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[kotekzot]

does anybody know if linking multiple pressure plates to a single hatch will trigger the hatch if only 1 plate is activated?

[Xenos]

does anybody know if linking multiple pressure plates to a single hatch will trigger the hatch if only 1 plate is activated?

It should have that effect. AFAIK

I've got another fort going with this trap setup again, with a few refinements.

My passages are laid out like this:
TTTTTTT
GGHPHGG
TTTTTTT

Where T is wall, G is grate, H is hatch, and P is pressure plate.

Underneath all that its just a big open pit for 15 levels, then 10x menacing spikes under each hatch, along with some more grating. There are a few more z-levels below this, and then some grating covering up a drop into a cavern system.

Haven't had a goblin attack yet, so I don't know for sure how the new system will work, but the grates should help with the drainage.

That seems like it could work, but is there any way a building destroyer can destroy those grates?  And if you wanted to use magma then that would require using all magma safe grates, which is more work.

So the idea is to force something onto a pressure plate which opens up a liquid gate, 'washing' them down a 'drain'...

TOO DOCILE!

Instead, how about forcing them into a one-tile wide area and onto a pressure plate which activates the legendary dwarven MAGMA CANNON. The magma cannon's mouth is also one tile wide but extends a ways back to build up more pressure. The magma, upon its release, BLASTS whatever was standing on the plate at point-blank range, launching them into a 'drain', where the magma exits and re-enters the loading chamber for the cannon. With such horrible burns, whatever is down in that grate will either be dead immediately or dead within a matter of seconds. Extremely painful and also extremely awesome/effective. Could probably be used against

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

daemons

since it's magma too.

Mine uses magma to push them down a 27 z level drop.  If we use the dimensions from the DF->minecraft utililty, that puts the drop at 81 meters.  They then land on 10x menacing spikes, and smother in magma while impaled.  how is that docile?

Also, after class today, I will upload the save if anyone wants to look at my trap design.  I think the world I genned (or at least my embark location) has no goblins or elves (31.13) so it probably wont be used.  but you can see the design quite well.  I havent gotten around to placing the spikes yet however...

[NKDietrich]

That seems like it could work, but is there any way a building destroyer can destroy those grates?  And if you wanted to use magma then that would require using all magma safe grates, which is more work.

That's a good question. I might just wall that level up until I can properly fortify a beachhead in the cavern system. I really only need access to the kill-level for loot retrieval purposes. Regarding magma safe grates, most of them are already bauxite since I ran into tons of it. A magma retrofit wouldnt be too hard. I'd just have to swap out about a third of the grates, and 1 of the hatches.

[DukeOfVandals]

OP, no offense but your system is incredibly overcomplicated and likely won't work the way you want it to. Have you actually built this?

Much simpler is to have the single-tile walkway over a large fall and have some weapon traps on it, which force the enemies to dodge and likely to dodge straight off the walkway.

I've done something like OP's version before, and it is way easier than what you suggest (which is what I normally go with because it requires less planning). OP's takes longer, as far as planning is concerned, but the actual work that goes into it is minimal (in most cases).

The only negative to OP's is that it isn't troll proof. I had a set-up that was similar (basically, two hatches at each end of a small line of weapon traps... gobbos are either dropped into my drowning pit, or run back and forth pathing over weapon traps until they are laying limbless in a heap) and the trolls wrecked it every damn time. What Forsaken suggests is troll-proof.

I've dealt enough with trolls that I would probably go with Forsaken's simply to avoid having to re-construct it after every siege.




...

THOUGH...

You could combine both, using a single-tile strip, lined with traps with a pressure-plate in the middle... pressure plate releases water which knocks any gobbos that have made it that far off the tiles and into the pit which I would imagine finishes them off.

[Xenos]

Do the trolls break it though?  From my experience, trolls take a while to destroy things, and if I use magma they will be !!Trolls!! falling swiftly towards spikes...

[NKDietrich]

So I was doing another fort, and used this trap again, since it worked so well against goblins last time.

Kobold bowmen and swordsmen came and bypassed it entirely! Ran right over the pressure plates without triggering them. I had the weight set as low as it will go. Do kobolds avoid pressure plates or are they too light?

EDIT: Nevermind. I'm a retard. Kobolds are [TRAPAVOID]. I mistakenly thought it was just thieves who were like that. Guess I will need to revise the trap, or just prepare to do things the old fashioned way.

[ProZocK]

OP, no offense but your system is  AMAZINGLY DWARFY. Have you actually built this?

Much ELFIER is to have the single-tile walkway over a large fall and have some weapon traps on it, which force the enemies to dodge and likely to dodge straight off the walkway.

Fixed that for you

[Uristocrat]

His system requires a renewable water source directly above the trap points, which requires a lot more time and effort with pumps and power than it does to throw a bunch of wooden training axes into weapon traps.

The point of the traps I mentioned is not to kill the intruder, but to make them dodge and fall off the side. It accomplishes the same thing his system does, making them fall, without water or pumping.

You should be making spiked wooden balls, not training axes, if you don't have magma glass furnaces set up yet.  They attack 3x as often and rarely kill (which is actually desirable in this sort of trap).

[forsaken1111]

His system requires a renewable water source directly above the trap points, which requires a lot more time and effort with pumps and power than it does to throw a bunch of wooden training axes into weapon traps.

The point of the traps I mentioned is not to kill the intruder, but to make them dodge and fall off the side. It accomplishes the same thing his system does, making them fall, without water or pumping.

You should be making spiked wooden balls, not training axes, if you don't have magma glass furnaces set up yet.  They attack 3x as often and rarely kill (which is actually desirable in this sort of trap).

Your necro of this old thread makes an excellent point, though I believe at the time of my post wooden blunt weapons were entirely useless. I have not tried them in recent versions.

[Uristocrat]

His system requires a renewable water source directly above the trap points, which requires a lot more time and effort with pumps and power than it does to throw a bunch of wooden training axes into weapon traps.

The point of the traps I mentioned is not to kill the intruder, but to make them dodge and fall off the side. It accomplishes the same thing his system does, making them fall, without water or pumping.

You should be making spiked wooden balls, not training axes, if you don't have magma glass furnaces set up yet.  They attack 3x as often and rarely kill (which is actually desirable in this sort of trap).

Your necro of this old thread makes an excellent point, though I believe at the time of my post wooden blunt weapons were entirely useless. I have not tried them in recent versions.

Wooden weapons are actually pretty good in terms of knocking people off of walkways and the fact that they're nearly always non-lethal is a bonus.

As for the necro, I had too many tabs open (someone recently linked to this ancient thread, so it's not like I realized this was from page 20 or whatever) and thus I mistook the "this thread is over 120 days old" for one of those warnings about someone else having already replied.  By the time I realized what it actually said, I had already hit submit....  oops

[forsaken1111]

No worries.

[Poindexterity]

i dont like dropping them on to spikes or for such a distance that they die on impact.
i like dropping them just far enough to horrendously wound them, then send the kung-fu squad in for xp.