Space platform "Unload" cargo doesn't just work and "Import" is wrong word in Platform Logistics

[veriszg]

I've tested this for some time and just can't confirm that there is any difference between "Unload" checked or unchecked for platforms.

Also I couldn't find any precise info how does it work.

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The platform just follows requests assigned to groups.
It takes items from some planets if we properly select a planet and then quantity.
It drops items to planets if we properly select a planet and set "to" to zero in a request.

So it doesn't matter if I have "Unload" checked or unchecked. It seems this option is totally ignored by the game.
Did I miss something or just this option works in some weird way or doesn't work at all?

Another bug...

Also I've found out that If we want to drop items to a planet we have to properly select this planet in an item that is selected in a request group.

So the "Import" option is no doing exactly what it means.
It's not "import" per se if we also use this option to export items to a planet.

My suggestion is to change it to "interact with", not "Import from".

2024-11-10 17-46-19.png (63.53 KiB) Viewed 636 times

[CheeseMcBurger]

I learned that unloading only works if you request it on the cargo landing pad. Maybe both needs to be active, the request and the Unload checkbox?

[veriszg]

Thanks! Requesting from cargo pad might be the solution to my questions!

[Drasek]

I was in your position last week, using the same type of setup. So here is what I've learned on the topic of planetary logistics since then.

1) Your ship is a "milk truck" (hated this term since I everyone kept saying it like it meant something but i didn't have the context lol) in that it always has a bunch of items onboard, more than planets may need at the moment, it only delivers the items that the planet is asking for. So it may carry 200 fast inserters, but might not be dropping them planet side if the planet does not currently need them, this sucks for inventory management on the ship but it is what it is.

2) Create a logistics group request on each planet, for each other planet you want items from. ie.. Nauv Requests From Fulg, Nauv Requests From Vulc, etc and set these groups on your landing bay and your platform, if they are the same group you only have to edit them in one location as groups are unique and constant. Make sure to pay attention that you set the planet correctly for every item, I really wish I could set the group to a planet not every item but this is what we have.

2.1) I have seen other people no use their landing bay request groups on their ship, instead opting to have a separate platform inventory request only. This is good because say Vulc Fulg and Gleb all want 100 inserters, doing it the way I said in #2 your ship will always carry >= 300 inserters, compound this across multiple items and it can be too much stuff for your ship to carry. But if Vulc Fulg and Gleb are all set to request 100 inserters each, and the platform is set to only request 100 inserters from Nauv, the ship will only carry 100 inserters at a time, and when it enters orbit above the planet it will only drop the difference between 100 and what the landing bay on the planet currently has. Im still on the fence about which route I enjoy more but I currently feel #2 is nice for a large ship with huge inventory size, or a new player who isnt shipping much, or someone who just wants to only need to set a request once, and #2.1 is better for end game where you are shipping huge amounts of items.

3) Do not have inserters to empty your landing pad into storage containers or your ship will hang out above the planet and drop its entire supply of each item the planet asked for regardless on whether its dropped the requested amount, requests are live based on the contents of the landing pad. So if it never fills, it never stops requesting.

4) If you dont like #3 and you want to empty your landing pad into storage, you need a circuit that takes your logistics network contents and compares them to your request group, and exports the difference to the landing bay as a circuit controlled group

5) Renaming a request group DOES NOT EDIT THE REQUEST GROUP, its actually creating a new group, so if you need to rename it, make sure to change to that new group in every place u had the old group, also make sure to delete the old group so ur group list doesnt get clogged up (there are numbers in the group list that show the number of places its in use still, this can help you know if the group is ready to be deleted, or if you forgot to switch the group elsewhere)

6) Set a time limit for your ship to stay in orbit, for some reason we have no good way to see if the correct amount of items from a platform have dropped to the surface without a litany of circuits on the ship counting items, so set a time limit of maybe 60s to 120s of time passing before they leave to give the platform enough time to drop items.

7) To help speed up request fulfillment from the planet into orbit, you can take all of the request groups for that planet, set them all on a constant combinator send that into and arithmetic combinator dividing by 4 and then take that and put into into 4 buffer chests with circuit network sets request and place them near your rocket silos. 4 can be any number which will vary depending on request size. This allows you to be making ready the items needed for request fulfillment while the platform is out doing its runs, the second it comes into orbit the items are all conveniently nearby the silos to be loaded. This also makes sure you arnt stuck waiting for items to be produced because a provider chest was full somewhere as the provider chest will be pulled from until the buffer chest hits its limit.