The way pipes were meant to work.

You have fine control over belts, assemblers, modules, all aspects of base layout. Now you have fine control over pipes. Step out of the auto-merging pipe mess. Let the UI help you make pipes just how you want them.

No UPS hit, no new recipes, no new items.

Use tighter pipe layouts for a more compact factory. Pipes connect every cardinal direction underground and on the surface, but only how you tell them to connect.

How it works

Pipe Dream uses regular pipe items, but places fixed pipes. When you pick them up, they're regular pipe items again.

Fixed pipes don't auto-merge. They merge how you tell them and nothing more.

Works with blueprints even better than stock pipes do.

Just like the belt UI, there are a few quick things to learn.

• Use the Pipe Dream UI tool to plan pipes. Pipes won't appear until the plan is complete.
• Q to abort the plan.
• G to mark a pipe-to-ground transition point.
• R to anchor the pipe to a location. Anchors help with complex pipe layouts. You'll see when you try it.
• F to flip current segment.

Zero risk

Lay regular pipes like before, if you want. Nothing converted, nothing lost. Use a pipe from your inventory to lay normal auto-merge pipes. Use the Pipe Dream tool to lay fixed pipes. Fixed pipes will connect to regular pipes, if you tell them to.

Better connections

Connect underground in any of the 4 cardinal directions. That same "pipe-to-ground" can connect on the surface in the 4 cardinal directions too.

Video

I can't post video here, but see the Belt Draw videos. The behavior is very similar because the mods are related.

Shortcomings

Default auto-merge pipes are convenient, right up until you can't do what you want with them. In some situations, the convenience saves you time. In other situations, the control really helps. You'll probably notice this quickly as you use the mod.

If you uninstall the mod, all the fixed pipes will vanish.

To connect a fixed pipe to a building, you have to drag right into the building. If you drag almost to the building, it can look connected yet it's not.

Due to engine restrictions, mod creates ~256 new entities. You'll never see these but they bother me.

It's not always clear which pipes have underground connections, so a yellow down-arrow icon was added. It's slightly ugly.

Can easily draw pipes longer than the in-game limit. If your pipe is disabled, add a pump in the middle.

Doesn't work in 2.1, due to an engine bug with click-drag UI.

Feedback wanted

Keep it friendly and constructive.

Fixing the pipe mess was my Pipe Dream. Now it's real. Enjoy.