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[Lav]

I'm currently considering an unlimited water generator based on the water freezing/melting processes in the game.

The generator is supposed to work as follows.

1. Starting condition. Outside ice block is frozen and rests on a stone floor (constructed or natural). Magma-fall below is not working.

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2. Magmafall is activated and in 2 steps it puts a 7/7 block of magma below the ice block.

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##7<= ##
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3. Ice melts (this happens nearly instantly as far as I can tell).

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##7_####
##7<= ##
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4. Now the 7/7 block of water spreads into the adjacent inside underground empty tile...

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##43####
##7<= ##
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5. Where it is immediately pumped into an underground waterduct.

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##4 ####
##7<= ##
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6. Finally the gravity takes over, the magma block falls and the 4/7 (or 2/7) water on the open tile freezes back to a natural ice block.

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    =>3
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## <= ##
##7=> ##
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The cycle repeats over and over.

Since gravity in DF affects both magma and water, and due to it's semi-random nature, about 50% of the cycles will be "empty", because magma block will drop and the water re-freeze before it has a chance to spread to the adjacent tile. Otherwise, the design should be reliable enough.

Comments/criticism/suggestions?

[RexMundi]

quite i good design, my scope of DF knowledge say it should work well. also, try adding some dieing elves because this is DF, elves must die.

[Kyronea]

Didn't one of the Sparkgears have an infinite water generator?

[Lav]

I didn't track Sparkgears, but google brings Sparkgear Seven. The general idea to use the ice melting is there, but unfortunately I don't have enough time on my hands to see if it was actually implemented during the game.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

I didn't track Sparkgears, but google brings Sparkgear Seven. The general idea to use the ice melting is there, but unfortunately I don't have enough time on my hands to see if it was actually implemented during the game.

If it was, it probably went hilariously wrong.

[Vattic]

My ice trap, the semi-automatic orcsicle maker, creates more water than it uses so I have an overflow pipe leading to an evaporation room. It could be collected and used though.

Video of it working.

Explanation of it's workings and at the bottom the full plans for a refined designyet untested.

[Astramancer]

So yes, magma and ice can mean infinite water.

This is because 1/7 water becomes an icy floor, and 2/7-7/7 water becomes an icy wall, and an icy wall melts to become 7/7 water.  So you can gain a maximum of 5/7 water/tile each freeze cycle.

I read a thread about someone who had a glacier at the edge of a biome and so the edge melted for a month or two out of the year, which mean the glacier actually expanded because the leading edge would re-freeze into more ice than it started with.

[Quietust]

I didn't track Sparkgears, but google brings Sparkgear Seven. The general idea to use the ice melting is there, but unfortunately I don't have enough time on my hands to see if it was actually implemented during the game.

It was - in fact, there's a movie of it in action.

[Lav]

That's an interesting one. The principle is quite different - Sparkgears version is 100% outside and water is generated by wandering 1/7 magma tiles. It also looks quite inefficient (and the 1/7 magmas will evaporate with time, so need to be replaced).

My design still has certain advantages. It only requires one block of ice and magma to work, and these do not evaporate with time. It doesn't need heating applied to the drainage duct as the water is fed underground. And it can be run by 3 pump operators - which might be useful at the early stage if you need water to fill a perpetual motion machine. And it is definitely easier to create than Sparkgears version.

But at least the proof of concept is there. :-)