Check out this old mod:

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/SimpleSilicon

It hasn't been touched in a while, but perhaps you could coordinate with the author, update that mod, or borrow some of its ideas

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll take a look at this soon.

Hi. I've added some similar production chains as that mod -- they are off by default. Main page has more details: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/bzsilicon

I am using a locally updated and modified version of Simple Silicon currently.
I plan to have a look at this mod to see if I like what I see.
I changed the production a bit in Simple Silicon.
I think those cylinder things were being used directly in solar cell recipes. I changed it so wafers are used instead.
I also renamed them to 'Silicon-boule'. I found out on a Wiki that they are called something like that. Wafers are made from these.
I'll let you know what else I think when I have time to look at this.

Thanks for this and your other mods that add new ores. Currently just using the new lead ore and plates.

jamiech1 are you planning on releasing your version of Simple Silicon?

brevven, is the amount of silicon needed in your mod for a processing unit excessive? By my calculations (or rather Helmod), 1 processing unit requires the following, depending on use of productivity modules:

• 23.8 - 40 stone
• 6.62 - 14.1 iron
• 8.49 - 25 copper
• 2.57 - 10.6 coal (using liquefaction)

Possibly the worst bit is the number of furnaces needed to produce all those bricks and silica.

(In contrast, Simple Silicon uses 9.6 stone per proc unit without prod modules.)

Thanks for bringing this up, leoch. Balance is important, since I want these mods to each add a bit of interesting complexity to vanilla, without being overly demanding on resources.

Additionally your question actually helped me notice that I had forgotten to enable prod modules on this mod. Edit: I've uploaded this update now.

In terms of a comparison of resources. In processing units: I've swapped 10 (of 20) green circuits to 10 silicon (or 5 wafers if enabled) so we end up with a requirement of 10 green, 10 silicon (or 5 wafers).

ore counts:

Without prod modules

• 10 Green: 25 = 10 iron + 15 copper
• 10 Silicon: 40 stone
• (or, 5 wafers: 40 stone)

With prod modules

• 10 Green: 17.2 = 8.3 iron + 8.9 copper
• 10 Silicon: 23.1 stone
• (or, 5 wafers: 16.5 stone)

furnace counts:
no modules:

• 10 Green: 40 = 16 iron furnaces + 24 copper furnaces
• 10 Silicon: 80 = 32 stone furnaces + 32 silica furnaces + 16 silicon furnaces
• (or, 5 wafers: 80 = 32 stone furnaces + 32 silica furnaces + 16 silicon furnaces)

Full prod + 8 speedx2 beacons (approximate numbers)

• 10 Green: 6 = 3 iron furnaces + 3 copper furnaces
• 10 Silicon: 12 = 4 stone furnaces + 5 silica furnaces +3 silicon furnaces
• (or, 5 wafers: 9 = 3 stone furnaces + 4 silica furnaces +2 silicon furnaces)

so once I enable prod modules, it will get a lot better right away. That said, the ore ratio is a little high for initial processing units, before people have a T3 module factory up and running. want to keep the default ratios at a good balance between interesting/simple.

I will also think through the number of furnaces needed. At worst silicon requires double the furnaces of a green circuit, which means processing units require 1.5x the number of furnaces as vanilla, which isn't prohibitive, but again, it's a little high, especially for the midgame initial processing units.

As far as I can tell, Simple Silicon kept the number of green circuits the same, so the comparison is not exactly apples to apples, but thanks for the information there too!

So, I will indeed think on this for a day or 2 and then update. While sticking to reasonable ratios, I'll probably try to tweak it so that without prod modules it's a little more even on resources, (and with prod modules, quite a bit better), and perhaps try to cut the number of machines a bit, though that's strictly secondary to keeping the smelting ratios fun to play around with ;)

If/when i find an elegant solution to this, I may consider adding wafers to advanced circuits, if wafers are enabled....... not sure yet.

I can post a link from either Google Driver or Onedrive if you like. I don't really want to maintain a mod. Athough I don't mind helping out a bit here and there.
Here is a readonly link to my public Factorio Stuff - Look in the mods folder:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmbU9TAVLRYBgc03K3dOzPT00kloSA?e=crAqHQ
(And the version number of the mod will need to be revised properly to correspond with the old version before anyone uploads this to the Mod Portal.)

FYI. A link to a wiki page where I got some of my info on updating the mod. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boule_(crystal)

brevven, I missed that green circuit requirements were reduced! Though this actually makes it more work to integrate into an existing game later. Whatever.

About all those furnaces though... the Simple Silicon production chain is considerably more interesting than mine to furnace to furnace to furnace!

jamiech1, I've uploaded the odd mod without really maintaining it... I wouldn't worry about that. It's simple enough for someone else to fork your version if necessary, as long as the licence is clear.

I hear ya, leoch. The goal with each of these mods is generally to add one new piece of breadth to vanilla, generally adding a specific new piece of complexity, but not too much more. I try to keep things simpler than things like Krastorio 2 or AAI etc in most circumstances. That's part of why the optional intermediates are optional and default to off.

In terms of adding something like quartz -- I may add that in the future as an optional intermediate to change the production chain. When this mod is used with K2, quartz is in the production chain, and other niceties like like coke being used in silicon smelting. Incidentally, there's a limitation in vanilla and many overhauls where furnaces can only take one ingredient, that limits options a little bit. (There will soon be some updates to integration with Bio Industries as well, that should open up some nice production chains, but they're not quite ready)

Now, as for the quantity discussion from above, I've cut the stone requirements for Processing Units by 40%. So now, unmoduled it requires roughly the same number of resources as vanilla. Moduled it requires a bit less than vanilla. I've also slightly boosted map richness of stone.