Electric Pole Power Wires (In Blueprints)

[DrNorbet]

Is there a way to turn off auto wiring when placing a blueprint and just get it to stick to the wiring in the blueprint?

It's hard to explain but when you have a nice wiring setup and then break it down into different blueprints and place them, it turns into a cats cradle when you overlay them back together. All the poles are within reach so there is no need for it to go out of its way.

[Morsk]

There isn't. I agree this would be very nice to have. I almost never want a blueprint's wires to connect outside itself. It may need 1 or 2 connections, and I'd rather do them manually. Alas.

[DrNorbet]

Originally posted by Morsk:

There isn't. I agree this would be very nice to have. I almost never want a blueprint's wires to connect outside itself. It may need 1 or 2 connections, and I'd rather do them manually. Alas.

😢

[Vyndicu]

There is a way to de-connect and re-connect wires between power poles.

First, hold a copper wire (not the red/green wire but the raw copper wire) in your hand.

Click on a power pole and another one with an ugly wire you don't want. The wire will disappear, and you can click on another power pole you want to connect to look nicer.

Alternatively, you can hold shift and click on a power pole to remove all wires at once from that specific power pole.

https://wiki.factorio.com/images/Disconnect_power_pole.gif

From https://wiki.factorio.com/Copper_cable

[sooshon]

Originally posted by Vyndicu:

There is a way to de-connect and re-connect wires between power poles.

First, hold a copper wire (not the red/green wire but the raw copper wire) in your hand.

Click on a power pole and another one with an ugly wire you don't want. The wire will disappear, and you can click on another power pole you want to connect to look nicer.

Alternatively, you can hold shift and click on a power pole to remove all wires at once from that specific power pole.

https://wiki.factorio.com/images/Disconnect_power_pole.gif

From https://wiki.factorio.com/Copper_cable

I think the OP knows this...but doing it on a large scale blueprint just for the sake of cleaning up wiring would be cumbersome and impractical, the whole point is to automate building large scale things, I've been bugged by the same thing with wiring in blueprints, sometimes it changes the aesthetics of the wiring : )

[Vyndicu]

Originally posted by sooshon:

I think the OP knows this...but doing it on a large scale blueprint just for the sake of cleaning up wiring would be cumbersome and impractical, the whole point is to automate building large scale things, I've been bugged by the same thing with wiring in blueprints, sometimes it changes the aesthetics of the wiring : )

What I posted is good enough to fix one or two bad spots in a blueprint.

The OP didn't say how large their blueprint is. So I assume that the problematic area is small enough.


There is a mod that also does it automatically on a large scale.

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/power-grid-comb

[DrNorbet]

Originally posted by sooshon:

I think the OP knows this...but doing it on a large scale blueprint just for the sake of cleaning up wiring would be cumbersome and impractical, the whole point is to automate building large scale things, I've been bugged by the same thing with wiring in blueprints, sometimes it changes the aesthetics of the wiring : )

Correct.

Originally posted by Vyndicu:

What I posted is good enough to fix one or two bad spots in a blueprint.

The issue is when placing blueprints not the blueprints themselves, it makes new connections with existing entities. I just don't want to have to manually remove the automatically made connections once the blueprint has been placed down - I am not talking about altering an existing blueprint

[Chindraba]

I often have the same problem, and for a solution which is neither manual nor requires changes to the print I've found none.

If I have to, and it's a seldom used case, I'll take the time to use the manual wire removal. I dislike that for a few reasons. First and worst is that it's a manual process in an automation game. Second is that what is, or is not, connected and when is, within the limits of my knowledge of game internals, unpredictable, as well as often anti-aesthetic. Lastly, doing so requires the physical presence of the player. Bots cannot be used to disconnect or rework wires, power or signal.

The best work-around I've found for prints I know I will use often especially as tiles, or for when I'm designing a complete system to be rebuilt in pieces, is to have the in-reach power poles from one print on the side of the next print with either the correct wiring or no wiring. Either case will be respected by the bots during construction. Especially when there's a big pole or substation involved, it has the extra benefit of helping my to "key" the prints so that when I place them, and I'm off-by-one, it won't place without using the Shift key to force it, giving the error of something, usually the pole, being in the way.

By the way, my work-around for taking the train trip out to fix it myself is to "copy" the offending section from map view, paste it by me, make the corrections. "Copy" the good version then clear the cursor with "Q". Back in map view I have the bots deconstruct the offending poles, then I "Paste" the fixed version. The game will remember the last "copy" and make it available when I use the paste function. (It actually will remember several and you can "scroll" through them by getting one in the cursor with "paste" and then shift wheel scroll through the list. Handy when I've got several offensive wires to fix.)

[Vyndicu]

Originally posted by DrNorbet:

The issue is when placing blueprints not the blueprints themselves, it makes new connections with existing entities. I just don't want to have to manually remove the automatically made connections once the blueprint has been placed down - I am not talking about altering an existing blueprint

Was the power-grid-comb mod not working to remake physical entities' power connections? At least, that was how I understood the mod to be working.

[Chindraba]

I cannot speak for other's experience with the comb, though I have tried it myself. It did perform as promised, while it did not perform as expected. Bot-placed wires are free, so reducing them isn't important as a cost issue. My goal in controlling wire placement is, primarily, for looks, especially from map view. In map view, if done will, it also helps me see the division between power grids when I make them. The results from the comb were, technically, correct, with reduced cat's cradle effects. They were not always, or honestly often, pleasing in my eye.
Performance aside, there are two other problems with the comb. Firstly, as in doing the same thing by hand, it is using a tool to semi-automate within a game where automation is the theme. It is more automatic than manually applying the changes, yet is still an extra step above placing the prints. The second issue is that it is a mod and using it removes the ability, even if temporarily, to get Steam achievements. It also removes the distinction of being a "vanilla" map. In fairness, the vanilla issue wasn't specified by the OP, and for their purposes the comb may well be a solution. For my uses it would be nice to have a box or option somewhere which prevented the game from auto-connecting poles without direct need. It is especially annoying when I have multiple power systems, under switch control, in a space where wire reach allows the game to cross connect them, removing any effect the switches have on the intended target. Even the comb couldn't fix that issue, only make it more "optimal" in the connections.

[DrNorbet]

Originally posted by Chindraba:

The second issue is that it is a mod and using it removes the ability, even if temporarily, to get Steam achievements. It also removes the distinction of being a "vanilla" map. In fairness, the vanilla issue wasn't specified by the OP, and for their purposes the comb may well be a solution. For my uses it would be nice to have a box or option somewhere which prevented the game from auto-connecting poles without direct need.

We can only dream.

TL;DR - I would like to stick to Vanilla as much as I can.

I have one mod and that's the rate calculator because I always forget to include the craft speed or the multiplicity of the output from an assembler etc. I like maths but I always miss something 😅