My first working platform that has now taken me to my first two planets!
After the sad fate of Space Boat which went through the asteroid field like pudding through a cheese grater, and Space Boat II which did not have enough production capabilities to ward off wandering asteroids at Fulgora, the Space Boat III worked perfectly.
With the ability to travel safely and refuel and rearm itself in orbit around any of the starter planets, it is now running autonomous supply transport between Nauvis, Fulgora and Vulcanus without needing any oversight.
At some point I’ll have to make a platform with bigger storage and stronger production capabilities so it can travel faster, but for now it does a solid job. :)
Probably not enough solar for Fulgura, and I don’t think that’s enough fuel/oziders for all those trusters
Before rare panels I had to disable two smelters. It still worked but was slow as heck to restock.
I started a new game for Space Age, so I’m still building my first base and haven’t reached space yet.
Are the walls purely for aesthetics, or do they help?
They are there on the odd chance that a small asteroid manages to sneak past my turrets. A smashed wall is easily replaced, but a smashed part of infrastructure is disaster.
Cool, good to know walls defend against asteroids. I don’t see walls on a lot of platforms. I’ll keep that in mind when I get to space, thanks!
Yeah, I’ve considered adding them, but I decided not to. Each space platform you add is more weight, and if you’re getting hit at all that means you needed more turrets and/or ammo. Adding walls, in my opinion, is submitting to the fact your design failed. I’d rather use the space for solar panels and make sure I never get struck by an asteroid.
So far this philosophy has worked well. My first ship was moderately successful, though it didn’t have enough solar to produce more ammo than it consumed at Fulgora (it needed redisigned slightly, but Fulgora constantly has asteroids so it died there). My second barely gets enough power, though not enough to produce as much fuel as I’d like.
Basically, you could use the space that are walls to instead not need them. That’s my choice, but it’s a decision you need to make. Walls definitely have a purpose in space, but it’s one I’d rather design away than rely on.
could you please make a blueprint out of it and share it? thank you
Of course! I retrofitted it to blue belts right after posting the picture, but de-teched and cleaned it up a bit:
EDIT: link fixed
https://factoriobin.com/post/u6ancx (lemmy struggled a bit to have it in a comment text)
I’d recommend the following changes to use it with cheaper tech:
- Remove two thrusters to put less load on the turrets
- Change inserters to yellow - it does not need anything faster
- Remove two smelters to work reasonably with regular panels
- Reduce to yellow belts - it does not need anything faster
- remove walls and supports on the sides to reduce cost - all the potential problems hit the front
Notes on usage:
- If setting up automation, the decider logic will give you a ✔️=1 signal to indicate it is fueled up and has enough ammo for a return trip
- If you have less bullet damage research than I did, consider reducing it down to one thruster
- If it’s still struggling with production on Fulgora orbit, just make it return after 30 seconds or so - it has enough bullets stockpiled to get back
the link is unavailable. could you please use https://factoriobin.com/ ? Thank you
Thanks, that looks much better! I de-teched it, fixed the missing cable and balanced it a bit. https://factoriobin.com/post/u6ancx