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[k9wazere]

That would be an option I think if the bridges retracted quicker. As it is, zombies tend to move in groups. A pressure plate on the fortress side means I'll have to deal with 1-5 zombies getting through the defences.

Additionally, I still think the pressure plate will fail if multiple zombies shuffle across it in quick succession, thus leading to bridges being locked in place.

Ultimately, I think the latching method vjek mentioned where you have to reset the trap with a lever, etc, would be the way forwards.

As for the second point, well, I didn't think I'd have to seal off the area because I was confident that the one-way entrance would suffice I know better now

In the end the fortress was lost thanks to a tantrum spiral on account of the dwarves bathed in lava or having their brains chewed. I was watching (and cursing) the failed trap area, and not watching as my entire fortress (many levels above the lava) was undergoing zombification from the inside.

Next time, yeah I'll seal the whole thing away and just have a single bait animal.

That the thing with undead biomes; the thing which makes it fun. You can't afford to let a single dwarf out of your sight for a second. Because every dwarf is a zombie waiting to happen.

I love it :p

[gzoker]

Tried this design for an only entrance. My first migrant wave fall down into the hole.

[JackOSpades]

from what I understand about a repeater it works very much like my favorite peace of dwarven Ingenuity the goblin grinder (or rather grinders work off of the same principle as a repeater.)

HHP......X......PHH with P: pressure plates linked to hatches. H: Hatch over pit. X: pressure plate triggering the repeater

your hapless dog/goblin/vampire runs toward an exit triggering the P plate and opening the hatches linked to it (thus closing off that path.) the victim then Paths for the exit on the other side triggering the X repeater plate before hitting the P plate on that side opening the hatches and removing THAT path by which time the first set of hatches have rest so it heads toward the open exit....

an Issue can sometimes occur where the creature falls into the pit and the hatches close on top of it, so having an exit to your pit that leads back to the corridor is necessary. (also using something that neither eats, sleeps, nor ages maximizes efficiency by eleminating the need to replace victems.)

FYI: in the goblin grinder version the X repeater plate is unnecessary and the entire corridor is filled with weapon traps.

[Uristocrat]

Really starting to pull my hair out with this one, because without reliable working pressure plates, my whole defensive strategy is ruined, and if I can't kill the zombies, my FPS tends to zero quite quickly...

I'm not sure if I understand your setup completely, but I have a device to make a pressure plate that activates ONCE and thereafter must be manually reset.  Would that help?  Note that resetting that requires two lever pulls, unless you use this thing as part of the system as well.

Personally, I use it for a lockdown system that seals off the fort whenever invaders are detected.  Well, I guess the fort isn't technically sealed, there is still a route to the inside that takes you through all the deathtraps....

[Urist Da Vinci]

There was a "toilet trap" somewhere on the forums that could handle any creature that can be washed away by water.

Basically, you have a pressure plate linked to a hatch on either side, as well as an overhead hatch. Enemy steps on plate, hatches open so they can't move, and the water pours down from above and flushes them into the open space below. The hatches then close because no-one is standing on the plate.

[GreatWyrmGold]

There was a "toilet trap" somewhere on the forums that could handle any creature that can be washed away by water.

Basically, you have a pressure plate linked to a hatch on either side, as well as an overhead hatch. Enemy steps on plate, hatches open so they can't move, and the water pours down from above and flushes them into the open space below. The hatches then close because no-one is standing on the plate.

Wow...I just need to place a refuse stockpile next to one of these traps...

[Panando]

Usually dead man's switch design is more reliable. The trick with a dead man's switch is it must be held down by a living being in order for the system to be safe, once the "plate holder" moves away or dies, the system becomes armed and dangerous.

So you pasture an animal onto a 1x1 pasture on a pressure plate. That pressure plate for example could hold a raising bridge in the raised position. When the animal sees an enemy it moves off the pressure plate, and the bridge comes slamming down and splats the zombies. A dwarf then rounds up the animal and re-pastures it to re-arm the trap.

There are problems with this design too though. The main problem is "bumping", that is, a dwarf, pet, or stray will come along and bump the animal off the pressure plate (and thus out of it's pasture). This is not an insurmountable problem, the pressure plate can be in a dead end and perhaps protected by a door to keep other animals out. Another partial solution is to buy megafauna from the elves and use it to arm your traps, the pressure plate can simply be set to a weight which only megafauna will trigger.

However good your design, you'll probably want to link up the trap to a lever as well, so it can be manually activated or toggled.

[Martin]

You can make a dead-mans switch with a minecart. From the top:

Code: [Select]

+>P=<+
+*-*-*+

> roller pushing east
< roller pushing west
P pressure plate
= track
+ walls
* gear
- horizontal axle


Key: you use 2 carts. The switch is loaded when the carts are pushed west and the west power is turned off. To trigger the switch, turn power on to the west roller and turn power off to the east. The cart on the west side will push the cart sitting on the plate to the east and they'll stop there on the right. To reset the switch, turn power off the west and on to the east, which will push both carts west leaving one on the plate. It takes only a few ticks to activate - much faster than a drawbridge takes to open/close.


So, hook the invader triggered plate to turn on power to one side and off to the other, and a lever to flip it.