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[daishi5]

How do you get your dwarves to load the shotgun without taking the loaded cart from the firing position? My dwarves keep picking up the carts and hauling them back to my loading platform.

[TinyPirate]

You need to forbid them.

[daishi5]

You need to forbid them.

Do you unforbid them to get them to load again?  I tried forbidding them, which left them in chamber ready to fire, but when the cart returned to the station, they just sat there.  I also tried making the chamber a second stop in the route with no departure condition, but then the dwarves would just continually haul the empty mine cart back up to the chamber, rather than refill it. 

I am currently trying to have them automatically load mine carts by creating an air gap so they cannot reach mine carts in the chamber, but now they won't load my mine cart. 

Edit:  An air gap seems to be working, they are automatically reloading my minecarts, and I don't need to micromanage htem.  I screwed up the first two I tested with and forgot to set the stockpile to pull from, so I thought it wasn't working.  On further review, I found my screw up and now I have a 9 barrel dwarven shotgun.  Soon, I shall expand to the full 18. 

[Oaktree]

How do you get your dwarves to load the shotgun without taking the loaded cart from the firing position? My dwarves keep picking up the carts and hauling them back to my loading platform.

My set-up isn't automated, but I'm using a two-stop route.  First stop is loading next to a weapon stockpile with a guide when 25% full to a "ready" position stop.  The second position is what until 50% - but desiring an item that is not available.  To launch I simply change to "push immediately".  And I have 3-4 cars lined up on a stretch of track to be pushed into the system.  Once pushed some return track brings the cart back around next to the weapon stockpile where it is moved a few tiles to reach the first stop again.  (I am also looking into the second step being the cart pushed into a location on a hatch that is not dwarf-accessible and subject to lever release for easier firing.)

For loadout I am currently testing a mix of iron spiked balls, iron/steel serrated discs, and steel spears.  Earlier tests with copper trap components in another fort indicated that the spiked balls did solid bludgeon damage; the serrrated discs glanced off armor quite often - but also removed lower limbs from goblins and shredded mounts; and the spears also deflected quite often but also scored some vicious wounds especially with head shots.  I think upgrading the slicing/stabbing items to "superior" metal might improve the damage caused by these item types as steel might (should) penetrate iron and copper armor.

I'm also going with more carts with lighter loads (11-15%).  I don't have very wide target zones and have noticed that one goblin can "block" a lot of hardware.  So a shot mows down the first rank and the rest get to advance.  So I figure continuous smaller shots will be more effective that fewer large shots. 

[daishi5]

How do you get your dwarves to load the shotgun without taking the loaded cart from the firing position? My dwarves keep picking up the carts and hauling them back to my loading platform.

My set-up isn't automated, but I'm using a two-stop route.  First stop is loading next to a weapon stockpile with a guide when 25% full to a "ready" position stop.  The second position is what until 50% - but desiring an item that is not available.  To launch I simply change to "push immediately".  And I have 3-4 cars lined up on a stretch of track to be pushed into the system.  Once pushed some return track brings the cart back around next to the weapon stockpile where it is moved a few tiles to reach the first stop again.  (I am also looking into the second step being the cart pushed into a location on a hatch that is not dwarf-accessible and subject to lever release for easier firing.)

For loadout I am currently testing a mix of iron spiked balls, iron/steel serrated discs, and steel spears.  Earlier tests with copper trap components in another fort indicated that the spiked balls did solid bludgeon damage; the serrrated discs glanced off armor quite often - but also removed lower limbs from goblins and shredded mounts; and the spears also deflected quite often but also scored some vicious wounds especially with head shots.  I think upgrading the slicing/stabbing items to "superior" metal might improve the damage caused by these item types as steel might (should) penetrate iron and copper armor.

I'm also going with more carts with lighter loads (11-15%).  I don't have very wide target zones and have noticed that one goblin can "block" a lot of hardware.  So a shot mows down the first rank and the rest get to advance.  So I figure continuous smaller shots will be more effective that fewer large shots.

I actually just figured out my automation.  I forbid all the doors that give the dwarves access, and they don't go pick up the cart.  I think someone else was storing their mine carts in magma to prevent the carts from being returned.  I just have a single stop set to load the cart, and then they send it into the chamber, when it returns it is automatically reloaded and rechambered.  Now I just need to figure out a way to always make sure the firing mechanism is set back to not fire before the cart is reloaded.  Several dwarfs and a horse were lost learning this lesson.

[TinyPirate]

I’ve made another DF video - this time providing step-by-step instruction on how to make a minecart logic system… well, a piece thereof, a memory cell to be precise. In this video I use the memory cell to keep a bridge close after any of a number of pressure plates are triggered. The bridge will only open again when we have a lever flipped. Hope this is helpful and helps, maybe a little, explain how my automatic shotgun computing system works.

[ZzarkLinux]

Nice touch with the goblins entering the fort at the end. Very dwarfy.