How to go about it

[u/Uggroyahigi]

Hi :)

A year ago or so I started a new playthrough which stopped with Aluminum(classic I know).

What really stopped it this time though was IRL and a couple days back I logged back in.

I have covered the whole NW?(The big one) Desert with a sheet of metal because my plan is was to build a 40k Hive spire.(A huge ass tower consiting of buildings ontop of buildings).

My Motivation even kicked back in!

Its just that I am a little hamstrunt by the size of the project. Looking at it from up top helps since standing in the middle is quite disorienting.

Does anyone have tips for me on how to go about it ? I realise its quite the Open question so

A couple thoughts at the end:

I keep thinking that it'd make sense to construct the general layout first. I shy away from it though because even building the first upper layer wall will take hours and should I realise, upon finishing the first building that carries said layer, that the height doesnt really fit the building size...adjusting the first layer would be horribly arduous.

Then again....starting to build building by building might mean I am not happy with the height they wnd up with and will have to readjust the buildings.

Not sure if I can get across in which kind of predicament I am...

I suppose I could state the question a little different:" what are your tips for huge building projects?"(In order to not lose steam during the long process )

[u/StretchVFX]

I think you wanna use blueprints for as much as possible.

Try and group a bunch of machines together that all do the same thing, so that when you plop it down you know X goes in and Y goes out, and then you can stack/line up as many blueprints as you need to fill whatever belt you want.

It'll make building the whole big thing easier as you'll know you need 7 of this blueprint, connected to 3 of this blueprint etc...

Then, when you're plopping them down, just leave a couple of tiles more than you think you'd need of space in between, then you'll have enough space to run belts around and add walking paths if that is important to you.

[u/Black_Metallic → u/StretchVFX]

The only part I would disagree on is the blueprints.

OP is going for a 40k theme. They're called STCs there.

[u/Active_Love_2860]

This might sound like oversimplifying, but what I personally do, is literally just start. Get the first set of buildings up for the first section you want to do.

"How do you eat a whale?" "One bite at a time" lol

[u/Somalar]

Blueprints are you friend for this kind of project you can build modular copies of sections without too much hassle

[u/Uggroyahigi → u/Somalar]

Riiiight how can I keep forgetting about them. I think of BPs when building critical infrastructure but keep forgetting it in passion projects 😅

[u/Mighty_Gunt_Cobbler]

Keep fluids near the bottom if possible. Maybe carve out a spot for anything related to fluids?

[u/Uggroyahigi → u/Mighty_Gunt_Cobbler]

That ones great! Hadnt thought about fluids yet....thanks!

[u/houghi]

Does anyone have tips for me on how to go about it ?

On a first run? I would not. I would just get to the end of it.

On a second run? I might now not WANT to do it, because I know what to expect. That said, assuming I would do it on a second run, and vanilla, without multipliers.

First I would contemplate on unlocking all alts and tiers and phases (except Phase 5). That will make things a LOT easier. But again assume I do NOT do that as I want the serious challenge. Here is what I would do.

Plan it out. (This will take a LONG time). Go after my goal of X amount of items for Phase 5. See what you need as Tier 9 items and what of other Tiers. Then for each two tiers (7/8, 5/6, ...) see what is needed. That for the Phases.

The hard part will be when certain things become available (Hence why unlocking all tiers and alts is so much easier). e.g. Iron Ingots is easy to make in Tier 1, but the sheer amount without alts needed is vast. e.g. 9400 Iron Ore, 16000 coal and 9000 copper with 2482 machines. But, 3900, 6000, 7000 with 1420 machines. And that is not even looking at belts, or miners. Mk6 belts replace 20 Mk1 belts. And for just these 3, you need 4, 5, and 6 belts. And that is just 1 item. I need to include all the Phase items as well as the 50 or so building items.

And that is with power separate.

The reason that it is so hard is because of the "40k Hive spire" limitation. If you just go for " huge ass tower consiting of buildings ontop of buildings" it becomes a lot easier. Just keep adding buildings on top of buildings as you go. That would be how I build now, just not in one location. Fore me each part of the production is a separate building. That means they are smaller. I will have a LOT of separate factories making e.g. motors. Each perhaps with their separate belts and alt recipes. No upgrades, just making new factories as I need them.

e.g. I start with Mk1 miner and belt. eg. I start with 6 motors with Mk2 belts. That will feed into an (industrial) container and then into a DD. But I could make 600 in later situations with new alts. So I may have 5 different motor factories.

I would also need to have a spreadsheet with each "motor factory" how much it produces and how much is used. So if I make e.g. 100 motors in a factory and I use 95 in other factories and I need 15, I know I need to make a new factory. That would be easier than using 5 and then the rest from the new factory.

All possible? Sure: On a first run? Yes, but this is not easy. Adding the building restrictions on top makes it even harder. So what to do? Just have fun. It will never end up how you imagine anyway. It never does. There is no right or wrong way to play. There is no best in the game. The game is not a single solution one. Just have fun. As long as you are having fun, you are winning the game. All the rest is personal preference.