Some quick notes that I should mention: 1: The example ended up getting cut, but you can load any fuel type into a locomotive with an inserter, similar to a cargo wagon. 2: I wasn't very clear about attaching the Train Stop to logistics or circuit networks. This allows you to use the "Circuit Condition" wait condition on the train, or send details about the train into the relevant network. My circuit network tutorial covers it in a little more detail, and the logistics network connection is pretty much the same. 3: While I mentioned it in the video, I have not included a link to blueprints this time. There are a few reasons, chief among them being that I don't feel any of the designs showcased in this video are worthy of sharing; this video is mostly about the process of designing a rail network that works, rather than making a good or pretty one. Also I forgot to make blueprints as I was going, so I'd have to go back and do it all again, which I don't want to do.
Re: 1.) You can provide fuel into (or even out of) locomotives with inserters as would also be the case with cargo wagons. However, while you can load / unload cargo wagons with belt-loaders (whether modded or console-unlocked) the belt-loaders will be impotent as toward or from a locomotive. Thus, even with loaders, inserters, specifically, will remain required for automated locomotive fueling.
Not sure, if someone already mentioned it (too many comments to go through), but at 8:50 you said, it's an aesthetic option, where you place the locomotive. This isn't entirely true, because all rolling stock have an air resistance vallue. The air resistance of the front rolling stock is used to calculate the max speed of the train and a forward facing locomotive has the lowest vallue. wiki.factorio.com/Locomotive#Maximum_speed I know, this isn't really train basics, but it still means, aesthetic isn't the only reason why you should consider to place locomotives in the front.
Dude, this video is absolutely amazing. I’m a new player and other factorio tutorial channels have been disappointing me, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Very well made, thanks for putting in the massive effort so I can finally have a sprawling train network :)
Somehow in the video was mentioned smart fueling over the schedulle, but never was shown. Is it just go to waiting station and while train is staying there it will be refueled?
@@brohvakiindova4452 At least you can learn mechanics and such in HoI4 as you play, while in Factorio you can't even properly start without the tutorial :D
It helps if they don't have to pay for their own supplies. Or if they can afford them, one of the best teachers I had unfortunately was a woman whose husband owned an oil company. Not oinly did they contribute to the school funding, she always had cool learning techniques because she could simpy afford the supplies. it's super sad, becaue I had a ton of well meaning and perfectly wonderful teachers, but when your constricted to simply drawing on a whiteboard... well I will just leave it there....
Fundamentals of factorio trains: 30 minutes Absolute basics of factorio trains: 1 hour and 30 minutes Beginners guide to fractorio trains: 8 days Intermediate guide to factorio trains: the rest of your life
@@SaadTheGlad Notch said Drawf Fortress was the inspiration for Minecraft, so I guess they're somewhat similar. I bet it was the inspiration for Redstone as well, since that's overly complicated too. :P
@@mywither7878 Yeah it's not very complicated by itself but the problem is redstone contraptions usually take up a lot of space. Trying to make them compact is the complicated part for me
The best way depends on your game progress, economy and ethics. I prefer early extermination and nothing beats a mix of 5 wall pillars, 5 turrets and 5 grenades for that purpose. The train takes a while to get set-up though it is arguably the best defense once completed. Unless you can (eventually) spare a few nukes instead, which may make anything else obsolete. On the polar opposite site though, the game can be very interesting if you only use unconventional tools and tactics outside of basic or mainstream thinking. Sure, any fool can set up a full 2 lined wall of laser turrets. But how many people actually use solely flame turrets and a heavy ammunition buggy for defense? Just for one example...
@@reviewreaper8508 tbf even in vanilla the giant biters are actually too much for a double line of laser turrets and you'll need flamethrowers since they by far have the highest damage output of any weapon in the game.
You are so damn right! By the way, can some1 can explane me why he put regulars near the intersection in the last example? Shouldn't he had to put chain signals here? ( 1:22:55 )
Diego Rosa The way that I am understanding it is it is just like the stacker in the previous example except for unloading. With the regular signals in question they check the track just past it, since there’s already a train unloading in that lane it is going to signal to the chain signal not to send a train down that lane. The train waiting would then look to the next line to see if that signal is green.
@@drizzt109 Agreed. I am also learning at this point, but from the way I understand trains in Factorio, actual train stops does not act as regular signals. Adding a regular signal between the train length limits of a train stop defines the station as its own unique stopping block, so that arriving trains does not enter the station when occupied by another train, and outgoing trains can leave the stop as soon as the waiting conditions are met. If I am mistaken, feel free to correct me. :)
Usually I despise video’s over an hour long, especially tutorials because they tend to have lots of stuttering, useless information or downtime. This video however is chuck full of usefull information given in a clear and efficient matter. Really well made and I hope you find great success with youtube in the future
Outstanding tutorial. Best explanation of train mechanics I’ve seen. Very well done and extremely useful. Thanks a bunch, really cleared things up for me.
You know when you see something so well done, with so much effort and care put in, that it inspires you to live your life better? Well, this video inspired me. Pretentious sentence aside, this and your circuit tutorial a mega base essential watching. At 43:35 MiniBetrayal.exe has stopped working. 1:12:30 ha ha, yeah naive. Who would ever do that, am I right guys? Certainly not me. No, not ever.
Content knowledge, clearly explained with easy to follow examples, 1080/60 vid with an included index and pro-level vid transitions. This obviously took a bit of time to create. Thank you for making it and very well done! I recently started playing this game and it allowed me to completely understand train signals (I realize this video was made over two years ago, but there's no expiration on appreciation.)
