Factorio Forums

TL;DR

When updating a belt by running along it with the new belt in hand and mouse button pressed underground belts and splitters should be skipped.

What ?

When deconstructing multiple items the game will skip ghosts if the first item deconstructed was not a also ghost. I suggest doing something similar when replacing items. If a belt is replaced first then only belts will be replaced and underground belts and splitters are left alone. Or more general the first item replaced sets a filter so that only items of the same type are replaced when dragging the mouse instead of everything in the replacable group.

Why ?

When updating yellow belt to a red belt it makes sense to place the first red belt over a yellow belt and then run along the belt to keep replacing them. Quite frequently one then accidentaly replaces a splitter or underground belt. Repairing those mistakes is a pain. Simply having to stop at each splitter and skip it is annyoing. Having the game limit replacement to the first item replaced would make updating belts so much easier.

+1. While quick replacing of underground belts or vice-versa is really handy, in the situation you described it's really annoying.

See viewtopic.php?f=23&t=54987#p323863 and subsequent comments in that thread.

I feel that this is an early game thing only. Most of the time you play with only blue belts and then the more convenient thing is the way we have it now.

Needs a belt replacement planner.

Hedning1390 wrote:I feel that this is an early game thing only. Most of the time you play with only blue belts and then the more convenient thing is the way we have it now.

Note that it depends on a player. I am playing for a long time (my current SeaBlock save alone has 72 hours of active playtime) and I never produced a blue belt.