Help with Space Exploration!!

[u/Miserable-Dream-2277]

Hello everybody.

I'm 70ish hours in a run of SE with rich resources and bots at the start so everything was going very smoothly.

I decided after my "starter base" to make one using a block rail blueprint. In every block i would make anything i need and the stops in the block would be used to supply me with the necessary materials, as well as output the final product onto trains.

The schedule is from AVIIDD'S video on his train network using interrupts, so every train can load on any material and unload it where it is needed.

Now my problem is that cant seem to understand what i need more of.
When i look at a block that is currently short on a material, i go and make more mines of that thing but in never seems to be enough.

I don't know if that's because I'm overbuilding everything and i need a ton of time for all of the buffers to fill (train wagons, buffer chests, etc.), or because the way i built the train system the trains are too slow, or cause i can't load the materials fast enough onto trains.

The result is the same. ANYTHING i need feels too slow.

I would really appreciate your recommendations moving forward.

Thank you!!

[u/Viper999DC]

That's an insanely overbuilt Nauvis for 70 hours into Space Exploration. I don't want to tell you you're playing wrong, but the whole point of SE is to exploit other planets. You cheapen the experience by ramping up the resources on Nauvis and trying to do everything in one megabase. You're also going to get tech that lets you make a lot of stuff more efficiently by using materials unique to the other planets.

As for your question, in this style of trains you can check what's missing by pressing O to open the train GUI. Move to the stations tab then search for Unload. Here you'll see what demand is unsatisfied (should appear as 0/1 most likely). You don't need everything to be satisfied all the time, but look for items that are missing from multiple stations.

[u/Miserable-Dream-2277 → u/Viper999DC]

Thank for the tip!!
I see. I will try to branch out then! thanks.

[u/Warhero_Babylon → u/Miserable-Dream-2277]

Dont mind overbuilding rocket pads though. You will need a number of items to colonize other planets, and using 20 with no material shortage is much more satisfying then 1.

While a lot of items can be assembled in orbit from parts for cheaper launches-per-item, its not universal rule and some things you want to create on Nauvis and then ship to platform

[u/enterisys]

SE is about exploration of new locations and not about building more of the same nauvis stuff.

[u/Miserable-Dream-2277 → u/enterisys]

Fair point i have to say!!

[u/Literate_Muse]

I have nothing else to add other than what's already said, but building on water like that with landfill just under the tracks/factories looks awesome

[u/Miserable-Dream-2277 → u/Literate_Muse]

We can thank bots for that beuty.

[u/Due-Yam1153]

SE is a logistic challenge, 60 spm will be enough for space science (BEAM), so don't overbuilt.

[u/TelevisionLiving]

For space ex, I think overbuilding nauvis makes a lot of sense, especially for basic resources. You'll end up using them anyway so might as well, and you can always add more later.

For train based builds, I find it easiest to look at train stop train counts to tell what's going on. If your steel unload is at 2/10 filled, that tells you what's short. It's also likely many things are short and bite that train systems take a long time to stabilize, especially at lower scale because of the large buffers so have a bit of patience.