One of the best user made tutorials I've ever seen. I was just brushing up my knowledge, but having watched this a couple years back when I was initially really confused on how signals worked, it explained it all perfectly. Both the verbal and visual explanations we so good that I don't think anyone, after having seen this tutorial, will ever be unsure what to do. Bravo, MiniBetrayel!
Was looking to setup my own train system. Watched Nilaus’s tutorial and couldn’t understand anything. He’s great but I don’t think he understands it himself. This video cleared it up entirely! Thanks!
this is an incredibly useful video! thank you. so many tutorials gloss over WHY you place the rail signals where they go, and fail to explain the logic, but you’ve done it nicely! now i think i might be able to wrap my head around trains
As still newbie, I thank you so much for this video. I would get something to run but had no idea what I did right and could to repeat it. Going back to redo my whole system for practice in my first build. Thank you for the roundabout concept as it is good start for a beginner like me since you can copy and paste to add to it. I am sure as I progress in my building I will change, but golly helpful to get started with something that works. As an update - in about 15 min I fixed all my train issues after learning the chain and signal rule. Even got a line that I gave up on. THANK YOU!
This is actually an amazing explanation. You give an overview of each thing, then go into more details, as well as saying why. You also give easy rules to follow, such as the chain signals for junctions and intersections, and normal signals when exiting them. Unlike schools, you don't turn around and say "except the rule doesn't apply here, where you have to .."
the visuals for explaining the way chain signals work are very helpful. great tutorial, this makes me significantly less scared of trains and makes me want to design my network without crutching on others' blueprints!
Very helpful video thanks man. I watched every minute from start to finish. I was so confused on how each signal worked and proper utilization that I made a seperate rail circuit for each train I used lmao. This information gives me so much more freedom to efficiently utilize a train network. This complexity and freedom to create is why I love factorio so much. I didnt want to just copy and paste someone elses working blueprint, wheres the fun in that? I wanted to know how each signal worked without spoiling the thrill of solving the puzzle, and this video does that perfectly. To those contemplating if its worth watching the entire video, do it, you wont regret it. TLDR: 10/10 video, watch the whole thing, I learned a lot
Sir I will be honest to you that from last year until today, I have been watched at least 5 videos talking about train signal, this is the one that actually displayed like a real class lesson, and easy understanding, with second half of video demonstration of useful train system examples, I would say you lead me into the entry level of train system. Thank you very much, really, this helps more than I thought
I tried playing the tutorial for train signals and didn't understand it at all. After watching this, I actually understand the mechanics of the signals and how they can be applied. Thank you!
watching you copy and paste the roundabout blueprint over itself to quickly make T and X junctions absolutely blew my mind. THAT is elegance thank you for the clear-headed and precise tutorial
I'm really comfortable with the locomotive aspects of Factorio but I'm only 10 minutes in and I've already picked up a few tips. Really well edited video, great work!
Thank you so much for this video! I've got 275 hours logged and only ever use single train per closed loops that never cross because I could never figure it out. I reckon my next map will be a train world and I am now looking forward to it!
Your tutorials are the best, mate. I've been playing factorio for quite some time and yet I find something I didn't know from pretty much every section of the video from the beginning. man this game is amazing.
I used trains awhile before watching this and you had a lot of stuff I did not know about like filtering cargo car slots and shift click on railroad. Great stuff!
I have been doing semi ok with my factory but I've hit problems alone the way that I had no clue how to fix, I did try my best to figure it out but in the end I was still stumped. But now this explains it all and I now know what I was doing wrong and I know what to do. Thank you!!
I prefer a much simpler idea of when to use chain vs normal signals (which is separate to where to use signals in general): Anywhere you have a signal, where the next signal down the line is less than a train length away, you should use a chain signal. Anywhere you have 2 chain signals in a row, without any crosses or splits, you should remove the latter one. Any block you don't want a train stopping in, you should use a chain signal at the start of. The latter includes 2 way tracks, blocks were tracks cross, and between a parking area and station (except the one just before the station). Conversely, anywhere you are planning on having a train stop and wait, you want a normal signal before it.
This could be much simpler ... 1. Only put chain signals on entry to a complex junction 2. Only put normal signals on exits This would ensure the entire junction is a single "track section" and not allow any train to enter the junction unless the trains exist is green. For roundabouts though adding intermediate chain signals may improve train throughput.
300 hours in this game. just built my first 3 train routes for different resources. i have not made a rail network yet. my advice for this game is to just DO EVERYTHING. figure everything out. once you do the possibilities really open up. it takes time but this game is a learning experience for hundreds of hours. then it gets really good. thank you very much for this video. subbed
This is an absolutely excellent tutorial. I've included it in our train faq entry on the official discord. I just have a small note of something I just noticed (I didn't notice it the first few times I opened this video): The first T-junction you show at the start of the video actually has a pretty significant signalling error. The bottom 2 tracks coming from the east are missing chain signals for the outermost track coming from the north. You can actually see in the video that there's 2 trains waiting inside the junction, blocking another train coming from the north. Small nitpick, but I hope you're not using that same blueprint in your bases still. In any case, great job.
thank you so very much for the most comprehensive tutorial i could find on youtube, regarding the rail system in factorio. my imagination is encouraged, for how i will implement what your tutorial tought me.
hello sir! even if its a littlebit old, I found your factorio tutorial video to be the best one. One complain Inhave with the others, I feel like they are assuming that we know the basic. I appreciate that you take the time to elaborate everything about the subject, even the obvious. I am looking foward to see more tutorials for the space exploration DLC 😊 Thankyou!
Whatever your occupation is, I can only assume that it has something to do with teaching. You’re extremely good at going point by point and explaining every step, both visually and vocally.
