TL;DR
The main view should have options to filter out layers to see and reach what is below it.What?
The minimap has buttons to enable or disable overlays like train stop names, pollution, logistic areas, ...I want the same for the main map extended to physical things. So a few layers immediately spring to mind:
1) Trees and rocks. This is the first you notice on a new game. Is there ore under those trees or have I reached the end of the patch?
2) Surface entities. Similar to trees and rocks you sometimes wonder what is beneath all those buildings you put up.
3) Logistic/Construction areas. How often have I've run out of the logistic are and have all the logistic bots turn around and not deliver me personal items? It is very annoying to run around a map with little holes in the logistic coverage but sometimes there just isn't a good spot to pßlace a roboport for full coverage. And you are bound to run through that tiny little dead zone, guaranteed.
4) Radar, Turret Range, Power pole, Roboport range. There is an area shown (on the minimap for radar) when you have the item in hand. But this could be another layer too. The area covered by the item in hand vs. area covered by existing entities should be (more) different. It's hard to see where areas overlap, impossible with roboports.
5) Elevated rails. They cover so much both visually and selection box wise. It's really hard to work beneath them.
The game could have options for the transparency of each layer when not selected instead of fully hiding the layer. So elevated rails could be set to e.g. 50% transparent. That would probably be even more useful than an on/off option. You would still see them but seeing what's beneath them would be easier and when turned transparent the layer should not be considered for selection. And no surprises that there is an elevated rail support in the way where you want to build a miner.
Why?
I always found it hard to select a belt stuck behind a tree, Most of the time I end up felling the tree just to select the belt. There usually is a selection box to still get the belt from behind a tree but it's something like 2x2 pixels.Seeing where resource patches are with trees or buildings on top is hard to impossible. Or with patches near rails: Is there ore left under the rails? If I'm running out of iron it becomes a pain to check for the last bits that you might have built over. Often you simply have to tear it all down and then build it back up.
With elevated rails this becomes much worse. There are so many way for elevated rails to hide and cover other entities that make interacting with them very hard or impossible. I already had to use a deconstruction planer with filter to remove several entities from behind elevated rails. Trying to connect circuit wires or changing the settings is a nightmare.
