Factorio Forums

What the title says

I first thought of suggesting underground heat pipes, but that wouldn't make much thematic or indeed logical sence crossing gaps on Aquilo or space platforms, plus with overground heat pipes we'd have an equal amount of overs and unders (rail and heat pipe vs pipe and belt), so Factorio would be perfectly balanced, as all things should be

And quality, for greater heat reach than just adjacent things and less dissipation over pipe length

"Overhead" might be a better word

Would this not significantly lessen the challenge of aquilo?

I think that Underground Heat Pipe actually adds back a bit of Variety to gameplay. All of my Vanilla Aquilo builds tend towards “Long Inserters EVERYWHERE!!!”, which gets boring after a while.

Quality Heat Pipes sounds like a nice idea; but the Reach bonus at even Rare (+2) is enough to render the freezing challenge useless for most setups.

crimsonarmy wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2026 6:37 pm Would this not significantly lessen the challenge of aquilo?

It would lessen the bother
The challenge is a planet which is not self-sufficient, and the interplanetary logistics thus required

eugenekay wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2026 7:12 pm I think that Underground Heat Pipe actually adds back a bit of Variety to gameplay. All of my Vanilla Aquilo builds tend towards “Long Inserters EVERYWHERE!!!”, which gets boring after a while.

Quality Heat Pipes sounds like a nice idea; but the Reach bonus at even Rare (+2) is enough to render the freezing challenge useless for most setups.

I don't like how Underground Heat Pipe looks
Quality Heat Pipes seems nice, I'll try it!

Almalexia wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2026 10:32 am

crimsonarmy wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2026 6:37 pm Would this not significantly lessen the challenge of aquilo?

It would lessen the bother
The challenge is a planet which is not self-sufficient, and the interplanetary logistics thus required

If that were the case, the freezing mechanic would not exist. Having to keep everything warm is a core part of Aquilo's identity, and how heat pipes interact with placing stuff near entites is a pretty big part of that.

Part of what makes it difficult is the fact that heat pipes don't have some way to go over/under things. The onus is therefore on those other things to get out of the way of heat pipes.

I like that there's a planet whose mechanics give more utility to otherwise rarely used items like long inserters.