Factorio Forums

TL;DR

We have raised rails, but what about roads and walkways?

What?

I've been getting back into Factorio after a long time away and loving raised rails, but I'm really missing having other raised travel options.

I've also been playing a lot of Satisfactory and love walking across, not just around, my factories so I'd like to suggest having raised walkways and roads. Each would add a support, a ramp and a tile.

I do have some suggested attributes but any option would be great. In terms of technology these could either be unlocked directly with an existing tech or a specific tech that follows on.

Walkways
An engineer scale option that's relatively cheap and long distance per support. Components made from iron and steel. Intended to provide navigation through/across individual production lines. Unlocked with steel.

Ramp (or in this case, stairs): 6x2, can not drive up.
Support: 2x1, supports 9 tiles, can NOT be built on water
Tile: Walkway, 2x2 metal grate with a walk speed boost. Can connect on multiple sides.

Road
Raised vehicle transport, costlier and needs more support. Components made from steel and concrete (thought about oil for a tarmac like approach, but that would inevitably lead to demands for non-raised roads too and didn't want to increase scope). Intended to provide navigation through/across interconnected factory areas. Unlocked with concrete

Ramp: 10x3, can walk and drive on, biters can also path over
Support: 3x2, supports 7 tiles, can be built on water
Tile: Road, 3x3 concrete surface that provides a walk speed boost. Can connect on multiple sides

Bonus suggestion: Could quality increase supported tiles (would increase rail supports too)?

Why?

Walking/driving through a factory can be a nightmare with tight spaces, things to collide into etc. There is a solution to this with better planning (which is good) and taking more space (which in itself isn't exactly interesting) and the result is just leaving more and larger gaps which isn't really a satisfying challenge. Raised movement options along these lines provides better navigation through factories that can still allow compact designs.

The requirement for ramps and supports mean that it doesn't trivialise the build puzzle but in fact adds to it if your aim is remaining compact while increasing player expression options if you're already taking the option for increasing space usage. Adding navigation onto existing builds adds into the spaghetti potential where you want to avoid tear downs and players who want to focus on neat optimised designs have additional factors to consider into their builds. It also enables more options for creating aesthetically pleasing designs while still remaining very much Factorio rather than decoration.

Together with elevated rails these also provide a nice tiering for elevated transport in general. Unlocking walkways early gets players thinking about and designing layered builds at small scales early. Elevated rails can give some really interesting build options and designs but coming so late and being so large many players will just use them to get over existing basic obstacles especially as any significant rail project is already a huge undertaking. Whereas this way players are able to explore designs as they scale up rather than have a new consideration enter at already large scales.

Walkways would be relatively easy to sneak into many small and starter builds while the stairs nudge them into considering space considerations. Roads come in around the time players are needing to consider design, blocking and blueprints and rails naturally at the point they are thinking in terms of factories rather than a factory. The increasing footprints and spatial disruption also prevent players from trivially just upgrading elevated transport up the tiering.