"...honestly really surprised that neither this or the well planner mods offer that as an option"
I'm surprised you are surprised by it. Surely you don't expect everyone to make extensive use of beacons? I, for one, hardly ever use them. I don't like them at all. So since I made P.U.M.P., to compliment my play style, and my play style doesn't include beacons; beacons are not supported as an option.
P.U.M.P. is not about making optimized layouts, it only exists to avoid the hassle of pump and pipes that can't be blueprinted. P.U.M.P. is for the lazy people who just want oil flowing; not for the optimizers that want to get every last drop out of their fields. You will make better oil fields without P.U.M.P. if that is your goal, as P.U.M.P. also does not take flow rate limits into account or any other consideration in terms of productivity. It only connects pumps and pipes and tries to be tidy. That's it.
I am aware other people use beacon's though. And I have considered it at some point. But as you also express; you will (and the online topics I found in general speak of) add beacons to oil fields that are older and have their pump rate reduced. So it would be a bit weird to plan a field with beacons, if you don't want to use them straight away.
There's also the matter of scope. I think it would be more suitable for a dedicated "beacon placement" mod, that does exactly as you ask, but works not just for oil wells, but for any part of the factory you happen to select. Maybe a mod like that even exists already? As I don't play with beacons I never looked for it.
I hope that addresses your surprise. To summarize:
- I (the author) don't use it at all;
- As far as I know, people typically don't use it at the moment the field is first made;
- P.U.M.P. isn't really intended for the people that do use beacons to that extent;
- I believe it's a functionality better suited for a dedicated mod;
That said;
Thank you for letting me know you have an interest in beacons being included in the planning logic. If enough interest is expressed, I might gain motivation to add it, too. It will always be secondary feature though. For instance, it won't adjust the pipe layout to make space for more beacons. It would be pipes first, then power, and if there's enough space; also a couple of beacons. Switching that order will add a level of complexity I'm just not interested in pursuing. So it would be equivalent to the hodge podge you mention you make yourself.
Also, 'Module Inserter' mod might be a bit of help in the meantime;
P.U.M.P. will make a function-call to 'Module Inserter' to add modules to the pumps it just placed. I know it's not beacons, but at least it can do some modules. And I bet 'Module Inserter' might be a small assistance when adding modules to your beacons too.
