Deconstruction Planner and storage chests

[Hogweed]

How about having a construction box? Put a blueprint in a construction box assembly and it requests a box with exactly the needed amount of items for building that blueprint. You can take the box with you as item, it can be used only together with exactly this blueprint. And the logical reverse direction is: use such a box together with a deconstruction and the bots will put all stuff of deconstruction into that box. Or in other words: something, which can be filled/emptied only by bots/inserters, and can then be compressed as item, but only by the character, or you create a special transport for it (rockets?).

I think maybe a simpler, more elegant solution would be to make a logistics chest that is ONLY useable by construction bots, for constructing/deconstructing. If you wanted the goods in the chest to be useable by logistic bots later, replace the chest with a supply/provider chest later.

well...or/and add a copy/paste method to copy a blueprint's material requirements, and paste it into a requestor chest...

When I first started using supply chests, I opened it expecting to be able to tell what I want in there, like the logistics allow you to request. Adding the red X to define amounts would help restrict what the bots can put in them.

[slpwnd]

This has been brought up multiple times already (https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=2680 https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=2433 https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=2549 and maybe more). We talked about this and so far we like the solution proposed by @immibis I believe (correct me if I am wrong).

The change would be:

• Provider chest is renamed to active provider chest and it still behaves the same.
• New kind of chest called passive provider chest would be added. This chest works the same
  as active provider chest, but with the difference that logistic bots don't carry items from this one to storage chests.
• Passive Provider and Storage would be at the green science pack level tier and Active Provider and Requesters on the blue science pack tier.

This should result in:

• Storage chest can be built for deconstruction bots without the blue research.
• Full fledged logistic system still requires blue science packs.
• There are more ways to arrange the logistic system. For instance passive provider chests can be used for limiting logistic robots work for very active inputs (chests that hold iron / copper plates).

The downside is addition of a new entity (passive provider chest) and slight complication of the system.

[syneris]

What would be the benefits of using an active provider chest?

[xng]

What would be the benefits of using an active provider chest?

From how I understand it, active provider chests will get emptied to fill anything (in the lognet) that has space left, while passive providers will only fill requester chests?

[AlexPhoenix]

What would be the benefits of using an active provider chest?

same as currently using of provider chests, chests which will be taked out of items by bots.

i'd like idea with passive provider chest, cuz it will allow me to build good layout of sorting items(and then limit them).

while passive providers will only fill requester chests?

yes, bots will take items from passive only for complete requests(player or chests)

[Zourin]

Wouldn't the straight solution be a steel chest?

eg, Insert goods into the steel chest as you please, then have a smart inserter set to move those items into a provider chest if there is demand in the logistic network for it. You don't even need a smart chest, just a dumb one will do. Use the Limiter to control how much is buffered.

[AlexPhoenix]

Wouldn't the straight solution be a steel chest?

eg, Insert goods into the steel chest as you please, then have a smart inserter set to move those items into a provider chest if there is demand in the logistic network for it. You don't even need a smart chest, just a dumb one will do. Use the Limiter to control how much is buffered.

you cannot request from some sources by this way.

with just storage and provider chests you cannot limit to use chests only for factory output(and storage at place).
storage chests can be filled with something else(especially if you deconstruct, or have at least one provider chest).
provider chests are always empty(if other place exists), so there is very much unneeded work for bots and player.

[syneris]

I still don't see why I would want to use active chests. Why not just use only passive chests? Why would I want to have provider chests send to a storage chest instead of going directly to a requester chest or construction bot?

[ssilk]

Because that is very practical if you want to make a buffer. Fill in what you want, output what you need. There are about half a dozen of different usages for that.

[CherryKiss]

eh, I'd only use passive chests in such a setup myself. I don't need things moved first to a storage chest. The large size of chests is more than enough of a buffer without having to use additional chests or if you need more, use another provider at the source!

Those crazy bots just go filling storage chests with all manner of junk, until they are packed. Storage chests are messy, especially when you're a little OCD about your factory setup as I am

[kovarex]

I use storage chests because I want to have my stuff stored in one central place. This applies especially for ores and raw materials (iron/copper/steel).
The central storage point is also easier to defend more heavily so I don't loose important stuff, and I can get the items I need there as well.
If I would like to have buffer of items larger than the one chest it wouldn't work as well with the passive providers.

[Sir Nick]

The most obvious place for active providers is the central train station, where you want the receiving chests to be always ready for more items without having enough capacity to burst-process an wntire trainsworth of cargo.

[immibis]

This has been brought up multiple times already (https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=2680 https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=2433 https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=2549 and maybe more). We talked about this and so far we like the solution proposed by @immibis I believe (correct me if I am wrong).

The change would be:

• Provider chest is renamed to active provider chest and it still behaves the same.
• New kind of chest called passive provider chest would be added. This chest works the same
  as active provider chest, but with the difference that logistic bots don't carry items from this one to storage chests.
• Passive Provider and Storage would be at the green science pack level tier and Active Provider and Requesters on the blue science pack tier.

This should result in:

• Storage chest can be built for deconstruction bots without the blue research.
• Full fledged logistic system still requires blue science packs.
• There are more ways to arrange the logistic system. For instance passive provider chests can be used for limiting logistic robots work for very active inputs (chests that hold iron / copper plates).

The downside is addition of a new entity (passive provider chest) and slight complication of the system.

Minor issue: passive provider chests are useless without requester chests, so there's no reason to make them available with different technologies.

[Zourin]

I use storage chests because I want to have my stuff stored in one central place. This applies especially for ores and raw materials (iron/copper/steel).
The central storage point is also easier to defend more heavily so I don't loose important stuff, and I can get the items I need there as well.
If I would like to have buffer of items larger than the one chest it wouldn't work as well with the passive providers.

This can be done more effectively via filtered smart inserters (or a requestor chest to pre-filter) and steel chests without needing sloppy Storage chests that bots will fill with random junk. The last thing you want is for your Iron storage to get choked out because the bots decided to fill it all with plastic.

[AlexPhoenix]

I use storage chests because I want to have my stuff stored in one central place. This applies especially for ores and raw materials (iron/copper/steel).
The central storage point is also easier to defend more heavily so I don't loose important stuff, and I can get the items I need there as well.
If I would like to have buffer of items larger than the one chest it wouldn't work as well with the passive providers.

This can be done more effectively via filtered smart inserters (or a requestor chest to pre-filter) and steel chests without needing sloppy Storage chests that bots will fill with random junk. The last thing you want is for your Iron storage to get choked out because the bots decided to fill it all with plastic.

steel chests not included in any networks.
also bots try to place same items in same storage chest.

[kovarex]

Minor issue: passive provider chests are useless without requester chests, so there's no reason to make them available with different technologies.

Not true, as they work for the personal supply. The reason to restructure it was partially this, to enable personal supply sooner, so the player doesn't have to run around getting basic resources all the time while building, while still keeping logistic robots for logistics quite late game technology.

[ssilk]

It's ok as it is now. I think most is old (and bad) habit.