> The easier way is to minimize buffers and have a path to extract spoilage at every position where it could accumulate.
I do that. It's annoying to me. I don't like being feeling annoyed by computer games; being annoyed is not one of my kinks.
> And to never, ever have the factory stop at any point in time.
So burn more stuff -> bigger spore clouds -> even more enemies -> more violence?
eg, always produce fruit as fast as the swamp can muster, and just always burn all excess as soon as it is possible to do so?
You never want to burn fruit itself since that wastes the seeds. So you always want to process fruit the first step.
I limit fruit production based on the number of fruit on the belt, to avoid creating a huge buffer. But after that the factory just runs continuously at the same speed. And if I have too much of a final product, it gets destroyed or burned for heat and electricity.
One benefit, especially in the beginning, is that by processing more fruit you get more seeds. And you need the seeds to expand your fruit production later.
The enemies are probably one of the not ideally designed parts of Gleba. It's trivial to handle them if you know how, and can be very frustrating if you try to approach it the "wrong" way. If you have been to Vulcanus and Fulgora you can trivialize their threat.
That's an interesting way.
Somehow I've already internalized and expanded it as building on Gleba in a long, straight line -- with branches for input and output. Like a main bus, sorta... but probably much wider to leave space for stuff, and an emphasis on being straight.
Belts of fruits get fed in where they're harvestable. Processing nodes branch off, and the processing only happens where it must (for whatever reason it must). Inventory glut is handled by the logistics network's stats, perhaps finally finding something useful to do with buffer chests. Nothing spoilable loops, ever. All excess spoilables are burned at the end of the line. The excess is a thing of unbridled glory.
That, plus a cut-and-paste do-all bot automall for assembling building materials, and... hmm.
Why do I hear birds singing?