The number of issues I've been having with Bazzite, due to its immutability and my lack of experience, has finally reached the point that I'm no longer willing to deal with.

But I like basically everything about Bazzite, aside from its immutability, and I'd like to preserve as much of it as possible. In particular, I like KDE/Plasma (right?) way more than I liked Cinnamon on Mint, and the whole reason I gave Bazzite a try over Mint was that it supposedly was better for NVidia gaming. Which has absolutely been true, all the minor performance issues I was having on Mint vanished under Bazzite.

So, thoughts and recommendations? Thanks in advance.

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Since I'm sure some nerds like me will want to know WHAT issues I've been having, the most significant ones would be....

• I've hit a dead-end with trying to setup multiple audio sinks, so I can do what's been standard behavior in Windows for decades and use both my speakers and headset separately, at the same time, per-application. There's basically only ONE source of info on how to do this, and it's written for mutable distros, as it apparently involves doing some firmware config mods or something.

• I've had quite a lot of issues with getting JetBrains Rider and the .NET SDK to work properly with each other, ranging from the inability to get .NET 10 installed, since Rider's flatpak only includes up to .NET 8, and there IS no flatpak for the .NET SDK itself, to getting .NET CLI tools to run properly from Rider, due to the sandboxing.

• I was looking to install GameMaker to continue a little side project I started on Mint, and it's not available on flatpak, nor can I find any wisdom on how I might work around that fact.

On to the next build.

I'm really not sure how I want this to shake out, except for one single idea: I want the "road" to turn 90 degrees and run partway through the middle of the building. Just cause that sounds kinda cool.

So, here's a rough outline of that, with as much foundation space laid down as I could place, without clipping into ground or other non-removable obstacles.

Actually, there was ONE other idea I had, and that was that I shouldn't have independent machine lines (I.E. line of furnaces, line of constructors, etc.). At least not fully. That's because for the 2 products I'm making, I need both Foundries and Constructors, and the number of each that I need is ALMOST equal. So, I actually want all of these machines to be 1:1 paired.

From that, I realized... I haven't built machines stacked on top of other machines in a LONG time.

So, yeah, I'm gonna build Foundries stacked on top of the Constructors they feed to. I built out a few little prototype ideas of what that might look like.

Ultimately settled on this. Just a standalone elevated platform above each set of Constructors, supported by pillars, and with catwalks for traversal. Very tightly-packed, as it turned out.

Also need a line of Iron Ingot Furnaces to feed both sets of Solid Steel Ingot Foundries, and at this point, I realized that if I elevate those as well, that leaves me with plenty of space to fit Storage Containers and Dimensional Uploaders underneath them. So, that reduces the footprint of the whole building quite a bit.

With those all laid down, I added some interconnecting catwalks, and a main staircase to get up to them, at the back.

Some close-ups of the center structure.

And since the Steel Pipe line of Constructors is shorter than the Steal Beam line, that leaves a perfectly-sized corner of the building to fit the overflow sink. I decided to go ahead and cut open the main floor to have it sit on the maintenance floor, and make this the maintenance access point as well.

Wide shot.

And that's the Iron Plates factory finished. I sorta "rest of the owl"d it, but there's still plenty of room for glamor shots.

Nighttime.

Logistics floor.

Main floor.

Also, the Iron Ore mines that I left 'till the last minute. The ones I showed before are actually for the next factory. Only the two sliver-colored ones here are for this factory.

Nerd docs, as usual.

So, first factory to build up here is just Iron Plates. I think there's enough room here between the walkway and the big plateau.

Don't have enough room above the ground, from where the walkway is placed, to lower the bottom floor, so I had to build the machine floor a little higher, to leave enough room for logistics underneath. Thus, we get a little staircasey entrance.

And it's just Iron Plates so.... that should be all we need.

Logistics.

This is a walkway design I used in the previous save, but it was one of my favorites, by far, so I decided to just reuse it here. Still love it.

