Factorio Forums

I've been thinking about the above ground pipes and how players cannot walk over them. Does this added limitation actually add anything to the game? My answer is no, its just an annoyance. Other than looking cool there are a ton of downsides to above ground pipe:

1) Liquids decelerate more compared to underground pipe given the same distance.

2) They cannot be walked over.

3) They automatically join other pipes.


#1 adds a nice tradeoff for using above vs underground pipes.

#3 nice little puzzle game. Not entirely necessary and could be negated by more pipe options. However, I feel this is fine as it is.

#2 annoyance, not interesting, tends to cancel out the choice of above ground pipe in a lot of scenarios



Therefore, my thought on this is walking over pipes should be added to the game. Thoughts?

How about pipe ramps? or better yet, an overhead catwalk to walk above the whole factory?

Actually, thinking about it it would probably make more sense to have a type of pipe that goes in the air like power lines. Would look really nice for long-distance piping, and still crossable.

This is all for the suggestions forum, though, where I'm 100% certain this has all been talked about before and exists as a mod.
I think it's the law

Walking under the pipes does sound really cool.

I moved this to Suggestions, cause this is an edge-case of a suggestion thread and should not be discussed in General.

Instead I left a link.

lancar wrote:How about pipe ramps? or better yet, an overhead catwalk to walk above the whole factory?

Catwalks can be used for many neat things. Including crossings for rail lines, or even for road car highways. I'm all for catwalks.

I was indeed annoyed at not being able to climb over pipes (or walk through rows of other buildings) and so I made a mod to allow you to walk through them (and through other stuff): https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... 91&t=16476

Peter34 wrote:

lancar wrote:How about pipe ramps? or better yet, an overhead catwalk to walk above the whole factory?

Catwalks can be used for many neat things. Including crossings for rail lines, or even for road car highways. I'm all for catwalks.

catwalks would be interesting, but how would they be implemented? would the character always try to be on a catwalk if there is one where he is standing? or would there have to a special "ramp" item that you would have to walk up to access the catwalk?

Other then the "problems" that I just mentioned, I think that catwalks would be really interesting to have in the game. Plus it would really fit the industrial theme that is all-present in factorio.

TuckJohn wrote:

Peter34 wrote:

lancar wrote:How about pipe ramps? or better yet, an overhead catwalk to walk above the whole factory?

Catwalks can be used for many neat things. Including crossings for rail lines, or even for road car highways. I'm all for catwalks.

catwalks would be interesting, but how would they be implemented? would the character always try to be on a catwalk if there is one where he is standing? or would there have to a special "ramp" item that you would have to walk up to access the catwalk?

Other then the "problems" that I just mentioned, I think that catwalks would be really interesting to have in the game. Plus it would really fit the industrial theme that is all-present in factorio.

Well.. from a technical standpoint it would probably require the use of a new map layer. With the tech already developed for the space layer, having an invisible "catwalk layer" shouldn't be too complex to implement & run at the same time as the normal one (shouldn't require too much CPU either, since it has no terrain features). Ramps would be the best way to arrange the character transition between the two.

lancar wrote:

TuckJohn wrote:

Peter34 wrote:

lancar wrote:How about pipe ramps? or better yet, an overhead catwalk to walk above the whole factory?

Catwalks can be used for many neat things. Including crossings for rail lines, or even for road car highways. I'm all for catwalks.

catwalks would be interesting, but how would they be implemented? would the character always try to be on a catwalk if there is one where he is standing? or would there have to a special "ramp" item that you would have to walk up to access the catwalk?

Other then the "problems" that I just mentioned, I think that catwalks would be really interesting to have in the game. Plus it would really fit the industrial theme that is all-present in factorio.

Well.. from a technical standpoint it would probably require the use of a new map layer. With the tech already developed for the space layer, having an invisible "catwalk layer" shouldn't be too complex to implement & run at the same time as the normal one (shouldn't require too much CPU either, since it has no terrain features). Ramps would be the best way to arrange the character transition between the two.

ramps? Why not stairs? they would probably work better from a graphics standpoint.

TuckJohn wrote: ramps? Why not stairs? they would probably work better from a graphics standpoint.

True, but ramps can also be used by cars and tanks. Flexibility is important