Configuration & usage

[Choumiko]

Usage:

• Place the FARL on the tracks, connect cargo wagons, fill them with rails (and big electric poles/signals if you want them placed too), get in the locomotive. When it's on a piece of straight tracks, press Start, drive it manually like you would a normal train. The recipe gets unlocked with rail signals.

Configuration:

• Basic
  • By default FARL uses big/medium electric poles, placed 1 tile to the right of the tracks. To change the side use the checkbox in the gui.
• Advanced
  • Create 2 blueprints with your desired layout, place them in your hotbar and click Read blueprints. Done!
    Take a look at the demo save for example blueprints (FARL 0.3.31)
    To get concrete into one blueprint with tracks and stuff see this reddit post

Console commands:
/c remote.call("farl", "setCurvedWeight", X) --replace X with a number, weight for curved rails

Console command that should help when the gui isn't showing when you're in the train or recipe doesn't get unlocked:
/c remote.call("farl", "reset")

[Choumiko]

General rules
When defining blueprints for FARL, there are a few basic rules:

• You need at least one electric pole in the blueprint, if there are more than one, FARL will use the one with the longest reach to determine when to place a pole (e.g. big and medium pole in the blueprint: FARL uses big)
• Rails have to be either going vertical/horizontal or diagonal. Don't mix them in one blueprint
• When using more than 1 rail you have to add a chain signal to one track. The other rails need normal signals, facing in the direction you want the trains to go
• You can add any type of entity. Those entities will be placed with every pole. The only exceptions are walls and concrete/tiles, these get placed for every track.

bpExample.jpg (289.65 KiB) Viewed 88701 times

left of the pole: Trains travel north, right of the pole: trains travel south (north-east south-west for the diagonal blueprint)

Clearance area
By using wooden chests in your blueprints you can increase the area in which FARL removes trees and stones (and rails, poles, signals, lamps when in maintenance mode).
It's only really needed when using maintenance mode to "downgrade" a layout to a smaller size.
In the image below imagine you want to downgrade from 4 lanes to 2 lanes. Simply reading the 2 lane layout into FARL would cause only they grey area to be checked. Using the wooden chests increases that area to the proper size. It basically tells FARL where you clicked/released the blueprint for the old layout (the box in the image)

clearance.jpg (553.93 KiB) Viewed 88572 times

Outdated

FARL tries different pole positions to place them at the maximum possible distance. In the images below you can see these positions marked blue/red for straight/diagonal rails. For big poles it uses the center (the star)



Note the ghost of the curved track: FARL handles curves like 2 tracks, one straight and one diagonal. To make sure it can place the poles you can build your layout replace the blue/red dots with poles and try placing a real curve instead of the ghost. If you can place it, FARL should be able to always find a valid position for the poles.

Collisions

The first image shows a valid blueprint (to the left) and one of the positions how FARL tries to place it. The second image shows an invalid blueprint, as one of the possible positions will cause a collision

[Tashen]

Stupid question I know, but how do I get the command window to open to turn Farl on?

[Choumiko]

You just enter the FARL and the gui appears. If it doesn't: Factorio + FARL version and screenshot would be nice

[irbork]

Why 2 blueprints?
Is one for right side other for left; or different for horizontal/vertical/diagonal; or one for medium pole and the other one for big pole?

[Choumiko]

One for horizontal, one for diagonal. Each blueprint needs at least a rail (vertical or diagonal from southwest to northeast) and a pole (either big or medium). You can read them one after one. Left/right placement of poles depends on where you place them in the blueprint. Traveldirection is assumed to be up/SW to NE.

[cpy]

Can FARL be used to create 2 way tracks? Right moving trains so they always ride on right side. So it places signals so 2nd track uses signals on opposite side so you can create 2 way tracks on one go.

[Choumiko]

Can FARL be used to create 2 way tracks? Right moving trains so they always ride on right side. So it places signals so 2nd track uses signals on opposite side so you can create 2 way tracks on one go.

No, it can't (at the moment), I might add it in at sometime

[jockeril]

Can FARL be used to create 2 way tracks? Right moving trains so they always ride on right side. So it places signals so 2nd track uses signals on opposite side so you can create 2 way tracks on one go.

No, it can't (at the moment), I might add it in at sometime

I'm OK with FARL not doing two-way rails - I do one way and then place a BP of the circle with two straight rails & signals, run through that (the bots in my inv. build the circle while I ride the FARL slowly) and then I go back the way I came !