Also particularly happy with this little, uhh..... balcony?

Beltwork and power lines added in.

Built out a new elevator for climbing up the cliff.

Plus a rough outline for a beltway/walkway.

So, previously, I setup these 2 of the 4 Normal Coal nodes down by Coal Lake, for running the Coal Power Plant. Now, I realize I need 2 more Coal nodes, for a Steel factory, and.... I actually want the 2 nodes that I used for the Power Plant. Because what I'm going to DO with those two nodes is run them up the cliff, to where there's a ton of Iron nodes.

So, today's effort is to extend the little platform here across to the other 2 Coal nodes, wire them all up, and then swap the Power Plant over to those.

Nothing too crazy, just more of what I already did for the first 2.

And with the Power Plant now running on the 2 new nodes, I'm free to tear the first 2 down, in preparation for re-running them up the cliff.

Forgot I actually had a whole day's worth of screenshots sitting in my folder that I never posted.

Not a whole lot to show, just me finishing up the Hypertube connection for the Concrete Factory.

I think it came out rather nice. The one cable flying off to the side is annoying, but that's just a temporary line to make sure I don't kill the whole grid, while I'm working here, since the main trunk dead-ends here. It'll probably be a while yet before I finish running it down to the main HQ.

Looks pretty nice going off in the other direction, though.

Fully operational now, and just about finished with cosmetics.

Honestly, not a huge fan of it, but I don't regret trying to be a little weird with it. I'll take this over just duplicating the one I had in the last save, despite how much I really liked that one.

With the Coal power plant complete, we can go ahead and lay down a more permanent path out of the gorge.

As far as where we're gonna TAKE that path, well...

The biggest problem I had while building the power plant, BY FAR, was Concrete. So, I went ahead and setup a rough floorplan around the only Pure Limestone node in the area. Hopefully, I can avoid having it be too similar to the Concrete factory I built in the last game.

Machines laid out.

Power lines built.

Beltwork all built.

I went ahead and setup 2 Dimensional Uploaders. This'll probably be the only factory that uses 2.

Alright, let's get this trunk finished up, so we can work on booting up the power plant.

This is what I ended up with for the junction. I realized I don't actually HAVE to have the two branches merge together right away, that can happen farther down the line, where it looks less weird.

So, that's what we end up with.

Back at the facility, I snuck the coal belt and power lines in beneath the entrance.

And of course, to bootstrap the thing, I need some power from my starter base. This is actually my first time ever the giant Power Towers.

That should do it! Let's charge up those batteries!

Oh. Batteries can't be charged from Biofuel Generators. Somehow, I never encountered this.

Well, I guess we just prime up the water instead.

And the coal.

Generators didn't take long to reach full efficiency.

Batteries connected in and charging up.

And connected to the main grid! Biofuel is officially obsolete.

So, after ending yesterday with a failed attempt to put a Hypertube junction on the ceiling of a piece of my belt trunk, and realizing there's not enough room, my first thought was to just widen the trunk from single-width to double-width, as it approaches the junction. I figured since I already want to implement double-width trunks later, it was a reasonable solution. So, I made the above blueprint.

Somehow, after finishing this, I realized..... I don't actually need to build Hypertube junctions the way I did in the last save, I.E. I don't have to squeeze in both an exit and entrance, inside the trunk. I can just..... only have junctions. Not having junctions for so long has really screwed up my brain.

So, I hopped into creative mode again and prototyped a few different versions, to make sure I'm understanding correctly how they'll work.

Unfortunately, I don't like the way the first two look, and the third one (just a plain junction) doesn't behave the way I want. What I want is to have paths coming off of the main trunk, but have those paths be "opt in" only. So, if you just want to travel the main trunk, that requires no inputs at all. The standalone junction doesn't give you that. So, I really hope I can think of something to make the "triple-branch" junction look nice.

Sooooooooo, the last time I checked this storage crate, it was filled to the brim with Solid Biofuel. Hmm.

