Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Gamezdude]

My Minecart system isnt working regarding the ramps. It works fine at the sub level but not on the ramps. I have checked the wiki (although some of it I didnt understand). In the hauling menu the last 3 stops (heading upward, z layer) has the 'Set dir/connect track' errors. What am I doing wrong?

[PatrikLundell]

If I understand your images correctly, you've failed to understand how ramps work. You can not have ramps that go back and forth over the same two X/Y tiles on different Z levels, because ramps have to both go up along a wall, and have a walkable tile on the upper level continuing the direction of the ramp (a dorf walking up the ramp has to be able to walk up onto something. This can be a ramp that go up another level, but if you try to get it to return back you'll fail the "wall to climb" criterion, as there's open space there to allow the ramp from below to be usable.
You can create a spiral over 4 tiles where each ramp turns 90 degrees compared to the direction its entered from to have a minimal footprint spiral, or you can have the ramps proceed in a line (and various combinations, of course).
Note that the ramp rules themselves are the same regardless of whether you want a dorf to walk on them or whether you want a minecart to be pushed/propelled up them (the downward path can sometime work for non guided minecarts because the cart can fall down where unusable ramps are).

[Gamezdude]

If I understand your images correctly, you've failed to understand how ramps work. You can not have ramps that go back and forth over the same two X/Y tiles on different Z levels, because ramps have to both go up along a wall, and have a walkable tile on the upper level continuing the direction of the ramp (a dorf walking up the ramp has to be able to walk up onto something. This can be a ramp that go up another level, but if you try to get it to return back you'll fail the "wall to climb" criterion, as there's open space there to allow the ramp from below to be usable.
You can create a spiral over 4 tiles where each ramp turns 90 degrees compared to the direction its entered from to have a minimal footprint spiral, or you can have the ramps proceed in a line (and various combinations, of course).
Note that the ramp rules themselves are the same regardless of whether you want a dorf to walk on them or whether you want a minecart to be pushed/propelled up them (the downward path can sometime work for non guided minecarts because the cart can fall down where unusable ramps are).

Ah ok

Is it possible you can do me a quick sketch of a circular ramp shaft just so I understand please?

[PatrikLundell]

Z
WWWW
WFWW
WTWW
WTWW
WTWW

Z+1
WWWW
W.7W
WWWW
WWWW

Z+2
WWWW
WW.W
WWJW
WWWW

Z+3
WWWW
WWWW
WL.W
WWWW

Z+4
WWWW
WFWW
W.WW
WWWW

Where:
W = Wall
T = Track (to enter the spiral)
. = Open space (because it's channeled down, displayed as a down ramp)
F = Up ramp with turning track to the South and East
7 = Up ramp with turning track to the West and South
J = Up ramp with turning track to the  North and the West
L = Up ramp with turning track to the East and the North


Note that there's a risk of the guiding dorf getting run over by the cart when moving upwards if he gets tired and tries to leave it.

[gchristopher]

Note that there's a risk of the guiding dorf will absolutely, certainly, fatally, repeatedly getting run over by the cart when moving upwards if he gets tired or has any of a million other interruptions and tries to leave it.

You had minor typos in there. Corrections in green.

[Fleeting Frames]

Ha, yeah. It occurs to one that perhaps, as four z-levels is still enough to lift through, they should block the start and ends of the ramp spiral with statues and add two-tile NS-NS accelerating trench/double opposing T-ramps at start that the dwarf pushes the cart through statue onto. Should be safer, though might still want to put a stop at top and guide the last third of the way by hand.

[PatrikLundell]

Well, I don't use guided carts at all, but rather pushed carts and impulse ramps. However, the question was about how to modify the original design so it works, not how to redesign it so it's safe.

I suspect Fleeting Frames' suggestion goes way over the head of the OP, and that an explanation of how the impulse ramp magic works as well as an explicit design would be needed to be useful.

The comment about statues refers to the peculiarity that statues can not be passed through by creatures (such as dwarves and cats), but somehow carts can go through, which means that they can be used to keep critters out of the path, and thus to avoid road kills (which tends to multiply as dwarves flock to it to pick up the pieces, at which time the next cart comes along...).

[Fleeting Frames]

Yeah, I withheld it until gchristopher commented. It's something to come back to after someone you care about dies, not something truly necessary.