[2.1.12] Parameters are replaced as the same value even if they are different, if they have the same default value

[taori]

I have created a blueprint with several parameters with 111, 222, 333 in the original layout. When creating the blueprint i set some of those values with the default of 2.

When i place the blueprint and then insert 2 3 4 or 4 3 2 they are all replaced with the last number i insert.

I have provided a savegame with the blueprints attached to verify it. it also contains the blueprint of the structures prior to creating the blueprints

[Rseding91]

Thanks for the report however as I understand parameters - this is working correctly. The way parameters work is to take the value-in-the-blueprint - in this case "2" and substitute it for what ever you pick when placing the blueprint. If you have multiple with the same blueprint-2-value then the last one found overwrites all previous ones. Parameters are a find-and-replace-value system without any extra linking of where the source came from.

[taori]

Personally, my problem with calling this "not a bug" is, that it really is. I have seen variations of this report through search. It appears multiple times. Especially with my blueprint you see that the outcome the player / BP creator expects, is not what happens. By merely explaining that the algorithm works the way it was intended to work, you cannot just simply call this "not a bug".

The blueprint allows for creation of parameters which are simply ignored and from a BP user side are completely random.

The blueprint does not tell you with a warning that works this way, it simply ignores your values.

It also does not prevent you from creating parameters that will be completely ignored, because of how the parameter system works.

That is like creating a car and selling it, and when customers come to complain that it only works if you drive downhill, you tell them it is not a problem. It was designed to only work in that way, not in the way everyone would expect it to work.

Judging by the videos i have seen of kovarex fixing bugs in factorio, i cannot imagine him looking at this issue and being like "nah. this is not a bug". There are a dozen posts the forums here, with people reporting it (where you know not everyone invests the time to reproduce an issue and report it) and hundreds of people on reddit pointing out the issue. Please take a proper look at this before claiming it is not a bug.

[Rseding91]

I understand your thoughts on this however Kovarex is the person who wrote this system and decided this is how it should work.

[danbopes]

This is buggy behavior, and was definitely one of the more annoying encounters I had with trying to use the system. I've seen several YouTubers who have encountered the same things to spin into circles trying to find workarounds re-tweaking numbers, which makes them unable to set sane defaults because if the values overlap they get merged in silently, and break what the user intended.

The current system was a great starting point, especially considering the complexity constraints and the push to ship without bloating the blueprints. That said, the parameters could really use a proper polish pass. There’s a ton of active discussion around improving the parameter system right now, so hopefully some of those ideas can make it in before we wrap up development.

[Loewchen]

Personally, my problem with calling this "not a bug" is, that it really is.

A bug is behavior unintended by the developer, in this case it is behaving as intended. You can open a topic in Suggestions to change the intention but it is not a bug.

[robot256]

Here are the Suggestions threads to reference:

Main thread on parameter merging: viewtopic.php?t=129487
Other threads that mention parameter merging:
viewtopic.php?t=131657
viewtopic.php?t=128745
viewtopic.php?t=135283

Other threads on creating/editing additional parameters:
viewtopic.php?t=116330
viewtopic.php?t=120332
viewtopic.php?t=127485
viewtopic.php?t=128281
viewtopic.php?t=133723
viewtopic.php?t=135002