Factorio Forums

TL;DR

The pipeline visualizer QoL addition is great, but 2.1 removes the QoL part of it. Please add previous functionality as an option.

What?

In 2.0, it was possible to hover your cursor over a pipeline in alt mode to see a visual indicator of pipeline connections. That functionality was removed, with far less convenient functionality added to reach the same result. Please add it back, perhaps as a checkbox option in the Interface settings menu.

Why?

The pipeline visualizer added to 2.0 was an amazing addition. Holding a pipe/etc allows us to easily identify pipeline networks, and a quick mouse-over allows us to see a specific pipe network without the others cluttering your view. I almost exclusively use the quick mouse-over function of it. It was so easy and convenient to move the mouse a tiny bit to see all the information I needed in less than a second, while 2.1 makes the equivalent action require multiple button presses or mouse clicks, including the likelihood of accidentally leaving the visualization on. The convenience of the feature has been almost completely removed in 2.1. I do not understand why a feature that was added specifically for quality-of-life has been made harder to use. For my uses, it's as if the feature was completely removed. Please add the mouse-over functionality back.

Just to be sure, are you aware that there is a hotkey you can set that you can press so that the hovered pipeline is highlighted? That way it shouldn't take multiple button presses/clicks.

I am one of the people that wanted this feature gone and for my liking it is perfect to just turn of and forget.
But when i read the changenotes i noticed that it is no longer possible to have a hover effect,
which is why i am not surprised to see a thread like this.

Bilka wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2026 3:59 pm Just to be sure, are you aware that there is a hotkey you can set that you can press so that the hovered pipeline is highlighted? That way it shouldn't take multiple button presses/clicks.

It used to take none, which is hard to beat in terms of convenience. I used it very frequently to make sure that pipelines go where I think they do, and consider them on about the same level as inserter arrows. Imagine if you had to press ALT individually on every assembling machine you wanted to see the recipe of: it wouldn't be very fun.

I think that having the option on the pipe, make it easier to follow a very long and complex system.

The hotkey kind of replace the old mouse-over system, but it is not coming out of the box, so you have to personnalize the hotkey a little more. I am curious of why the mouse-over feature was removed instead of just adding a new way to vizualise the fluid.

I played a little bit with it and the new system has the advantage of being able to visualize more than one fluid at a time. It also make the pipe easier to follow.

Configuring an hotkey is a must if you want to be almost as efficient as before, or else, you have to use the option in pipe's GUI.

Functionnality-wise, the old mouse-over still could work with the new system. But overall, if I have to choose between the old and the new system, the new system is better in my opinion.

I agree the new system is overall better. Having to hover your mouse over a pipeline to visualize it was somewhat inconvenient, especially if you were moving around trying to follow a long & complicated pipeline. However, the current implementation is the worst of both worlds: having to open up a menu to activate the visualization is kind of a hassle, and the hover to visualize functionality is now doubly inconvenient because in addition to hovering you also need need to hold a new hotkey (and all of the convenient keys are already taken up by other functions).

The best solution IMO would be to do away with the "visualize fluid pipelines" hotkey entirely, and instead have Shift + Left-click automatically toggle visualization for a pipe system without needing to open up the menu. Shift + Left-click is already the keybind that is used to do advanced/contextual interactions (eg, remove cables when clicking on a power pole, add train stop when in the train GUI, tag in chat when chat is open). So adding a new contextual Shift + Left-click interaction to toggle visualization for a pipeline system will not conflict with any existing keybinds, and is far more convenient than having to define a new hotkey that only serves one extremely specific and limited purpose.

Please bring back the simple on-hover visualization of pipe network. It was one of the most useful features to me. The new alternatives are clunky and less useful.