[121:25h] However, making this biomass requires a tier 2 data card, so I've had to make blocks for those. Although now that the space is clear, I don't have any issues. Similarly to the other sciences, I've put some items in a central corridor. This time, it's blank data cards, dirty biosludge, dirty water and junk data cards.
Anyway, the tier 2 cards are about using and applying the learnings from tier 1s. On the left, there's experimental genetic data, and biocombustion resistance (similar to the tier 1, but the purple biomass is cooler so it resists combustion!).
On the right, biochemical resistance data and biomechanical resistance data. It looks like the purple biomass resists everything from the tier 1s, which is a great success!
(Please note that no real living beings were harmed during these experiments. I swear!!)
[121:42h] Moving on the bio chain, there are new items required for the tier 3 catalogues. The first I unlock is vitalic reagent, made from vita extract, lots of glass and a little vulcanite. I made a block for it which produces 4000 per minute and consumes way more vita than I have but hey, dreaming is free!
[122:19h] Then there is neural gel. It's simple to make, requiring just some nutrient gel and biomass, so I've also added to the same block the advanced version, which I'll need later, and uses it as an input.
Another use of neural gel is to make the third and final tier of biomass. This one is called Significant Biomass, and I already placed it in a block, together with purple biomass, so I don't need to do anything for it.
[122:52h] With these components done, I'm ready to start making tier 3 data cards! After the success of the previous very ethical experiments, it's time to make more!
On the left, radiation exposure data investigates how green biomass reacts to radiation. There's also decompression data, which requires leaving purple biomass on empty space and see what happens.
On the right, cryogenics data submerges blue biomass in super cold thermofluid, and finally bioelectric data tests the nerves of that same biomass by showering it with ion stream. Some thermofluid cooling is required here as well.
[123:23h] One of the things I'll unlock with material and bio 4 sciences is higher tier modules. I'll want to use them sparingly, but they are really expensive. So, as a first step, I'm improving my current module setup for all three module types. By using wide beacons and stacked belts I can craft a ton of them.
The new setups can make around 350 tier 3 productivity and speed modules, and half as many efficiency modules. I won't be needing the latter that much, so there's no reason to go higher than that.
In the future, I'll want to use tier 6 modules for most of the "expensive stuff", going up to tier 8 in some important steps. I don't think I'll be using the highest tier, 9, for anything, as I doubt that would pay off before the end of the game. Those modules are just mind bogglingly expensive.
[123:46h] During this time, I've also been hard at work cleaning up the old rocket systems of transport between nauvis and norbit. I have removed: The old blocks for bio 1 data cards. The new ones are the same, but in the right place. The heat shielding block. This one was fine, but I wanted to put the three module blocks together and it was in the way. So I've put it in a block with a core miner, since it didn't take much space. The norbit lubricant block, since I have it on Nauvis with prod modules. All the extra ice, barrels (both full and empty) steel plates, iron plates, and rocket parts I had on norbit. There's a ton of items to move, over 120k in total, so I'm using bots for some of the work.
[124:10h] I've made my first bio 3 pack! I'm very close to finishing all the mandatory bio techs, so I can start using bio science for actual useful stuff. Only the tier 4 catalogues, and the last sigdata recipe remain!
Speaking about research, while I was waiting for bio science packs to pile up, I've also been researching other things. I'm up to tier 7 speed modules, which require lots of material science, and I've also been researching all the spaceship parts, which mostly require astro science but also some others. I'm still researching ion engines though, as that one is very expensive, but the good thing is that I'm not in a rush.
[124:28h] In order to make bio 4 cards, I need two new things. One is advanced neural gel, which I already put in the neural gel block, so I don't need anything more. The other is vitalic epoxy, a derivative product from vitamelange that is very expensive to make in large quantities. I've made a block for it on Nauvis, however it needs so much vita that I've put it with negative priority, so it doesn't starve the other things that also require it. Each unit of epoxy requires around 45 vitamelange, and I need a ton of it.
[125:14h] Here are the builds for the bio4 cards. Similar to the previous cards, they apply the learnings from the tier 3 cards.
On the left, there's comparative genetic data, which compares green and blue biomass. There's also radiation resistance data. Now, the blue biomass can mostly survive the effects of enriched uranium! In the previous tier, the green biomass was completely destroyed.
On the right, I'm making decompression resistance data, and our beloved blue biomass can mostly survive being on the void as well. Finally, neural anomaly data combines advanced neural gel with blue circuits to make some kind of cyborg intelligence, half biologic and half machine.
