Show belts without items?

[pat]

One problem that I have once I've upgraded my belts is that I can't tell if I've missed a spot. The belts are fully loaded with gear and I can't see the color. Is there any way to show the belts without anything on them?

[Hedning]

No, but you can drag a blueprint or the deconstruction planner over the area and it will tell you if there is any lower grade belts there.

[MartianDragon]

Yeah, the best way would be to set a deconstruction planner to remove only the lower grade belts and drag it across the region in question. Any lower grade belts will stop working and be highlighted with red cross.

[Nailfoot]

I use the upgrade planner mod (will break achievements) to make short work of these types of problems.

Set the filters as you want, and drag a box around the whole base, or whatever section you want to upgrade. You can actually downgrade, too. Its more of a "replace this with that" mod.

You could replace power poles with burner inserters if you were crazy....

[jonbrave]

I asked exactly this question a couple of weeks ago https://steamcommunity.com/app/427520/discussions/10/1696045708651115231/. I miss spots when upgrading sometimes. It's annoying, and it seems there is no easy way to see this.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by jonbrave:

I asked exactly this question a couple of weeks ago https://steamcommunity.com/app/427520/discussions/10/1696045708651115231/. I miss spots when upgrading sometimes. It's annoying, and it seems there is no easy way to see this.

If you miss upgrading a belt, all belts after it will not be fully compressed. So in a straight run (a main bus for example) it's easier to see.

But if the belts are part of a subfactory (green circuits, etc) then it can be hard to see. The upgrade planner mod can help.

IF you don't mind disabling achievements.

IF you are careful to mark the entire area. I will often drag an area 2 or 3 times.

[pat]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

If you miss upgrading a belt, all belts after it will not be fully compressed. So in a straight run (a main bus for example) it's easier to see.

That's fine if the items are moving at full tilt. But backed up items look the same on all belts.

btw - I have no need for achievements.

[piccolo255]

Originally posted by pat:

btw - I have no need for achievements.

In that case, here's the link: Upgrade Builder and Planner[mods.factorio.com]

Edit: You may also want to try this one: Technicolor belts.[mods.factorio.com]

This mod is for those people who are sick of hunting down wrong-colored belts in their factories. It solves the problem by making the color of the belt glaringly obvious.

It hasn't been updated to 0.16, but it's trivial, you can do it yourself (explanation how is in one of the comments).