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Author Topic: Suggestion for minecarts  (Read 1477 times)

cybergon

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Suggestion for minecarts
« on: April 22, 2012, 06:28:36 pm »

I know this still isn't out but I'll post it just in case.

With the upcoming mining update hauling stuff would be made an extremely effective task. I was thinking that to balance things out a bit, there should be a proper slow-down for dorfs carrying stuff depending on it's weight. Seeing as how mined stone weighs a ton, this should properly reflect on the dorf trying to haul it by slowing it down, maybe not too much but enough to make carts a more attractive alternative. As it stands now, the huge amount of idle dorfs we end up with and the potential speed at which they can now haul stuff (considering multiple item hauling) would be enough to make carts pointless (at least for hauling).
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cybergon

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Re: Suggestion for minecarts
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2012, 06:37:29 pm »

Oh and also make hauling a skill-oriented labor, so that the more skilled haulers suffer less speed penalties.
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JanusTwoface

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Re: Suggestion for minecarts
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2012, 07:07:40 pm »

Wouldn't it make more sense to actually try the minecarts out before suggesting balancing for it? For all we know, this has already been done.

Although if it does end up making things faster, then the obvious solution is just to make more thing to haul. :)
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thisisjimmy

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Re: Suggestion for minecarts
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2012, 07:42:59 pm »

Wouldn't it make more sense to actually try the minecarts out before suggesting balancing for it? For all we know, this has already been done.

But if it hasn't been done, it would probably be easier for Toady to do it now while he's already working on hauling.
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Niyazov

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Re: Suggestion for minecarts
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2012, 08:16:43 pm »

I know this still isn't out but I'll post it just in case.

With the upcoming mining update hauling stuff would be made an extremely effective task. I was thinking that to balance things out a bit, there should be a proper slow-down for dorfs carrying stuff depending on it's weight. Seeing as how mined stone weighs a ton, this should properly reflect on the dorf trying to haul it by slowing it down, maybe not too much but enough to make carts a more attractive alternative. As it stands now, the huge amount of idle dorfs we end up with and the potential speed at which they can now haul stuff (considering multiple item hauling) would be enough to make carts pointless (at least for hauling).

Dwarves already get slowed down hauling weights. make a platinum statue and order it to be moved, and watch the effects that it has on the hauler. Or kit out one recruit in full copper armor and order her to follow her squad on a kill order.

I never get idle dwarves in any significant numbers. There's always crap that has to get moved, even with hundreds of dwarves to move it.

I expect that we will see some rejiggering of item masses and requirements- I believe Toady mentioned something about having to shift large boulders to make statues, and stuff like that.
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cybergon

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Re: Suggestion for minecarts
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2012, 10:47:30 pm »

Dwarves already get slowed down hauling weights. make a platinum statue and order it to be moved, and watch the effects that it has on the hauler. Or kit out one recruit in full copper armor and order her to follow her squad on a kill order.

I'm not really sure about that, the statues weight even less than boulders(160 vs 186), even so after a quick race with my dorfs, I found that the ones hauling statues ran just slightly slower than the ones hauling stone. It's not even slow enough, by "proper slow-down" I meant as slow as dragging an animal for slaughter.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2012, 02:49:09 am by cybergon »
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Bytyan

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Re: Suggestion for minecarts
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2012, 01:25:13 am »

Statues have different weights depending on material, but the size is always the same. Platinum is the heaviest metal available at the moment. The worst time I have is with forgotten beast corpses getting hauled to the outdoor refuse pile. After a certain point, one dwarf would not be enough to move an item. Hauler should work in teams to move supermassive items.
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