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[Insert_Gnome_Here]

In the course of building an above-ground shotgun, I have run into a problem with carts refusing to follow tracks downwards.
The situation is as thus:

Code: [Select]

___VO     Key:
   OVO     _:Track
    OVO    O:Wall (With track on top)
     OVO   V:Down Ramp
      OVO
The contents of the cart always ends up falling onto the 2nd lowest V.

Can anyone help work out how to keep the cart from derailing.

[SyrusLD]

I have a "cage empty"-shotgun in Violentlash, it looks like this:

Code: [Select]

00 _S▼▒▒    S = Start  ▒ = Wall  B = Bridge  # = Fortification  ^ = Weapon-Trap
01 ▒▒▲▼▒▒
02 ▒▒▒▲▼▒▒
03 ▒▒▒▒▲▼▒▒
04 ▒▒▒▒▒▲▼▒▒
05 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▲▼▒▒
06 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▲▼▒▒
07 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▲▼▒▒
08 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▲▼▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
09 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▲▼ #_    ▒ <- CONTENTS GO HERE! Have enemies to kill here for a shotgun!
10 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▲ ▒▒BBBB▒ <- Double wall, because otherwise the minecart teleports through the wall!
11 _____________B^^^^^▒ <- Weapon Traps
   ^-Access-^  ^-Minecart goes there


Level 9:
▒▒▒▲▒▒▒
▒▒▒▼▒▒▒
▒▒▒ ▒▒▒
▒FFFFF▒
▒+++++▒ + = Floor
▒     ▒
▒     ▒
▒     ▒
▒     ▒
▒     ▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

Level 10:
▒▒▒▲▒▒▒
▒▒▒ ▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒BBBBB▒
▒BBBBB▒
▒BBBBB▒
▒BBBBB▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

Level 11:
▒▒   ▒▒
▒▒ X ▒▒ X = Minecart falls here!
▒▒BBB▒▒
▒^^^^^▒
▒^^^^^▒
▒^^^^^▒
▒^^^^^▒
▒^^^^^▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒


EDIT:
Oops, that was posted a bit too fast.

So, the minecart fires its contents not where it hits, but one level above that.
For my setup it hits the wall at level 10 and empties itself onto level 9. You need a fortification on that level. I got a 3 wide fortification at that point, that way the contents should spread out more.


Obviously this is a design focussed on emptying cages in a rather spectacular manner. A shotgun doesn't need to care about a double wall normally for example, since you probably wouldn't have an open space there. Maybe it is also because my minecarts get too much speed from the long down ramp. The shotgun just needs to have the fortification and access to the minecart to get right.



EDIT2:
Wait, where you even asking how to build a shotgun? D;

[gchristopher]

In the course of building an above-ground shotgun, I have run into a problem with carts refusing to follow tracks downwards.
The situation is as thus:

Code: [Select]

___VO     Key:
   OVO     _:Track
    OVO    O:Wall (With track on top)
     OVO   V:Down Ramp
      OVO
The contents of the cart always ends up falling onto the 2nd lowest V.

Can anyone help work out how to keep the cart from derailing.

Are the carts going up (right to left) or down (left to right) in your diagram? Also, the diagram is a bit confusing. There should be a ramp on each level, and then open space adjacent to each ramp (above the ramp on the level below), right?

On to helpful advice: the derailment could easily be happening somewhere other than where you describe, too. It's possible for a cart to derail slightly (acquire a slowish velocity perpendicular to the track motion), but still be traveling much more quickly parallel to the track, so it will take several tiles to appear to go off the track.

Could you diagram your setup more completely? Also, definitely read through the comprehensive Minecart Education Thread by Larix and check whether any of the conditions for derailment he describes apply to your setup. (Then take up the harder task of finding whether any "checkpoint" mechanics are complicating things.)

If nothing else, you can load up the save and advance it tick by tick, checking the velocity properties of the minecart at each tick using dfhack. You should be able to identify the tick at which it derails by noticing when it is moving in some way not parallel to the track direction, and also when exactly it ejects its contents.

[PatrikLundell]

My guess is that your cart at some point gets enough horizontal speed to hit the opposite wall hard enough to spill the contents, and that this is the level above the one the contents end up at.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I think that was what was happening, but the exact positioning of the debris was weird. In the end, I solved the problem by starting the ramp 1z higher than the first roller so the cart is already going downhill, or not checkpointing, or something.