24:00 This part is really something that should be taught in the game. Like many things I learned by trial and error, I was about to suspect factorio can't even handle trains going in straight lines instead of circle tracks. Eventually I got rid of every single signal until something somewhow seemed to work out, but rail systems still give me a nightmare. Screw them, my live for -Aiur- Bots. The worst part is sometimes I can place singnals only on one side of a track and I am yet unsure why that is exactly... Especially when a train could use signals on the other side... I love how you put mean time there instead of meantime, slight but crucial difference I love that typo.
The game does in fact teach you about this, if you press the tutorials button. The problem is that getting through the tutorial requires too much trial and error once you reach the explanation for chain signals. Instead of having you mix normal signals and chain signals, the tutorial places a normal signal at every crossing. So instead of learning where to place your chain signals, it is much more likely that you trial and error your way through the tutorial without learning a thing about chain signals. Luckily, once you figure out how chain signals work every other part of the rail network fall is easy to understand. Well, every part except for stations. But that is caused by the game not explaining the circuit network well enough. That being said, I am pretty sure there is also a tutorial for stations.
43:35 so reassurung to see that even you have these kind of brain lags sometimes, because me playing factorio is basically just an hour long session of brain buffering. thanks for this stellar tutorial tho, so well done.
Watching the video and half way though I get an ad for mit executive management courses and a Harvard ad. I think this video is putting me in some new demographics.
Dude, you can rotate the train signals! So they connect over different rails. I was NOT told this (or how to place them...) in the in-game tutorial and I REALLY hope they change that. Also did you mention that at any point? I'm not sure you did and that's PRETTY important! Great video btw, thank you for this.
I was going to state this as well. It’s actually really important because he did rotate at approximately the 47:30 moment to get the 2 way to 1 way T intersection to work.
*excellent video, and finally the proof that a tutorial can be done (and probably is easier to understand) when the character isn't running around all the time.* _luckily, i ignored the start of the video that showed trains blocking the crossing :-) :-(_ a hint for copying colors at 10:30 : colors can also be copied with shift-leftclick/rightclick between trains and stations, and of course schedules are not copied when doing that. thus the color from one train can be copied to another train without also copying the schedule by transfering the color from a train to a station and then from that station to the other train. a hint for crossings, eg at 58:45 : that "small triangle" does not need to exist at all since trains in either direction will block the other two directions on the triangle anyway. thus the triangle can be shrunk to be on one track and thus have more space for signals on incoming and leaving pathes. but of course, this is only an optimization that reduces the required space, and building it like you do shows the proper signaling in the general case when you have enough space.
Last time I drove my car in England the radio said that there were a person driving on the wrong side of the road. "One car?" I said. "They are all driving on the wrong side".
Artillery trains I find are best for late game base expansion, if you like me easily eat through resource patches. What I have is a blueprinted base that I use for artillery trains which is basically as compact a fortress to defend the train as I could make. The base has flamers and lasers for defense packed in as densely as I could, it can fit a 1-4 train with 3 wagons being artillery wagons and the last one being a fluid wagon for oil for the flamers. The flamers are absolutely needed since you'll get attacked extremely intensely especially if you're attacking a late game base. This method of late game expansion is however still by far the easiest and least hassle to do, this base is basically impenetrable, it can kill giant biters in seconds. This means that all you have to do is sit back and target all the bases in range and once you're done you can just leave the base there if you feel like and then you have a nice defensive outpost or you can pack it up and move on. It makes a lot of sense to do it like this because you're probably gonna be using trains for cargo transport anyways so you'd need to build that railway anyway, this just makes use of that and means that you can avoid fighting the biters personally. As an expansion of this in my last playthrough I built a slightly more complicated system where I both used artillery trains and had outposts with artillery in them. The artillery trains would serve to clear out the way again and then at points around the base and at mining outposts I'd have an artillery battery and flamer defenses, who would then be used to clear the area around the outpost out (and sometimes chopping down forests) and also keep biters far enough away from the outpost that they wouldn't attack, thereby saving power. The system was automated and standardized so my artillery trains with fluid wagons could stop at an outpost and the pumps and inserters would all line up so I could basically use the outposts as additional firepower if need be and I could also turn a base into an outpost easily. There then was an automated train that resupplied all of these bases automatically with flamer fuel and artillery shells, which was simply done by turning the stations on if supplies were low. This was also really helpful especially because it was a multiplayer game and we had built an absolutely massive base that ate up resources at an alarming rate and it also meant that all of my friends could easily use the system if they needed and basically they didn't need to think about it, they could just call in a strike whenever they needed it. It was also just cool as fucking hell to have such an advanced automated defense system.
Thanks Man, you helped me solve my problem, that i had with my rail signals with two way trains (more specifically, that part at 23:55). I did watch a couple of other tutorials, but they both decided to only talk about one way trains .
Thank you for this video!! I've been stuck on train rail systems for a while now, but this answers most of my questions! Now I can get creative with it without too much trouble
Thank you! I must say trains have baffled me so far. This tutorial was amazing! I will have to try it out. It all made sense. Circuits blow my mind and I’m really hoping that that tutorial is just as amazing! I’m going to watch it now.
