Testing out a new method of handling mini machine icons, beginning with v7.1.8 and intended for use with Factorio v0.18.27 and up.
Instead of using physically smaller icons (lots of manual labor), adds little corner arrows pointing inwards (similar to the miniaturization technology icons already in use) which subtly imply compression or "miniaturization" of the machine in question. I might need to add something more to make it more... "obvious", maybe a little M.
In case anybody is interested in the "technical" side of things, I'll explain the difference. What I was doing was before, was grabbing all of the icons from vanilla (like assembling machines, mining drill, radar, beacon, etc), copying them into the mod folder, and physically shrinking the icons down to make them appear smaller in the crafting menu. To enable compatibility with other mods, I would have to go into their mod folders and grab their icons, and then add them to specific folders, and add a bunch of scripting that would detect non-vanilla conditions and change the icons for every mini machine to the matching icon. On top of all that, there were mods like shinybobs and bobsmods that could change icon style through mod settings, which I would also have to take into account, adding even more if/else conditions to set the proper icons. On top of all that, Factorio's new changes with HD icons and mipmap settings rendered the previous icons obsolete, and would require a TON of work to manually edit all 4 images for all applicable machines.
The new icon handling method simply takes the original icon, and then draws the new arrows as an "overlay" on top of the existing icon. This should ensure 100% icon compatibility, and should work with any and all mod combinations without any further coding from my side. Unfortunately, not all machines fit neatly within the borders of the arrows, so the compression effect is kinda lost on those machines. There's not much wiggle room, but I could also add something like a little M to the center, signifying "Mini"? I also haven't tested compatibility with shinybobs, or any other mod that adds "powerbars" (though I would totally love to get both effects working together)
I won't be updating the old icons anymore, of course. The vanilla icons already don't match, but icons for other mods should still work, especially the ones that replace vanilla icons. The new icons also work with them (as it should), but for anybody who still wants to use the older icons, there's a setting for that. Which will eventually become obsolete, as more mods update their icons.
tl;dr icons will look different as of v7.1.8; if you want the old icons back, there's a setting for that. For now, at least.
