Factory block changeup

[aRottenKomquat]

Just riffing a bit here. I got to wondering: Why do we have three types of factory block? The first thing I do with my Basic Factory is build a Standard Factory. The first thing I do with my Standard Factory is build an Advanced Factory. And then all three go right next to each other and contribute nothing to the game apart from the annoying trial-and-error of figuring out which factory makes which blocks.

So what if we change up the difference between Basic, Standard, and Advanced? Instead of differentiating them by the blocks they produce, what if they are differentiated by some other metric? Perhaps the manufacture rate? For example, Factory Enhancers contribute +1 blocks/tick for Basic, +5 for Standard, and +10 for Advanced, with more exponential power scaling. And higher-tier factories get some kind of materials bonus where they use fewer input materials per output block while low-tier factories are wasteful in the way they use materials. You can use basic factories if you need power efficiency, and advanced factories if you need material efficiency or high production rates.

Any other ideas? Or can anyone defend the current system?

 

[aRottenKomquat]

So thinking more about the above, with those basic differences here is how each factory tier can be described.

Basic Factory: Uses very little power, but requires a lot of space to scale up and is a bit wasteful of materials. Good for power-constrained scenarios.

Standard Factory: Intermediate between Basic and Advanced.

Advanced Factory: Requires little space to scale up, and is very efficient in terms of used materials. Uses gobs of power though. Good for space-constrained scenarios, and good for efficient, high-capacity factories where power is not a concern.

 

[DrTarDIS]

So, Scrap mesh and scrap circuits would become a byproduct of your factory types? I could deal with that.

i'd also expand it into something like advanced factories being able to break-down a block and use it's materials to make something different, converting the remainder to slag.

Then again, I really miss the simplicity of the old recipe system. That, and going infinite easily

 

[nogg]

if the problem is finding the right factory for a production job, could each factory unlock new blocks. for example the advanced would make all the blocks in the game. And the standard factory would do less and so on. the most basic factory would make only the most basic blocks available.

 

[jijiji]

Anybody will use adv factories only