[Factorio] IR3 Ep 10: Iron

We have to leave the factory and bring back some iron so we can enter the iron age.
Save file (as of EP0) drive.google.com/file/d/1dqfy...
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Greetings. :) This is an edited series for Industrial Revolution 3. After completing a 390 episode series on Angel/Bobs, it's time for something a little shorter! IR3 is an absolutely amazing and well-made mod pack that does many things it's own way, so well in fact you wonder why it's not in the base game!
IR3 is a slightly longer and more complicated experience than vanilla Factorio, but substantially simpler than many overhaul mods, making it a fantastic choice for a player's first dive into modded Factorio. It is just complicated enough to require circuit networks, but it doesn't overload you with byproducts.
The defining progression feature in IR3 is how each tier of material gates each tier of research. You start out with just copper and tin, and from there progress into bronze, iron, steel, and beyond. You start in the stone age with very basic burner machines, and before long, you will enter the copper age and use steam machines to automate your factory. Later in the iron age you finally unlock electricity!
Automation is more important in IR3 compared to even the "complex" mod packs due to the huge amount of intermediate components required for each machine, so tackling this hurdle should be one of your first goals! However, unnecessary complexity has been removed at every opportunity. Many machines in IR3 can automatically set their recipe based on the input resource! Builds can often be copy, pasted, and easily converted to new materials.
There's no need for several common mods as IR3 gives you their functionality, and in a better way at that! This includes built-in "bottleneck" style lights in every electric machine, early robots, a unique logistics system, a fuel manager, "water-making" explosives, built-in recycling of old machines, vehicle snapping for easier driving, tree forestries, pollution spills, weapons overhaul, teleporters, loaders and stacking, and more!
My intent is to keep this playthrough as pure to IR3 as possible and use a minimum amount of content mods. For build planning we're using Rate Calculator and Helmod. Recipe Book and Factory Search help figuring out what goes into what and where it is in the factory. Picker Dollies allows already placed machines to be moved around without picking them back up. There are more mods but those are the most impactful.
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In Factorio you're stranded on an alien world populated by dangerous "Biters." In order to survive you need to mine resources, research technology, and build a rocket to escape the planet. This task is too monumental for your bare hands. You'll be applying your logic and creativity to build a unique factory composed of many machines that will labor away on your behalf. But you are not alone. The Biters are a constant threat requiring you to build up your defenses. The best part of the game is how you unlock many forms of automation, which saves you time to work on more important tasks. Each new technology fundamentally changes how you build the factory, which requires constant self improvement on your part. There is a large learning curve, but that's the fun of it! ^_^
The game is well-supported by it's developers, and there is a thriving modding community with an endless amount of mods to extend your enjoyment of the base game.

[@eliaseisenberg9733]

Wake up babe new marsh episode dropped

[@Soken50]

I've seen a few playthroughs of IR3 and that's the first time I see someone make use of the heavy roller for ore hauling instead of a million belts. That's a clever use of it early game.
Great episode!

[@marsh8056]

I think this is the intended solution for getting the iron back. You can transition to rails using the same path you built as a road.

[@Soken50]

@@marsh8056 Probably but I had yet to see someone do that, everyone else drags one or two lines of belt all the way there ^^'

[@derekexplosion]

Heavy roller train 😎

[@mikgough5203]

1:15 in and find out iron pipes transport steam and all liquid fluids ahhhhhhrgh.
Started watching this playthrough and trying the mod myself, jumped ahead of series because of how good mod is, I am at Steel and my inventory full of 3 different types of pipes.
Learn something new in retrospect every episode, off to log in and clean out inventory at midnight. TY

[@marsh8056]

There’s always something new to learn! Glad I helped out, and also inspired you to try out IR3!

[@Thaumogenesis]

You know it's a good mod if you need hours to unlock all the stuff you start with in vanilla.

[@marsh8056]

I agree!

[@Niyucuatro]

basically the iron beams use more of the material rather that the wooden beam like copper and bronze do.

[@marsh8056]

Ah! That makes sense!

[@m0rjjj666]

have you thought about using AAI vehicles mod? It might be fun automating the vehicles to drive back and forth :D Not sure if that mod AI is compatible with IR3 vehicles

[@marsh8056]

I have, and I’ve chosen against it because of how much it changes the game. It’s a cool mod, though.

[@m0rjjj666]

I feel like factorio devs trolled us with cliff generation. They put more around the starting area and less everywhere else, lol

[@marsh8056]

It does focus hard on your starting area lol

[@geoffthompson1365]

could you have done something similar with bottled steam as a fuel source for the lights and radar or potencially for inserters and drills ?

[@marsh8056]

Yes! It probably would have been a lot of bottles, but that is certainly something you can do!

[@kratosGOW]

Unlike Angelbobs, will you constantly have to look further for resources when they quickly run out instead of being able to drill further down?
At some point, patches will be big enough but apart from that iron patch you’ll be running out very soon.

[@marsh8056]

Yes. The AB playthrough was like that due to a combination of mods and map gen settings. This IR3 playthrough uses much more vanilla style settings, so this is part of the vanilla experience.

[@Fetch049]

Why use crushed coal instead of the less polluting charcoal in your outpost miners?
edit oh nvm

[@CrabQueen]

Why use bots to deconstruct the forest when the crawler just auto-chops any trees it hits?

[@marsh8056]

Tbh I forgot it did that, but also, it kinda sounds annoying to drive back and forth clearing out a path 🤣