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Author Topic: Dealing with River Devils.  (Read 1399 times)

JoystickHero

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Dealing with River Devils.
« on: December 07, 2009, 02:45:03 am »

I just embarked on a river map. It's got limestone (:D), two lairs of soil (:D), two layers of gabbro (:\) and a river. (:D) The river menaces with spikes of carp. (:[) I want to use this to my advantage, and somehow redirect part of the water into a reservoir under my fort that I can throw naked prisoners in to. A carp tarp, basically. But I don't know how to go about digging the last channel part of the irrigation tube (and a bridge across these terrible waters for the caravans) without my poor miner being eaten. I normally wouldn't mind too much, but you only get so many lye makers in a year. How would I take care of the last bit, and is there anything else I should know about dealing with these terrible beasts, aside from the obvious? (Floodgatesfloodgatesfloodgates, diagonals, as few channels as possible?)

Also, overly-complex traps in general. I was thinking of flinging the invaders sideways into a wall and down a channel by way of delayed-activation pressure pad connected to a drawbridge, but then I'd lose all their stuff, and I make about 1/3 to 1/2 of my iron and steel goods from goblinite.
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Amalgam

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2009, 03:35:09 am »

I think I've got a solution.

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Dig a canal just like that with an entrance nearby (but not too close to the river!), and make a 1x3 drawbridge the raises to the right. Make a lever and link it to the drawbridge. Since a wall separates the miner from the river there's no danger of the miner falling in. Have your miner mine out a tile next to the river, then have someone pull the lever. The drawbridge should should shut off the water from the canal before it has a chance to fill up to a dangerous level, and if your miner is still standing on the drawbridge for some reason it should fling him out of harm's way. That's one advantage drawbridges have over floodgates, they never get jammed.

Probably not the best way to do it but it's the best I could come up with. :P
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Kanddak

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2009, 09:03:25 am »

The drawbridge should should shut off the water from the canal before it has a chance to fill up to a dangerous level, and if your miner is still standing on the drawbridge for some reason it should fling him out of harm's way crush him to death.

The tile that turns into a wall when drawbridges raise will atom-smash anyone standing on it.

Also, drawbridges (that are more than 1 tile in both dimensions, so there's a place to stand without being crushed) fling things in totally random directions... except for the direction the bridge raises. The bridge raises instantly and creatures are thrown over time, so by the time any creature thrown in that direction gets to that edge of the bridge, the raised bridge blocks them.
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Dorf3000

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2009, 09:39:08 am »

But I don't know how to go about digging the last channel part of the irrigation tube (and a bridge across these terrible waters for the caravans) without my poor miner being eaten. I normally wouldn't mind too much, but you only get so many lye makers in a year. How would I take care of the last bit, and is there anything else I should know about dealing with these terrible beasts, aside from the obvious? (Floodgatesfloodgatesfloodgates, diagonals, as few channels as possible?)


Dig out under the river as normal, then construct stairs aboveground and build a floor above the river over your underground chamber.  Deconstruct the stairs and the floor will punch right through the river bed.  If you really want to be a wuss, use a support too and attach it to a lever far away.

Practically all digging problems can be solved by smart mining and using cave-ins.  The problems that can't be solved that way usually lead to Fun.
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JoystickHero

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2009, 01:36:37 pm »

Stupid Dwarf Trick: Drawbridge Floodgate
Ok, I like the idea, but I'd rather not have a miner atomsmashed. :P If the poor immigrant is eaten, at least I may get to keep his pick if he drops it or gets his arm bitten off.

Weaponized Cave-In
That is brilliant. And I think I'll use a lever, since the river is to the left, and the dwarf would have a pyschological need to stand under the floor while decontructing the stairs. I may have figured out my bridge problem, I go to a part of the water where there's 'just' Sturgeons and Longnose Gar (this is going to be the best drowning trap ever, I swear) and build the bridge several tiles longer than it needs to be, all of the extra space on my bank. Then I have an immigrant build it. If he's still stupid enough to try to go in/near the water with a five-by-three work area, he deserves what he gets.

Is there any way to alternate the flooding chambers without killing all the fish? I don't think carp fit through pumps, and I've never actually successfully stripped a goblin of his goodies in a cage trap. Usually I just take them from the mangled mess that was once his body.
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Diamond

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2009, 02:51:32 pm »

... and I've never actually successfully stripped a goblin of his goodies in a cage trap. Usually I just take them from the mangled mess that was once his body.
Just d-b-d over built cages, man. And have active garbage dump zone to dump things into. I usually build a long shaft down to stockpiles from the processing room, near arena Fast Experience Room.
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Amalgam

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2009, 06:49:41 pm »

The drawbridge should should shut off the water from the canal before it has a chance to fill up to a dangerous level, and if your miner is still standing on the drawbridge for some reason it should fling him out of harm's way crush him to death.

