Circuit network connections for splitters

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Cadde
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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Cadde »

morsk wrote:
Sun Nov 11, 2018 4:22 pm
I suspect a programmable filter is useless. Compared to the filter inserter, a splitter guarantees its item will back up, instead of passing through. Letting an item back up on a mixed belt is almost never what you want, as it easily deadlocks. If an item is so toxic to the system ahead of it that it's better to have backup than let it through, it should be filtered 100% of the time, not programmably.

I would absolutely use programmable priority though, even in early-game so my mall passively draws gears, but takes "all the gears" if buffers get low. (I've faked it with multiple splitters, etc., but I'd do this kind of thing more often if it were easier.) No harm in the filter either; I just don't see the point.
Cadde wrote:
Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:01 am
If neutral, left/right lane priority and filter signals are IGNORED.
If left AND right lane priority signals are high, it would default to neutral. Undefined state.
There is input priority too, not just output. That's making a lot of signals. Why not just <0, 0, >0 for each?
I use splitters for more than just backbones. I split items up from belts to their respective train loader and it would really help when i have an automated station (that is, items change based on what recipe it's currently doing) to set up which train loader gets what items.
I don't intend to explain the full picture here, but it's not a matter of "useless" when the problem is completely different from what you expected. There are no backups at that station, there never will be. If there are backups then it's intentional as i've stopped fetching items from that station.
No matter how hard you try, you will ALWAYS have a backup at some point unless you use ALL items equally. That's what buffers are for.

BTW, i don't want the items to just continue on someplace else. That item is at it's last possible stop.
And the type of item changes dynamically based on what's being processed down the line.

I wanted the signals rather than the <0, 0, >0 shenanigans because i truly hate conditions like that. It would still help to have dedicated signals that show at a glance what they are meant for. Rather than having A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Å, Ä, Ö, BANANA... What was "N" for now again?
A signal that reads "left lane priority" is so simple. In fact, there should be some other common type signals too. Not just colors and letters but "count", "alarm", "power on" and so on. Sure, many of the signals can use the respective items they refer to but the point still stands, sometimes you just need a "count" signal rather than using "C" because that's "count".

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morsk
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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by morsk »

Cadde wrote:
Sun Nov 11, 2018 10:33 pm
I use splitters for more than just backbones. I split items up from belts to their respective train loader and it would really help when i have an automated station (that is, items change based on what recipe it's currently doing) to set up which train loader gets what items.
I don't intend to explain the full picture here, but it's not a matter of "useless" when the problem is completely different from what you expected. There are no backups at that station, there never will be. If there are backups then it's intentional as i've stopped fetching items from that station.
No matter how hard you try, you will ALWAYS have a backup at some point unless you use ALL items equally. That's what buffers are for.
I'm not sure I have this right, but are you unloading mixed belts from trains, then using a series of splitters to separate them? I can see how that wouldn't deadlock, if you have enough buffers that 1 train load will always pass the splitters completely. Less sure why unloading mixed belts is a good idea, but I guess it's more modular.

I agree this is something the filter inserter won't do as well as a splitter.

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Maslofski »

so can we get this? im using them as a space efficient way to side load and wanted to hook em to a circuit so i dont have to manually set them for every smelter

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Serenity »

Maslofski wrote:
Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:17 pm
so can we get this? im using them as a space efficient way to side load and wanted to hook em to a circuit so i dont have to manually set them for every smelter
The filter is kind of unnecessary in this case. It works just well if you simply use the priority function

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Add the ability to connect splitters to circuit network

Post by MrBadDragon »

TL;DR
Allow splitters to become programatically "smart" in their operation.

What ?
Connecting splitters to the circuit network would allow for conditional branching of resource flows. I.e. the ability to have a splitter send items to one side as a priority based upon down stream requirements.
Why ?
You can do something similar by using circuits on belts post splitter, however the logic involved becomes tricky. What I was envisioning was being able to control the priority status on/off via a circuit condition. i.e. plant A was starved for a resource make the junction to that resource become a priority feed.

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Re: Add the ability to connect splitters to circuit network

Post by foamy »

I'd like to have full control of splitter filters, as well, like how filter inserters work. I'm not sure how you'd distinguish left from right, though.

