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[Lexender]

For the counter, you could try something like this:

Code: [Select]

Viewed sideways
|~~  ~  ~~ ~ |   <---Reservoir filled with water/magma
|_____~~_____|
      |#|   <-----Floodgate 1
      | |
      |#|   <-----Floodgate 2
      | |
      | |   <-----Long, 1 tile wide hole
      |_|
You connect the two floodgates with your "flipping" device, so that when the hourglass is active, FG1 is opened, FG2 is closed. When the hourglass flips, FG1 closes, FG2 opens. Thus, every cycle of the hourglass, a unique tile of 7/7 fluid will fall down the hole. You can then count how many Z-Levels are filled to know how many cycles were completed.

[Noble Digger]

This is a great idea and I hope one of you gives it a shot very soon.

For my two cents, I need to mention that water pressure is going to nigh-instantly move all the water from the upper section into the lower section.

Code: [Select]

H = Hatch cover  X = Floodgate

|~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
\~~~~~~~~~~~~~/
 \~~~~~~~~~~~/
  \~~~~~~~~~/
   \~~~~~~~/
    \~~~~~/
     \~~~/
      \~/
      |HX========|| access tunnel blocked by floodgate
      / \
     /   \
    /     \
   /       \            Pump tower! Pretend this goes all the way up.
  /         \  _SS_|
 /           \|_SS_
/             \_SS_|
|_____________X_|

If that's something like what ya'll are thinking, note that the water in the top will find no resistance moving all the way to the bottom and that it will happen all at once unless you use pressure plates or something to make it fall a level at a time somehow, or something like that.

[Gork]

A similar device to a half-hourglass would be an effective water cannon - you know, to flash-flood a drowning chamber or something. The water pressure alone could rip goblins apart, maybe.

[Hawklaser]

My idea for the hourglass construction would be very similar to what noble digger posted, with a the top of the bottom half looking something like this. Also planning on having it circular looking for the real one, but the  smaller test one will likely just be pyramidal.


        / _  \
      /_/  \ _\
    /            \
  /                \
/                    \

And the lower _ would be grates or floorbars to allow the water to pass, whichever would keep the middle part up there to spread out the falling magma/water.

I like lexander's idea for a counter, would need to add in a way to reset it, or move it to another area if it has been running long enough.

I do have a fort I am running right now that is preparing to build the small test one filled with water. Working on getting the site secured, and enough masons to build it at a descent speed.

Though if it drains too quick, it might end up being more of a gravity defing hourglass, as might take longer to "flip" it than for the contents to fall. Either way, will be fun to build.

[Kanddak]

I think fluid also flows slower through a diagonal, so you may want to incorporate that if you want a slow flow.  Am I right in that?

Sort of. Pressure isn't transferred diagonally. Water flowing across a level will move at the same speed whether it's diagonal or not, but if you have it flowing faster than its normal speed because of pressure, it'll get jammed up at the diagonal opening. You'll likely have all 7s in the pressurized part, and then water leaking through the diagonal passage into the rest of your system at its usual, infuriatingly slow pace.
This goes for pumps, by the way, not just pressure caused by water sitting on top of other water. Whenever any water from the system spills through the diagonal, the pump will near-instantly refill it to 7s, but it won't pump water directly through a diagonal. I learned this the hard way.

What this all amounts to is that if you built something like Noble Digger's design, but moved one pyramid/half-cone one tile to the side and down, water from the top half would keep the bottom tile filled by means of pressure, but it would then flow through the diagonal to the top tile of the bottom half at a more normal rate (though more quickly than if it was receiving water flowing from a tile that was, in turn, being filled normally, instead of constantly topped off by pressure).
Put in a floodgate, and the middle level of the hourglass could look like this:

###
#.##  <-- Bottom tile of top half.
##X##
 ##_# <-- Top tile of bottom half.
  ###

You might lose a lot to evaporation as the water spread out to fill the bottom layer, though.

[Hawklaser]

Hmm... Looks like I am going to have to try a couple of mini-hourglasses first to see how to get the flow rate I want. All thanks to pressure, disruptive diagonals, and number of flow openings at the bottle neck part.

As I imagine a designs of(W= floor space water can flow, x = wall,)

WxW  Wxx
xWx   xWx
WxW  xxx

would have much different fill speeds, not to mention just letting it drop as well.

This should prove interesting when the constructions start.

[Savok]

Oh my toady.

I am so going to build a giant hourglass in my next winter-freezing fort and automatically drain the water in a giant moat. And automatically refill it.

[Ultra-Towerdude]

If you want to measure the time, make it somehow that it drops a rock down. When you want to check it out how many times the stuff has gone up, just look at pile of stones and count 'em

[Shakma]

Also, if using water, it should go without saying that you need a freshly killed goblin in the center so the water turns red as it goes from top to bottom.   

[DennyTom]

If you want to measure the time, make it somehow that it drops a rock down. When you want to check it out how many times the stuff has gone up, just look at pile of stones and count 'em

This can be easily done with 1x1 bridges. And when you build them next to each other, you will not even to count them, you would see exact number immidiately. And it is also easily resetable - just haul thouse stones on bridges again.

Code: [Select]

###########
#_#_#_#_#_#
#O#O#O#O#O#
#+#+#+#+#+#
#+#+#+#+#+#

# - stone
O - doors
+ - floor

Under this would be hallway. Walls and doors would force stones on bridges fall directly down and not scatter around.

Only thing you would need to is to make sure every time only one bridge gets retreat. Personaly I would make one pressure plate on top of clocks that would control all bridges and pressure plates under bridges that would lock/unlock doors in front of bridges.

This should work and needs only little work and almost no thinking.

[Hawklaser]

Well, I have come across a site that I think will be suitable for the real hourglass, now to just finish up with testing things out to find out which works best.

Also nice to see others have taken a liking to this idea, and are also thinking of using it.

As for the counter... Using items all on one tile has an advantage of being able to use an atom smasher to easily reset, but takes longer to count, where as some other methond may be easier to read, but then building a reset would be harder.... Which means will likely go with the other method, as thats what a proper dwarf would do, if not find a way to use both methods...