Alright, a little protein farming and it's filling back up. Hopefully, that holds out until the new power plant is done.

I was worried for a while about what the hell I was gonna do to top this one off, and I eventually just started building a sloped roof to see where it went. I thought I was nuts when I tried to use the 90 degree corner pieces on 120 degree corners, but holy hell. Once I figured out how to center them properly on the seam, this is one of my favorite build concepts ever.

Back inside, I setup a battery bank capable of bootstrapping the facility, if there's ever a catastrophic power failure, and a little system of control switches for isolating parts of the facility from each other, and the outside world.

Encountered a rather weird bug, while doing so. I'm trying to place a Painted Beam here, on the ceiling, and about halfway across the ceiling, it started registering the beam as clipping into the elevator shaft.

Also really wanted to try this concept for labeling power lines, throughout the facility.

Also made a point of adding a way to get between floors when the elevators are offline.

So, with the whole facility pretty much done now, the next thing I need to work out is large-scale transport.

I want something kinda similar to the beltway/tubeway I used in the prior playthrough, but I definitely don't want to just repeat it. And there's a few things I want to do differently.

• I want to incorporate the new Hypertube Junctions, this time.
• I want to be able to support train lines.
• I want it to continue the pattern of colored labeling for power lines, like I did in the power plant, for when I need to run other power lines within the trunk, separate from the main grid.
• I want to get away from just using nothing but the Steel Frame architecture. I still really like the concept of belts that rest on the thin frame pieces, instead of needing support pillars, but they're a PAIN to build.

After some experimentation, I came up with the following...

Firstly, I think it looks really nice.

Second, it should still support me making a taller version in future, to make room for stacking multiple levels of belts. But I'm hoping I do a lot more logistics work with trains, instead.

Thirdly, It's got room for a train rail on top, but looks fine without it, so I can use it for belt lines, train lines, tube lines, and any combination thereof.

Fourthly, I can make a version in the future that's double-width, for running full-duplex train rails along the heavy-traffic paths. For areas where space is limited, or there's very little train traffic, or I don't need trains at all, I can just use this single-width version.

Marries up pretty well to the facility. Should be even more interesting marrying into a trainyard for future facilities.

Aaaaaaaand we reach a snag. When I had the idea to make a single-width version in some places, I forgot that the prototype I had for a Hypertube interchange basically took up the entire ceiling space of the double-width prototype. So, I'm gonna have to brainstorm this tomorrow.

Pretty solid start.

Because running piping along the outside of a building is trending right now.

Originally, I wasn't going to put any generators down on this floor, and just leave it for logistics and a control room, but.... there's WAY too much space to fill with just that. So, I'm framing out like 1/3 of the generators to go here.

Forgot to get a shot of the first floor before I started paving over it.

The remaining generators.

Not entirely sure where I'm going with the top floor, at this point, but I'm just kinda paving anyway.

A few shots of the pipework in progress. I haven't actually even started routing to the machines with this yet, this is just me wanting to keep all the lines together, running by a main control/inspection area, and then running all the way around to the back of the building where they go up to a bank of Fluid Buffers, and then back down. I'm quite happy with how neat and tight it ended up.

Mooooooooooore protein farming.

After about 5 hours total, I think, we've got enough for the essentials.

So, like.... yeah, I built Coal Power here last time, but.... c'mon.... it's here for a reason.

Today feels like a hexagon day. This should be the largest I can fit.

A little blueprinting and I think we've established a layout for all our Water Extractors.

Figured I should setup some basic Quartz production, before I really get going on proper builds, given how much I use signs.

Actually, now that I think about it, the biggest hurdle I'm gonna have to overcome for proper builds (and that I probably should've gotten started on sooner) is COUPONS. So, I went ahead and expanded on the trash system again. Now, we've got Smart Plating feeding directly into the Sink, and I added an overflow for Alien Protein to be converted into DNA Capsules and sunk.