With this, my science district is complete! Remember when I made plans for my orbit base? Well, now everything is in place, and I have to say it looks amazing! After researching the recipes for better significant data (which use all 4 types of insights) I've switched to the most efficient recipes for science packs in the game. Finally!!
[126:03h] The recent module expansions have left me short on electric motors, and truth is upgrading them was long overdue. The production has gone up from 7128 to 25.3k per minute, so this should last for a while! I'm using all the space available in the block so if I need more I'll need to get a second one.
[126:51h] I had plenty of time while waiting for techs to complete, so I decided to get ahead of things and upgrade Lilly, my Vitamelange planet. I was transporting a lot of materials from Nauvis that I could honestly make locally, so I've been adding blocks for them. Lilly has a ton of stone and oil, so it wasn't an issue at all to find raw materials. I'm now making: 72.9k sand/min 16.1k glass/min 12k sulfur/min 30k liquid rocket fuel/min
I'll leave the landing pads for those just in case, but I shouldn't be needing them.
[127:23h] I've also tripled the vitamelange production, simply by copypasting my current setup. "But Èlia, why do you need that for?" Well you'll see, some time soon I'm going to need high tier modules, and those consume insane amounts of vita, I'm not even exaggerating.
So while all of this is probably overkill now, soon I'll be needing this production.
Also, I realized that my standard train system had trouble keeping up with so many trains in Lilly, so I've upgraded the intersections of my railbook.
And here I have to admit, this is the first design in this playthrough that I didn't make. While designing train intersections is fun, it's a lot more complicated now with elevated rails, and I know people have made some that look amazing. I grabbed the one shown here (honestly watch the video, it's incredibly cool!)
[127:57h] After that, I went and did the same thing in Tetracat. If prod modules need a lot of vita, then speed modules need a lot of iridium, so doing this seemed sensible. I've also preemptively replaced the train intersections with the cooler ones.
[128:21h] Now back on Nauvis, I've added blocks for these higher tier modules. These blocks make from tier 4 to 8 of prod and speed respectively. I'll continue to use tier 3 for basic stuff like sand, tier 6 for most of the new stuff, and tier 8 only for the most expensive things.
I've put them just below the previous module blocks, so that it's all nice and organized. I'll eventually need efficiency modules up to tier 6 too, since some buildings require them, but I don't need to mass produce them, so I'll do it when the time comes.
By the way, if you look closely, you'll notice something strange: I'm using the big ass-emblers from orbit! Turns out there's a funny interaction: if I put spaceship floor on Nauvis, I can actually put norbit buildings on top! Since these big ass-emblers have a base speed of 10, they're very convenient for converting iridium ingots to plates.
No but really, i want you to have an idea of how damn expensive the high tier modules are, so I'll put the recipes here.
A single speed 9 module costs: 3300 iridium ingots (this huge setup makes 600/min!) 5200 heat shielding 5k green chips, 3k red chips and 1.2k blue chips many, many other items
A single prod 9 module is even worse: 52k vita extract (this huge setup makes 6100 per min!) 25k glass 12k sulfur and 40k sulfuric acid 6.4k green chips, 3.2k red chips and 1.6k blue chips And again, many other items
And all of this for a single module! That goes on a single machine or beacon! It's nuts!
So yeah, even for a game like mine, where techs cost tens of thousands of science, tier 9 modules are not worth it, and tier 8 barely are, and only in a few select places. I'll keep a buffer of around 1000 tier 6 modules and then just 100 tier 8 modules, that will be plenty
So, after doing all the data cards, what's next? Well, I still need to make tier 4 science packs of all types, but those aren't really that useful, and mainly unlock stuff that's required for the endgame of the mod pack.
And the end game consists of another type of science pack, which again has four tiers... Deep Space Science! This one requires Naquium, an incredibly rare material that's only found really far away and is really hard to process.
However, this thread has gone on for long enough, and now that I start to enter the late game of the mod pack, it's a good time to take a break. So, once again, I'll leave it here, and will continue on a new thread!
I want to finish off by showing maps of all my factories. I've recently shown the norbit one, so I'll skip it, but here are the others!
And with this, I'm stopping Factorio for a while! It's been really fun and I can't wait to do the last part, which is the only one I've never done!
I'll leave you with a video of something I've never told you: when the game starts, there's a big crashed ship with some parts that you can pick up. Also, Space Exploration gives you a Friend, a cute biter that is friendly. Well, turns out I have kept both well guarded this entire time! They are right in the middle of my base, chilling in a train intersection.
Don't worry though, Friend has some belts to play with, and is well protected from trains with a durable wall, so I can be certain that it will never get hurt.
I hope Friend can see me to the end of this modpack, where I explore the stars and the galaxy! And you too
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