs to be exactly one "BB Controller" set somewhere. It fits inside any junction of the main SBF overlapping the big power pole in the center.
- Mines
Mines will be needed for the four main ore types but not uranium. There is no self-building for these because there is no standard layout for ore patches and a generic layout would be massive simply because of the size of these blocks. Multi-ore support is also unavailable because these are not LTN trains. Mines have to be built manually. Trains can load at a speed somewhere around the equivalent of 100 blue belts so don't hold back.
It's best to go build mines whenever waiting for a block to build. Iron and copper are the most used with coal and stone being a far third and distant fourth.
To build a mine, start with the "base" block. When ready, apply the appropritate "overlay" to the stations and logic to turn it into a mine of the proper type. Also merge the chests. Then start laying down miners and belting it to the station, using the "Provider Chest Loader" blueprints from the Brian's Trains "aux" book to fill the merged chests.
Start with iron and copper mines as they're needed by the Smelter. Coal will be required for the Refinery and stone (eventually) for science.
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Smelter
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Electronic Circuits
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Fluids
These are very similar to Mines: build the "base" then apply the desired "overlay". Fill the outer tanks from with many feeds as evenly spaced as practical, including the very ends.
- Refinery
Make sure "coal liquefaction" is researched before placing the blueprint.
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Advanced Circuits
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Processors
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Modules
This block produces Prod-3 and Speed-3 modules both at a rate of 4/s and provides them to the standard construction network. This alleviates the need of the Modules block of the SBF (and all it's support) plus crafts them much more quickly... a good thing because some big blocks can require upwards of 20,000 of each.
Since this block produces modules, it doesn't request any. It will populate its own modules once it starts running in order to run even faster. It can do this only because it has no productivity modules and thus the amount of output for a given input is constant even if some slices may run a bit faster when only partually populated.
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Foundry
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Low-Density Structures
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Science 4
Best to start with this "final" block simply because it can take a long time to craft the 50 rocket silos it needs. The trains can also run ahead and pick up all the necessary science packs as the other blocks are built.
Placing them so that 1 through 4 are in a single line allows the "packs" train to simply run from one to the next. (Take note of the entrace and exit corners so as to not reverse the order.)
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Science 1
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Science 2
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Science 3
That's it. Start researching those infinite techs, probably starting with Mining Productivity.
If science is able to remain fully fed, build another set of them. Then another. Let me know when the UPS gets below 1.0.
Just some notes that don't really belong anywhere...
- Though this book uses quad-rail, there can be a lot of trains going through a relatively few number of junctions, often doing left turns or u-turns, which results in congestion. Arranging the blocks so trains can travel in relatively straight lines is useful but hard to accomplish. There is an (experimental) "congestion control" mix-in inside the Brian's Trains book that can be added.