Conveyor Flow Optimizer
Hello everyone! I'm an aspiring modder and total beginner when it comes to Satisfactory/Unreal Engine modding.
I have an idea for a mod I want to develop, called Conveyor Flow Optimizer.
Mod Concept
This mod aims to integrate a simple but powerful Conveyor Belt Flow Calculator directly into the game's UI. The main goal is to help players achieve 100% factory efficiency and eliminate excess production/waste without guesswork, especially when dealing with non-integer (irrational) ratios.
It would take three main inputs:
1. Conveyor Belt Limit (e.g., 780 items/min for Mk.5)
2. Item Output Rate (Items produced per building/min)
3. Item Input Rate (Items consumed per building/min)
Underlying Logic (Python Prototype)
I've already developed the core calculation logic in Python, which focuses on guaranteeing integer building counts based on the belt's capacity, and then calculates the subsequent consumption:
The key calculation steps are:
1. Determine Output Buildings: $\text{Output Buildings} = \lfloor \frac{\text{Belt Limit}}{\text{Output Rate}} \rfloor$
2. Calculate Real Flow: $\text{Real Flow} = \text{Output Buildings} \times \text{Output Rate}$
3. Determine Input Buildings: $\text{Input Buildings} = \lfloor \frac{\text{Real Flow}}{\text{Input Rate}} \rfloor$
4. Calculate Excess: $\text{Excess Flow} = \text{Real Flow} - (\text{Input Buildings} \times \text{Input Rate})$
This logic successfully finds the highest possible perfect split while respecting the belt capacity and ensuring all buildings are whole numbers.
My Question
Since I'm new, I need to know what the standard approach is to implement this:
* How do I integrate this arithmetic logic into the game? Do I need to translate all my functions (like the ones for finding the greatest common divisor and the calculation above) into Unreal Engine Blueprints or should I learn basic C++?
4 Replies
Following up on my previous post about the Conveyor Flow Optimizer mod:
Here is a screenshot of the Python program I built. This is the full working logic and UI (using Tkinter) that I want to integrate directly into Satisfactory as a custom in-game UI element.
As you can see, the application already handles the calculation for:
* Optimal Output Buildings based on the chosen belt limit.
* The resulting Total Item Flow.
* The number of Input Buildings that can consume that flow.
* The final Excess Production (Sobra).
My main challenge is transforming this desktop application into a functional part of the game's interface:
1. How do I port the
tkinter UI elements into a playable, in-game widget (using UMG/Slate)?
2. What's the best way to handle the calculation logic (which uses math.floor and basic arithmetic) inside an Unreal Blueprint?
Any pointers on the specific Unreal Engine tools or beginner tutorials for creating custom Factory Efficiency widgets would be incredibly helpful! Thanks in advance!
>modding
You seem to have questions about modding.
You should grab the Aspiring Modder role from Discord's role selection page (<id:customize>) and then read the docs carefully (https://docs.ficsit.app/satisfactory-modding/latest/index.html#_for_developers). If you still have questions after that, please go to #help-writing-mods!
looks like you have the logic behind the mod figured out. follow the tutorial to get set up and learn how to create some basic widgets