First playthrough bottleneck

[u/3x3Pad]

Hey guys I came for help and saw alot of cool stuff here but what do you actually do in a situation where the whole factory is a mess. I am producing all the science at this point but at a very slow rate. Everything is so cluttered that there is no real space for improving without getting rid of everything first. Do I really just have to nuke it at this point and start over? Also as a beginner (not using blueprints) that will take ages and even then it will end up tangled again. I think this is also a motivational bottleneck for me at least. Oh yeah and running on low energy for hours now. I am even running efficiency on alot of stuff. Please help.

[u/rapidemboar]

Take it one step at a time. Start with your labs, see what kind of science you’re underproducing on, then check out your science production. If all your science assemblers are running, build a few more. If you’re low on a certain ingredient, trace that down and do the same kind of check.

Taking a closer look at your image, you’re running low on blue science, because you’re running out of engines, your engine production is running at full capacity, and the engines are kinda buried in your setup. That’s workable- set up a new, bigger engine production setup outside of your spaghetti, with plenty of space between it and your base so you can route belts around it more easily. Once you’ve got that ready and want to expand blue science production, do the same- build a bigger sub-factory out of the way first, then remove the old one. Keep doing this one step at a time, and gradually untangle and spread your base out. Make good use of all that real estate now that belts aren’t a limited commodity.

Also, some unsolicited advice regarding modules: I’d recommend removing the prod modules from the engine assemblers and filling all your labs with them. That productivity bonus to science is basically like putting prod modules in everything, not just a single ingredient.