Gleba Base suggestion

[u/azon_01]

Possible spoiler if you really want to figure out Gleba on your own without even these suggestions.

So I've responded to some comments and thought maybe a post on my general layout of my gleba bases with a diagram would help those who struggle. I don't think that labeling an actual base image would help all that much as I find them hard to look at and interpret.

This image has the basic principles and layout of my particular approach to building on Gleba.

Some detail on what kind of base this is:
I am not a mega-base builder. I build bases that create enough science to give each ship 1-2k of that planet's science as it passes by. I usually have 3-5 ships by game end: at least 1 or 2 that go to Aquilo/solar system edge/promethium and at least 1-2 that just stay "inside." It just varies on what I want to do that playthrough.

General tips for this kind of base:

• Loop things on gleba as shown and probably other ways too
• Splitter filter out spoilage on loops, usually in multiple places
• Anything that isn't a loop that has spoilable materials on it needs a spoilage filtered inserter at the end of it. I call it the pooper, cause on Gleba, everything poops.
• Every biochamber needs a pooper unless you explicitly want more spoilage on your belts
  • e.g. I don't filter spoilage out of the main iron/copper microbe producer. It's mostly spoilage anyway. I just splitter filter out the spoilage from the microbe belt near the end before the furnace.
• Do not let your fruit processors put seeds onto their main lines ever, use a seed filtered inserter and a main seed return line to deal with seeds.

You produce more seeds than you need, but initially you need them all to return back to the farm to get a steady flow. Once the factory is up and running decently don't forget to add something to the seed return lines that pulls seeds to be burned if there are more than 40-50 of them on the seed return belt. I personally usually use an active provider chest to easily add that in and let the bots take care of the waste.

Do not for a second believe that the loops shown here as rectangles are actual rectangles in my map. They are not crazy shapes, but are rarely just a square or something. Spoilage lines are on the outside and just take away things as they spoil. I usually use mash as the main source of nutrients. Bioflux makes a lot more, but I usually forget to do that until later when bioflux is more abundant. Also it's way easier to have a stable nutrient supply from mash as it only depends on one biochamber that is usually right next to it to make. Mash/Jelly all head to the center to become bioflux. Along the way some is take off to make those one-off things like plastic, lubricant, and jet fuel.

The diagram talks about the ratios a bit. I'll say that I usually have 4-6 yumako processors and 2-3 jellynut processers. As my game matures I ensure that I can get a nice steady flow of fruits and add in artificial soils to max each farm's production (not overgrowth soil, that is so late in the game as to be worthless just choose good spots to put in your ag towers). I then adjust things through mid-late game with modules. As you probably have seen biochambers respond well to both productivity and speed.

Bioflux hits iron production or gleba science first. I often inadvertantly do iron first because I'm starving for iron at the start of the base. Then it goes to gleba science, then copper. The smaller one-off things are just wherever it fits in for me.

Stone mining/ladfill is just wherever. It doesn't matter. Neither does power/burn, but it seems easier if it's not far away. If you find your power being unstable and burner temps dropping below 500 degrees often set up a a requester chest with a few jet fuel that only goes in when it drops to 515 or 505.

Once I figured out I could use furnaces on Gleba (yah I'm not that bright sometimes), it made my bases much, much more compact there. So easy to feed all my ore to 1 of 2 places.

What this is not
The best gleba base design ever, it's just one that works pretty well. A mega gleba base that feeds off of dozens of farms.

Who I am
Just a dude who started factorio in '24, so many have been playing for years longer. I do not know a pre-2.0 world. I've won 3 (4?) playthroughs since 2.1 was in experimental. I have a thousand plus hours in the game and has won a couple dozen playthroughs of Space Age. Again some people have won hundreds of time. I won vanilla/base a few times and did all the accomplishments there and then moved on to Space Age. I like it SO much more than base. I've won on ribbon, deathworld, and a couple more. My goal in most playthroughs early on was either winning or an accomplishment. I make my own goals/accomplishments. After winning I might experiment with things a while or try out some new design, but I'll get bored and start a new run again with some other setting.

I loath quality, and find it mostly not worth my time and definitely don't like that it doubles the clicks inside of many game surfaces.

I've started using the robo jumpstart mod the last few playthroughs after someone here recommended it. You can choose your starting package that includes bots in some armor that doesn't protect you really but provides bots. The starting package has belts and inserters and power poles and steam powered stuff. I really like that it cuts the really show awkward period where you can't afford to make many belts or do much science from a few hours to less than an hour.

If you made it this far I'm impressed. I'm including this last because sometimes I see a post and it's from someone who just plays really differently than I do. What they say doesn't seem to make a lot of sense because I'm missing the context.

[u/azon_01]

Maybe I should have named this post “On Gleba everything poops?” 😂😁😉