can train lines be used to automatically update all connected trains?
Lets say I have a train line for Oil, All my oil pickups are called "Oil pickup" and are disabled when they don't have enough oil for pickup, so I only need to set one stop on my trains, but lets say I add a new stop that I don't want called oil pickup and instead Oil Fields or something. is it possible to edit a single train and add the new Oil Fields stop, and change the train line to add the new stop to every single train connected to the oil trainline automatically? or do I still have to change the oil line and set it to every single train on the list.
I prefer not to open up such "automatic" functionality, or direct editing of existing lines.
Think of what "automatic update" really is! It is not just simply a change in line, but ALSO the next station "index" in each train of the line! Say, if the current line go through stations "A C D". Now one changes it to "B C D", and want to apply such change to all trains of the line.
So what would be the best way to assign the next station "index"?
1/ Every train is reset, assigned to go first station of the line. (Station B)
2/ "Smartly" determined, based on the existing index. (Trains going A will be changed to B. Else not changed.)
3/ Simply stop all the trains (change to manual mode). Let the controller decides when to start running and which station to go.
Method 2 sounds ideal. But in practice, the "smartness" is very dependent on how the conditions are set. Say you do not set it to "B C D", but other possibilities like "A D", "B C E", "B C D E", etc. Then it would to be rather complex to setup the "right" set of conditions. Not to say, it would require me to spend quite a lot of time to program (and debug) these conditions.
Method 1 is much simpler, but could cause havoc if the user just intended to make a small modification to the line. Because trains in a long journey (in a big map, or if some users prefer long list of stations in schedule) will be unconditionally recalled to the first station.
So method 3 is the only feasible one. And this is *not different" from what you can currently do: filter to list only trains of the line, click a train, "load line" button in schedule GUI, "go to station" button to assign where to go.
So opening up such "automatic update" functionality does not add much benefit to what can be done now.
And think of in real world. Lines are rather infrequently changed. If the change is significant enough, the new line name (or line number) would be assigned.
And another question, is it possible to set a train on the edit boxes by clicking it in the world somehow? I only have 20 trains but I expect to make a ton more and searching through the list of all trains can be a bit annoying at times. being able to click on the freshly placed train would be nice.
I would love to.
Yet I am not a Factorio game developer, so it is limited in how well I can integrate my part into the game. I will see how to achieve this.
For now, you can use the buttons to only show trains in manual mode. This will avoid a lot of searching for the newly-placed trains.
