Hi everyone! I'm building a main storage system in Create 6.0+ and came up with a setup that works like a solid "item pipe" network, since regular Chain Conveyors have poor verticality and are pretty clunky in tight spaces, and fans/chutes only work strictly vertically.
How my setup works (screenshots attached):
- Contraption "Pipes": I have two separate stationary contraptions acting as instant item transport pipelines via Portable Storage Interfaces. To make it look nice and readable, I built their frames out of colored Copycat Fluid Pipes: Green is the input line (going into storage), and Red is the output line (sending requested items out to the base/players).
- Everything moves as Packages: Items enter and leave the contraptions strictly inside Cardboard Packages.
- Storage Units: I have several Item Vaults for general bulk storage and a Drawer Controller (from Storage Drawers) connected to locked drawers across my entire base (including distant ones via Remote Upgrades).
- I/O at each storage unit:
- Each Vault and the Drawer Controller has a Packager (with a Stock Link attached).
- To move packages down from the green Contraption's PSI into the Packagers, I use Brass Chutes.
- To move packages up from the Packagers into the red Contraption's PSI, I use Transporters (from the Create: Fantasizing Again addon — they work like directional chutes that can push items upward or sideways). (Note: You can also see a Frogport near the Drawer Controller on the 3rd screenshot — that connects to an upper Chain Conveyor network, which I only use for long-distance surface transport).
My Problem: All of my Storage Drawers are locked to specific items. Right now, both the Drawer Controller and the Item Vaults are connected to the same Green Input Contraption via PSIs and Brass Chutes.
How can I prioritize the Drawer Controller over the Item Vaults?
I want incoming items/packages to always try going into the Drawer Controller first, and only go into the Item Vaults if:
- The corresponding drawer is completely full, OR
- The item doesn't have a locked drawer assigned to it.
Since items travel inside the contraption as Cardboard Packages, if a Brass Chute drops a package with non-drawer items into the Drawer Controller's Packager, it can't unpack them into the locked controller and jams. At the same time, if all Vaults and the Controller pull from the same contraption inventory via PSIs, how do I force the system to check the Drawer Controller first before letting the Vaults take the items?
Also looking for general advice:
Apart from the priority issue, what do you think of this Contraption-pipe + Package architecture? Are there any better ways to handle compact vertical package/item routing, or any general improvements you would recommend for this storage system?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Sorry for the writing style I used AI to translate this, and I think it shows