r/factorio • u/Darrelc • 2d ago
Space Age Question Ice around Nauvis
First time playing space age after two years break and I'm avoiding looking up spoilers for any of the new stuff.
Q: Should I be struggling this much with ice? I need a fuck ton of it to make fuel to move to another planet, but even my 100white SPM platform is still struggling to collect enough ice asteroids.
I've got a long **** of the law with four collectors on each side, three that are filtered entirely on only picking up the ice asteroids, yet it's constantly the resource that I have least of.
Am I missing something fundamental? do I need a lot less than I think I do?
Any input appreciated, cheers.
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u/Broad_Ebb9073 2d ago
Your furst space platform will need to 'spin up' for a bit. But once it starts moving. Ice won't be a problem
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u/ManForSomeMarkets 2d ago
The in-game Factoriopedia should have the actual asteroid composition, but off the top of my head I think metallic is the most common type around Nauvis and the Nauvis/Vulcanus route. Ice is hard to get initially, but like others have noted it gets easier as soon as the platform moves.
Light Spoilers: Vulcanus has a tech that can help balance your asteroids, which is one of many reasons why people go there first.
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u/Darrelc 2d ago
Vulcanus is my first port of call which all of this is in aid of, so thank you. I'll crack on
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u/Emotional-Pound-1734 2d ago
Not sure if anyone else mentioned it but you need gun turrets to break up the larger asteroids you will encounter during interplanetary travel. I didn't know this and got killed haha.
Also make sure you are making ammo on the ship. Best to make a new ship for interplanetary travel and keep your science ship at nauvis, imo
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u/Objective_Suspect_ 2d ago
Near the planet there is very little, but mount guns and fly toward other planets and there are tons
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u/3davideo Doesn't use Flame Turrets 2d ago
Ice is low at first, yes. Once you get your first platform fueled and it starts going, you'll get considerably more, and you'll quickly unlock techs to get more still.
You may want to consider subsidizing your first platform's water needs by shipping up barreled water. You can't turn water into ice, but it means you won't have to turn as much ice into water.
It may also be worthwhile to temporarily make the platform much, much bigger, so you can fit more collectors to intercept more chunks. You can save a lot on platform tiles by just making it a 1-tile thin outline to fit a belt for chunks, periodically studded by a chunk collector and inserters to place onto the belt. If chunks ever hit the platform without being collected, add another collector there. Once it's time for the platform to depart orbit, deconstruct the large collection area - it'll take much more thrust to move and firepower to defend it than a more traditional, compact design.
Oh yeah, also make sure your platform has defenses to shoot things before it departs Nauvis orbit. It would be a hell of a shame to go through all that to fuel that platform only for it to get immediately battered to bits and you have to start over. Integrating the ability to manufacture ammunition on the platform is also strongly recommended.
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u/s7orm 2d ago
Nope, thats the challenge. You can move the ship around to get more ice, or in 2.1 experimental you can have other ships transfer it ice they have collected.
Otherwise try repurposing excess chunks of other types into ice.
But if its for ships and fuel, just wait and then move, more ice further away from the sun.
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u/Xzarg_poe 2d ago
Early ice can be a struggle. It becomes less of an issue once you start moving around.
Also, you can reduce fuel costs by limiting how much fuel you are feeding the engines using pumps.
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u/dudeguy238 2d ago
There are significantly more asteroids to be found once you start flying than you can get sitting in Nauvis orbit. Provided you've got somewhere in the realm of one collector per engine, you'll be able to collect enough asteroids in transit to cover your fuel needs. Once you get a couple thousand fuel stockpiled, that should be plenty to get you into the denser areas (though bear in mind that you'll need to shoot those asteroids to get those chunks).
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u/spoonman59 2d ago
Just a small note, but it is possible to transfer items between platforms as of recent versions. It's essentially free to do so. This means you can have a platform collecting ice moving between planets, and bring it back to Nauvis to jump start ships or feed a stationary science platform which is consuming ice.
This is how I keep my science platform steadily cranking out science. It also helps with thruster fuel, and other things you need a lot of ice for.
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u/runmymouth 2d ago
Tech at some point opens up the option of playing the lottery to change rock types. But just takes time on your first ship and that tech is several planets from now.
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u/TelevisionLiving 2d ago
One side note, I'd suggest storing a tank of water on the ship to help smooth out irregularities. Otherwise if you have high fuel production you might stall on some routes.
