Factorio Forums

It's not a crucial necessity, but I have run into situations where it would be useful to have long-handed filter inserters, especially in the pre-logistic robot game. And it seems weird that there's regular and filter inserters, stack and stack filter inserters, but long with no long filter inserters. It just feels like an easily fixable oversight.

How about moving the filter function off onto circuits?
So instead of having a 'filter [x] inserter', you have an '[x] inserter' and hook it up to a circuit network to set a filter value. the same way you currently do for circuit controlled filter inserters. This saves two item types, gives you long handled filters, burner filters, ect.
Downside would be it forces more use of circuit networks, if that's considered a bad thing.

dangerous_beans wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 26, 2019 4:41 am

How about moving the filter function off onto circuits?
So instead of having a 'filter [x] inserter', you have an '[x] inserter' and hook it up to a circuit network to set a filter value. the same way you currently do for circuit controlled filter inserters. This saves two item types, gives you long handled filters, burner filters, ect.
Downside would be it forces more use of circuit networks, if that's considered a bad thing.

if factorio has a problem, it is the steep learning curve new players face. hiding filter functionality behind the 'circuit netwok wall', would only serve to make the game much harder for beginners.

A long handed filter inserter sounds like a good idea to me.

SkiCarver wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 26, 2019 11:21 am

if factorio has a problem, it is the steep learning curve new players face. hiding filter functionality behind the 'circuit netwok wall', would only serve to make the game much harder for beginners.

I do not think this would be a problem, as easy single item filtering can currently be done using splitters.
Removing the different kind of filter inserters would only help streamline them, and remove any confusion a new player has about the workings or benefits of using them.

I'm pretty much sure this will not be added in the base game, but you can find such things in several mods.

Long-handed filter inserters in the vanilla game

These would be useful in situations where you need to reach over a belt to grab one type of item off of a multi-item belt.

I agree with you, but must stress because you've only posted one post, that if you're placing in an assembler or furnace the arm will only grab what can go into that device, no filters required.

merged with super identical subject

Opinion about this is still the same: will not come, part of game, removes game-value (opinionated), lots mods exists.

I think it's probably just one of those things they want you to figure out a workaround on your own. There's no way it wasn't considered by the devs.

Most of the time I use long-handed inserters as a hack, it's to feed an assembler, in which case they already work perfectly. Every other time normal (filter) inserters or splitters do a better job.

It seems to me that these would mostly only increase options for condensed spaghetti builds, but those are already pretty unorthodox and require a detailed understanding of mechanics to be good, and most importantly, are already at or past the point of what would be considered "normal gameplay", with the qualification that the game should be designed primarily around "normal gameplay".

Basically, long-handed inserters are somewhat of a niche and a filtering variant feels like it would be overkill. (Heck, if you ask me, a larger somewhat related issue is that filter stack inserters only have one filter slot - also no doubt a conscious design choice.)

MEOWMI wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:41 am

Basically, long-handed inserters are somewhat of a niche and a filtering variant feels like it would be overkill. (Heck, if you ask me, a larger somewhat related issue is that filter stack inserters only have one filter slot - also no doubt a conscious design choice.)

Actually, that's what I thought at the beginning, but I have come to using them pretty often, for recipes that need at least 2 belts as input (as long as one of them is not a high item count ingredient on a quick recipe):

Legend :
>>>>>>>> = belt
V = long hand inserter
X = assembling machine

>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
VV
VV
XXX
XXX
XXX

I agree it does use up 1 extra tile, but it's so convenient to just plonk down a square of 4 identical inserters
I sometimes even use them to output on a belt that's one tile further. It costs one tiny bit of extra resource compared to the regular inserter, but that's a price I'm willing to pay to satisfy my laziness (all the inserters can be set by un "U" motion in one swipe).

I would agree, that is a very legitimate use of long-handed inserters, one I think is fully justified too. My main idea was that they're niche in what they do that short inserters can't. The use is almost always with production machines, where filtering is almost never needed. Mods that needed it would undoubtedly consider adding such inserters themselves.

Oh yes, I would never use long handed inserters for filtering purpose. I have (stack) filter inserters, and, even better, splitters for that.