Factorio Forums

I do a lot of factory clean up and maintenance in map view, for example, clicking on a train stop to rename it or to look for the lost trains that should be servicing that stop.
It would be very useful if I could also edit circuits in map view mode, as all my train stops are controlled by circuits.
Specifically my blue print puts down Decider Combinators whenever I place train stops and I would like to open them from across the map and change them from coal(blueprint) to iron when I rename the train stop to accept iron.

+1

Since we already have the ability to fiddle with ghost entities, trains and train stops anywhere that is covered by a radar, we should really be able to edit anything that doesn't require picking up or placing down resources in the same way.

Inserter filters/stack size overrides, combinator settings, circuit/logistic connection settings, chest limits, train wagon filters, there's probably more that I forgot. Even red/green/power wire connectors between entities, since they don't require any resources to place if placed by blueprint.

Also rotation (at least for belts and inserters) would be good in map view.

I believe combinators should be accessible from the map view. Here is my reasoning.

1. Many people use designs where combinators are used to determine personal train contents, and call the trains to themselves from across the map. Currently, one must build a combinator near them, copy the combinator, and paste it over the combinator across the map. This would be much easier/less tedious if combinator settings could be changed from the map view.

2. Power switches are already accessible from the map view, why not combinators?

3. Combinator settings are copy-paste-able, so this would not be affecting game balance.


Does anyone else agree? If you disagree, why so?

PS. Dear Devs, I am not saying there is anything wrong with the game, and am not trying to be rude(if it came across that way). I really love the game as it is, and don't want to degrade or insult you or your work. Please take these suggestions kindly.

You know that you can create a blueprint with that combinator nearby and paste it over in map view? That’s my method to fix this problem.

Because if you allow that, you need also to allow fixing inserter conditions, train stops, change receipts, change modules, ... and so on, which would be a very big change in gameplay.

TL;DR

Players should be able to view/modify entities at a distance using construction bots.

What ?

When outside of the character reach-range, clicking on an entity that has an interface should bring it up in "view-only" mode. In this mode, settings cannot be changed and inventories cannot be accessed, only viewed.

If the entity is in roboport construction range, allow settings to be marked to be updated/changed by the bots.

Why ?

It is frustrating to run across the entire map to view/check a setting on an entity. It is equally frustrating to run across the map to modify a single attribute (say a combinator setting).

We can already do this in an extremely round-about way by placing the entity next to the character, modifying the setting, then marking the old entity for deconstruction, then copy/pasting the new entity into the spot of the old entity.

So, in terms of this change "making the player too strong" or "map view too op", I would disagree, since the capability is mostly already there. It just makes things much cleaner/easier for the player.

Additionally, the hover-over UI for what's in an inventory can sometimes be very large and difficult to read. Having a read-only mode at range would just be a much easier way to see what's contained inside an entity.

saors wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:13 pm

When outside of the character reach-range, clicking on an entity that has an interface should bring it up in "view-only" mode. In this mode, settings cannot be changed and inventories cannot be accessed, only viewed.

If the entity is in roboport construction range, allow settings to be marked to be updated/changed by the bots.

Agree to both but let it be separate research.

ssilk wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:06 am

joined with same topic — ssilk

Thank you for merging this, sorry for not seeing it earily (I did look first, I swear!)

Hi, I suggest to allow the player to set-up entity details while being also radar view only (i.e. the player itself somewhere in the distance)

Currently there is a very annoying difference while editing details of an entity (recipe of assembler, on/off rules for inserters, logistic requests/filters for chests etc.) :
- if you are near the entity, you can do everything
- if you are looking through map view (assuming you have radar coverage) you cannot change anything -> which might look logical until you realize that if you build (e.g.) a chest with the desired rules or assembler with the desired recipe next to you, you can copy-paste the rules over to the entities in the map view.

Which is kind of annoying - I can't change the chest directly, I have to build the chest, set it up, copy, paste and then deconstruct because I built it only to copy the rules to an entity somewhere else.

Yeah, it's a bit silly TBH, but you can click paste most configurations in map view. Just need to remember to do it, I guess.

The only one that is a true hassle with no good workaround is adding modules to assemblers. Except maybe a mod, which may or may not work between versions.

That one is particularly irritating as you have to deconstruct the original entities and build a whole new one (with modules).

If you're intent was upgrading a lot of entities to have modules, that is a lot of needless bots flying around.

Hopefully they'll fix that in the expansion pack. It seems to me to be a trivial fix, just allow empty -> module in the upgrade blueprints, but who knows what the code looks like. Sometimes wube doesn't seem to know either

joined with existing subject

I also point to other similar threads around this problem:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=87011 Increase player reach for things you can do with blueprints
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50138 Opening entities and placing wires from map
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=84697 Better UX for placing, removing, and configuring ghost structures
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57028 Allow adjustment of constant combinators from the map screen
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48625 Allow changing entity settings from radar remote view


My personal opinion: add a research to allow step by step accessing remote objects.