Planetary Production: Pause extractors? Pause factories?

Industry Gameplay Center Science & Industry
#1

I’m still setting up my first PP installation, and I’m wondering whether I need to run my extractors constantly. Right now, I’d rather run factories so they can “catch up” with the large volume of raw materials I’ve collected. Just from trial and error, I think this works – I can just not “install” the extractor program and the factories still seem to draw from storage, produce, and send refined products to storage. Is that right?

Conversely, can factories be paused? For example, suppose I want to run my T2 factories for a while and let my T1 factories idle, to save power so that I can build an extra T2 factory. Can I do that?

Finally, I watched a video that implied that processed materials take up less space per unit than raw materials. But on my gas planet, the reverse seems true. The raw materials take up less space than the refined ones. Maybe it varies, depending on the resource?

Thanks in advance!

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#2

That’s not true. What the video likely meant is, the input m3 of p1 is more than the output m3 of p2, which is true.

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#3

Thanks; that makes sense.

Another question, in addition to my questions about pausing. Can I switch a factory from one resource to another? I tried yesterday and I kept getting messages about not having enough of something at the start of the route. Maybe you can’t switch off a factory until it’s completely finished processing whatever is coming into it?

#4

You can switch a factory from one resource to another, but I recommend you only do that when you repurpose your planet. Not daily.

PI is a passive activity for the long haul. If you find a proper balance between yield and minimal input, you may be able to keep it running for a long time.

My recommendation: don’t try to micromanage your planet (unless you want to try that of course!), find an extraction cycle that fits your schedule.

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#5

Correct, factories just need the goods, so if you correctly lead your extractors to a storage first, your factories can draw from that storage until it is empty, even if the extractor stops in the mean time.

No you cannot do that. I guess you could build and destroy factories for this purpose, but that will cost you ISK and more valuable, time. Don’t try to micromanage your planets or you’ll burn out! :grin:

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#6

OK, thanks! I appreciate the help.