logistic cart network?
LCN, like LTN, as a separate mod with dependency on logicarts. Problems:
Pathing
If it's to be as intelligent as LTN it would mean some sort of path-finding is needed. Cant use the built-in biter stuff. A quick test of a Lua A* implementation in Factorio shows it might be cheap enough given that:
- path-finding on a spatially bounded set of tiles is nothing like as complex as unbounded path-finding on the map
- the rules already built into paths greatly reduces the complexity
- a multi-tick implementation is trivial
- paths would be highly cacheable
Possibility: the yield tile could act as an optional turn for LCN without affected normal cart operations.
Scheduling
Skip the whole idea of train schedules since LTN is designed to automate those anyway.
Rules
Cart stop rules would be simpler than LTN because carts are only ever 1x1. Yay, score! Would still need rules for thresholds and similar.
Possibility: Just use the existing requester/active-provider/buffer rules along with some sort of special LCN stop tile?