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Author Topic: [33g] Water wheel physics  (Read 777 times)

Draco18s

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[33g] Water wheel physics
« on: December 24, 2007, 05:17:00 pm »

We all know a waterwheel can power itself, this is nothing new.

However, I've got a waterwheel that is connected to nothing (other than the gear holding it up) and it's spinning.  There's water under it, but it's 7/7 as far as the eye can see (all 42x1 tiles of it).

Somthing buggy?

Well, at least I can hook it up to the pump that pumps water into the area and not worry about it flooding: pumps on z-level 0 can't create presure to cause water to flood to z-level +1.

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darknight

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2007, 02:49:00 pm »

If a waterwheel has water under it, then it will turn even if it is not powering anything. That is not a bug. Even setting up a lever, to disconnect a gear, to stop power from getting to a load, like a pump, will not stop the wheel from turning. It will only stop the drive train from turning after the disconnected gear.

The same is true for windmills. As long as they have wind, they will turn, whether or not anything is connected to them.

I havent tested it, but if they are connected to something that uses more power than they put out, then they might come to a stop. But they would likely break if that happens.

On the other hand, if you mean the waterwheel somehow got submerged, and is now COVERED with water, yet it is still turning, then that MAY be a bug. But somehow I doubt it.

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Draco18s

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2007, 01:56:00 am »

No, the way I understood wheels is that the water needed to be FLOWING in order to move, 33e was the last version I used (I skipped f? maybe it was d -> f -> g) and my waterwheels would inconsistently generate power depending on the flow of water underneath them:
code:

level 0    level -1
#.==~#      ##46##
#.==~#      ##35##
#_%%7#      #1####
#.==~#      ##35##
#.==~#      ##46##

From the "how to breach an aquifer, the breaking physics meathod."  It's a great little device.  1 pump powers 4 waterwheels.  Anyway, in that meathod prior to 33g I would get 100-400 power at random each frame, depending on how fast the water was flowing from the 5 to the 3 to the one (and how high the water was).

Now I can do this:

code:

level 0     level 1
#######     ###*###
#77777#     #_===_#
#######     #######

(Constructed walls, all of them, floor is dirt--tangent, this water counts as a water source, despite being drawn directly from the saltwater ocean)
And get 100 power all the time, without deviance or failure.  I can hook a pump up to that, such that the pump is pumping "new" water into the zone.

code:

.#####
_%%777...
.#####

In order to create the pefect aquaduct (I discovered this while building a channel to bring water to my giant fountain--each level would rely on a waterwheel powering a pump to draw water from the level below to keep it full, thus only needing 1 dwarf to draw water up four z-levels), only I found that after building the wheel it turned all by itself (the pump was built, but not connected).
Wheels DO NOT turn if there is no water below them, I have several of those as well (drawing the water up the tower to spurt out and fountain--I haven't filled it yet).

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tj124

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2007, 06:02:00 am »

:P rong thread

[ December 26, 2007: Message edited by: tj124 ]

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N35t0r

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2007, 08:15:00 pm »

You can have running 7/7 water, so it's no bug if a wheel is turning with 7/7 water under it. In fact, the endless power supply I'm using delivers constant power if I fill it up with water until no more can fit, whereas power fluctuates if I leave it at a 4/7 average...
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Draco18s

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2007, 09:00:00 pm »

I'm saying that NON-running 7/7 water powers waterwheels.

The mere fact that I have the pump hooked up pushing water in was planned that way, but the waterwheel was turning before they were connected.

This powers a waterwheel just fine:

code:

#######
#77777#
#######

It's not going from anywhere to anywhere, the only reason I could see it as "flowing" was because a pump put it there, but isn't running.

code:

#######
%%7777#
#######

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Toady One

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2007, 05:41:00 pm »

If you display the water as ~ instead of numbers, does it wiggle like it thinks it's flowing?  Or is the wheel operating on water that even the game knows is not flowing?
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Draco18s

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2007, 11:52:00 pm »

I will check.  I'll have to poke around with my set up (I have levers set up to stop the pumps + drain the channels, but another lever opperates the floodgates as well).  *Disassembles a gear assembly instead.*

OK, the game thinks the water is flowing, even though the pump is not opperating, which I suppose is the issue.  Explains why I was able to use it as a watersource, despite pumping from the ocean, into a lake, then into another 'duct headed twards the fountain (which still lacks a *masterpiece platinum statue*).

On that note, maybe [SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS:YES] needs a way to indicate "flowing" versus "not flowing" water.

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Nesoo

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2007, 08:23:00 pm »

quote:
Originally posted by Draco18s:
<STRONG>On that note, maybe [SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS:YES] needs a way to indicate "flowing" versus "not flowing" water.</STRONG>

Indeed. Alternating blue and white, or whatever normal water does, would be nice. Red and yellow for lava/magma?

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000508 □ [dwarf mode][flows] flooding over a full pond will kill the fish inside

Draco18s

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2007, 08:45:00 pm »

quote:
Originally posted by Nesoo:
<STRONG>

Indeed. Alternating blue and white, or whatever normal water does, would be nice. Red and yellow for lava/magma?</STRONG>


I'm not sure lava...flows.  When I checked the water it did the alternating squiggles, but the magma (some of which was 6/7 and some of it 5/7) didn't change.

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FFLaguna

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2007, 04:22:00 pm »

My magma flows and alternates.
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Nesoo

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2007, 07:09:00 pm »

Yeah, I don't really know; I play with numbers, so I haven't even seen what squiggly magma looks like in the 3D version at all. Though any time I get 6's sitting in there, they zip around wildly (all in more or less the same directions).

[ December 29, 2007: Message edited by: Nesoo ]

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000508 □ [dwarf mode][flows] flooding over a full pond will kill the fish inside

Draco18s

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Re: [33g] Water wheel physics
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2007, 08:00:00 pm »

quote:
Originally posted by Nesoo:
<STRONG>Yeah, I don't really know; I play with numbers, so I haven't even seen what squiggly magma looks like in the 3D version at all. Though any time I get 6's sitting in there, they zip around wildly (all in more or less the same directions).</STRONG>

Yep.  That's what I get all the time too :P

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