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[Archereon]

Recently, I've been trying to build this Dwarven Industrial complex, which apparently relies on making quantum stockpiles in a way I'm not familiar with. as far as I remember, the only way to do this normally is to make a 1x1 dumping zone and dump stuff there, but this obviously isn't an option.

On a side note, I'm not quite sure how I'd have to set up the Minecart tracks for this. Do I need to make physical stops or can I just have my dorfs guide the carts to their destinations?

[doublestrafe]

You need the stops, because you set the stops up to dump the minecart's contents when it reaches the stop.

Anything on top of a stockpile that matches the stockpile's settings counts as being in the stockpile. Dwarves won't put stuff into a stockpile tile that already has something in it, so the trick of a quantum stockpile is getting them to put lots of thinsg on one tile. One way is to dump things and then reclaim them. The new way is to use minecart stops, which you can set to dump the cart's contents in a particular direction; you just put the stockpile where the stuff will land.

Here's a pretty decent tutorial. Have fun.

[Archereon]

By physical stops I meant did I need to build stops via b+C+S to dump items there.

[Oaktree]

By physical stops I meant did I need to build stops via b+C+S to dump items there.

Yes.  When you build them you set whether or not a car arriving there will dump, and in which direction.  A "stop" indicated on track routes is just a place where dwarves will load and unload from the cart and does not have to be a b+C+S constructed stop.  The Stops are normally built on top of track.

My two tile quantum dumps are a stretch of carved track 2 tiles long with Track Stops built on top of both tiles.  And arguably you only need one.  One Stop is set to dump in a particular direction when constructed. 

You then build a 1x1 stockpile in the spot the track stop will dump onto.  Set the stockpile to hold whatever you expect to dump there.

On the other side I build a larger stockpile with the same settings.  It's job is to collect materials;  if it's heavy stuff like stone, logs, or ore I usually assign the max three wheelbarrows.

You then designate a hauling route on the two tiles of track.  The side next to the collecting stockpile gets a stop defined for pickup.  Cart "desired items" (looks just like stockpile definitions) is set to get the same items as the stockpile and set to take materials from the collecting stockpile.  You then set a departure order for the stop like "Guide west when full of desired items" to have the cart moved into the Track Stop where it will promptly dump.  The Track Stop side has a stop with a departure order of "Guide east when empty of any items" to have it moved back to the collecting side.

There are probably even more compact designs, but these are working very well for me.  I have 3-4 set up in my current fortress to concentrate things in the right places of the industrial complex.  If you're loading "light" items of which the minecart can hold a *lot* you want the departure condition set to a lower percentage to avoid getting message spam and canceled tasks from items being inside the minecart and thus unavailable.

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[Archereon]

For some reason, nothing's working. It says the tracks are valid, but nobody's filling or pushing minecarts, and yes, they've been set to take from the correct stockpiles.

[wuphonsreach]

I like to turn the track to be perpendicular to the stockpile.

Code: [Select]

WWWS###
WWWV###
WWWQ###

W=workshop
S="pickup" stop where cart gets loaded
V="dump" stop which dumps to the south
Q=quantum stockpile, take only from links, no bins
#=origin stockpile, no bins

[Sutremaine]

It says the tracks are valid, but nobody's filling or pushing minecarts, and yes, they've been set to take from the correct stockpiles.

Are the minecarts themselves set to take the items?

[Nkosi_SW]

This is how I build my minecart quantum stockpiles.  I don't use tracks at all for quantum storage (I find setting up tracks and moving minecarts around not worth the effort in 99% of storage scenarios TBH), but the method is the same for you whether you use tracks or no.

1/ Build a Stop (b-C-S).  Make sure it is dumping in the direction you want (d when first designating the construction site).

2/ Build a 1x1 destination stockpile (p) on the square where the stop will dump and then use (q) to make the settings store only what you want, with no bins or wheelbarrows.

For simple quantum stockpiling cases:
3/ Build a receiving stockpile (can be anywhere, but normally on the opposite side of the stop to the destination stockpile) of any size.  The larger it is, the more dwarves will collect items, unless you set wheelbarrows for heavy items which limits you to three simultaneous collectors, or you can use mutiple receiving stockpiles. 

4/ Construct a new hauling route (h), assign a vehicle (v), and make a new stop at your constructed stop (s).  (ENTER) to define the stop, (ENTER) again to set the desired items to the same as your stockpiles, (x) to remove all existing conditions, (s) to make a stockpile link and choose the receiving stockpile to tell the minecart to take from it.

