TL;DR
Allow us to set different entity priorities in the blueprint, so ghost could be built in the specific order.What ?
There could be list in the blueprint to instruct robots which type entities should be placed first.Why ?
The player can start to use building in some degree while its construction is incomplete. It’s useful when building is a part of some “live” process. To achieve partial functionality, entities have to be built in the logical order.Example 1.
I create defense line when expanding into the enemy’s territory. I use artillery, so ghosts builds under bitter attacks. It’s a common situation when robots place some lasers and starts to build the wall leaving them disconnected and nobody knows when electric poles will be placed. Biters starts to destroy helpless lasers, bots rush to repair them and becomes destroyed too, and so on… It’s not good. I’d like to build in the strict order:
1. Wall. It can hold enemies while the rest is building.
2. All electric poles and substations.
3. Now lasers can be placed.
4. Rail. When tactical defense is set, I want my train to move further.
5. The rest stuff: radars, rail signals, provider chests etc.
Example 2.
There are some benefits to build production line in specific order.
1. All electric poles and roboports. I want connected roboports everywhere! It allows robots to complete following tasks.
2. Arithmetic combinators, deciders and constant combinators. If production line starts to work but its logic is not ready, then things can go wrong.
3. All belts, splitters, pipes, tanks and pumps. It’s nice to view general structure of the line in the early stage of construction. I connect line inputs/outputs at this time.
4. Furnaces, assembling machines, chemical plants and all inserters. Now the line can start to work even if construction is not yet fully completed.
5. Beacons and speed modules.
6. Productivity modules. It less important to me.
7. And finally... Only now the decoratives like concrete are allowed.