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Satisfactoryis a game about getting a material, crafting it into another material, getting a different material and crafting those together into something else entirely, and then getting machines to do all of that for you. Automation is a key component of the game as you work towards making your factory as efficient and self-sufficient as possible.
Automating your factory starts off simple enough, but as you progress through the game and unlock new machines, getting them all to work together can get incredibly complex. Luckily, if you take the time to learn the basics of automation, you’ll have all the tools you need to Save the Day. Below, we’ll take a look at what these basics are, and some tips for automating your factory.
Generating Supply
The first step to automating your factory issupply. There are two major components that control your supply: thequality of the resourcenode and thespeed of the minerplaced on it. Here’s a basic rundown of these two components so you’re able to get an idea of how many resources you can generate per minute.
30
60
120
240
480
These speeds can increase byOverclocking your Miners, allowing you to generateup to 1,200 items per minutewith a fully Overclocked Miner Mk.3 on a Pure Node.
Transportation
Once you’ve got your supply, you need to bring it to the factory where it will be refined into another material; for example, smelting iron ore into iron ingots.
It’s also important to keep in mind youritems per minutehere, as this will dictate the throughput of your entire factory. Smelters can only handle so many items per minute, so you’ll need to set upmultiple Smelters per Miner. The ratio of Miner to Smelterdepends on the production rate of the Miner.
This is whereConveyor Splitterscome in handy. A Splitter willevenly divide itemsthat enter it among any connected belts, letting you perfectly divide your production line into multiple chains.
This is also the basis of themanifold system, where you essentially start withone belt bringing in ore, then placeSplittersalong the belt, each corresponding to a Smelter. The first Smelter in the line will fill up first, followed by the second, and so on. This system takes a while to get running, but once the belts are fully saturated, it’s themost efficient way to divide ore lines.
Providing Power
Your factory needs power to function. While this may sound obvious, actually providing enough power is a constant battle with no set solution. At the beginning of the game, you’ll only have access toBiomass Burners, the fuel for which needs to bemanually gatheredand converted intoSolid Biomass.
However, keeping in line with the core tenet of Satisfactory,power can be automatedonce you unlock theCoal-Powered Generator. As long as this power generator is providedwater and coal, it will continue togenerate power indefinitely. Create enough of these, and you’ll have afully automated power sourcethat will power the rest of the machines in your factory.
Of course, as you expand, your power grid will also need to expand. Luckily, you’ll unlock more powerful power generators as you progress, but keeping around your old power grids is useful too.
Managing Production
So, you have your Miners generating resources, Conveyor Belts and Splitters dividing it and moving it around, and a power grid strong enough to handle everything. The next step is to start placing down machines to turn your items into other items.
This step is where the complexity of automation comes in, as there is no real one-size-fits-all answer to tell you what to do. There are, however, a few points to keep in mind that apply in general.
Space
Having enough space for all your machines sounds simple enough, but it always seems to be the thing you run out of first. This is whybuilding on Foundationsis so important—it will keep your machines and belts organized and let you quickly expand when the need arises.
Don’t neglectverticality! Stacking machines on top of each other is a great way to save space.
Ratios
One of the most important aspects of automation ismaintaining your ratios. We touched on this a little above, but this essentially means providingjust enough resources to a machine to keep it operating at all times, but not providing too many resources that could be used elsewhere.
Maintaining correct ratios means utilizing different belt speeds, Slpitters and Nergers, and Overclocking and Underclocking.
This is something that becomeseasier over timeas you become more familiar with how each machine operates and how fast your items move through your factory.
When To Store Vs. Use Resources
The final step in automation is what to do with the items you’ve made. Ideally, this is something you’ll already know before making an entire production chain, but sometimes your goals change over time, and a factory producing Reinforced Iron Plates isn’t as necessary as it once was.
In these cases, it may be worthwhile tostore these items for later. Since ore nodes in Satisfactory are endless, there’sno downside to producing itemsas long as they aren’t needed elsewhere. This is also where theAwesome Sinkcomes in handy. you may sink your extra items here to generate tickets that can be spent on a variety of cosmetics to spruce up your factory.
Ultimately, what you do with the resources your factory produces depends on your current goals. Whether you’re stocking up materials for a massive power plant project or steadily creating components for the Space Elevator, as long as you’re automating, you’re making FICSIT proud.
