TL;DR
Virtual parameters could make parameterized blueprints much smarter and less clunky to create/edit.What?
My suggestion is 2 things:- Allow adding parameters for blueprints without them being subjects within the blueprint. Having a constant combinator just so i can introduce a parameter makes creating/editing very clunky and error prone in a bunch of scenarios i ran into.
- Allow editing of blueprints via selection to edit items and pick virtual parameters. Ideally allow me to move objects or add objects to blueprints, without having to paste and reselect contents
Want to use the actual value 1 in one place and a virtual parameter that defaults to 1 somewhere? not an issue with virtual parameters.
Want to have multiple parameters that should default to 1 but have different effects in subsequent formulas/combinators? not an issue with virtual parameters.
Why?
Factorio is about automating things. While parameterized blueprints made things in that area much better, it always felt like a feature that is very good, but not perfectly implemented. Implementing this would turn creating/editing such blueprints into a breeze that can take seconds rather than minutes.Try the blueprint below, pick a resource and play with the values. You will understand the problem immediately. (Assume you always want train limit 1)
I am trying to make a requester station where i request 2 train loads, with 2 wagons (which already is impossible, because they need to have different values to be configurable, thus the values are 1 and 2) and have a train limit of 1. However because i created the blueprint with train limit 1 the value is replaced with the value of other values that are also 1 (which in this case P is 1).
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