Subsurface benefits:
Dig and...
- declutter your factory logistics by routing it under your base.
- save your assets from surface hazards by building them underground.
- discover the rest of your ore patch veins by exploiting them underground as well.
Any number of subsurfaces is possible. Each level provides effects on your working machines:
- +5% speed per level
- +5% productivity per level
- +1% quality per level
- +10% pollution per level
- +10% energy consumption per level
Getting started
Dig into underground by placing a surface drill. As soon it has finished drilling you can press Enter
to step down. The entrance can connect the subsurface to the power and circuit network. In subsurfaces, you need to place wooden supports instead of electric poles to prevent collapses. Each support provides a built-in lamp.
Pollution does not spread into unexplored areas. To prevent you and your machines from taking damage and speed losses caused by too much pollution, you need to use air vents. Active air vents move pollution one level up, while passive air vents balance pollution between adjacent levels.
Logistic routing
Use item, fluid and heat elevators to route your logistics.
Subways allow trains to travel between levels. Once you have a subway connection established, you can choose the level change in the train stop drop-down. Additionally, all train stops from all associated subsurfaces and the top surface are available to allow multi-level schedules.
Trains entering a subway will keep their speed. They can't be controlled and will not steer until fully appeared. So make sure that your underground rail network can handle the longest train you send there without getting stuck (it is however possible for trains to be in two subways at the same time).
Underground expansion
Expand your underground place manually by digging walls, throwing cliff explosives or drive miner vehicles.
You can partially automate boring with AAI Miners and AAI Programmable Vehicles . Once you placed an AI miner vehicle in a subsurface, you can set it to dig the underground in the selection menu (this prevents it from finding paths around obstacles and get stuck). Then just order the miner to a waypoint of the desired path. Miners with full inventory don't move until they are cleared.
Resource generation
Resources that generate in patches are mirrored to subsurfaces, those that generate randomly will also generate randomly in subsurfaces. Stone won't generate in subsurfaces at all. Patches on ground surfaces only yield 10% of their original richness, increasing logarithmically, but their size decreasing exponentially per underground level.
Hazards
From time to time, enemies will dig into the underground when it is exposed.
Useful tool:
Using the GPS ping tool (Ctrl + Alt + left click
per default) also creates the location marker in the level above and below the current surface.
Contribution and modding
I need help creating graphics, balancing stuff, feature suggestions and localization.
I welcome remote interface suggestions to interact with this mod!
This mod is a remake of the old mod (Subsurface by StanFear) for recent Factorio versions.
Subway graphics from Train tunnels.