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[Pie]

I've been thinking about defence mechanisms. Please point out if I have overlooked something in my plan. I call this kitten arrow slits.

Code: [Select]

W = Wall
. = Floor
X = Floodgate
_ = channel
F = Fortifications
m = Marksdwarves
k = kitten on top of pressure plate which opens floodgates and hatches when inactive
H = hatches with kittens on top

z=0
   Your defences against melee soldiers
                 ^
                 |
                 |
           WWWWWW.WWW
Entrance-->......._kW
           WXXXXXXWWW
           W______W
           W......W
           WFFFFFFW
           WmmmmmmW

z=1



           WWWWWWWW
           WHHHHHHW
           WWWWWWWW

So essentially, when an enemy archer enters the corridor, he shoots the kitten, which causes the fortifications with marksdwarves behind them to come in to play, but because half decent enemy archers will shoot through fortifications fairly easily, a number of kittens are dropped in front to absorb the enemy arrows. This allows your marksdwarves to quickly and efficiently deal with enemy archers. Alternatively, you could have that kitten linked up to a system which takes the archers a different route, that has many corners for your melee defence to hide behind, but might not be the best system for preventing lag (so it is only used when needed).

My second idea relies upon the cowardliness of dwarven siege operators. I call it cowardly ownage.

Code: [Select]

W = Wall
. = Floor
_ = Channel
F = Fortification
B = Ballista
X = Floodgate
x = Floodgate
p = pressure plate which when stepped on by the dwarf, opens up floodgate x and closes floodgate X and when not, does the reverse.


       W.W                  W.W
 WWWWWWWXWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWxWWWWWWW
WWBBBF_......................._FBBBWW
pDBBBF_......................._FBBBD.
WWBBBF_......................._FBBBWW
 WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
(This one would take quite a bit of extra machinery to work methinks). The basic idea is that as the enemy gets near to one end, they cause the operator to run away, causing them to repath to the other end of the hall. The operator then returns (to continue firing) and causes them to path back and forth, between the two ballistae.

[Jim Groovester]

I like these ideas.

With the kitten one, having kittens on pressure plates would work the reverse of what you intend, i.e., the kitten standing on the pressure plate would keep the floodgates open instead of open the floodgates when it dies.

You can replace the hatches and floodgates with retracting bridges and drawbridges, respectively, and it will work like you want it to.

The cowardly ownage one wouldn't work as well, unless you had a really long hallway, so that the goblins would stick together better.

If I understand your setup right, are you trying to have the siege operator run from one ballista to the other as the goblins scare him away?

[twwolfe]

overcomplicated

goldbergian

time consuming

i cant think of anything more dwarven

[Pie]

I like these ideas.

With the kitten one, having kittens on pressure plates would work the reverse of what you intend, i.e., the kitten standing on the pressure plate would keep the floodgates open instead of open the floodgates when it dies.

You can replace the hatches and floodgates with retracting bridges and drawbridges, respectively, and it will work like you want it to.

The cowardly ownage one wouldn't work as well, unless you had a really long hallway, so that the goblins would stick together better.

If I understand your setup right, are you trying to have the siege operator run from one ballista to the other as the goblins scare him away?

Nice idea with the drawbridges etc, and yes, with the second one the corridor would be much longer than the one I showed. Also, it would actually use 2 dwarves, one at either end. So that while one was scared away, the other would be firing and vice versa. It wasn't very clear from my descriptions.

The issue with that one is that there would have to be fairly sophisticated mechanics in order for it to work OK. Perhaps something like this:

Code: [Select]

W = Wall
B = Ballista
. = Floor
'=' = Bridge
D = Door
~ = Hatch with water on it
%% = East to West screw pump, always active
1 = Pressure plate attached to bridge (raise) + hatch (open) + door (open)
2 = Pressure plate attached to bridge (lower) + door (close) (I am assuming that there is a delay here) + hatch (close)
3 = Pressure plate attached to one entry door (the ones the goblins path through) (activates with water above 1)
4 = Pressure plate attached to the other entry door (the ones the goblins path through) (activates with water 1 or 0)

z=0
  WWWWW
WWWWBBB
W.1=BBB
W.WWBBB
W.WWDWW
W..2W
WWWWW

z=1

WWWW
W34X
WWWW

z=2

WWWWW
W~~%%
WWWWW
So, the dwarf would run away, which would cause the hatch to release water which would switch the doors that were open and closed, making the goblins run away, meaning that the dwarf could get back to the machine, which would then reset the system. This slightly more advanced trigger system would probably need some more mechanisms in order to work (like I assumed here that 2 pressure plate activations would lead to an OFF signal instead of the reality of 2 ON signals being sent), but with enough thought I think this possibly could maybe work.

Also, the slight issue of having a dwarf always on duty would be tough... but that is what Dwarf Fortress is about!

[Jim Groovester]

Your mechanical schematics are confusing, but from my quick inspection it looks like they'll work.

You don't foresee a problem with two dwarves shooting each other with ballista bolts, though? Otherwise, everything looks fine.

[Mechanoid]

1 tile water reserve + 1 floodgate to spill that reserve into the floor will ALWAYS generate 5 tiles of spare water. Properly calculated, this will let the player easilly flood and reflood the same area with the same water every time.

By setting up a grid of water-dumpers along the entry hallway, the player can with 1 pull of a lever accurately flood his hallway to a precise non-lethal level. Since moving through even just 1 tile of water will slow down whatever passes through it, the player can buy even more time for his marksdwarves and ballistae to use for shooting up the enemy. (or simply incinerate them with a quickly evaporating molten rock purge)

[Pie]

Your mechanical schematics are confusing, but from my quick inspection it looks like they'll work.

You don't foresee a problem with two dwarves shooting each other with ballista bolts, though? Otherwise, everything looks fine.

Well, that is what the fortifications are for...

[decius]

Nice idea with the kittens, but if you use cats, they will adopt your markesdwarves. When the invaders kill the cats, the marksdwarves will tantrum and start shooting each other.


Regarding the ballista question, why let the enemy get close?

Code: [Select]

W...W
W...W
W...W
W...WWWWWW
W...D.....
WHHHWWWWWW
WHHHW
WHHHW
WHHHW
WHHHW
WHHHW
WWFWW
WBBBWWW
WBBBD..
WBBBWWW
WWWW
W-wall
.-Floor
D-door
H-channel.
Seriously, if your Siege Operators can't kill the approaching invaders in a turkey shoot, you've already lost.

[Grumman]

Well, that is what the fortifications are for...

Fortifications don't work against siege weapons.

[buzz killington]

I support any idea using kittens as shields.