Done and done.  Benefit from super efficient storage, more compact fortresses, shorter hauling routes, stocktaking at a glance with look (k), possibly higher FPS and a free set of steak knives.  It is a bit fidly, and if you miss any step it doesn't work, but once you get it going it's a dream.

[eRaz0r]

I totally agree - this has saved me a bunch of mucking about.

I have a set of 4 magma forges clustered around an up/down staircase. In the room above I used to have a gigantic Bar/Block stockpile. Now, I have 6 Track Stop Quantum Stockpiles, one for each of Copper, Silver, Bronze, Steel, Iron, and Adamantine.  The stockpiles are arranged next to the stair case, and each one has a stockpile link to the "feeder" pile which is above the Smelters, in the room next door.  Ores are smelted, brought up the stairs to the smelter pile, and then immediately taken to the appropriate mine-cart and immediately dumped onto the one tile.  So incredibly efficient.

I can instantly tell if I'm out of a particular metal, and a quick "Loo(k)" at that tile gives me a rough idea how many are left without resorting to the "stocks" screen. 

In fact, I love these things so much, I have one for every kind of thing in the fortress, except food and alcohol (don't want everyone piling into each other getting to the booze!). 

The fastest design is just the Track Stop - no Track required, as the previous poster describes.

[Hyndis]

Here is the quantum factory complex in practice in my current fort:

http://mkv25.net/dfma/poi-29675-quantumindustrialcomplex

[PaleBlueHammer]

I don't use tracks at all for quantum storage (I find setting up tracks and moving minecarts around not worth the effort in 99% of storage scenarios TBH), but the method is the same for you whether you use tracks or no.

Yep, this is my usual setup:



Track stop w. minecart sitting on it, goes nowhere.  Stockpile surrounding it on the south, east, and west is kitchen stuff: plants, eggs, dwarven syrup, only things for my stills and kitchens.  No prepared meals.  Stockpile to the north is identical, 1 tile, which is where the items get dumped to (you can see a harvested plant sitting in it).  That pile currently has about 500 items in it.

I DID run into problems storing booze.  Booze stockpiles each have a barrel number, and you can't store any booze without a barrel (or pot, whichever).  So they act like bins would, and mess things up for the hauling... they try to take overstock from the quantum pile and put it on the emptier pile, where it gets dumped again, and so on.  Prepared meals I have all sitting on a QS without any barrels.

[rynait]

Hello,

been using the AQS with stuff to dump.  discovered a problem wondering if there is a solution or something I missed..

I created AQS for food stuff. 

and the results, there is five booze barrels  been added (and stuck) to minecart, which places it at 20% capacity. there is seven more barrels (of booze) and five (of food), waiting (in supply stockpile) and a backed up piles (in still).

dorfs refused to add more onto minecart (waited until summer to notice this backup).  I made sure the "recieving" had sufficent spaces (2 squares). 

A) Should AQS dumping attempt not be done with boozes?
B) should I do something about empty "barrel" on the AQS side?
c) should i start using conditions to handle food dumping?

Thanks, R

[Oaktree]

Minecart Quantum Dumps do not play well with items being stored in barrels and bins.

For food and booze storage you might be better off just using standard space-hogging stockpiles.

[Sutremaine]

Or keeping one end of the route away from the other. I'm currently working on a setup in which booze is produced and placed in a stockpile before being loaded into a minecart and pushed over a gap to be deposited on the floor, but with 14 civilians and 3 military dwarves and an unspeakable amount of sprawl nothing gets done fast.

[Hyndis]

Minecart Quantum Dumps do not play well with items being stored in barrels and bins.

For food and booze storage you might be better off just using standard space-hogging stockpiles.

Yes, disable all bins and barrels in quantum stockpiles. While you can of course quantum stockpile empty bins and barrels, they must be stored as furniture rather than as containers in use.


Also I've been refining my quantum stockpile designs, and at this point they're very easy to set up, and all kinds of efficient. So much automation can be done through being clever. I even have a system in place where all items I deem either useless are automatically sorted for melting down, or chucked into the atom smasher. All entirely automatic. Once I set it up my dwarves will handle it for me.

It really is something of a simple computer. Stockpiles, mine cart routes, and track stops work like a complex series of if=>thens. Its amazing what can be created by being clever in their usage.

Some things I don't take advantage of just because I enjoy building a society full of warrior-poets. While it would be trivial to build an entirely automatic machine gun, capable of destroying anything within seconds by launching a barrage of iron mine carts loaded with magma traveling at nearly the speed of light, atomizing everything in a corridor with an endless barrage of mine carts (or until I run out of ammo and the ammo hopper needs reloading), I just enjoy seeing a dwarf rise from being a dabbling recruit into a mighty warrior worthy of legends.