[REL 0.16] High definition pipes v0.1.10

[Cadde]

High definition pipes

Quite simply what it says it does. This mod replaces all vanilla pipe textures with higher resolution ones.
Apart from being higher resolution (4 times as defined) the visuals of all pipes has changed. While i could spend hour on end trying to replicate all the visuals of pipes in Factorio, i decided to do my own take on what i feel they should look like.
These pipes also come with their shadows separated. Which means no more strange edge cases where there's shadows that should or shouldn't be there.
Also, the shadows are softer (using nicer render settings) AND they cast off to the right rather than down-right like vanilla. Thus making them less intrusive in tiles south of the pipes.
AAAAND, the pipes are tile aligned. As in, you don't get strange offsets. Their centers exist at exactly .35 units above ground. Their ends connect at .5 on each end horizontally and sqrt(2) / 2 on each end vertically. Square root of two because that's how the games tile engine works.
Because of this alignment, you are less likely to need to use sprite shifts in graphics that connect to these pipes.

Also, vanilla pipes had strange positioning. Mainly, they were offset on the x-axis ever so slightly which annoyed the living HOOHA out of me and my sense of perfection.
Not only that, vanilla pipes (as far as i could tell from matching them initially in 3D) are sunk into the ground.

The downsides to using this pack is that pipes will definitely mis-match with A LOT of other contents that connect to pipes. Both in color and in alignment.
So use it if you want to have nicer looking pipes that are better aligned at their core for future projects.
No-one is forcing your hand though.

DOWNLOAD: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/high-definition-pipes

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I would very much like suggestions, feedback, critique, questions, requests etc.
Do note that i am planning on adding bob logistics pipe replacements too.
Source material can be had on request if you want to build upon these pipes.

[Cadde]

I wanna do grayscale templates for all the bob pipes but i ran into some problems. So i just wanted to test a full render instead.
This would be the copper variant...



I know the displacement (rifling) and glossiness is the cause of the excessive reflected light that looks "broken".
Other than that, what do you think? Should i custom make each material pipe or go the simple color/hue way like everyone else does?

EDIT: Or maybe like this?



EDIT 2: Hmm??

[astroshak]

I can’t speak for other nations, but in the US, the American Water Works Association and other relevant water authorities have set up a common color scheme, for underground markings and for above ground appertenances such as fire hydrants and air release valve assemblies.

In other words, we paint our exposed pipes. A light blue color for potable water, green for sewer and force main (sewer pipes are run by gravity, force main is just a pressurized sewer pipe), purple for reclaimed water, tan for raw water, and other colors for other types of underground utilities.

Fire hydrants are colored by the utility or owner, where I live they are yellow with a color coded top indicating expected GPM flow, while privately owned hydrants (hydrants on dedicated fire lines for shopping centers and the like) are colored uniformly red.

The color of a pipe is really not indicative of the material used in its making, because exposed metals are attacked by corrosion far more effectively. Painting pipes is done as a corrosion inhibitor. If they aren’t painted (such as shiny brass instruments at a band) they are either polished regularly (which our Engineer on Navi’s does NOT have the time to do) or they Have some clear coating that serves the same corrosion-inhibiting purpose.

So, I say, make the pipes whatever color you want to make them! Actually, different colored pipes for just the same material would probably help a ton in visualizing different piping systems ... imagine a black pipe for Oil, a blue pipe for the water, and then orange, yellow, and grey pipes for the Heavy, Light, and Petroleum refinery products. While not helping the colorblind, such a thing would help immensely in terms of planning and building the system, what you expect to be where.

[Cadde]

I can’t speak for other nations, but in the US, the American Water Works Association and other relevant water authorities have set up a common color scheme, for underground markings and for above ground appertenances such as fire hydrants and air release valve assemblies.

That's an interesting take on it for sure. Thank you for your input on this!
To be fair though, that kind of customization is for a GUI to handle and an overlay sprite on each pipe. Or underlay as it may be (the pipes with windows have the fluid color tint already) as we don't tend to install viewboxes on pipes.

