Changelog

Version: 1.4.69
Date: 2026-10-19
  Optimizations:
    - Resume suspended belt, fluid and dense-layout searches directly instead of rebuilding their surrounding stages every tick.
    - Keep only planner-used Helmod recipe data in generation jobs.
    - Skip identical layouts and stop candidates whose existing routing failures already exceed the best result.
    - Keep deterministic operation budgets and serializable search state for save/load continuation.

Version: 1.4.68
Date: 2026-10-18
  Features:
    - Add selectable bottleneck policies: multiple chosen inserters, faster researched inserters, 1x1 loaders, or automatic.
    - Discover researched modded inserters and supported loaders, with a saved exact loader choice.
    - Check both machine input and output transfer, including hand size, research, motion and belt handling time.
    - Add feeder splitter bypasses for input loaders without disconnecting downstream consumers.
    - Reserve machine fluid ports and reject branches that would collect an unrelated belt.
    - Report unresolved per-machine transfer limits with resource names and required/available rates.

Version: 1.4.67
Date: 2026-10-18
  Features:
    - Generate blueprints cooperatively between game ticks, including resumable belt and fluid searches and dense layout refinement.
    - Report the current stage, layout candidate and elapsed game time in chat, without a progress window.
    - Add /bfh-cancel and /bfh-take commands.
    - Preserve the existing cursor item during generation and safely retain completed blueprints when the cursor cannot be cleared.
    - Store deterministic generation state in the save so work can resume after loading.

Version: 1.4.66
Date: 2026-10-18
  Features:
    - Add optional DisplayPlatesForked integration and a saved GUI checkbox.
    - Label every external item belt with the required resource icon.
    - Pass incoming belts beneath 1x1 plates using matching underground belts when space permits.
    - Keep connected belt and fluid inputs aligned on one accessible face.
    - Place a label beside the inlet when an inline tunnel cannot safely fit.

Version: 1.4.65
Date: 2026-10-18
  Bugfixes:
    - Fill both side feeder belts between the input header and the production body for short machines, including 2x2 furnaces.
    - Avoid the one-tile gap on each side without duplicating existing header or body belts.

Version: 1.4.64
Date: 2026-10-18
  Changes:
    - Add two-dimensional placement refinement with whole-block quarter-turn rotations.
    - Consider the positions and directions of connected input and output ports.
    - Preserve approach space for item and fluid connections during packing.
    - Support rotated belt branches and pooled producer connections.
    - Build shared item routes towards distant consumers before adding nearer branches.
    - Prevent routes from entering a target belt in the opposite direction.
    - Validate underground belt pairing before selecting a placement.
    - Complete the transport loop for odd machine counts with three or four solid ingredients.

Version: 1.4.63
Date: 2026-10-18
  Graphics:
    - Added a custom blueprint and conveyor thumbnail for the mod list and portal.

Version: 1.4.62
Date: 2026-10-18
  Changes:
    - Add compact rectangle packing alongside dependency-stage layouts.
    - Compare multiple packing widths and clearances, prioritizing connected routes and smaller area.
    - Validate complete fluid-network connectivity and repair or reject fragmented routes.
    - Prevent underground pipe mouths from overwriting their own route start.
    - Cluster all external belt and fluid inlets on one accessible left-hand face.
    - Protect exterior approaches and list the inlet order in the blueprint description.
    - Mark the project as an unfinished personal development build.

Version: 1.4.61
Date: 2026-10-18
  Bugfixes:
    - Reject item-consuming recipes in the fluid-only grid template.
    - Restore registered solid inputs and complete input headers for multiple processing-unit assemblers.

Version: 1.4.60
Date: 2026-10-17
  Bugfixes:
    - Pool producer flows when one belt can carry the combined resource.
    - Allocate demand across parallel suppliers and merge only at consumer routes.
    - Require straight belt approaches before inserting splitters.
    - Support rotated consumer merge splitters and endpoint merges.
    - Respect recipe input/output-relative fluidbox indices.
    - Reject overlaps between surface junctions and pending underground pipe mouths.
    - Prevent overlapping collinear pipe tunnels inside a new route.

Version: 1.4.59
Date: 2026-10-17
  Bugfixes:
    - Convert Helmod counts using recipe.base_time before planning belt capacities.
    - Check selected input/output tiers separately and sum mixed output flows.
    - Respect input lane allocation and integer machine subgroup sizes.
    - Give single-machine two-ingredient blocks dedicated input belts.
    - Add input inserters where planned flows exceed estimated arm capacity.
    - Add opposite-lane outputs when unequal machine banks overload one lane.
    - Use the faster selected tier for shared connections between blocks.
    - Report belt or inserter-space capacity limits without silently promising throughput.

Version: 1.4.58
Date: 2026-10-17
  Bugfixes:
    - Rebuild fluid networks from actual rotated machine connection ports.
    - Remove template pipes overlapping belts and inserters.
    - Isolate neighbouring fluid ports using underground pipe escapes.
    - Route one connected network per fluid; keep independent blocks isolated.
    - Report fluid routing failures together with belt routing failures.
    - Keep detailed diagnostics in the log instead of flooding chat.
  Changes:
    - Compare placement candidates by occupied area and logistics cost.
    - Keep cyclic recipe groups within dependency placement planning.

Version: 1.4.57
Date: 2026-10-17
  Changes:
    - Keep two active modes: connected and independent blocks.
    - Disable bus selection; migrate previous bus settings to direct connections.
    - Arrange connected blocks by recipe dependencies and supplier-consumer ordering.
    - Try wider placement gaps or original placement when routing needs more space.
    - Preserve vertical recipe rows for independent blocks.

Version: 1.4.56
Date: 2026-10-17
  Bugfixes:
    - Supply solid product metadata for fluid-input production grids.
    - Normalize optional block port lists and ignore empty skipped blocks.
    - Protect routing against absent input/product lists.

Version: 1.4.55
Date: 2026-10-17
  Features:
    - Add bus, direct connection, and independent block generation modes.
    - Branch direct routes for multiple consumers.
  Bugfixes:
    - Leave four empty tiles between blocks and the bus.
    - Connect the last bus consumer without an unnecessary splitter.
    - Scale subblock flows by the share of machines.

Version: 1.4.54
Date: 2026-10-11
  Bugfixes:
    - Leave room for bus splitters and reserve their outlets during producer routing.
    - Distribute consumer branches across available producer lanes.
    - Cover Helmod parallel blocks for 10 electronic circuits per second.

Version: 1.4.53
Date: 2026-10-11
  Bugfixes:
    - Route consumer branches around occupied cells instead of overwriting existing belts.
    - Plan connections before placement; rollback failed splitter branches.
    - Correct underground distance and prevent conflicting collinear underground connections.
    - Reserve future bus lanes and account for rotated entity footprints.
    - Report incomplete connections to the player.
  Changes:
    - Target Factorio 2.1, tested with Factorio 2.1.21 and Helmod 2.3.4.