Create logistics makes item movement visible. Rather than teleporting stacks between boxes, belts, funnels, chutes, arms and vaults turn a factory into a readable transport system.
Basic vocabulary
- Belts form horizontal item routes and processing lines.
- Chutes provide vertical movement.
- Funnels insert or extract; Tunnels distribute and sort along belts.
- Mechanical Arms transfer selected items among valid targets.
- Item Vaults provide large connected bulk storage.
Network design
- Label outputs, leave maintenance access, and use filters as soon as a line branches.
- Rail freight feels valuable when a station feeds real storage and factory input lines.
Flow design
- Give materials one clear route from input storage to processing and from output to storage or dispatch.
- Filters prevent the most expensive failures once multiple goods share a line.
Multiplayer design
- Expose labelled inputs and outputs so other players can restock or diagnose shared factories.
- Avoid building systems that require one owner to explain every hidden route.
Making item flow legible
Create logistics is most rewarding when goods can be watched moving through a working site. Separate raw-material intake from finished-goods dispatch, label shared buffers and provide overflow storage before a popular factory fills its belts.
Filtering becomes essential as soon as two goods use the same route. A wrongly routed valuable component is not merely inconvenient in a shared economy; it can halt production and confuse the shop that expected delivery.
Warehouse thinking
A warehouse beside a station can bridge player commerce and industrial automation: bulk goods arrive, get processed or repacked and move onward to shops or new building projects.