Add a 2nd floor level for pipes
What ?
Add a late game research xyz to enableplacing pipes at 2nd level above ground
plus making connections to floor level pipes (of course).
2nd floor pipes can cross ground floor pipes, if the is no vertical connection placed.
2nd floor pipes can run parallel to ground floor pipes.
Player can walk under 2nd floor pipes / can cross 2nd floor pipes.
tbd: If spiders and/or trains can cross 2nd floor pipes.
Why ?
Mid level game focuses on transport belt logistics.With belts on two level (ground, below ground) the belt placement is a core challange of the mid game.
At late game, logistic robots simplify this.
Pipes, in contrast to transport belts, have a very long underground distance.
So they are quite easy to place (cross pipes with belts / cross pipes with other pipes)
They "just" battle floor space with belts / assembly machines / ...
And floor pipes cannot be crossed by the player, making sometimes the player movement difficult, especially at large fabs.
At late game, the focus of the player usually shifts to managing mega-bases.
Everything is researched. It is no longer about adding something new, but on making everything bigger.
The player then (usually) has already placed lots of ground floor pipes.
Enabling 2nd floor pipes at late game would
- make for pipe placement a similar simplification as logistic robots do for transport belts
- less restrict player movement, especially at big fabs
- add some motivation to rework existing pipe networks for improvements (area usage, ...)
WHY do you think it increases the value of Factorio as a game?
Adds one more resreach itemLate game research item extends the game
Adds a "new dimension" for the player to explore & implement at late game / mega-fabs
Could be one piece required for later adding more fluids / gasses to Factorio.
(I could think of e.g. H2-gas, O2-gas)
Is more realistic; real world fabs (e.g. raffineries) have pipes on multiple above ground levels.
