User:GreyTheWolf
Welcome!
My name is Grey! I'm an engineer and avid Factorio player. I love working with trains and the circuit network! I have a lot of ideas for game additions to Factorio, I hope that someday they make it into the game!
My suggestions:
Electric train system: Adds electric trains and overhead power lines. Overhead power lines can be placed on tracks similarly to how rail signals can be, and will connect to other nearby power poles. If it is possible to path-find over rails from one power line to another within the connection distance, a wire is strung between them and the rails connecting them are considered a valid path for electric trains. Electric trains work exactly like regular trains, but only consider tracks with overhead power lines as valid. They can travel at much higher speeds, but go slowly if power demands are not fully satisfied, completely stopping upon loss of power. Manually-driven electric trains can still travel over regular rails, but will lose power immediately if they stray from power lines.
Advanced electric network management: Adds diodes, multimeters, and flow controllers. Diodes can be attached to the power network like switches can, with an input side and an output side. A diode will act as a power source for the output side, always producing exactly how much power is needed to fully satisfy the network as long as it is receiving enough from the input side. For the input side, it will act as a variable-consumption device, always consuming enough power from accumulators and generators for there to be a fully-satisfied output. It is possible for a diode to completely starve its input side of power while producing a steady flow for its output side. Multimeters can connect to power poles with a single copper wire, and will relay specific electric network details to the circuit network. It can relay total power demand, maximum power supply, satisfaction percentage, and total accumulator charge. Flow controllers act almost exactly like power switches, but allow only a certain wattage through based on a circuit network signal.
Advanced rail signaling: Adds priority rail signals and advanced rail signals, modifies all rail signals to have a speed limit option. Priority rail signals work like chain rail signals, reserving the next signal (and its block) for a train, but also allows the train to enter its block as long as it isn't already occupied. Placing a priority rail signal before an intersection can be used to guarantee that a train on a specific line will not need to stop when crossing, as all other trains attempting to enter the block through chain signals will see it as already reserved. Advanced rail signals completely override rail blocks, and can be controlled by the circuit networks. They have two states, stop and go, which can be either set in its menu or determined by a single circuit network signal. Speed limits can be set similarly to inserter stack overrides; they can be set manually, or controlled by the circuit network. Trains will need to slow their speed before entering a block, and cannot speed up until they have left it. Speed limits are useful in situations where players are around, like automatic rail yards. Manually-driven trains ignore speed limits.
Radar utility: Modifies radars to connect to the circuit network. Radars will now be able to relay data about their surroundings to the circuit network. Radars can relay how many enemies (biters and spitters) are within their active range, and how many spawners are in their active and passive range (based on the last scan/map update). This is incredibly useful for heads-up warnings, as well as security lockdowns and power diversions. Additionally, radars will be able to relay how many friendly players and enemy players are in their active range.
Special train stops: Modifies the train stop scheduler for all scheduled stops to have a stop type. There are four stop types; normal, refuel, repair, and idle. Normal stops are unmodified, they behave no differently than they already do. Refuel stops will only be visited if 1 or less fuel slots are filled. Repair stops will only be visited if the train is damaged in any way. Idle stops will only be visited if all other stops are disabled, and there is no need to refuel or repair. The order of stops is still preserved.