Factorio Forums

TL;DR

Hydrant - simpler, limited, vertical surface-to-underground pipe connection.
Above ground it works as regular piece of pipe, just transfer fluids to/from selected underground pipe directly below.

What ?

Hydrant (maybe there is more appropriate name for this...) is a piece of above-ground pipe, that can connect existing underground pipe directly below. You can rotate it when building, to select one of two possible underground pipe, if there are. Then, You have over ground a piece of pipe, to which You can directly connect, in all directions, more pipes, pumps or buildings.

Of Course, if requires an underground pipes (both sides) to work.

Possible, optional limitations (balance):
- can only suck to the ground,
- limited throughput,
- costs as many as "pipe to ground", but do not make long distance connection.

Why ?

Current underground pipes are great to connect two points at distance, but are hard and messy to eg. turn back to supply fluid to building "from behind", and are hard to walk around...

Cool idea, but note that UG Pipes can cross, so you need to determine how that situation would work.

Ranakastrasz wrote:Cool idea, but note that UG Pipes can cross, so you need to determine how that situation would work.

I did! When You place hydrant, You can rotate it, to connect either N-S UP or W-E UP. AFAIK, there can by only two pipes in one tile, one North-South, and one East-West...

Could you explain your picture? I do not understand what is shown there...

Azzinoth wrote:Could you explain your picture? I do not understand what is shown there...

Sorry... Upper part is side view, bottom - top view. Both of the same facility. From the left:
Tank, underground pipe, 2 plants, underground pipe connection, next 2 plants, and output to rest of factory.

Green stuff are the hydrants, that connects underground piping with buildings or other pipes. I am making better illustration right now...

Ah, i see. If you add that explanation right above your picture, it makes much more sense.

- can it be smart? filter/network (irl it isn't)
- does it use electricity? (irl it doesn't)


So it only works 90° on the underground? Or also in line?

On the ground it works exactly as any regular overground piece of pipe. You can connect anything on all 4 directions. Connecting another underground pipe in the direction of the pipes that Hydrant is connected to, breaks the connection, so is illegal.

It's as smart/powered as any regular underground pipe.
However, it can possibly work as pressure gauge/meter, and send fluid signal with value.

Sorry, but I don't see the gameplay-value. And the pipes just become messier with that. Maybe you can explain that better: Why do you think this is really needed and how does it increase the gameplay-value. And keep with your argumentation in mind, that the messiness is more or less wanted.