Shouldn't unmerging a belt be as simple as merging it?

[js1]

I completely agree, lack of one tile "T-wedge splitter" annoys me to no end. On a related note, 1-2 tile lane exchanger and some really simple (1 tile) belt crossing would be cool too, but these are not so important.

I often used both sides of the belt for different things, since I tend to create very compact factories. For example, I use combined red circuits/wire belt in red circuit production. Then I separate them. I have combined coal/stone belt, where the coal output is then fed to grenade factory. Etc.

[cyjackx]

I think my biggest issue with this is... it just doesn't make logical sense.

Yes, I agree that building creative setups out of a minimal number of pieces is part of the appeal of factorio. But, let's imagine you're an engineering designing a product line of belt pieces to sell.

Would you:
A) Design in the piece that splits lanes, because all it takes is adding a single curved divider between the two lanes to direct them to different belts?

or

B) Tell all your customers that they don't need the 1 tile solution because a more expensive 6 tile solution already exists?


From another standpoint, if you're actually building this, would you rather:

A) Place a little metal divider on a single piece of belt

or

B) Place an expensive splitter, then dig two tunnels underground so that you can use a non-intuitive approach to a simple problem?

OK, Factorio is a fictional world. But a key element of fiction is "plausible suspension of disbelief", and Factorio is also all about efficiency - in the real world, the lane splitter is such a painfully simple, obvious, and intuitive piece that no real designer would even remotely consider skipping it in favor of the underground belt solution.

My thoughts exactly.

Also, people saying some variant of "just design your factory differently" is not a useful response, as couldn't that claim be made towards any complaint?

I can certainly understand an argument about its priority amongst other issues.

[Zavian]

You could also argue that using mixed belts doesn't make sense. I've been in a few factories that used conveyors, and I don't recall any of them having 2 separate products on the one conveyor. So another solution is just to remove the second belt lane.

[js1]

You could also argue that using mixed belts doesn't make sense. I've been in a few factories that used conveyors, and I don't recall any of them having 2 separate products on the one conveyor. So another solution is just to remove the second belt lane.

Correct. But I think two sides of belt in Factorio are there originally for aesthetic reason. Having belts on square tiles with just one side and huge item on it wouldn't look good, and it would be confusing to look at. Thin belts with just one lane wouldn't look good either, I suspect.

[Zaflis]

Short answer don't merge two belts, if you later want to separate them.

Longer answer: I understand that building something to separate 2 belts isn't obvious to new players, but it can be done with just a few belts. (And if you only want one of the output lanes, then you don't even need the splitter).

unmerge..png

Just have to agree on some, that using underground belts like that looks bad. It's not creative, it's just... 100% vote on some sort of way to split a single belt. It could even be a single belt sized object that blocks other side path. It could even be some blocker object you drop on a belt, which doesn't move or let items to pass on side it's put on.

[Engimage]

While underground split is a nice feature I would be glad to see an entity like two belt pieces tail to tail which will effectively split belt left and right. This way you got this one to get closest lane and underground to get farthest one to the turn

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[CLion]

While underground split is a nice feature I would be glad to see an entity like two belt pieces tail to tail which will effectively split belt left and right. This way you got this one to get closest lane and underground to get farthest one to the turn

i thought about something like this (the tile in the red box, i did it with paint so don't judge )

facb.png (95.05 KiB) Viewed 5894 times

[Zavian]

People keep missing the point. The devs don't want to add more items that make it easier to do things you can already do. Splitting a lane off a belt can already be done.

[5thHorseman]

People keep missing the point. The devs don't want to add more items that make it easier to do things you can already do. Splitting a lane off a belt can already be done.

So can loading coal into a furnace. By that logic, why do we have 6 inserters after the burner?

[Engimage]

While underground split is a nice feature I would be glad to see an entity like two belt pieces tail to tail which will effectively split belt left and right. This way you got this one to get closest lane and underground to get farthest one to the turn

i thought about something like this (the tile in the red box, i did it with paint so don't judge )

Exactly

People keep missing the point. The devs don't want to add more items that make it easier to do things you can already do. Splitting a lane off a belt can already be done.

While I am well aware of it and I do keep reminding this to others I do find this one really simple, intuitive and functional so there is a chance such entity will be added

[js1]

i thought about something like this (the tile in the red box, i did it with paint so don't judge )

This is a very nice one. I hope it will be added one day.

Maybe it could be crafted with a simple recipe from two belts.

[ManaUser]

Do any mods add something like this? It seems like such a simple thing, I'm just wondering if maybe there's some reason it's harder to implement than it sounds.

[Zaflis]

There was at least this one but 0.12 and later broke it
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=6227

[Tekky]

The belt sorter mod sends items to a different belts lanes depending on item type and filter settings. I guess it should not be too hard to modify the mod so that it filters according to input belt lane instead of item type.

[Engimage]

I think that introduced changes on a splitters namely filtering will allow to effectively split different sides of the belt if they carry different items. So maybe this entity is not that needed anymore

[Tekky]

I think that introduced changes on a splitters namely filtering will allow to effectively split different sides of the belt if they carry different items. So maybe this entity is not that needed anymore

Yes, maybe not as necessary anymore, but, as a sushi belt user, I still would find it useful to be able to handle each belt lane individually, instead of having to apply all filters to both lanes of the belt.

[TheRaph]

I would vote for this easy lane-devider too!

Like the Idea and missed it much in game.