10:45 something I didn't try myself, but suppose would work fine, is based on the fact a train (constituted of an arbitrary number of wagons and locomotives, at least 1) has the same schedule for any locomotive. If you copy (better make a copy) of a locomotive, keeping the schedule. Adjust the locomotives' colors as you wish, copying & pasting for faster approach, and then attach a new locomotive anywhere to the recently colored train. Obviously, while doing all of this, attaching vehicles would set train to manual driving mode, so it's better to set it manual in the first place. Copy the original schedule to the recently-attached locomotive, which is the whole reason why this works in the first place; train has the schedule of the last adjusted locomotive. Now destroy that locomotive. In a dream mod, I hope there is a way to export all data of train, individually and collectively, to a Lua (or human readable code) like: [[[ schedule = { {"Copper ore mine 5", {full_cargo}}, {"Copper ore process", {item_count("copper_ore") == 0, inactivity == 5}}, }, components = { # meaning locomotives and wagons collectively locomotive # fill in color and fuel slots that would be filled automatically when constructed by bots wagon # fill in wagon's filters if normal wagon, fluid filter if when this gets implemented, like assembly machine filling entire pipe network with expected input or output liquid } ]]] Copying schedules would make setting outpost trains so much faster Regarding stackers, let me state the made example is not ideal situationally, as the whole point (not really, but you don't want it to go that way) is to allow throughput at all times. For a single item throughput (more accurately, single train-type, meaning multiple trains whose cargo is different from each other), it's absolutely fine, but for multiple items, it could possibly consume less of item A than B, resulting in a plentifulness of B, resulting in accumulation of B's trains (which is fine on its face), while lacking item A. It's possible by shear chance (especially with multiple journeys, that the train(s) or A get entirely obstructed by B's trains. So in short, if they're unloading multiple train types, try to parallelize trains in single train-length sections, rather than double and longer.
43:43 Strictly speaking you have more signals there than you need. For those merges (multiple ingoing to one outgoing track) you can replace those chain signals going into it with rail signals, and remove the rail signal going out of it. So instead of: You do: C--\ R---\ >-----R---- >---- C---/ R---/
BESSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTT VIDEO EVEEEEEER ,, to explain things to new comers specially when english is not their first language. Awesome simply awesome .. keep up the good work bro
great tutorial! but i gotta be honest, you sound like a dance instructor “a split, a split, and a junction, followed by a signal” lol, thanks for the lessons
That's a really good and thorough explanation and I like your style of going into the details :) One thing that I didn't find, which was my original reason for watching, was that sometimes if I've built a station and then reverse the direction on the platform (moving the train stop to the other side of the tracks), I can no longer get the inserters to align. It's probably got to do with the grid system you mentioned? Anyway I still learned a lot, so Liked & Subscribed :D
Some quick notes that I should mention:
1: The example ended up getting cut, but you can load any fuel type into a locomotive with an inserter, similar to a cargo wagon.
2: I wasn't very clear about attaching the Train Stop to logistics or circuit networks. This allows you to use the "Circuit Condition" wait condition on the train, or send details about the train into the relevant network. My circuit network tutorial covers it in a little more detail, and the logistics network connection is pretty much the same.
3: While I mentioned it in the video, I have not included a link to blueprints this time. There are a few reasons, chief among them being that I don't feel any of the designs showcased in this video are worthy of sharing; this video is mostly about the process of designing a rail network that works, rather than making a good or pretty one. Also I forgot to make blueprints as I was going, so I'd have to go back and do it all again, which I don't want to do.
Re: 1.) You can provide fuel into (or even out of) locomotives with inserters as would also be the case with cargo wagons. However, while you can load / unload cargo wagons with belt-loaders (whether modded or console-unlocked) the belt-loaders will be impotent as toward or from a locomotive. Thus, even with loaders, inserters, specifically, will remain required for automated locomotive fueling.
Not sure, if someone already mentioned it (too many comments to go through), but at 8:50 you said, it's an aesthetic option, where you place the locomotive.
This isn't entirely true, because all rolling stock have an air resistance vallue.
The air resistance of the front rolling stock is used to calculate the max speed of the train and a forward facing locomotive has the lowest vallue.
wiki.factorio.com/Locomotive#Maximum_speed
I know, this isn't really train basics, but it still means, aesthetic isn't the only reason why you should consider to place locomotives in the front.
Dude, this video is absolutely amazing. I’m a new player and other factorio tutorial channels have been disappointing me, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Very well made, thanks for putting in the massive effort so I can finally have a sprawling train network :)
Amazing video. Thanks for the detailed tutorial!
Somehow in the video was mentioned smart fueling over the schedulle, but never was shown. Is it just go to waiting station and while train is staying there it will be refueled?
Absolute basics: lasts for 86 minutes
*Welcome to Factorio*
It's 5 years in real life. Yeah, games are more simple =P
inserts "Thank you.gif"
I literally only came here to comment that :D
still better than HOI4 tutorials
@@brohvakiindova4452 At least you can learn mechanics and such in HoI4 as you play, while in Factorio you can't even properly start without the tutorial :D
@@imaginarystranger1974 at least 1.0 has a good tutorial now
"It's my turn to pick the movie tonight."
lol:)
BOSS
o no
Just the absolute basics
1 hour, 30 minute tutorial
About "the basics"
Of ONE part of the game
As expected of Factorio
That's why I love this game.
Love it
Just three words.... "Dude, it's trains."
Flight sim players : *slyly smile in the back*
If only teachers in school were this organized and straightforward.
And if only school taught you useful things past year 5.
@@steamrangercomputing While making very interesting topics boring.
Had a few teachers like that growing up, when people have a reason to love their jobs i makes a huge difference.
It helps if they don't have to pay for their own supplies. Or if they can afford them, one of the best teachers I had unfortunately was a woman whose husband owned an oil company. Not oinly did they contribute to the school funding, she always had cool learning techniques because she could simpy afford the supplies. it's super sad, becaue I had a ton of well meaning and perfectly wonderful teachers, but when your constricted to simply drawing on a whiteboard... well I will just leave it there....