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Re: Add the ability to connect splitters to circuit network

Post by ssilk »

Why double an already working function? You already admit it is possible to do “something similar by using circuits on belts post splitter”. What would make this a better game-play?
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Re: Add the ability to connect splitters to circuit network

Post by steinio »

ssilk wrote:
Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:57 am
Why double an already working function? You already admit it is possible to do “something similar by using circuits on belts post splitter”. What would make this a better game-play?
You can't set a priority in/output or a filter to belts. This functions are relatively new to splitters so you may have missed them.
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Re: Add the ability to connect splitters to circuit network

Post by MrBadDragon »

The first application came about when I wanted to set the priority function of a splitter to on when the number of an item down stream dropped below a certain number.

I was happy with two branches of my factory each getting 50% of the inbound resources, however the loads on each branch were not equal under certain conditions. One was producing gears for blue belt production, and when I initiated an upgrade process, the gear production would starve due to dimished resources. I have implemented a buffering system, but in order for this to be effective it needed to be disproportionately large leading to there being dead resources when the downstream demand subsided.

By being able to toggle the priority setting, I could run a significantly smaller buffer and when the levels of that buffer dropped below a set threshold, all resources were directed to that buffer. Once it had been replenished to a certain threshold, the condition would unset, and load would once again become 50/50.

To do this by circuits is very complex as you have to count belt contents across multiple belts, and then use the circuits to throttle each side of the splitter instead of just setting one flag if buffer < 500 (enable), and a second flag when buffer > 1000 (disable).

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Koub »

[Koub] Merged into older topic with same suggestion.
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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by sparr »

I, too, want this, but this would make me even more annoyed that filter splitters aren't locked behind filter inserter technology. Ever since splitter settings were introduced I have thought they were available too early and made early game base layout much simpler than it should be and was before this feature. I'd love to see this feature added AND splitter filtering be locked behind the filter inserter tech.

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Allow connecting splitters to circuit and logistics networks

Post by MiniHerc »

TL;DR
Let splitters be connected to circuit and logistics networks for automated control.
What ?
Imagine being able to set a splitter to change input or output priority or filtered item based on set circuit signals or logistics network conditions.

I see this working by allowing for 3 signals to be set, one for input priority (true/false = left/right, configurable for which), one for output priority (true/false = left/right, configurable for which), and one for the filter item (takes the signaled item and sets it as the filter).
Why ?
There is currently no way to change splitter lane priorities or filtering without manual interaction.

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Koub »

[Koub] Merged into older topic with same suggestion.
Also other related suggestion : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52674
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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by foamy »

sparr wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:02 pm
I, too, want this, but this would make me even more annoyed that filter splitters aren't locked behind filter inserter technology. Ever since splitter settings were introduced I have thought they were available too early and made early game base layout much simpler than it should be and was before this feature. I'd love to see this feature added AND splitter filtering be locked behind the filter inserter tech.
Agreed.

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Sad_Brother »

sparr wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:02 pm
I'd love to see this feature added AND splitter filtering be locked behind the filter inserter tech.
Agree. For example:
  • no filtering for yellow splitter
  • red splitter with one filter as now. (even if not after filter inserter, green circuit in the recipe as well)
  • blue splitter with two-four item filtering

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by NotRexButCaesar »

Sad_Brother wrote:
Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:52 pm
Agree. For example:
  • no filtering for yellow splitter
  • red splitter with one filter as now. (even if not after filter inserter, green circuit in the recipe as well)
  • blue splitter with two-four item filtering
+1
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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by foamy »

Sad_Brother wrote:
Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:52 pm
sparr wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:02 pm
I'd love to see this feature added AND splitter filtering be locked behind the filter inserter tech.
Agree. For example:
  • no filtering for yellow splitter
  • red splitter with one filter as now. (even if not after filter inserter, green circuit in the recipe as well)
  • blue splitter with two-four item filtering
Eh, splitters already have green (or red, in the case of express) chips in them, and I would prefer it if all splitters could be used for filter purposes. I'd just have it as a UI option that's unlocked via the filter tech.

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Sad_Brother »

And you do not want several item filter?

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by ptx0 »

seems more like a mod interface request than something that should be integrated into base.

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Re: Circuit network connections for splitters

Post by Impatient »

Sad_Brother wrote:
Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:52 pm
Agree. For example:
  • no filtering for yellow splitter
  • red splitter with one filter as now. (even if not after filter inserter, green circuit in the recipe as well)
  • blue splitter with two-four item filtering
I strongly oppose the idea of the different tiers of splitters having different characteristics, except speed.

Factorio came a long way to have splitters up- and downgradable. I don't want to see that hampered in any way.

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