I also took the highest-value item I'm making (Encased Industrial Beam) and sent those to the sink. Forgot to get a screenshot of it, though.

Soooo, now we're pretty much just down to Protein farming for a while, until we've got all the tickets.

Of course, that got me a bunch of Mercer Spheres as well, so I also go to research the Dimensional Depot, and setup Uploaders for everything.

Welp, after some bio farming, I think we're in good shape for power, for a while. Let's do some more expansion.

We can definitely afford to run a trash line, now. Nothing automated, just anything I toss into the trash crate, that can't be made into Biofuel. We'll be needing tickets soon enough.

Also definitely gonna need more Concrete production if I'm gonna be building foundations, so I added in another Normal node Miner, tripling the capacity.

Also went ahead and started building a slightly-more-proper beltways, instead of just running them along the ground.

With the Concrete production tripled, I figured I'd swap to Concrete foundations, to eliminate the need for Iron Plates in building them.

Basic Steel and Nobelisks automated.

With Nobelisks and Gas Masks available, I felt comfortable clearing the cave below the archway, and pulling up some SAM. Still can only hand-craft Fluctuators, until Phase 3, but that still helps.

Finally able to clear and pave over the big gas cloud area in the center.

Basic Caterium production built out.

So, I spent some time actually sitting down and (roughly) planning out everything that I have left to build, to the end of the game. With my whole strategy of "farm to table" factories, I was worried there might not be enough nodes on the map to finish some of these factories.

With the plan laid out, next up is to build out a new factory for Radio Control Units, and I realize, now that I'm actually in Phase 4 for the first time.... I just don't have it in me. Not when my reward for completing Radio Control Units is building them again like 10 more times, in the 18 additional factories I have left after that.

So, I'm abandoning this little challenge run, for now, in favor of (hopefully) a more reasonable approach, based around building most resources at a much smaller scale, within a large headquarters, while still having large-scale independent factories, just not one for every single component. So, I'll have a large standalone factory dedicated to each of the big high-volume resources (Concrete, Conveyor Parts, Sign parts), as well as Power Plants, and maybe Project Phases, but otherwise just be able to toss down a couple new machines here and there, to siphon existing resource lines for new parts, as needed.

Basically, I realized that trying to get through Phase 4 without being able to build on progress from prior phases was going to be a nightmare.

Onboarding complete.

Fully-implemented automation.

Biofuel power.

Full transition to starter base, with all basic Iron, Copper, and Limestone lines automated.

A couple Assemblers for stage-2 and stage-3 parts, including Project Phase 1.

Remind me to thank Mikael for insisting that the aurora was left in.

Me when my wife asks if I want to play our Satisfactory save together

So, we got this parking lot built out for the Cateriumworks facility.

And then another big chunk of the road built out.

And since we got Reinforced Plates fully-automated last time, I can finally make a start on a Black Powder/Nobelisk factory. I figured I'd try and shape it around the contour of this cliff, as a start.

Alright, Silksong is done, I'm free to post again.

And by that, I mean I can get through the screenshots I forgot I had sitting in my backlog, from BEFORE Silksong.

Since the last session before this one was finalizing Aluminumworks, I figured I could spend some chill time retrofitting facilities for Mk.5 Conveyors. Power plans, in particular.

The above screenshot is the "before" photo.

This was after upgrading the Coal Plant. Unfortunaely, not a whole lot of gain here, I don't actually have enough machines to USE a full Mk.5 belt, even fully-overclocked. This was the very first thing I built in this save, and I didn't quite have my strategies worked out for upgradeability.

Over at the Turbofuel Plant, this bug is still a thing. This is what you get doing an in-place upgrade for the output-half (or the input-half? I can't quite remember) of a Conveyor Lift. Only fixable by destroying and replacing the whole thing, as far as I can find. Also, IIRC, not fixed by a restart. So, that's annoying.

And after the Turbofuel upgrade.

With that done, I felt like some more exploration and clearing, before getting into the next gigantic build.

Pretty great haul.