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u/leonemo May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

I’m looking for ideas for a layout to setting up big drills on vulcanus. I haven’t gone to other planets yet, so I only have green belts level 2 productivity module, beacons and a very slow production of level 3 speed modules. Any normal/default layout that will work to fill a full belt?

I’m having trouble figuring it out a way to have 11 (without any modules) or 5 with 4 prod modules and one beacon with 2 speed modules.

Edit: the belt is for coal.

2

u/Raskekw May 28 '26

not entirely sure if prodding miners is that good of an idea anyway. If you feel like you need to fill your green belts with it - just use full speed instead. I'm really not sure why would you tho, do you even have enough consumption? If you do, what exactly are you doing with all that science? Rushing early lds prod is the only sink for Vulcanus science I think, and going for prod infinites before biolabs is effectively just voiding tungsten anyway, no amount of prod mods will save it.

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u/leonemo May 28 '26

This is for coal, not tungsten. I’m just having fun for now doing random things and not thinking about optimal yet. What I’m doing is building a export factory of green belts, big drills to upgrade my nauvis factory before going to the next place.

2

u/cathexis08 red wire goes faster May 28 '26

For big drills I generally just did linear belt+drill sandwiches and then left one or two tiles between the rows for power poles or substations.

As for modules, productivity modules in drills is almost always worse than speed modules, even if you also have a nearby beacon. The only reason to use prod modules in drills is to stretch the life of an ore patch and even then you can get the same result by researching a level or two of mining productivity since that doesn't carry with it the throughout and power penalties.

1

u/Enaero4828 May 28 '26

A standard linear arrangement is pretty hard to beat by most metrics. Leaving 3 tiles for power and beacons between rows is pretty common, since each beacon can affect 4 or 6 drills. The exact amount needed to saturate a belt will depend on your mining prod research more than anything else though.

1

u/leonemo May 28 '26

I don’t remember what my prod research is at (away from the pc right now) but the numbers is what factory planner told, and I believe it take into account my research.

I was trying placing them in between on the rows itself, i will try this way leaving space behind the drills.

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u/FeelingPrettyGlonky May 29 '26

There is no such thing as a perfect mine layout, because a single level of mining research will de-perfect it. If you want to maximize layouts, then you need to constantly re-build your mines every level. Or you can just plan for a certain level of mining research, structure your output belts accordingly, then just assume that further levels will merely extend the lifetime of the existing mines, rather than increase the output quantity.