Some college professors can be like this ( though that’s rare for me at least lol )
Fundamentals of factorio trains: 30 minutes
Absolute basics of factorio trains: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Beginners guide to fractorio trains: 8 days
Intermediate guide to factorio trains: the rest of your life
Have you ever heard of Dwarf Fortress? The development of pre 1.0 might take longer than one life and do not get me started on the games complexity...
Review Reaper what is it about?
@@SaadTheGlad Notch said Drawf Fortress was the inspiration for Minecraft, so I guess they're somewhat similar. I bet it was the inspiration for Redstone as well, since that's overly complicated too. :P
@@ZachX888 As someone dealing in Redstone, Redstone is not actually overly complicated, just, somewhat nuanced.
@@mywither7878 Yeah it's not very complicated by itself but the problem is redstone contraptions usually take up a lot of space. Trying to make them compact is the complicated part for me
"defend a base with artillery turrets" ah, yes, best way of self defence, preemptive strike
The best way depends on your game progress, economy and ethics. I prefer early extermination and nothing beats a mix of 5 wall pillars, 5 turrets and 5 grenades for that purpose. The train takes a while to get set-up though it is arguably the best defense once completed. Unless you can (eventually) spare a few nukes instead, which may make anything else obsolete.
On the polar opposite site though, the game can be very interesting if you only use unconventional tools and tactics outside of basic or mainstream thinking. Sure, any fool can set up a full 2 lined wall of laser turrets. But how many people actually use solely flame turrets and a heavy ammunition buggy for defense? Just for one example...
@@reviewreaper8508 tbf even in vanilla the giant biters are actually too much for a double line of laser turrets and you'll need flamethrowers since they by far have the highest damage output of any weapon in the game.
That is some Clausewitz shit
@@bannedthricelol8799 Just imagine if there is an entire race out there that thinks as you do but about us... Geez that would be fun :P
@@reviewreaper8508 "ethics" ah yes, my religion prevents me from using artillery turrets
"chain signals in the way into and through a junction, and regular on the way out" why didn't any one else ever put it so simply. Thank you
You are so damn right! By the way, can some1 can explane me why he put regulars near the intersection in the last example? Shouldn't he had to put chain signals here? ( 1:22:55 )
Diego Rosa The way that I am understanding it is it is just like the stacker in the previous example except for unloading. With the regular signals in question they check the track just past it, since there’s already a train unloading in that lane it is going to signal to the chain signal not to send a train down that lane. The train waiting would then look to the next line to see if that signal is green.
But I’m learning too lol
@@drizzt109 Agreed. I am also learning at this point, but from the way I understand trains in Factorio, actual train stops does not act as regular signals. Adding a regular signal between the train length limits of a train stop defines the station as its own unique stopping block, so that arriving trains does not enter the station when occupied by another train, and outgoing trains can leave the stop as soon as the waiting conditions are met.
If I am mistaken, feel free to correct me. :)
If only that worked on a turn for me
It took me over a week. But I have finally finished watching this and am able to get a train to work. Thank you
Same
Good job, now to scale up and introduce circuits.
Same
Usually I despise video’s over an hour long, especially tutorials because they tend to have lots of stuttering, useless information or downtime.
This video however is chuck full of usefull information given in a clear and efficient matter.
Really well made and I hope you find great success with youtube in the future
Every “basics” factorio video on UA-cam is like 40+ minutes. I feel like I’m getting my BA in this game
Ha! If only it was a BA. Feels more like a master the way Cracktorio draws you in
If you build a 1000 SPM megabase you ought to be able to use that in a resume. 😄
I wouldn't call it "absolute basics", I would call it "A complete and comprehensive guide to everything regarding this topic."
Outstanding tutorial. Best explanation of train mechanics I’ve seen. Very well done and extremely useful. Thanks a bunch, really cleared things up for me.
43:35 that 5 second pause perfectly captured my confusion with all of this xD
i watch it in one go.
it is harder than the my math test today i swear
You know when you see something so well done, with so much effort and care put in, that it inspires you to live your life better? Well, this video inspired me. Pretentious sentence aside, this and your circuit tutorial a mega base essential watching. At 43:35 MiniBetrayal.exe has stopped working. 1:12:30 ha ha, yeah naive. Who would ever do that, am I right guys? Certainly not me. No, not ever.
Content knowledge, clearly explained with easy to follow examples, 1080/60 vid with an included index and pro-level vid transitions. This obviously took a bit of time to create. Thank you for making it and very well done! I recently started playing this game and it allowed me to completely understand train signals (I realize this video was made over two years ago, but there's no expiration on appreciation.)
This is really well done. You should do tutorials for a living.
after spending about 2k hours in this game, I still was able to make some im provements to my railway blueprint book thanks to this video
One of the best user made tutorials I've ever seen. I was just brushing up my knowledge, but having watched this a couple years back when I was initially really confused on how signals worked, it explained it all perfectly. Both the verbal and visual explanations we so good that I don't think anyone, after having seen this tutorial, will ever be unsure what to do. Bravo, MiniBetrayel!
Was looking to setup my own train system. Watched Nilaus’s tutorial and couldn’t understand anything. He’s great but I don’t think he understands it himself. This video cleared it up entirely! Thanks!
I was in exactly the same spot. Nilaus tends to kinda ramble and wander a bit, while MB spelled everything out perfectly with no wasted motion.
The basics, hour and a half long. Yet exactly what I needed. Even in 2024
the rail signals part saved my life tysm
i did not know that a lone signal acts as a one way!
this helped so much, again tysm.
