Multi-Stage Production Chain
Raw material climbs tier by tier into goods, and any tier can bottleneck the next.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Planning · Progression · Optimization
No.004Factorio01The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Choose a target product
- 02Break down intermediates
- 03Build each tier by ratio
- 04Find bottlenecks, scale up
↻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
Target 5 circuits/min, needing 15 copper cables and 5 iron plates; each cable machine makes 6/min.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
The player builds three cable machines (18/min) for a small surplus.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
Circuits hold steady at 5/min with slight cable buildup.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
The next goal needs 10 circuits, and copper mining becomes the new bottleneck.
How it plays
Advanced items need several intermediates, each with its own recipe and craft time. Players plan the full chain from ore to product and match each tier's output; any weak link backs up upstream and starves downstream.
What the player weighs
- Dedicated lines vs shared intermediates: sharing saves buildings but creates contention.
- Just enough now vs built to double: lean builds need big rework later.
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
Factorio
Chains run from ore through circuits and engines up to rocket parts, with oil processing adding fluid branches.
Satisfactory
Space Elevator phases drive chain upgrades, and alternate recipes from hard drives rewrite intermediate inputs.
The difference worth noticing
Factorio's recipes are mostly fixed; Satisfactory's alternates let one product have many chain designs.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Timed contracts demand a batch of advanced goods in X minutes, forcing players to borrow capacity from another tier or risk missing it.
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