Summary
A Mall is a highly localized production site that produces the necessary buildings for continuous expansion of the facility. Malls consist of Assemblers and Storages, often drawing from a selection of belts which are shared by many different Assemblers. Malls simplify the game flow since the player can grab most if not all required buildings in one place, replacing handcrafting or wandering between scattered production spots. Mall exist in countless varieties, designs and sizes, some being fairly simple, others being intricate.
Early Mall
An early mall covers the most basic building production needed up to Structure Matrix research. It usually consist of a small scale Bus carrying Iron Ingots, Gears, Magnetic Coils, Stone Bricks, Glass, Circuit Boards and Steel. Intermediates like Motors and Plasma Exciters are produced within the confines of the Mall to cover additional buildings. They can be inserted directly or belted out for additional assemblers down the line. To the right is an example of an Early Mall of one of the standard designs. Since the Mall can be expanded step by step it is possible to make a modular design that is compatible with Blueprint limits as low as 150 Facilities.
Midgame Mall
Midgame Malls cover most if not all building required for the completion of the game, and require more complex items for the supply Bus, including but not limited to: Processors, Super Magnetic Rings, Titanium Alloy, Particle Containers or Frame Material. As the complexity and diversification of recipes grows steadily, the layout of the Mall becomes increasingly complex and can pose a significant challenge for players of any level of experience. With the release of the Dark Fog update, and the addition of even more buildings with vastly different crafting requirements, this became even harder, which is why many players started to prefer Sushi Malls or Bot malls to simplify the general layout.