Order Your Base with the MAIN BUS - Factorio 0.18 Tutorial/Guide/How-to

FACTORIO MASTER CLASS
This series of Tutorials and How To Guides help you become a better Factorio Engineer
Each video serves as a beginner's guide but also contains tips and tricks for both veterans players

Before each video I am conducting a Factorio Workshop on Twitch with my community in order to refine and optimise the builds presented.

Schedule:
Aiming for 1-2 videos / week depending on the time it take to create

Playlist from the beginning:

Save games:
Many different maps are used to showcase these videos.
Save games are available to Patreons in my Discord in #sub-only-chat

00:00 Welcome
01:03 Intro
01:56 Why this video?
02:20 What is a main bus?
03:03 What are the components of a bus?
04:30 How do I get started using a bus?
06:16 How big should my bus be?
08:31 What should I put on the bus?
11:34 How do I split components off the bus?
15:09 How to support the channel
15:49 Advantages/Disadvantages
18:28 Conclusion

#Factorio #FactorioMasterClass #Tutorial

[Nilaus]

All Master Class Blueprints are available on FactorioBin
(Pastebin links no longer work)

[eman]

Every time I feel like I understand whats going on. I quickly realize I have no idea what is going on.

[hvdveer]

To put the bus size recommendations in writing:
Minimum size:
4 iron
4 copper
2 green circuits
2 plastic
1 steel
1 red circuits

Recommend bus size:
8 iron
8 copper
2 -> 4 green circuits
2 plastic
1 steel
1 -> 2 reds circuits

Max size:
16 iron
16 copper
6 green circuits
4 plastic
2 steel
2 red circuits

[skashed]

This is incredibly useful, I will begin ignoring this advise immediately!
(please keep these masterclass videos coming, I really do appreciate them)

[bradkuntzelman]

Quick Reference (doing this for myself as I'm sure I'll reference some part of it later)
00:00 Welcome
01:03 Intro
01:09 Where can I get more info or provide feedback?
01:56 Why this video?
02:20 What is a main bus?
03:03 What are the components of a bus?
04:30 How do I get started using a bus?
06:16 How big should my bus be?
08:31 What should I put on the bus?
11:34 How do I split components off the bus?
15:09 How can I support Nilaus?
15:49 Advantages/Disadvantages
18:28 Conclusion
18:50 Join the Order of the Path
18:59 Outro

[masterphillips]

Guides on "modular-ization" and long range transportation would be greatly appreciated! Always love your work.

[VioletScarelli]

This is amazing! Meanwhile my base looks like a toddler threw up their spaghetti dinner all over the map...

[homelesswizard]

"time to learn this whole mainbus strategy"

*10 minutes later*

Spaghetti it is.

[alonsovb]

I would love an advanced tutorial on city blocks, specifically with trains and loading/unloading stations. Awesome work, man!

[dadof]

Good explanation - it is helpful to hear the why and not just the mechanics of building. I particularly liked being able to see the different bus styles and configurations you have used during different season. On the presentation side, another great job! It is really helpful that you list the objectives in the beginning to clearly state what the video is about. I would suggest adding those points as graphics on the screen so they are clear, or if you think that would trigger a "PTSD" from your corporate life, maybe add them to the description of the video. It is a really well done facet of your class and may help people as they begin to create their Factorio how-to library

[danrobidoux]

This is the video I've been looking for. I don't want blueprints, I want KNOWLEDGE.

Well explained, well visualized, just fantastic work.

[lenaboyer]

Really helpful tutorial. I keep seeing advice to avoid looking up how to do things, which I've been trying to stick to because half the fun is figuring out how to build, but I like having the option of watching a short tutorial for a specific technique so I can fill in the gaps in my knowledge without spoiling too much.

[FrostRare]

I just installed this game cus I thought it looked cool. Realized it was harder than i expected. Looked up “beginners guide”.

I feel like I showed up for my first day of kindergarten and just walked into a college calculus class. Lord… what have I gotten myself involved with

[BigWolfChris]

Gears... raging remark!!!
Tbf, I agree with your thinking though

[sebthompson]

That last pointer is so true, the amount of times I have forgotten (normally too eager to start producing) to space my production back from the main bus and I can no longer fit a path or train through there. It is also good to leave a decent gap for things like merging two materials onto half of a belt, if you leave things so tight with no space it can get very messy.

[randymotter]

The only thing i think this was missing was perhaps a quick address of the issue of which items should be produced at which point along the bus to reduce the amount of belts needed and minimize the belts made going back the opposite way. Looking at your zoomed out map of the bases does help with this somewhat (excellent tagging by the way), but hearing an explanation of why you position certain production along the bus the way you do would be a huge help for players learning to be more efficient with base planning. Smelting at the beginning is relatively obvious, but say putting certain chemical products or red circuits at what point on the bus and what should be around them or on the opposite side of the bus from them to minimize belts and branches is one of those big head-scratchers for me. It's an issue that makes my bases bigger and harder to manage and get around than they should be.

[sethwilliamson]

Another idea: In addition to the sacred walking path, I've often left room for a shuttle train line running the length of the bus with stops at each build. Toss down a pocket train, select "Solid Fuel" station, and go. :)

If I lay this down, it is one lane each side of the bus forming a loop. I arbitrarily use clockwise out of habit. This works well for double-sided busses and it means I don't need to install two stations for each stop as I would for a bi-directional track. You could always manually drive your shuttle I suppose.

[NickHanley]

Enjoying these Masterclass videos. At this point I've developed some decent concepts and blueprints. I've adopted your city block concept, and have made some really good blueprints for oil and uranium processing. I've also made some train blueprints that I think are the best I've seen done. Quite a bit of what I've done is due to inspiration from you, so thanks N!

[brianoster]

Excellent, excellent tutorial. I upvoted, subscribed, etc. about 5 min in. I am about 20-30 hours into my first game and quickly realized it was a giant spaghetti mess that simply would not scale, so decided to stop and look for strategies. Makes 100% sense to me. This was the first that I found in what looks to be deep into the series so I will definitely be checking out your other tutorials.

[hondahirny]

3:24 Looks like you built an airport and the belts are a complex luggage handling system. Looks really cool 😊

Factorio is so fun. First time I played, it was about 12 hours straight.