Item Network Factorio Mod

Update as-of March 24, 2024

I've been working on a rewrite of this mod from the ground up. As a result I do not plan on maintaining the current version of the mod. While this isn't great for current users, there are a bunch of nice QOL features that I have working in the V2. If you want to take a look, check out this github branch. The goal has been to smooth over some of the rough edges from the previous version of the mod by making some changes:

• Network Chests now automatically adjust "limit" and "buffer" based on usage.
• Adds Network Logistic Chests for remote building.
• Larger Network Chests: 3x3 and 5x5.
• More efficient update code for Network Chests.
• Better support for pasting recipes on chests and tanks.
• Build entity ghosts straight from the network. No need for roboports.
• Deconstruct entities straight into the network.

I'm doing some play-testing with the new configuration and hoping to get through a 100x science Nullius playthrough to make sure this approach scales.

I also did a 2K SPM playthrough with the V2 pretty effortlessly. At this end state, the mod took 0.5-1ms/tick to update compared the the 1-3ms/tick for V1.

A few remaining things I want to get working:

• Try some alternative update queues for better performance
• Try to get network Tanks to automatically scale up
• Figure out a better solution to byproducts and priorities
• Decide whether this mod should try to be balanced or whether it should go all-in on being cheaty.

If I end up releasing this branch for real, I want to make sure it feels finished. Thanks for your patience!

Overview

Do you have questions, comments or bugs? Make a Github Issue or start a discussion in the mod portal.

This mod adds a new transportation mechanic to move items and fluids as quickly as possible.

It does this by adding Network Chests and Tanks which serve as an access points to a limitless shared inventory for the entire mod. Network Chests can give and take items to and from this shared inventory and Network Tanks move fluids.

This approach scales well for everything from a seldom-used mall to moving vast quantities of items.

This mod also adds a Network Loader which is just a normal loader for transporting full lanes of items in and out of network chests. Inserters also work with network chests but loaders often lead to cleaner designs.

Here's an example of moving 128 blue belts of copper ore where almost every belt is saturated. In addition to the 256 network chests in this picture, this world has 2084 network chests with half dedicated to moving copper and the other half moving other items.

And here's a mall powered entirely by network chests:

Both Network Chests and Network Loaders are enabled without research and can be crafted without any items. While it might be more fair to lock these items behind endgame research expensive ingredients, it's more fun to have them available from the start.

Network chests make belt balancers obsolete because they evenly distribute between producers and consumers.

Target Audience

There is no doubt that this mod is cheating and defeats the purpose of many existing transportation mechanics like trains and bots. If trains work well for you then you probably don't need this mod. This mod is instead intended for:

• Players who have already built large transportation layers and are ready for something simpler that scales better than trains.
• Players who want to rebuild small parts of their spaghetti base without rebuilding the entire factory.
• Players who want to play complex modpacks or scale factories without spending a lot of time pasting train blueprints.
• Players who want a simpler way to build outposts.

In short, this mod is for players who want a logistics solution that gets out of the way so they can focus on recipes and efficient factories.

Configuring Network Chests

Network chests have a custom UI to configure requests that can be accessed by clicking on the chest.

Each chest has a list of items where the chest either requests or provides each item.

Each request has a "limit" and "buffer" defined as follows:

• Provide item to the network when there are less than limit items in the network and store buffer items in this chest.
• Request item from the network when there are more than limit items in the network and store buffer items in this chest.

This method of defining requests is easy to use but also allows for complex production loops with both custom input and output priorities.

For example, here's how to prioritize sending coal to power generation. When there is more than 100 coal in the network it will be sent to plastic.

Easier ways to configure Network Chests

While it's always possible to configure Network Chests manually, it's often easier to copy ingredients from an assembler's recipe. The mod supports copy-pasting both ingredients and results from an assembler to a chest.

Copy-paste behavior follow the direction of items:

• If items flow from the chest to the assembler, you copy from the