"You could ask ten different people this question, and get twenty different answers" I love this so much
you have the best factorion tutorials out there!!! Keep up the amazing work
As someone that had next to no understanding, this felt thorough. Thank you for your help.
this is an incredibly useful video! thank you. so many tutorials gloss over WHY you place the rail signals where they go, and fail to explain the logic, but you’ve done it nicely! now i think i might be able to wrap my head around trains
As still newbie, I thank you so much for this video. I would get something to run but had no idea what I did right and could to repeat it. Going back to redo my whole system for practice in my first build. Thank you for the roundabout concept as it is good start for a beginner like me since you can copy and paste to add to it. I am sure as I progress in my building I will change, but golly helpful to get started with something that works. As an update - in about 15 min I fixed all my train issues after learning the chain and signal rule. Even got a line that I gave up on. THANK YOU!
This is actually an amazing explanation. You give an overview of each thing, then go into more details, as well as saying why.
You also give easy rules to follow, such as the chain signals for junctions and intersections, and normal signals when exiting them.
Unlike schools, you don't turn around and say "except the rule doesn't apply here, where you have to
.."
the visuals for explaining the way chain signals work are very helpful. great tutorial, this makes me significantly less scared of trains and makes me want to design my network without crutching on others' blueprints!
I love the video segmentation function :) first time I saw this on youtube
Very helpful video thanks man. I watched every minute from start to finish. I was so confused on how each signal worked and proper utilization that I made a seperate rail circuit for each train I used lmao. This information gives me so much more freedom to efficiently utilize a train network. This complexity and freedom to create is why I love factorio so much. I didnt want to just copy and paste someone elses working blueprint, wheres the fun in that? I wanted to know how each signal worked without spoiling the thrill of solving the puzzle, and this video does that perfectly. To those contemplating if its worth watching the entire video, do it, you wont regret it.
TLDR: 10/10 video, watch the whole thing, I learned a lot
From 23:00 to 24:00, the best simply instruction that I've ever heard before. Thank you man!!
Sir I will be honest to you that from last year until today, I have been watched at least 5 videos talking about train signal, this is the one that actually displayed like a real class lesson, and easy understanding, with second half of video demonstration of useful train system examples, I would say you lead me into the entry level of train system. Thank you very much, really, this helps more than I thought
FINALLY!!!!!! A STACKER. my trains wont wait for a blocked that rail chain , rail signal, rail signal. worked like a charm. Thank you
“Trains can only see things on the right” and that was exactly what I needed to fix my base thanks to
I tried playing the tutorial for train signals and didn't understand it at all. After watching this, I actually understand the mechanics of the signals and how they can be applied. Thank you!
watching you copy and paste the roundabout blueprint over itself to quickly make T and X junctions absolutely blew my mind. THAT is elegance
thank you for the clear-headed and precise tutorial
I'm really comfortable with the locomotive aspects of Factorio but I'm only 10 minutes in and I've already picked up a few tips. Really well edited video, great work!
Thank you so much for this video! I've got 275 hours logged and only ever use single train per closed loops that never cross because I could never figure it out. I reckon my next map will be a train world and I am now looking forward to it!
me, an american:
*hears british accent* i trust this man
Amazing tutorial.
Your tutorials are the best, mate. I've been playing factorio for quite some time and yet I find something I didn't know from pretty much every section of the video from the beginning. man this game is amazing.
I used trains awhile before watching this and you had a lot of stuff I did not know about like filtering cargo car slots and shift click on railroad. Great stuff!
I don't play factorio but I have a great appreciation for this video
The length of the video was intimidating but the video makes it easy to follow through. Awesome tutorial.
This is the format how all tutorials should be done. Well done
I have been doing semi ok with my factory but I've hit problems alone the way that I had no clue how to fix, I did try my best to figure it out but in the end I was still stumped. But now this explains it all and I now know what I was doing wrong and I know what to do. Thank you!!
did i watch an hour and half video on factorio tutorial on trains? yes. am i still confused. of course.
i did learn stuff though thanks for the video
What an incredibly helpful and well thought out guide. I can tell that you put a lot of time into making this and I really appreciate it.
watching factorio videos is visual asmr
Wow, outstanding tutorial! Thanks for the effort you put into making it!
Train signals were Chinese until I found your video. Hallelujah THANK YOU!!!!!
I prefer a much simpler idea of when to use chain vs normal signals (which is separate to where to use signals in general):
Anywhere you have a signal, where the next signal down the line is less than a train length away, you should use a chain signal.
Anywhere you have 2 chain signals in a row, without any crosses or splits, you should remove the latter one.
Any block you don't want a train stopping in, you should use a chain signal at the start of.
The latter includes 2 way tracks, blocks were tracks cross, and between a parking area and station (except the one just before the station).
Conversely, anywhere you are planning on having a train stop and wait, you want a normal signal before it.
Your manner is nice and this tutorial is THOROUGH!!! The in-game tutorial for signals is completely inadequate. Thank you please do all my tutorials
I like the presentation...yours is one of the longest full video i fully watch . The contents are really hits the need of the beginners. Thumbs uo
My factories start to become horrid messes of singular train lines that just go back and forth from resource to base. This video definitely helps
This could be much simpler ...
1. Only put chain signals on entry to a complex junction
2. Only put normal signals on exits
This would ensure the entire junction is a single "track section" and not allow any train to enter the junction unless the trains exist is green.
For roundabouts though adding intermediate chain signals may improve train throughput.
300 hours in this game. just built my first 3 train routes for different resources. i have not made a rail network yet. my advice for this game is to just DO EVERYTHING. figure everything out. once you do the possibilities really open up. it takes time but this game is a learning experience for hundreds of hours. then it gets really good. thank you very much for this video. subbed
This is an absolutely excellent tutorial. I've included it in our train faq entry on the official discord.
