Remotes for the circuit network

[morse]

After about 40 hours in factorio I found one think that I miss the most, and that is not covered on this forum (at least I didn't find it).

The remotes.

So we have constant combinators (silly name BTW, what exactly do they combine?) which is great to quickly turn parts of your factory on/off. But I so much miss the ability to control them remotely.

The way I envision it is that: you craft a device, that you can use from your inventory, that can emit signals. After you choose the signal, you'll be able to press the "broadcast" button, and it will broadcast this signal in f.i. 100x100 area, and every constant combinator in that area will adjust their signals to match yours. That way I can configure my factory in a way, that e.g. the "A=1" signal means start electrical engine production. After I choose the signal "A=1" in my remote, and press "broadcast", all the constant combinators in my factory will start emitting this signal, and all parts of my factory involved in the electrical engine production will start working, without me needing to go anywhere and adjust all the combinators manually.

[TuckJohn]

Yes I would like this, but I dont think that It should have a range, as that would severely limit the possibilities, and make it nearly pointless with the power switch that will be added in the next version (I assume it will double as a circuit network switch...).
I taking a theater class(basically we manage the set and stage for actors), and for the lights we have an ipad with a keypad that works almost exactly like your describing. I would like this to be a thing, very badly. If added, I might have to learn how to use the circuit network more then the basics .

[ssilk]

I strongly point to the need of wireless communication, as with growing distances the wires get more and more useless.i think mor than 500 tiles is Islas, whereas a wireless communication should have no limit. (A limit can be added later, that's easier than removing a limit)

Such a chest is just one things of many to handle things to far awayi
I

[ratchetfreak]

I strongly point to the need of wireless communication, as with growing distances the wires get more and more useless.i think mor than 500 tiles is Islas, whereas a wireless communication should have no limit. (A limit can be added later, that's easier than removing a limit)

Such a chest is just one things of many to handle things to far awayi
I

If you have a far away outpost you also have a power line to it. you can piggyback a wire on that, it's a hassle to get it there so a easier way to put the wire there would be handy

[ssilk]

If you have a far away outpost you also have a power line to it.

That's in most cases true, but not in all, it can make much sense to split the outpost power from the main power. I think especially with v0.13 when power switches available.

On the other hand there is the rail layer mod, maybe it's possible to do it with that. But then you have the problem, that you can make too easy a connection to another circuit that crosses the path. Such an unwanted connection can break the whole logic.

[gheift]

A limit can be added later, that's easier than removing a limit

I disagree, if the wireless communication is designed with limit in mind, you already have separate networks in the core, even if e.g. names matches. If you do not implement the limits in the first place, a global table has to to be splitted up later.

I think of it like this:

• there is a antenna station with a name (like a train station) to which you could connect a red and a green wire network
• the antenna station connects to all antenna stations with the same name in a given range
• all these antennas form a network, over which the signals will be transferred

The code to form a network exists for roboports, it must only be extended to work with antennas and their names. The connection to the wire network is also easy to implement: each antenna is like an electric pole (which perhaps consumes power) and is virtually connected to a virtual pole for the wireless network (same area & name).

[ssilk]

That's not how wireless network works.

A wireless network knows not stations but frequencies or better channels. There is no network, there is just a list of stations connecting to this channel. It works in the end exactly like the circuit network, but in truth that is also nothing else than a list of connected devices.

[gheift]

Thats what I wanted to express: each antenna station uses a name, which equalize a frequency channel in real world. Each antenna has a limited range (as in real life) and can only communicate with antennas in this range. To simplify the game, each antenna repeats the signal to those antennas in its range with the same name. So this group of antennas with the same name and in range of each other forms a network.

[ssilk]

Ok, but what I wanted to say is that - unlike the real world - we have here no physical limitation. It's much easier to implement this in the first version without limit. And later a station can implement a limitation. But I think this is too much detail for this suggestion.

[Amegatron]

I want to add my vote for such a feature.

I imagine it such: we have a special entity called e.g. transmitter. It has a parameter like "Frequency" at which it transmits all incoming signals to some range. Also there is a receiver which can listen at a specified frequency. Both receiver and transmitter can dynamically change their frequencies using specified input signal. That will ease the creation a centralized control center, which will monitor ouposts' states, looping through a range of frequencies.

[MeduSalem]

I imagine it such: we have a special entity called e.g. transmitter. It has a parameter like "Frequency" at which it transmits all incoming signals to some range. Also there is a receiver which can listen at a specified frequency. Both receiver and transmitter can dynamically change their frequencies using specified input signal. That will ease the creation a centralized control center, which will monitor ouposts' states, looping through a range of frequencies.

The transmitter and the receiver could be basically the same item, but a switch inside the menu decides if it acts as transmitter or receiver.

I'm also for the idea of having the frequencies which basically act like different networks which are broadcasted from the same tower being able to be manipulated with a signal.


It would be very nice to have that... because it really becomes tedious to get circuit network stuff all the way out to the outposts or getting a wire through your entire factory to the other side for some reason.


The transmitter building would have to be of decent size of course and require energy... so that it can't be abused in small builds. Locally the red/green wire should still be the way to go.