A view mode that ignores elevated rails

[RusselRaZe]

TL;DR
Elevated rails become see-through and non-existant to the cursor with a toggle.
What?

A view mode that essentially lets us ignore elevated rails so that when we place buildings or click drag to copy-paste or deconstruct things, elevated rails and supports are ignored. Something that could be easily toggled on and off like alt-view.

Why?
When design factories under elevated rails, it can be hard to see what's going on and there is also the risk of accidentally messing with the rails, causing issues with the train network. For instance, if I'm designing a factory around elevated rails and need to deconstruct a specific entity, but it's completely blocked by the elevated rails, I have to deconstruct the rails to do so, and then put the rails back on, which could lead to potential problems.

Also, in general, would be a nice QoL to be able to see things underneath the rails so they're not as obstructed.

[Brathahn]

i second this.
in places like this, its really hard to see or change things if there are elevated rails on top

2024-11-19 13_34_09-Factorio_ Space Age 2.0.20.png (473.75 KiB) Viewed 98 times

maybe a solution like rollercoaster-tycoon where you could make the rides transparent but still see a hint of them would be a good idea:

2024-11-19 13_39_29-OpenRCT2.png (120.15 KiB) Viewed 98 times

2024-11-19 13_39_49-OpenRCT2.png (118.06 KiB) Viewed 98 times

[Tinyboss]

Yes, I would love this, too. It's easy enough to just not build under an elevated rail if it's already there. But for me the main benefit of elevated rails is that I can run them through my existing base, which is convenient and looks awesome. But by definition I end up with a bunch of stuff directly underneath the rails.

[IsaacOscar]

Stupid me ran my elevated rails next to normal rails (for fun, no real reason), and now trying to add signals or connect to one of the two rail lines is a nightmare...

[IsaacOscar]

Perhaps alt-mode can be extended to make them translucent or something like ghosts (but a different colour)?

[Tinyboss]

Perhaps alt-mode can be extended to make them translucent or something like ghosts (but a different colour)?

Maybe the "toggle rail layer" hotkey could keep its current function when we have a rail in hand, but hide/show the elevated rails otherwise.