How do I make a machine only craft in batches of two before changing it's recipe?

[Tealtanium Golem]

I have been trying to adapt StupidFatHobbit's https://factoriobin.com/post/2ll3ll Casino quality gambling blueprints to take advantage of the innate 50% bonus production present in most of the machines. To do this I have been trying to make sure things only craft in batches of two via reading having a total of two in the output at once before updating. Changing required item crafting ingredients to match two crafts isn't an issue. I can't seem to get it to work right though. I think there is some kind of signal timing issue as the signal gets sent to change the recipe to a higher quality but the machine crafts one base quality item before being interrupted to craft the uncommon or higher.

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Copy blueprint This is my current blueprint. Parameterization hasn't been done yet. I am crafting production module 2s just to test with. Any help solving this issue very much apricated or any other way to solve this problem. Using only one machine to craft with is a MUST because it requires much fewer high quality Quality Module 3's The logic should work regardless of what actual machine is used (Electromagnetic Plant, Foundry, Cryogenics, etc.)

[Tealtanium Golem]

I think I am officially giving up. After two days of testing I cannot get a machine to only change recipe after two crafts. Any infinitesimally small progress for even a single tick causes a machine to be locked into its recipe preventing me from switching it. Its a bigger footprint and costs more quality modules but I can't see a way to both have high efficiency and only one machine.

[mmmPI]

If you only load enough for 2 craft and no more, the machine won't initiate the 3rd and you'd be able to switch recipe no ? You could use a memory cell that receive 2* the "ingredients' as read by the machine, and then when the inserter feed it, you remove the quantity that its picks from the memory cell using "read hand content" pulse" and send this into a arithmetic that turns it into negative. When the memory cell is empty it means enough for 2 craft has been loaded.


You coul also "count" the output and reset the memory cell every 2 craft, but some receipe yiels several outputs per recipe, hence why i think counting the input is easier.

[Tertius]

It's not possible to directly use the pulsed signal that indicates a craft just has finished, because the machine immediately starts the next craft.

But if you initiate the recipe change after the first craft, the circuits have time to change or remove the current recipe while the second craft is currently running, so after it finished the machine will detect it received a new recipe and change to it.

[Tealtanium Golem]

If you only load enough for 2 craft and no more, the machine won't initiate the 3rd and you'd be able to switch recipe no ? You could use a memory cell that receive 2* the "ingredients' as read by the machine, and then when the inserter feed it, you remove the quantity that its picks from the memory cell using "read hand content" pulse" and send this into a arithmetic that turns it into negative. When the memory cell is empty it means enough for 2 craft has been loaded.

Brilliant! I'll have to try and implement this.

You coul also "count" the output and reset the memory cell every 2 craft, but some receipe yiels several outputs per recipe, hence why i think counting the input is easier.

Any building/entity where quality is important, e.g. not just a health increase, only outputs one at a time afaik. I haven't thought about "front loading" the quality system so instead of rolling for quality buildings I only work with quality intermediate resources. I can foresee a few issues with doing so. Issues such as rockets currently can't accept any quality parts, quality on things that don't need them being a waste of resources, much fewer resources to work with, etc.

But if you initiate the recipe change after the first craft, the circuits have time to change or remove the current recipe while the second craft is currently running, so after it finished the machine will detect it received a new recipe and change to it.

This is also a great idea. this might be even easier to implement than mmmPI 's idea. ill have to give it a try too.

[mmmPI]

Brilliant! I'll have to try and implement this.

thanks , i made a thing using this trick for module making.

Any building/entity where quality is important, e.g. not just a health increase, only outputs one at a time afaik. I haven't thought about "front loading" the quality system so instead of rolling for quality buildings I only work with quality intermediate resources. I can foresee a few issues with doing so. Issues such as rockets currently can't accept any quality parts, quality on things that don't need them being a waste of resources, much fewer resources to work with, etc.

mmm not so sure about that , i think quality on module is important, and with electromagnetic plant you get a 50% productivity bonus on them so you can try to craft them by batch of 2, but that will yield 3 modules. because once the second is crafted a 3rd is made from the productivity bar.

This is an example of where counting the output is not super straightforward, or that can "fail" if it is made to reset after 2 output. It can also happen that the 3 output do not have the same quality because between the 1rst and the 2 others to add on the matter, i tried counting the ouput at first and it kinda works but changed for counting the input due to finding it easier.

[Tealtanium Golem]

mmm not so sure about that , i think quality on module is important,

Yes it is very important. This is one of the main things I am trying to mass produce in high quality. My point still stands under normal conditions they output only one per finished recipe.

you get a 50% productivity bonus on them so you can try to craft them by batch of 2, but that will yield 3 modules. because once the second is crafted a 3rd is made from the productivity bar.

This is exactly what I am trying to account for. Getting that free bonus product for two finished products. If an inserter is constantly pulling them out there will only ever be two finished products in the machine at max.

It can also happen that the 3 output do not have the same quality because between the 1rst and the 2 others to add on the matter

I may be misinterpreting what you are saying but I can confirm through testing than when you get the random chance for a better than normal quality output while also getting the payoff from a production bonus, BOTH outputs are of that same higher quality. Unless somehow during my testing I was insanely lucky/unlucky. This may also be some kind of bug.

[mmmPI]

It can also happen that the 3 output do not have the same quality because between the 1rst and the 2 others to add on the matter

I may be misinterpreting what you are saying but I can confirm through testing than when you get the random chance for a better than normal quality output while also getting the payoff from a production bonus, BOTH outputs are of that same higher quality. Unless somehow during my testing I was insanely lucky/unlucky. This may also be some kind of bug.

the first module that finishes can have different quality than the 2nd and 3rd that fnishes at the same time. Those 2 have the same level, but that doesn't mean it's the same as the first one, although it could. So if you count output you have to count to 3. But sometimes that will be 2+1 or 3.

[Tealtanium Golem]

It can also happen that the 3 output do not have the same quality because between the 1rst and the 2 others to add on the matter

I may be misinterpreting what you are saying but I can confirm through testing than when you get the random chance for a better than normal quality output while also getting the payoff from a production bonus, BOTH outputs are of that same higher quality. Unless somehow during my testing I was insanely lucky/unlucky. This may also be some kind of bug.

the first module that finishes can have different quality than the 2nd and 3rd that fnishes at the same time. Those 2 have the same level, but that doesn't mean it's the same as the first one, although it could. So if you count output you have to count to 3. But sometimes that will be 2+1 or 3.

All you have to do is read the hand contents of the inserter pulling out the products as a pulse. if anything = 2 then you know you have completed two cycles, have gotten that bonus output, then can send the reset signal to the memory cell. At no point do I ever have to worry about an output being three at a time. That's how I have mine set up right now. You don't have to count your outputs you just have to check if your output is two. Machines also have a signal output that sends a pulse when it finishes a product. I have a memory cell hooked up to that output. It counts up from 0 to 1 then resets at two. If the output is 1 then its working on it's second product. This isn't even the part I am having trouble with/ still working on. Anything less than the desired quality is instantly fed into a recycler to roll for higher quality components anyway. The machine backing up is impossible.

[mmmPI]

This isn't even the part I am having trouble with/ still working on.

It was further explanation for why counting output is not as good as counting input imo.