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[Sphalerite]

Yet another reason to build another Dwarven Water Reactor, then.  Getting those mine carts 100+ layers from the magma forges back up to the magnetite lodes is probably going to take a lot of power.

[FearfulJesuit]

It'll be a hell of a lot simpler than pumping the magma up to the magnetite, tho...

[ThatAussieGuy]

Yet another reason to build another Dwarven Water Reactor, then.  Getting those mine carts 100+ layers from the magma forges back up to the magnetite lodes is probably going to take a lot of power.

An aquifer battery would make it even more insane - those carts would just go on forever

[Psieye]

Yet another reason to build another Dwarven Water Reactor, then.  Getting those mine carts 100+ layers from the magma forges back up to the magnetite lodes is probably going to take a lot of power.

An aquifer battery would make it even more insane - those carts would just go on forever

Toady has said there is a terminal velocity for the minecarts (although it's a very high cap), but there is certainly nothing stopping us from building a 'race circuit' that the minecarts will loop around endlessly, waiting for that goblin siege to run over. Mind, Toady also says we'd need to take care with cornering speeds. Unlimited acceleration alone will not be the solution, judicious use of friction zones (with specific minecart weight ranges in mind) for cornering will be required.

[Monk321654]

Perhaps we could make a Minecart Gatling Gun of sorts.
Alright, Imagine this circuit, but bigger:

Code: [Select]

C-=+C
+...-
=...=
-...+
C+=-C==== gWhere C is a corner, = is stright rail, + is a booster, - is a stopper, and g is a Goblin.
You could get a number of carts going around this loop, and with the boosters, they would keep circuiting, but with the slowers, they wouldn't fly off corners.
Now turn off the slower near the corner leading towards the track towards the goblin, and the carts should fly onto that track, and subsequently into the goblin.

[Girlinhat]

The issue is, at basics, if you cannot keep a cart spinning at top speed, that means they must be stored in a slowed, or an inert state.  You cannot easily keep a cart at maximum stored energy.  Of all the "circular holding cells" that might be designed, it would still be easier to simply put a series of rollers in a line and shunt a cart off at top speed.

Some abuse of ramps and doors may be important.  If done right, you could have a cart parked on a ramp, locked by a door.  When it opens, it'll run down the ramp and into the rollers, allowing for rather quick deployment.

[FearfulJesuit]

I can't help but wonder how much we're importing real-world physics and shouldn't be. Sure, you have to store a real-world cart in a slowed speed, but you also can't create real-world kinetic energy out of nowhere, and that rule's as broke as a two-dollar watch.

[Psieye]

The issue is, at basics, if you cannot keep a cart spinning at top speed, that means they must be stored in a slowed, or an inert state.  You cannot easily keep a cart at maximum stored energy.  Of all the "circular holding cells" that might be designed, it would still be easier to simply put a series of rollers in a line and shunt a cart off at top speed.

Some abuse of ramps and doors may be important.  If done right, you could have a cart parked on a ramp, locked by a door.  When it opens, it'll run down the ramp and into the rollers, allowing for rather quick deployment.

Wait, I think I got it:

Code: [Select]

    + ______
    + +
    + +
    + +
    +=+
___***+

Where:
_ is a rail track tile
* is a powered roller
+ is a wall
= is a lever operated hatch
Loaded minecarts are sent in from the top right at a slow speed. They reach the edge of the track and fall onto the hatch (assume they don't spill just by dropping). Further minecarts keep falling down that 1x1 chute until you have a tall column of loaded minecarts. When it's go time, lever-open the hatch. The minecarts fall one by one onto the roller and get accelerated autonomously. Reloading the 'machine gun clip' would take time, but that just means you duplicate this multiple times with tall enough clips that by the time you run out, the target is eliminated and further waves are bridged off.

The hatch can be replaced with a bridge if it matters for minecarts to stay on 'tracks'.

[Gizogin]

Minecart machine-gun?  I like this idea.
I'm excited for the computing possibilities minecarts raise.  If they trigger pressure plates, that is.

[Monk321654]

Minecart machine-gun?  I like this idea.
I'm excited for the computing possibilities minecarts raise.  If they trigger pressure plates, that is.

If I read right, that is a yes.
They will Trigger Plates.

[Dr. D]

Well, I guess they will make for easier computers.

[Gizogin]

As I just found out, minecarts will trigger pressure plates, and apparently can even trigger them differently based on weight.  I'm already thinking up some plans for minecart-clocks, which could then be used in logic systems and defense.  There are so many possibilities for minecart-based logic.

[FearfulJesuit]

Do I need to construct special ramps for the carts, or will channel-ramps do?

[Loud Whispers]

Natural ramps and constructed ramps behave the same way, so I'd say no

[Girlinhat]

There will be track items, which you can build like a floor.  In fact, they are floors, being walkable, and cannot be built atop existing floor constructions.  So, you might see "b-C-t" for "build-Construction-tracks".  Using this, you can build tracks anywhere that you could build a floor.