The tile that turns into a wall when drawbridges raise will atom-smash anyone standing on it.

Also, drawbridges (that are more than 1 tile in both dimensions, so there's a place to stand without being crushed) fling things in totally random directions... except for the direction the bridge raises. The bridge raises instantly and creatures are thrown over time, so by the time any creature thrown in that direction gets to that edge of the bridge, the raised bridge blocks them.
The drawbridge should should shut off the water from the canal before it has a chance to fill up to a dangerous level, and if your miner is still standing on the drawbridge for some reason it should fling him out of harm's way crush him to death.

The tile that turns into a wall when drawbridges raise will atom-smash anyone standing on it.

Also, drawbridges (that are more than 1 tile in both dimensions, so there's a place to stand without being crushed) fling things in totally random directions... except for the direction the bridge raises. The bridge raises instantly and creatures are thrown over time, so by the time any creature thrown in that direction gets to that edge of the bridge, the raised bridge blocks them.
Oh shit, I had no idea they worked like that, never really built one O_o

...You guys know what this means though, don't you? Yes, bulkheads that crush anything in their path when they close.

I'll let the awesome soak in for a while. 8)
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JoystickHero

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2009, 07:04:09 pm »

...You guys know what this means though, don't you? Yes, bulkheads that crush anything in their path when they close.

I'll let the awesome soak in for a while. 8)
The people here have been weaponizing drawbridges for years. :P

Also: Update. Upon beginning the mining for my carp tarp, I found the a massive magnetite deposit, with a good bit of platinum inside. I'm shelving Operation: You Won't Have Time To Drown until I've got all this settled. I've still got that floor and stuff, though, so I may just drop my prisoners directly into the river.
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Amalgam

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2009, 07:32:56 pm »

...You guys know what this means though, don't you? Yes, bulkheads that crush anything in their path when they close.

I'll let the awesome soak in for a while. 8)
The people here have been weaponizing drawbridges for years. :P

Also: Update. Upon beginning the mining for my carp tarp, I found the a massive magnetite deposit, with a good bit of platinum inside. I'm shelving Operation: You Won't Have Time To Drown until I've got all this settled. I've still got that floor and stuff, though, so I may just drop my prisoners directly into the river.
Yeah, but normal drawbridges don't crush when closing. They just fling things. Imagine three foot thick steel bulkheads launching out of the walls and pancaking anything in their path. Awesome. I already have 2 5x3 floodgate bulkheads arranged in an airlock fashion in my fort, but I always thought it was stupid that it didn't crush my dwarves if they got caught inside. I should be able to 2 arrays of 5 1x3 drawbridges and accomplish that.

So cool. So... Dwarfy.
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JoystickHero

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2009, 12:05:54 am »

...You guys know what this means though, don't you? Yes, bulkheads that crush anything in their path when they close.

I'll let the awesome soak in for a while. 8)
The people here have been weaponizing drawbridges for years. :P

Also: Update. Upon beginning the mining for my carp tarp, I found the a massive magnetite deposit, with a good bit of platinum inside. I'm shelving Operation: You Won't Have Time To Drown until I've got all this settled. I've still got that floor and stuff, though, so I may just drop my prisoners directly into the river.
Yeah, but normal drawbridges don't crush when closing. They just fling things. Imagine three foot thick steel bulkheads launching out of the walls and pancaking anything in their path. Awesome. I already have 2 5x3 floodgate bulkheads arranged in an airlock fashion in my fort, but I always thought it was stupid that it didn't crush my dwarves if they got caught inside. I should be able to 2 arrays of 5 1x3 drawbridges and accomplish that.

So cool. So... Dwarfy.
The closing's the part that's been weaponized most. Why do you think it's called the Dwarven Atom Smasher? It is pretty cool. But keep in mind that the DAS destroys everything, including valuable equipment.
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Kanddak

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2009, 12:24:47 am »

Yeah, but normal drawbridges don't crush when closing.
Tell that to these guys  :'(: http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1867-crushedbybridgeup
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Amalgam

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Re: Dealing with River Devils.
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2009, 06:40:48 pm »

O_o

Weird. I've never used atom smashers for anything other than crushing random crap strewn around the fort (and then only under the bridge), I always thought they would fling you off when closing no matter what tile you're on. Not very intuitive, but then again you could probably sum up DF with just those words. Also, I thought flings were directional... Guess not.

But still, with a little imagination you can create egyptian tomb-style closing walls. Except they come out really fast.
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