Flow Splitting and Ratios
Feeding several machines from one input comes down to exact ratios and even splits.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Optimization · Planning · Spatial
No.002Factorio01The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Calculate each machine's demand
- 02Place splitters and mergers
- 03Check for starved machines
- 04Tune ratios or priority
↻Feedback changes the situation — the next round starts from there.
Walk through one round
A simplified design example. Situations and numbers illustrate the mechanic, not exact rules from a reference game.
- T1
Turn 1 · The situation
90 screws/min must feed three assemblers that each need 30.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
The player uses one three-way splitter instead of a chained overflow.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
All three machines run at 100% with no backlog.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
Adding a fourth machine breaks the ratio, forcing a new split design.
How it plays
Splitters divide a stream evenly or by priority, mergers join streams. Players compute ratios from recipes, like 3 A machines per 2 B, and build split trees to match; uneven splits leave some machines idle and others backed up.
What the player weighs
- Exact balance vs simple overflow: perfect ratios need complex trees; overflow chains are easy but front-load supply.
- Footprint vs efficiency: precise balancers take more room.
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
Factorio
Splitters are two-in two-out 1:1 devices with input/output priority and filters, often chained into belt balancers.
Satisfactory
Splitters split one into three and mergers join three into one; players feed rows of machines with either manifolds or exact load balancers.
The difference worth noticing
Factorio builds balance in powers of two, while Satisfactory's three-way pieces favor multiples of three.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Timed kitchen orders arrive while splitters route ingredients to stations by ratio, with priority switches for urgent tickets.
Prototype this combo in Yoroll→Follow the next idea
Drone Logistics Network
No belts needed: flying units deliver where needed, but you have to keep them supplied.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Build ports and storage
- 02Set requests and supplies
- 03Drones deliver automatically
- 04Expand or refuel the network
Conveyor Routing
Moving items from A to B is easy; keeping every line from tangling is the game.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Plan source and destination
- 02Lay belts around obstacles
- 03Watch flow and jams
- 04Reroute or add layers
Reusable Blueprints
Save a well-designed module and stamp it again; you shift from builder to planner.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Hand-build a good module
- 02Save it as a blueprint
- 03Stamp it elsewhere
- 04Iterate and revise