Wiring overhaul

[deer_buster]

This is a multiple part suggestion for reworking both normal wires and circuit networking wires, since we don't have enough colored wire types to do what I think we should be able to do.

1) All powered items would get connected explicitly with copper wire, just like everything in the real world does now. The "supply area" would be the linkable area for power consumers, whereas the "wire distance" would be for connecting transmission poles to each other.
and/or
2) Red/Green circuit wires would go away completely, as they wouldn't be needed anymore
3) Items that can be connected to the logistics network would simply select a network and provide the signal conditions (example: chest would need to get wired and would still only provide contents, but it could provide contents to network 123 (which sums up all the chests at the train station, such that it can be displayed or passed on to somewhere else on the network), network 234 (which sums up only the 6 chests servicing this side of the cargo wagon), and network 345 (which only provides contents to the inserter to determine when the inserter should operate)
or,
4) Add additional colored wire (blue maybe???)

Item 1 is optional
Item 4 is either/or with 2 and 3

[tobsimon]

I like the idea and want to add wires on the ground.

Directly wiring every electric entity with a hanging wire to the top of the pole will probably lead to tent like structures obscuring the view and visibly conflicting with the movement of inserters.

Wires from poles to consumers should lay on the ground and connect to the base of the pole, where they are connected with the overhead wire, optionally by means of a transformer propped to the pole. Wires on the ground should support the chaotic look of factorios structures. They should lay on unobstructed tile borders so that they can be placed in between entities, but not under / through entities spanning several tiles. Their placement should be automatic while building.

Signal wires should be placed in the same fashion, so that that many of them will create the impression of a circuit board. While adjacent combinators should connect directly without the need for a wire, crossing wires shoud not connect, unless they are explicitly connected with a thick dot, much like in electric scematic drawing.

[chaossdragon]

I like the wire to ground idea... add in a 3rd concrete craft to include copper wire and any building or powered structure placed upon it will be powered.

Functions alot like substations but is scaleable with its placement... downside is the same as normal concrete and its ease of spreading polution.

[leoch]

Directly wiring every electric entity with a hanging wire to the top of the pole will probably lead to tent like structures obscuring the view and visibly conflicting with the movement of inserters.

Already happened to me a lot. Makes it very hard to see what's connected to what.

I have some ideas to clean up the wiring a bit (while also being more powerful), but it's a breaking change.

- Replace "red" and "green" with a single "cable bundle" (could be black, green, or whatever). There's nothing wrong with the existing red/green except that it can get crowded, only allows two distinct signals, and would be even more confusing with more colours.
- The cable bundle would have multiple internal wires, each with a colour code (e.g. 10 using resistor colour codes)
- Each wire could still carry multiple pieces of information (e.g. "10 iron plates, 1 iron stick"; no change here)
- Inserters, chests, etc. could only interact with one wire, so on chests you'd pick a wire colour, accumulators you'd pick a colour and symbol, smart inserters you'd pick a colour and symbol to compare
- Combinators could interact with one or two input wires and one output

[deer_buster]

I like this...

- Replace "red" and "green" with a single "cable bundle" (could be black, green, or whatever). There's nothing wrong with the existing red/green except that it can get crowded, only allows two distinct signals, and would be even more confusing with more colours.
- The cable bundle would have multiple internal wires, each with a colour code (e.g. 10 using resistor colour codes)
- Each wire could still carry multiple pieces of information (e.g. "10 iron plates, 1 iron stick"; no change here)

but, I don't like this....

- Inserters, chests, etc. could only interact with one wire, so on chests you'd pick a wire colour, accumulators you'd pick a colour and symbol, smart inserters you'd pick a colour and symbol to compare
- Combinators could interact with one or two input wires and one output

[Daz3]

More wire colours sounds good to me. As for the.... um, haywire nature how about hiding wiring, except in ALT view and when holding wire?

Just a minor point; coloured wire should be craftable from normal copper wire and back again. It makes no sense to make a red cable with a copper cable and a circuit board! Added to that you lose the wire if you decide to disconnect it! (I can handle that with power lines, else people could spam out a load of poles and disconnect them for free wire. But not when it's taken boards AND wire to craft and can only be placed manually.)