Circuit wires not consumed when placing via blueprint.

[virginmoon]

I'm on version .17.25 and I just noticed something while building a rail yard. I had all elements placed for a 20-space loader yard then went back and added circuit wires to detect material levels from the chests and disable the rail stop if there are not enough materials. Then I made a blueprint of JUST the chests and rail stop with the circuit settings. When I then took that blueprint and laid it on top of the other stops the circuit network was created as intended but the red wires weren't consumed from my inventory. Placement was immediate so it wasn't the result of construction bots.

[Koub]

Not a bug : Wires built from blueprints are "for free". They are created out of thin air.
[Koub] Topic moved to Not a Bug.

[Ultros]

Not a bug : Wires built from blueprints are "for free". They are created out of thin air.
[Koub] Topic moved to Not a Bug.

Is there a rationale for the wires being consumed when designing the blueprint but not when placing it? I can't seem to find a discussion for this anywhere.

[Koub]

Design decision by the devs long ago :
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4877

[robot256]

The free blueprint wires are there because consuming them as part of a bot placement was too difficult to program. It would be nice if they made manual wires behave the same way, but I think it's either very low on their list or considered an incidental incentive to use bots. There is a mod that makes them free (as toolbar buttons).

[invisus]

I always assumed this was intended to work around the situation where, lacking enough wires, the circuit network is created incomplete or lacking connections that would cause the configuration to be lost when not placed as a "complete" system.

Basically, I see it as an easy way to assure the integrity of the circuit network as saved in the blueprint.

That said... what do I know?