Space elevator continued functionality

Question

Currently the way the space elevator is setup I've noticed that most players don't even bother with the built in inputs for resources. I feel this is mostly due to the fact that once you launch the elevator, you must change your setup to input new goods. Along with some balancing, what if each tier required goods from the previous tiers as well. This would encourage building infrastructure around the elevator, rather than manually inputting handcrafted goods.

Comments

Good point. It's hard to know what the requirements will be as the higher tiers and the 'big build' open up. I am assuming the 6 ports are there for a reason and so have built my elevator right next to the head of my main bus with 6 conveyors built at right-angles to the main bus below floor level feeding the elevator. I can manually connect bus lines to the elevator feed lines using splitters and mergers. It will be a bit of a pain to clean out the belts when I need to change feed stock, but I don't figure it will happen too often and the belts to the elevator are very short. In my second build it was nice to go exploring while my factory (slowly) pumped motors and modular frames into the elevator!

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I actually attached bins to the outputs from my "overstock warehouse" so I can drop the items in those bins and let them go to the elevator lol, not much different from hand loading :)

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Just a thought, and of course we will have to see what they have planned for higher tiers, but this wouldn't be much different from a recipe change. Altering the lower tier requirements to need more of a single resource instead of multiple types and adding new types of goods for each tier above. This could leave the 6 available ports open for the highest tier. Each upgrade could increase the amount of previous tier goods to balance out the difficulty.

As much as I enjoy having my containers full all the time, I feel having my factory feel constantly alive would be more appealing. I've simply found the further I progress, my older machines start to idle before my highest tier automation is complete. Much like Factorio, even red science packs are required for end game upgrades.

This change wouldn't necessarily be to make the game easier or harder, but rather to keep my old machines working with a purpose. It could add an even greater need for base planning for expert players, while still giving beginners a feeling that what they've built still matters.