Support flipped graphics for fluid_boxes pipe_pictures
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2025 6:22 am
Request: provide a way to specify a set of pipe_pictures to use when an entity is flipped.
The motivating use case: a flippable entity with conditionally-present pipe outputs and bespoke sprites.
Related: viewtopic.php?t=129157
In Detail:
The current implementation of pipe_pictures as part of the fluid_box prototype does not support flipped graphics. I assume the logic being that because the fluid_box will be correctly positioned when flipped or not, then it's not necessary to define alternative sprites.
However, just because the fluid box is in the correct position in a flipped context, does not mean that the sprite will be correct:
None of these sprites can be used as-is for their flipped counterpart, and it's necessary to render out bespoke sprites for each pipe picture in both standard/flipped configurations.
I work around the limitation in this case by using a working_visualisation that is always drawn. This workaround does not always suffice, as it has a key limitation: if a fluid box is only conditionally present, there is no way to mimic the behavior fluid boxes provide where the pipe picture will not be drawn.
Additional support by Factorio is required to enable the use case for a flippable entity with conditionally-present pipe outputs and bespoke sprites.
The motivating use case: a flippable entity with conditionally-present pipe outputs and bespoke sprites.
Related: viewtopic.php?t=129157
In Detail:
The current implementation of pipe_pictures as part of the fluid_box prototype does not support flipped graphics. I assume the logic being that because the fluid_box will be correctly positioned when flipped or not, then it's not necessary to define alternative sprites.
However, just because the fluid box is in the correct position in a flipped context, does not mean that the sprite will be correct:
- 11-11-2025, 22-18-46.png (448.94 KiB) Viewed 156 times
I work around the limitation in this case by using a working_visualisation that is always drawn. This workaround does not always suffice, as it has a key limitation: if a fluid box is only conditionally present, there is no way to mimic the behavior fluid boxes provide where the pipe picture will not be drawn.
Additional support by Factorio is required to enable the use case for a flippable entity with conditionally-present pipe outputs and bespoke sprites.