I just have a small note of something I just noticed (I didn't notice it the first few times I opened this video): The first T-junction you show at the start of the video actually has a pretty significant signalling error. The bottom 2 tracks coming from the east are missing chain signals for the outermost track coming from the north. You can actually see in the video that there's 2 trains waiting inside the junction, blocking another train coming from the north.
Small nitpick, but I hope you're not using that same blueprint in your bases still.
In any case, great job.
I actually noticed that while i was editing the video (something something darth plagueis). Its fixed now. Thanks for the interest!
Thank you, it's precise, right to the point and complete. I should have looked for tutorials long ago, it solved some troubles I've had forever.
What an in depth tutorial! I hope you become one of the most popular factorio UA-cam channel!!
thank you so very much for the most comprehensive tutorial i could find on youtube, regarding the rail system in factorio. my imagination is encouraged, for how i will implement what your tutorial tought me.
hello sir! even if its a littlebit old, I found your factorio tutorial video to be the best one. One complain Inhave with the others, I feel like they are assuming that we know the basic.
I appreciate that you take the time to elaborate everything about the subject, even the obvious.
I am looking foward to see more tutorials for the space exploration DLC 😊
Thankyou!
Great tutorial on such a difficult and frustrating area of the game to learn through trial and error! Thank you so much
Fantastic tutorial! You're well spoken an thorough which makes this easy to follow along with.
Glad it was helpful!
New to factorio, but luckily 1000+ hours of openttd makes this a little easier to grasp.
Whatever your occupation is, I can only assume that it has something to do with teaching. You’re extremely good at going point by point and explaining every step, both visually and vocally.
24:00 This part is really something that should be taught in the game. Like many things I learned by trial and error, I was about to suspect factorio can't even handle trains going in straight lines instead of circle tracks. Eventually I got rid of every single signal until something somewhow seemed to work out, but rail systems still give me a nightmare. Screw them, my live for -Aiur- Bots.
The worst part is sometimes I can place singnals only on one side of a track and I am yet unsure why that is exactly... Especially when a train could use signals on the other side...
I love how you put mean time there instead of meantime, slight but crucial difference I love that typo.
The game does in fact teach you about this, if you press the tutorials button. The problem is that getting through the tutorial requires too much trial and error once you reach the explanation for chain signals. Instead of having you mix normal signals and chain signals, the tutorial places a normal signal at every crossing. So instead of learning where to place your chain signals, it is much more likely that you trial and error your way through the tutorial without learning a thing about chain signals.
Luckily, once you figure out how chain signals work every other part of the rail network fall is easy to understand. Well, every part except for stations. But that is caused by the game not explaining the circuit network well enough. That being said, I am pretty sure there is also a tutorial for stations.
43:35 so reassurung to see that even you have these kind of brain lags sometimes, because me playing factorio is basically just an hour long session of brain buffering. thanks for this stellar tutorial tho, so well done.
Love how the basics take over an hour
You have a really nice way in how you explain everything 👍
Nicely done,
Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪
Watching the video and half way though I get an ad for mit executive management courses and a Harvard ad. I think this video is putting me in some new demographics.
Dude, you can rotate the train signals! So they connect over different rails. I was NOT told this (or how to place them...) in the in-game tutorial and I REALLY hope they change that. Also did you mention that at any point? I'm not sure you did and that's PRETTY important!
Great video btw, thank you for this.
I was going to state this as well. It’s actually really important because he did rotate at approximately the 47:30 moment to get the 2 way to 1 way T intersection to work.
*excellent video, and finally the proof that a tutorial can be done (and probably is easier to understand) when the character isn't running around all the time.*
_luckily, i ignored the start of the video that showed trains blocking the crossing :-) :-(_
a hint for copying colors at 10:30 : colors can also be copied with shift-leftclick/rightclick between trains and stations, and of course schedules are not copied when doing that. thus the color from one train can be copied to another train without also copying the schedule by transfering the color from a train to a station and then from that station to the other train.
a hint for crossings, eg at 58:45 : that "small triangle" does not need to exist at all since trains in either direction will block the other two directions on the triangle anyway. thus the triangle can be shrunk to be on one track and thus have more space for signals on incoming and leaving pathes. but of course, this is only an optimization that reduces the required space, and building it like you do shows the proper signaling in the general case when you have enough space.
This is what all tutorial videos should strive to be. Fucking cheers mate
You're doing god's work. Sincerely, thanks you. I'm happily enlightened.
Last time I drove my car in England the radio said that there were a person driving on the wrong side of the road. "One car?" I said. "They are all driving on the wrong side".
Artillery trains I find are best for late game base expansion, if you like me easily eat through resource patches. What I have is a blueprinted base that I use for artillery trains which is basically as compact a fortress to defend the train as I could make. The base has flamers and lasers for defense packed in as densely as I could, it can fit a 1-4 train with 3 wagons being artillery wagons and the last one being a fluid wagon for oil for the flamers. The flamers are absolutely needed since you'll get attacked extremely intensely especially if you're attacking a late game base. This method of late game expansion is however still by far the easiest and least hassle to do, this base is basically impenetrable, it can kill giant biters in seconds. This means that all you have to do is sit back and target all the bases in range and once you're done you can just leave the base there if you feel like and then you have a nice defensive outpost or you can pack it up and move on. It makes a lot of sense to do it like this because you're probably gonna be using trains for cargo transport anyways so you'd need to build that railway anyway, this just makes use of that and means that you can avoid fighting the biters personally.