But i do agree with you. It would be nice to have some kind of flag/band on pipes to mark them for their intended use before connecting them.

I will however stay true with the design of the material color they were made with as per bobs logistics.

[Cadde]

So i decided to re-think my project a bit and make batch rendering from the get-go. As such i refactored my scene a bit so nothing much visually has happened.
But i like this copper look though. What do you guys think?



Yes, the world (scene) is brighter now... I wanted more punch in the colors and the only way i could accomplish this without getting silly with object brightness (and thus other issues that come with it) was to increase the scene exposure overall. At the expense of what should be dark shaded areas appearing every so slightly brighter.

[Cadde]

Yay for batching... From now on, all i have to do is change materials and render. So the rest of bobs logistics pipe versions will be quick!


Clicky for full size image...

[Cadde]

Stone pipes... Easy enough right?




LOL, that's actually two images in a row. They just happen to align so perfectly that they look like one continuous image. Goes to show my scene setup is AWESOME.

Anyways, a bit bright? Perhaps darker and more bumps?



Again, your "last" chance to have some input on this before i batch render all of them.

[Cadde]

What a difference a well oiled batching process makes!



Stone pipes, they do look a pit pixely when you zoom out. I don't know if that's good or bad to be honest.



Anyboo, please let me know what you think before i finish them all.

[Cadde]

Brass is a difficult material to replicate. On one end there's a very light yellow and shiny tint to it, but on the other end... When you look at it from the side, there's an ever so slightly greenish tint. Getting the balance just right is damn well near impossible. Especially considering you only have the one subject (a section of pipe) to go after.



Looks fine on it's own. But then there's the madness that is the cross pipe...



All the light bounces makes it look crazy colorful and noisy.

... But, i will have to settle with this. Refining it further will just increase the rendering times exponentially. Or i will have to dig deep into the environmental settings and mess everything else up in the process.

Is it too bright? Fresh brass IS bright.

[Cadde]

So far so good...



Not entirely happy with the brass pipes, they look a bit graywashed but moving on.

[Cadde]

To be honest, bronze is not that unlike copper. But i really wanted to differentiate them, hence the very dull brownish color of bronze.
And yes, copper, brass and bronze are practically identical in certain mixes. Bronze just tends to be less glossy/reflective.

Other than that, bronze isn't even that interesting.



But i felt the reflection was a bit low so i upped it ever so slightly.

[Cadde]

Ugh, let's move on to steel next...



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Steel is interesting!





A cross hatch pattern because steel hasn't been extruded, it's been machined.
And the bumps from the cross hatch are exaggerated because i want it to show up even when the player zooms out a bit.
And in case you can't tell, there's an ever so slight tint of blue in there. This is food grade steel!

[Cadde]

Diz be not what "heavystone" looks like. But i felt like it.

[Cadde]

This marks the last material in bob's logistics pipes. I will just playtest and then update the mod on the mod portal.



(BTW, no the pipe isn't BLU, it's GRN and i've already fixed that text. Blender is just stupid in refreshing textures)

Version 0.1.10 of the mod has been released, it now includes all bob's pipes.


Clicky for full size...

[Cadde]

Since iron pipes were made without batching and i wanted the source material to all be batchable, i made some alterations with my newfound knowledge of Blender. While i knew a few things before i started, all of this has been practically a learning process for me from start to finish. Even writing Python.

Anyways, i made a new look for iron pipes. Perhaps it's more in line with the rest of the pipes?



Feedback please. Otherwise i won't bother putting it in the mod.

EDIT: Another image

[darkfrei]

Maybe add bevel (welding) on pipe intersection?

[Cadde]

I was thinking of doing that when i started with this rework. However, keep in mind that the resolution of the above showcase is twice that of the resolution i render for the game. So consider that you really have to zoom in and look really hard to see such a small detail.

I also considered adding welds and rivets to show the iron plates having been bent into a pipe shape on iron pipes.

EDIT: Or are you talking about the cross pipe?