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Proposal for Blueprint Versioning that works now

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:02 pm
by Hydra
I'm new to posting in this forum so please bear with me.
I have a proposal to offer that allows blueprints to be versioned using a constant combinator in the blueprint.
This of course assumes that you have enough space in the blueprint for a combinator. It works well for the train blueprints I'm using and working with.
The idea is to set some values in the combinator. For this example blueprint the version is "v2.0". I set the combinator to output the following values:
  • v - 1000
  • 2 - 10
  • 0 - 1
Hover your mouse over the combinator and you'll get something resembling "v2 0". The dot is implied. The value assigned the output signal
is significant and places viewed output into the correct order. The v part is probably totally unnecessary but it helps with the intention of the combinator in the blueprint.

I did do a search to see if someone else had ideas about this, but they all involved game development changes. This is badly needed by the way.

What I like about my approach best currently is that my blueprints tend to undergo continuous improvement and I do bump the version number when
I make changes. Once I have a few hundred of these T intersections around my base, it's hard to tell what version a particular one was. By checking the
combinator value on it - I know if it needs an upgrade or not. I'm not sure how the developers might deal with that in game, or if they would even attempt it.

I'm attaching an image of a T intersection. It's RHD. (Any suggestions on signal improvements would be much appreciated.) This is the best
I've been able to put together without making a buffered intersection. I'll also try to insert the blueprint string for it so you can all try out what I'm suggesting and see if it has any merit. This isn't so much a proposal I guess as more of a guideline for players who produce blueprints.
Thanks for your time!

Re: Proposal for Blueprint Versioning that works now

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:18 pm
by Malandark
I too constantly update my blueprints, some more than others. What I do is simply name the blueprint with the next version number I'm using and remove any older copies I may have previously saved, much easier than fiddling around with a Constant Combinator?.

Re: Proposal for Blueprint Versioning that works now

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 9:46 am
by Koub
[Koub] Moved to ideas and suggestions subforum. Sorry I missed it the day it was posted.

Re: Proposal for Blueprint Versioning that works now

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:55 pm
by Hydra
Malandark wrote:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:18 pm
I too constantly update my blueprints, some more than others. What I do is simply name the blueprint with the next version number I'm using and remove any older copies I may have previously saved, much easier than fiddling around with a Constant Combinator?.
Yes, I update the title/name of the blueprint with the version number too when I make changes.

The point with the constant combinator was how do you know what you have placed in what location on the ground?
Using a constant combinator like I've outlined allows you to know what particular version of a blueprint you used to create a train station for example. I make changes to circuits often to get them to work better... I like to know that the station I'm looking at is an older version than what I'm currently laying down and that the station needs to be picked up and laid down again to get it to the newest version.
This is how I'm dealing with the situation of knowing what version a particular structure on the ground was built at.