As an expansion of this in my last playthrough I built a slightly more complicated system where I both used artillery trains and had outposts with artillery in them. The artillery trains would serve to clear out the way again and then at points around the base and at mining outposts I'd have an artillery battery and flamer defenses, who would then be used to clear the area around the outpost out (and sometimes chopping down forests) and also keep biters far enough away from the outpost that they wouldn't attack, thereby saving power. The system was automated and standardized so my artillery trains with fluid wagons could stop at an outpost and the pumps and inserters would all line up so I could basically use the outposts as additional firepower if need be and I could also turn a base into an outpost easily. There then was an automated train that resupplied all of these bases automatically with flamer fuel and artillery shells, which was simply done by turning the stations on if supplies were low. This was also really helpful especially because it was a multiplayer game and we had built an absolutely massive base that ate up resources at an alarming rate and it also meant that all of my friends could easily use the system if they needed and basically they didn't need to think about it, they could just call in a strike whenever they needed it. It was also just cool as fucking hell to have such an advanced automated defense system.
Thank you so much i didnt wanted to watch this video bcz it was too long but in sum short videos thought me less than this in same amount of time
Thanks Man, you helped me solve my problem, that i had with my rail signals with two way trains (more specifically, that part at 23:55).
I did watch a couple of other tutorials, but they both decided to only talk about one way trains .
This is the best factorio tutorial channel
Thank you for this video!! I've been stuck on train rail systems for a while now, but this answers most of my questions! Now I can get creative with it without too much trouble
Thank you! I must say trains have baffled me so far. This tutorial was amazing! I will have to try it out. It all made sense. Circuits blow my mind and I’m really hoping that that tutorial is just as amazing! I’m going to watch it now.
It really shows the complexity of the game when the absolute basics for trains alone is an hour and a half long
10:45 something I didn't try myself, but suppose would work fine, is based on the fact a train (constituted of an arbitrary number of wagons and locomotives, at least 1) has the same schedule for any locomotive. If you copy (better make a copy) of a locomotive, keeping the schedule. Adjust the locomotives' colors as you wish, copying & pasting for faster approach, and then attach a new locomotive anywhere to the recently colored train. Obviously, while doing all of this, attaching vehicles would set train to manual driving mode, so it's better to set it manual in the first place. Copy the original schedule to the recently-attached locomotive, which is the whole reason why this works in the first place; train has the schedule of the last adjusted locomotive. Now destroy that locomotive. In a dream mod, I hope there is a way to export all data of train, individually and collectively, to a Lua (or human readable code) like:
[[[
schedule = {
{"Copper ore mine 5", {full_cargo}},
{"Copper ore process", {item_count("copper_ore") == 0, inactivity == 5}},
},
components = { # meaning locomotives and wagons collectively
locomotive # fill in color and fuel slots that would be filled automatically when constructed by bots
wagon # fill in wagon's filters if normal wagon, fluid filter if when this gets implemented, like assembly machine filling entire pipe network with expected input or output liquid
}
]]]
Copying schedules would make setting outpost trains so much faster
Regarding stackers, let me state the made example is not ideal situationally, as the whole point (not really, but you don't want it to go that way) is to allow throughput at all times. For a single item throughput (more accurately, single train-type, meaning multiple trains whose cargo is different from each other), it's absolutely fine, but for multiple items, it could possibly consume less of item A than B, resulting in a plentifulness of B, resulting in accumulation of B's trains (which is fine on its face), while lacking item A. It's possible by shear chance (especially with multiple journeys, that the train(s) or A get entirely obstructed by B's trains.
So in short, if they're unloading multiple train types, try to parallelize trains in single train-length sections, rather than double and longer.
43:43 Strictly speaking you have more signals there than you need. For those merges (multiple ingoing to one outgoing track) you can replace those chain signals going into it with rail signals, and remove the rail signal going out of it.
So instead of: You do:
C--\ R---\
>-----R---- >----
C---/ R---/
True, but i figured for a video like this, best stick to the general “rule of thumb” wherever possible
One of the best video tutorials on UA-cam, recommended to friends and subscribed!!
Beautiful tutorial. I ended up watching the whole thing even though I had no intention on doing that right now.
Finally! This tutorial is fantastic!! Thanks a lot! I was going crazy by doing my train network, you helped me a lot.. thank you!!!
Excellent!
Thank You for your dedication indeed
Mate, this was the tutorial I needed for train signals.
HOLY SIMMERING BALLS!! 1 HOUR AND 26 MINUTES FOR THE ABSOLUTE BASICS!!???
I will have to watch this again while playing. It seemed simple but my levels of "Fuck it" were quite high while watching the first time.
The best factorio instructor
BESSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTT VIDEO EVEEEEEER ,, to explain things to new comers specially when english is not their first language. Awesome simply awesome .. keep up the good work bro
Video about the basucs of one type of transportation method in the game lasts 1.5 hours. I love factorio. Its got such depth to it!
great tutorial!
but i gotta be honest, you sound like a dance instructor “a split, a split, and a junction, followed by a signal”
lol, thanks for the lessons
Excellent tutorial! Thanks for putting so much work into this. Will be referring back to this one a few times at least!
That's a really good and thorough explanation and I like your style of going into the details :) One thing that I didn't find, which was my original reason for watching, was that sometimes if I've built a station and then reverse the direction on the platform (moving the train stop to the other side of the tracks), I can no longer get the inserters to align. It's probably got to do with the grid system you mentioned? Anyway I still learned a lot, so Liked & Subscribed :D
just getting into this amazing game and your tutorials are incredibly helpful. Thank you for the solid content!