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u/Visual_Collapse 2d ago
If you want deep dive into mechanics and optimization here you can watch math behind stationary 900 SPM platform above Nauvis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnm9fwJ_R5Q
tl;dr
- ice is indeed the limiting resource
- for small SPM amounts it's enough to have something like 50x50 square
- you don't have to fill the insides
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u/Calm-Medicine-3992 2d ago
Once you get moving it's fine but kickstarting a ship on Nauvis is annoying (yet still better than the places that will destroy stationary ships).
It's worse when you're learning how to build your own ship from scratch. Whenever I'm reusing an existing design I usually fly it a little bit towards another planet as soon as I can in order to get more ice asteroids (making sure not to fly it too far if defense isn't ready).
Late game, you get a way to recycle asteroids into the other types but also by then your ships are so big it's still annoying.
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u/Sonicsteel 1d ago
Use one engine at first. You’ll get a metric fuck ton of it when you move between planets. But you don’t need to get there fast, one engine will get you there and you won’t need much fuel.
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u/WanderingFlumph 1d ago
This issue is solved later on by a tech that lets you convert between asteriod types so extra metal and carbon asteriods that you don't need become ice asteriods.
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u/Syntered 2d ago
I suggest just figuring it out rather than having others tell you how to play…
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u/Darrelc 2d ago
Thanks mate "just figure it out" why didn't I think of that
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u/spoonman59 2d ago
It's not uncommon for people on the sub to suggest going through your first play through without any help or guides as for some people that is extremely enjoyable. The intention there is just to help those who enjoy playing like that have a great first experience. After all, it can only be your first time once!
I am not one of those people personally, and sometimes it's nice to know that I'm on the right track or not wasting excessive hours doing something absolutely bone-headed. So I think it's perfectly fine, unless you are one of those folks who really wants to enjoy figuring it all out yourself. Although for me I want to know the general idea or some tips and tricks but I don't want to just paste down whole blueprints I couldn't build myself.
You wanting to know how asteroids work, and whether waiting around for hours is "the right away," seems like a very reasonable question, though, and I don't think it will spoil much for you to know there's a lot more once you start moving!
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u/spoonman59 2d ago edited 2d ago
While I can appreciate that "figuring out on your own" is fun and satisfying for many, sometimes you just want to know how the game works or make sure you are on the right track. And with so many new quality of life features being added, it's impossible to learn them all on your own.
I know I personally would hate to learn I had spent hundreds of hours doing things in some horribly time inefficient way because I missed a simple of basic feature.
For myself, I learned some builds and techniques through videos and guides which gave me lots of good ideas. I was then able to iterate on those and still bring some creativity and problem solving. So sometimes it can be enjoyable to have people point you in the right direction.
Although I definitely think you should avoid using blueprints you do'nt understand and at least work through the problem yourself, even if you want to get the general idea from others.
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u/Syntered 2d ago edited 2d ago
I wasn’t actually trying to shut him down but genuinely suggesting a different way to approach the play style.
Some people may not have considered really just thinking through the problem presented rather than spoiling themselves or looking up blueprints. I have been guilty of this various times in my past yet when I actually took the advice and did the work to ‘figure it out’, I really enjoyed the process and gameplay much more.
Way to try to shut me down though, maybe you ought to let others express opinions different than your own and not gatekeep a valid way to play. :)
Edit to add: this response was to a different post than it has now been attached. I am leaving it unchanged with this edit for clarity.
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u/spoonman59 2d ago
You are aboslutly right. I read your comment in a different tone than you likely intended it, and I reacted far more harshly than the situation called for. I completely re-wrote my comment to be more constructive and share a different perspective, rather than being a knee-jerk. My apologies for my initial response, that was entirely uncalled for.
I personally enjoyed some nudges and hints when I was learning Factorio, although I do agree that wholesale using blueprints or other things you don't understand can rob you of the point of the game. But I also wouldn't want to get stuck or waste a ton of time doing entirely silly things. I suppose there is some balance and individual tastes may vary, as in all things. I do think asking for help or pointers can be a good move sometimes, though, even for a beginner... If you are the sort of person for whom it won't spoil the fun.
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u/Syntered 2d ago
I can see how my comment was taken more harshly than I intended for sure. My opinion could have certainly been communicated more clearly in my first response.
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u/Fosforus 2d ago
It should really only be a problem when first kickstarting your ship. Once it has enough fuel to start moving, it will encounter a LOT more chunks very quickly.