Auto coloring Train Stations

[Arcani_Victus]

For the sake of future generations I humbly request your consideration

TL;DR

The ability for train stations to set color through circuit.

What?

Could it be possible to do something similar as the Selector Combinator and its ability to output stack size by inputting an item? Instead you input an item signal into the train station and it sets its color to the predefined color of said item?

Why?

This life is about automation and we can now set trains to automatically change color depending on destination station color and automatically set parameters on station blueprints; however, we are forced to manually edit each and every station’s color….DISGUSTING!

Thank you for your time and for existing! Wube, like factorio, is amazing. I look forward to this feature in a coming update. <3



Don’t forget the children!

[IsaacOscar]

Well now your asking for Wube to assign a colour to every single item in the game...
Which is a lot of work! (although this mod has already done that, https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Automatic_Train_Painter, and they include colours for many other mods)

Also, you might find this mod useful https://mods.factorio.com/mod/automatic-station-painter

[Arcani_Victus]

Well now your asking for Wube to assign a colour to every single item in the game...
Which is a lot of work! (although this mod has already done that, https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Automatic_Train_Painter, and they include colours for many other mods)

Also, you might find this mod useful https://mods.factorio.com/mod/automatic-station-painter

I know I ask a lot, but I believe in Wube! As for the mods, they don’t exactly resolve the current dilemma in the most elegant manor. That’s two scripts that I would have to have running constantly while playing. In fact, I am currently playing the game the way the good lord intended, modless.

I believe Wube can do it better and maybe just hadn’t thought of this ideal yet, but once they do will be inspired to go forth and impress.

[Muche]

I'd say assigning colour to a train stop could work the same way a lamp colour is set - mapping / components / packed RGB.
Then if you want some mapping from item to colour you can use a simple circuit, such as

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

Copy blueprint

[Arcani_Victus]

I'd say assigning colour to a train stop could work the same way a lamp colour is set - mapping / components / packed RGB.
Then if you want some mapping from item to colour you can use a simple circuit, such as

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

Copy blueprint

That is a bit more complicated then what I was referring too. I feel like the logic from the train auto color to station and Selector Combinator stack size setting merged into something simple and easy. My 2.0 train stations already have a constant combinator feeding a signal of the item into a Selector Combinator to handle item stack size for math. I could feed that constant combinator into a second Selector Combinator wired to the station for setting the color.

[Muche]

That is a bit more complicated then what I was referring too.

I'm not sure what you mean.

Of the two constant combinators in the BP, one is simulating input.

The other contains colour definitions; I don't see any way you can get rid of it to allow players to customize item to colour mapping.
Or do you mean that it should be hardcoded that an iron-ore station is always a certain shade of blue, a copper-ore a certain shade of red and I could not make all ores to make the same colour, because that's how I want my trains to work?

Of the two active combinators, decider is filtering the signals, arithmetic is renaming the signal for the lamp.
It can indeed be made using only one arithmetic, at the price of putting more limits on input signal - applicable item signal has to have value of 1.

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If that's what you have/can guarantee, you've saved one combinator. If not, you have to add a decider [item>0 -> item=1] anyways.

[Arcani_Victus]

That is a bit more complicated then what I was referring too.

I'm not sure what you mean.

Of the two constant combinators in the BP, one is simulating input.

The other contains colour definitions; I don't see any way you can get rid of it to allow players to customize item to colour mapping.
Or do you mean that it should be hardcoded that an iron-ore station is always a certain shade of blue, a copper-ore a certain shade of red and I could not make all ores to make the same colour, because that's how I want my trains to work?

Of the two active combinators, decider is filtering the signals, arithmetic is renaming the signal for the lamp.
It can indeed be made using only one arithmetic, at the price of putting more limits on input signal - applicable item signal has to have value of 1.

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

Copy blueprint
If that's what you have/can guarantee, you've saved one combinator. If not, you have to add a decider [item>0 -> item=1] anyways.

My apologies, but, I feel we are misunderstanding one another.

My suggested way of Wube to implement my ideal is as such.

Currently the new Selector Combinator (added with 2.0) has a predefined table of every item in the game from which it pulls stack size data from and out puts as a signal.

Therefore, I figure something similar could be done for item colors. Then allow the station color to be set via that signal.

Another option even more simple is just feed the item signal directly into the station and it pulls the color from a predefined table of items and their corresponding color.

In either suggestion it would require only a single Combinator, selector or constant respectively.

[Muche]

Indeed.

The core misunderstanding seems to be that items don't have any game-related colour associated with them.

Iron ore definition

Code: Select all

{
  type = "item",
  name = "iron-ore",
  icon = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore.png",
  pictures =
  {
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4},
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore-1.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4},
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore-2.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4},
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore-3.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4}
  },
  subgroup = "raw-resource",
  color_hint = { text = "I" },
  order = "e[iron-ore]",
  inventory_move_sound = item_sounds.resource_inventory_move,
  pick_sound = item_sounds.resource_inventory_pickup,
  drop_sound = item_sounds.resource_inventory_move,
  stack_size = 50,
  weight = 2 * kg
}

They have defined stack size and weight (transformed into rocket capacity), but no colour.
(color_hint is a text hint used for show-color-hints advanced hidden setting.)

Yes, theoretically it would be possible to take icon graphics and average all pixels to get one colour.
(Even averaging could be done in two ways - ignore black background pixels, or count them in.)
I just don't see how useful it would be to do that. Colour coding trains and stops is highly subjective.

For example, based on icons, iron ore would be bluish-grey (similar to water, speed modules, solar panels, chemical science pack), iron products (plate, steel, gears, barrels) would be grey, as would be bricks, concrete, refined concrete, solid fuel, calcite, steam, and military science pack.
Do you assign different colours for these items, or do they share the same colour in your trains?

[Arcani_Victus]

Indeed.

The core misunderstanding seems to be that items don't have any game-related colour associated with them.

Iron ore definition

Code: Select all

{
  type = "item",
  name = "iron-ore",
  icon = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore.png",
  pictures =
  {
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4},
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore-1.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4},
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore-2.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4},
    {size = 64, filename = "__base__/graphics/icons/iron-ore-3.png", scale = 0.5, mipmap_count = 4}
  },
  subgroup = "raw-resource",
  color_hint = { text = "I" },
  order = "e[iron-ore]",
  inventory_move_sound = item_sounds.resource_inventory_move,
  pick_sound = item_sounds.resource_inventory_pickup,
  drop_sound = item_sounds.resource_inventory_move,
  stack_size = 50,
  weight = 2 * kg
}

They have defined stack size and weight (transformed into rocket capacity), but no colour.
(color_hint is a text hint used for show-color-hints advanced hidden setting.)

Yes, theoretically it would be possible to take icon graphics and average all pixels to get one colour.
(Even averaging could be done in two ways - ignore black background pixels, or count them in.)
I just don't see how useful it would be to do that. Colour coding trains and stops is highly subjective.

For example, based on icons, iron ore would be bluish-grey (similar to water, speed modules, solar panels, chemical science pack), iron products (plate, steel, gears, barrels) would be grey, as would be bricks, concrete, refined concrete, solid fuel, calcite, steam, and military science pack.
Do you assign different colours for these items, or do they share the same colour in your trains?

Yes, my thought was they could add a RGB code specific to each item much like what the factorio cheat sheet site has listed. However, that might be more involved than I think.