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Upgrade planner

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Revision as of 20:32, 7 March 2019 by TheBloke (talk | contribs) (Added back example filter configuration, put it and the blank planner example into a gallery. Also move downgrading example down to Valid Items section where it doesn't take attention away from other screenshots.)
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Infobox:TheBloke/Upgrade planner

The upgrade planner is a tool for mass updating entities to alternative items of the same size and type. It can be used on both placed structures and ghosts. It can also modify the contents of a blueprint. While most commonly used to upgrade entities to their higher tier equivalents - for example to replace transport belts with fast transport belts or fast inserters with stack inserters - the upgrade planner is able to change a wide range of items including transport belts, underground belts, splitters, inserters, assembling machines, chests, power poles, rail signals, modules, furnaces and more.

Using an upgrade planner in the game world is similar to the operation of the deconstruction planner and blueprint, in that the player drags a rectangular area in which the upgrade planner will function and this results in orders being queued for construction robots. Upgrade planners can be used blank (unfiltered) to automatically apply a limited set of common upgrades. Alternatively they can be configured (filtered) to make specific replacements. This can include downgrading higher tier, later-game items to lower tier equivalents.

Basic operation

Getting an upgrade planner

A blank planner can be obtained by:

  • Clicking the green upgrade planner icon on the shortcut bar (available once construction robotics has been researched in at least one game.)
  • Opening the blueprint library and clicking New Upgrade planner.

This will result in a blank upgrade planner appearing in the hand. It can be used immediately or placed in the inventory. It must be placed in the inventory before a filter can be applied and before it can be pinned to a quickbar slot.

Using a planner in the game world

With a planner held in the hand the player can click-drag it (Left mouse button is held down while moving the mouse) over existing structures to mark them for upgrade. A tooltip appears indicating which items will be changed and to what.

Once Left mouse button is released yellow circles will appear over any existing structures that are now queued for update. These update operations will be performed by construction robots.

Upgrade planners can also affect ghost items. Any ghost eligible for update will immediately change to the new item.

Cancelling updates

Pending upgrade operations can be cancelled by holding Shift while click-dragging the upgrade planner over the affected area.

Updating blueprints

Upgrade planners can also be used to change the contents of a blueprint. This allows the player to keep using the same blueprints as they research progressively better items. As upgrade planners can also downgrade items this further provides a way for a player to adjust late-game blueprints to make them suitable for re-use in later games.

  • The blueprint to be updated must reside in an inventory. It is not currently possible to use an upgrade planner in the blueprint library.
  • With a planner held in the hand, the edit window for a blueprint should be opened by clicking Right mouse button on it.
  • The upgrade planner can be applied by clicking Left mouse button on the grey upgrade planner slot in the top right corner of the blueprint.
  • The entities in the blueprint will immediately update according to the filters in the planner. If a blank planner is used an automatic set of common upgrades is applied, as described in the next section.
  • The update is immediate and cannot be undone, except by applying another upgrade planner with filters set to change back the affected entities.


UpgradePlanner-BlueprintExample.gif

Upgrade planner filters

A new upgrade planner is blank, meaning it lacks any configuration and therefore operates on a pre-defined set of upgrade rules. It can optionally be edited to provide a custom list of update rules that control which items will be updated and what to.

Using a blank upgrade planner (unfiltered)

When a blank upgrade planner is used it operates on a specific list of items considered automatically upgradable to the next highest tier. The list of item types that can be affected by a blank planner are as follows:

  • Belts
  • Undergrounds
  • Splitters
  • Inserters
  • Assembling machines
  • Furnaces

Items of the above types will be upgraded to the next highest tier where one exists. A complete list of the items eligible for upgrade by a blank planner is found in Valid items.

Filtering an upgrade planner

The planner must be in an inventory in order for it to be editable. The filter window can be accessed by clicking Right mouse button on an upgrade planner, either in the inventory or on a quickbar link.

The filter window

The filter window consists of 24 item slot pairs.

In each pair the item to be updated goes in the left slot and the item it will be changed to goes in the right slot.

Editing the filters

A filter is applied by first clicking Left mouse button on the left-hand slot of any slot pair. This brings up the Select upgrade window. This is similar to the item selection window but is limited to displaying the items an upgrade planner is able to change.

Then the right-hand slot is selected in the same way, this time choosing the target item to change to. The select upgrade window for the right slot will only show items that are a valid update target for the item in the left slot.

When the item in the left slot has only one possible upgrade target the right slot will be filled in automatically.

Filters can be removed by clicking Right mouse button on the slot.

Valid items

An example of downgrading. This could be helpful to make a blueprint usable from the beginning of a game.

The upgrade planner can operate on the items listed below. It can swap any item in a given category to any other item in the same category. For example a transport belt can be changed to a fast or express transport belt and also to any kind of underground belt, but not to a splitter or a chest.

The Blank upgrade planner column indicates which entities will be automatically upgraded when a blank (unfiltered) upgrade planner is used. These items will upgrade to the entity following them in the table.

Category Item Blank upgrade planner
Belts and undergrounds Transport belt Yes
Belts and undergrounds Fast transport belt Yes
Belts and undergrounds Express transport belt No
Belts and undergrounds Underground belt Yes
Belts and undergrounds Fast underground belt Yes
Belts and undergrounds Express underground belt No
Splitters Splitter Yes
Splitters Fast splitter Yes
Splitters Express splitter No
Inserters Burner inserter No
Inserters Inserter Yes
Inserters Fast inserter Yes
Inserters Stack inserter No
Inserters Filter inserter No
Inserters Stack filter inserter No
Pipes Pipe No
Pipes Underground pipe No
Chests Wooden chest No
Chests Iron chest No
Chests Steel chest No
Chests Active provider chest No
Chests Passive provider chest No
Chests Storage chest No
Chests Buffer chest No
Chests Requester chest No
Power poles Small electric pole No
Power poles Medium electric pole No
Rail signals Rail signal No
Rail signals Rail chain signal No
Steam Engine/Turbine Steam engine No
Steam Engine/Turbine Steam turbine No
Furnaces Stone furnace Yes
Furnaces Steel furnace No
Assembling machines Assembling machine 1 Yes
Assembling machines Assembling machine 2 Yes
Assembling machines Assembling machine 3 No
Modules Speed module No
Modules Speed module 2 No
Modules Speed module 3 No
Modules Productivity module No
Modules Productivity module 2 No
Modules Productivity module 3 No
Modules Efficiency module No
Modules Efficiency module 2 No
Modules Efficiency module 3 No
Wall/Gate Wall No
Wall/Gate Gate No

Modded items can also be valid items for an upgrade planner. The filter selection window will expand to automatically include any modded entities compatible with the above categories.

History

See also