As I wrote here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21928&p=192361&hili ... ce#p192361 (Remove or Miniaturize Circuit Networks), it would be an option to have a own surface for the circuit-network only.
It would be still be possible to built circuits on the world-surface, like now. But (after some research?) you can built them also in the "underground".
Some advantages of this:
- You can create the circuits below the devices that you want to control.
- No need to put the circuits at the sides of your factory-setup and no need to lay long wires.
- No serious space-issues like now.
- In that circuit-surface you cannot run around, so you can be in good-mode, which means, you have no problems with walking/reaching/wiring.
- If you switch into this surface you have a different tool-setup, which makes wiring much easier (cause you don't need to handle with stacks).
- More realistic-/better-looking setup of factories.
- Differentiate between factory-device-setup and control-setup (enable for example to separate blueprints between devices and control).
- Easier setup/view of how the combinators are configured. The surface can display the configuration of combinators constantly, cause you have more space.
- Easier documentation of how things are wired.
- Enables nice orthogonal setup of wires (instead of hanging around).
- More than two wire-colors is much easier to implement.
Disadvantages:
- not longer "what-you-see-is-what-you-play" (only if you have a display-mode, that shows both surfaces into one).
- Needs complex display options to overlay one surface with the other (or something similar), cause you need to make connections between both surfaces to cable the devices.
Separate Switched Electric Networks - More than one Electric Network on a Pole
Now, when you think this to the end you come to a point, that if you put the circuits into another surface, you make the poles free for new usages. Cause the two current spaces on the poles for the wires (cables are electric network, wires are circuit network, see wiki!) are now not longer needed anymore (**).
The poles would be free to have up to three power-wires: one "unswitched" (like now in the middle) and two "switched networks". They should have also different color, to distinct them (of course not red and green). [I think to some kind of "shimmering" cables. Shimmers, when there is power on it.]
In other words: You can use this two pole-spaces for "Switched Electric Networks". See as a reference this suggestion: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30477 A better Way to Built Electric Network / New way of connecting to electricity
In my eyes this would make much more sense, than now. Power and control on one device is in reality also not so often (I know that high voltage cables are controlled like so).
(*) In short: a surface in Factorio is an own game-world-layer
(**) Of course this is upward-compatible to the current behavior (as said above: it is still possible to built circuits like now).