Straight and simple

[cpy]

if you're making complicated turns it's really hard to guess and turn at speeds when you need to move precisely

[ssilk]

Yes. It would be super useful, if you can switch into a mode, where I can use the mouse (again):

- Need to stop train
- switch into planning mode
- move mouse on screen: The track is painted in real time from the top of the FARL to the mouse - ghost like. (*)
- when pressing mouse: The track is placed immediately. (**)

(*) It doesn't need to look like real tracks, simple dots for each rail would be enough.

(**) An alternative way would be, that the FARL works like a personal roboport in that case and if equipped with bots they will place them.

[Choumiko]

Can FARL be used to create 2 way tracks? Right moving trains so they always ride on right side. So it places signals so 2nd track uses signals on opposite side so you can create 2 way tracks on one go.

FARL can now do that (even more), see the demo save in the first post

[cpy]

HOLY CRAP! Dual tracks! Man you just made super awesome train!
I wonder if i can use MK4 big electric poles that have 2x the distance of big electric poles in blueprint.

[Choumiko]

HOLY CRAP! Dual tracks! Man you just made super awesome train!
I wonder if i can use MK4 big electric poles that have 2x the distance of big electric poles in blueprint.

Yes and no. You can use them, but (at the moment) FARL uses medium or big electric poles only. If you only use a MK4 pole it will say invalid blueprint, if you use a big pole and your mk4 it will place the mk4 whenever it places a big one, pretty much ignoring that it's a better pole

[Anomoly2012]

I have a good understanding of this mod.. i have watched several LP's in which ppl use it and even explain its functions..

I have the blueprints working to set down 4 lanes.. with poles, signal's and lights.. so onto my issue..

Maintenance mode... my understanding of this it would pick up existing tracks as it was placeing new track off of a blue print.. but every time i check the box for it my train just sits there and runs and does nothing... as i have a pre existing 2 lane track that is 1 line off of where i am trying to lay the new 4 lane tracks..

What am i not doing or understanding??? i will attempt to find another video in hopes to get a better understanding of this mod.. as my future base intentions may require upgrading to a 6 lane and possibly an 8 lane if my base continues in its current rate of expansion...

Thanks for any assistance...

A++

[jhyatt]

You said you have an existing 2 lane track?

Make sure when using maintenence mode the track the farl is on is a track that doesn't change.

[Choumiko]

Maintenance mode... my understanding of this it would pick up existing tracks as it was placeing new track off of a blue print.. but every time i check the box for it my train just sits there and runs and does nothing... as i have a pre existing 2 lane track that is 1 line off of where i am trying to lay the new 4 lane tracks..

Your understanding seems mostly correct i think. I tried a 2 lane to 4 lane maintenance which worked:


As jhyatt sais, FARL wont relay/replace the tracks he is driving on (yet). So one lane of your existing setup will have to stay in the same position.

[Anomoly2012]

Maintenance mode... my understanding of this it would pick up existing tracks as it was placeing new track off of a blue print.. but every time i check the box for it my train just sits there and runs and does nothing... as i have a pre existing 2 lane track that is 1 line off of where i am trying to lay the new 4 lane tracks..

Your understanding seems mostly correct i think. I tried a 2 lane to 4 lane maintenance which worked:


As jhyatt sais, FARL wont relay/replace the tracks he is driving on (yet). So one lane of your existing setup will have to stay in the same position.

Ah ok i see my mistake.. Ther is infact place holders in the same line as where i am laying tbe new track.. This must be what is causing my issue.. Thanks.. I will remove them and then check to see.. But yeah i have a new 4 lane i wish to lay with my old 2 lane in the block to tbe right.. So by having it place poles, signals and the track of course with maint mode clicked it should remove my old 2 lane.. Will it also remove the old poles as well as signals and lights? Or is that something i need to do by hand..

Thanks.. I love this mod.. I am a train enthusiast.. My main reason for playing factorio tbe way i do..

A++

[Choumiko]

Will it also remove the old poles as well as signals and lights? Or is that something i need to do by hand..

In maintenance mode it will remove tracks, poles, lamps and signals (and trees and stones that are in the way)

[bloodgiver]

@Choumiko,
I have a simple question regarding maintentance mode in diagonal:
- How to make it work?

image

Nearest of farl train is my BP test, to see if it works, next is BP itself, and on the left is the maintentance...
As soon as I hit start - it deactivates immediately.
Please help!