Splitter Priority Filter

Buzzec · Post by **Buzzec** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 5:43 am

TL;DR

Add a new ability for splitters to prioritize filtered items, rather than force.

What ?

Currently splitters have a single way to filter items, what I call "force" mode. In force mode splitters will force all the selected items down one path and jam if there is no space for those items on the selected path. While this is useful in some scenarios, I propose is a new mode on them that allows for those selected items to be prioritized down the filtered lane and, if that lane is full, they will allow them to continue going as to not jam the splitter. All non-filtered items will still be sent down the non-filtered path. I don't propose this as a replacement for the current method, but as a new setting. Realizing that UI clutter is opposite to what the devs want, the UI for this addition could just be another switch, or extending the current UI switch to have 5 positions where force is the outer 2 and prioritize is the inner 2, or some other beautiful way that I haven't thought of (I'm a back end developer so I there is no way I can make "Beautiful").

Why ?

The recent addition of capabilities to the splitter greatly improved the game and sent my mind crazy with cool new ideas for how to play the game, however many of these ideas are not feasible without these additions. There are some really cool projects that can be made with this that I think would improve the game as a whole. It would allow for more creativity in some of these designs without removing or changing old ones. I tried to mod this in but realized I didn't have the time to learn how to do that, so if some intrepid mod developer could I would be eternally grateful! This would add to my enjoyment of the game and be a welcome addition by both sides of bots vs. belts!

Hedning1390 · Post by **Hedning1390** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:32 pm

You can accomplish this with 2-3 splitters. Not everything has to be solved by the game rather than the player imo.

Buzzec · Post by **Buzzec** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:08 pm

Hedning1390 wrote:You can accomplish this with 2-3 splitters. Not everything has to be solved by the game rather than the player imo.

Not for some of the designs I had in mind, but of course there are other ways to solve problems than these designs (infinity many in fact!). The addition I propose would not detract imo from those other designs, just add new functionality and room for creativity for new ones!

Hedning1390 · Post by **Hedning1390** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:07 am

Creativity comes from dealing with restrictions imo. Imagine playing tetris with only the long straight pieces. Pretty boring.

This function doesn't take much space at all. Not more than a lane balancer. Maybe you want splitters to have an option to lane balance too?

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