Blueprint separate wires

[hornetDC]

TL;DR

A checkbox in the blueprint tool, when checked power poles in that blueprint won't connect to poles outside of the blueprint.

Why ?

Better control over wire connections, easier to design and work with separate networks and power switches.

[ThePiachu]

TL;DR

It would be nice to have an option for blueprints to force strict wire placement - when the new poles are placed they ONLY connect to what is in the blueprint.

What ?

It would be nice to have an option for blueprints to force strict wire placement. Basically - any power pole that is a part of the blueprint will not connect to anything that is not and a part of the blueprint that had the wire explicitly. You could still have a nice power network grid by making a tileable blueprint with overlap (so say, a 3x3 big power pole connection, grid size 32 so there are some big power poles outside of your grid you still connect to and so on).

Why ?

I've been playing some Space Exploration mod and using the long connection Pylons it comes with. Since I also have some logic wires running along my rails, the Pylons end up connecting with way too many other Pylons and creating a bit of a wiring mess:

https://imgur.com/a/EfOaw42

If I had the option to force anything I put down in a blueprint not to connect to anything that is not part of the blueprint, that would be easily fixed. I'd wire things correctly once, and since I'm using tileable blueprints with overlap, everything would still be getting the power it needs.

This would reduce the amount of power connections we have to fix in order to have areally neat power running in the base...

[Koub]

[Koub] Merged into older thread with same suggestion.

[morsk]

In Patch 2.0 I am going to mod the max automatic power pole connections down from 5 to 2, or even 0 if we can still get connections with the drag-and-place mode with a limit of 0. I think this is a more general solution that not only stops blueprints from connecting in ugly ways, but will make it easier to design things right the first time, for people who like being more explicit with power wires.

But I'm imagining it, and haven't tried it. I would use the option here if it existed.

[FuryoftheStars]

I've always liked the mess of the wire connections. Personally, I think it fits the atmosphere and feel of the game.

While I can understand and would not want to say "no" to a suggestion for those that want neater wires, I wouldn't want to lose the "mess", either.

Just saying.