{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/automation-programming--t107","type":"mechanic","id":"automation-programming--t107","lang":"en","title":"Production chains and factories","summary":"A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input and constrains total production.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/automation-programming--t107/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/automation-programming--t107.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/automation-programming--t107.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Automation and programming","Mechanics and variants"],"sourceIds":["source-96be186d8ada50a0","source-fee3301bed8a96da"],"sources":[{"id":"source-96be186d8ada50a0","title":"Factorio: Content","url":"https://www.factorio.com/game/content","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-fee3301bed8a96da","title":"Factorio","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input and constrains total production."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Mechanic variants\n\n<a id=\"t107-variants\"></a>\n\n- Recipe ratios determine parallel machine counts. <a id=\"t107-v1\"></a>\n- Byproducts require a separate output line. <a id=\"t107-v2\"></a>\n- Modular cells simplify capacity expansion. <a id=\"t107-v3\"></a>\n- Recycling returns part of the raw materials. <a id=\"t107-v4\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Three furnaces feed two assemblers until one missing reagent stalls the whole chain.\n\nPrototype check: Measure sustained output over a long interval rather than only with fully stocked input buffers."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"Automation moves repeated work into a system; the player builds connections and identifies the limiting stage. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"automation-programming","id":"t107","title":"Automation and programming","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/automation-programming/#t107","categoryIds":["mechanics"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Production chains and factories","description":"A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input and constrains total production.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp","width":1224,"height":689,"game":"Factorio","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/427520/ss_37aa19e26e20e18a220fd8870dac6efb0e98b5f0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1787348817","credit":"Wube Software","rights":"© Wube Software. All rights reserved.","caption":"Copper plates become cable","alt":"Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and deliver copper cable onto another.","markers":[{"x":29,"y":51,"label":"Input: copper plates on a belt"},{"x":53,"y":66,"label":"The machine converts its input"},{"x":74,"y":50,"label":"Output: cable for downstream consumers"}]},"tips":["Show recipe dependencies and the stage that limits production."],"examples":[{"title":"Factorio","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/automation-programming"}}