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[Revanchist]

Aren't there entire arcs dedicated to more realistic things? Such as mining, farming or trading?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Yup. Doesn't stop fools from citing half-implemented features as evidence...sadly.

[Revanchist]

It doesn't stop anyone except the ones who bother to check, really... It's even sadder.

[Klitri]

This idea does not sound very good, a dwarf with a pick is a much safer bet then a drill that could release HFS. 

[Starver]

Maby you could add pipe sections to the screw pump and make it pump from deeper.

Pumping (IRL, dwarven physics notwithstanding) doesn't work like that.  You cannot "suck" water up a significantly long pipe, as you just end up with a vacuum (or nearly so) at the top, which the nominal pressure of the water at the bottom won't cause to be filled by upward-flowing liquid.

You have to pump up from the bottom end.  Either by putting the pump there (hopefully strong enough to be able to feed its liquid up rather than burst itself) or by sending down liquid (to create the lower-end pressurisation needed to convey the other liquid up).  Alternatively, a set of "sucking" pumps at intervals, capable of lifting at least the distance between themselves and the next pump below (or the bottom entry, for the lowest) in a chain.

For clearing aquifer-flooding drill-shafts (for now excluding the problems of magma, with its denser liquid and heat-tolerance requirements) while not refilling it with another liquid (like water is used to pumped into oil reservoirs and retrieve the latter's load) would perhaps need a pump-like component for every 'n' drill-axles attached to the top and then lowered further.  Or just wait until you've punctured a cavern/magma-sea and let it drain and/or undergo obsidianised cave-ins until empty.


(Not sure if it's at all in-period.  And I also don't know why people consider tunnelling dwarves to be suicide-workers.  I often dig 1x1 vertical well-shafts down to the caverns (up to and beyond 40Z-levels, sometimes), without losing the dwarf at all, or even the materials that he digs through.  I've given my methods elsewhere many times, so not sure you want to hear them again.  Obviously if I hit an aquifer, then I don't actually punch through it, because in this case it's water I'm after in the first place.)

[Starver]

If you try to channel very many z levels down in anything other than a 1x1 pit the dwaves eventualy turn it into a 1x1 pit, as they are not aware of the Master Plan.

Once you have a 1x1 pit, re-designate another 1x1xmultiZ set of channels next door, and again, and again, until you have the xy-plan you need, top-to-bottom.

(Although for more than 1x1 pits I usually do it a different way, in the first place.  Depending on what I want to do at the bottom end.)

[GreatWyrmGold]

Ah, I see what he was saying. I disagree for factual reasons, but I understand his intent.

[Damiac]

Being able to dig through liquids seems worth it all by itself.  It does seem like an easier way to dig a 1x1 shaft... though I'm not entirely sure why'd you want to...
Do you get ore if you dig up/down stairs? Or only by mining?

[AutomataKittay]

Being able to dig through liquids seems worth it all by itself.  It does seem like an easier way to dig a 1x1 shaft... though I'm not entirely sure why'd you want to...
Do you get ore if you dig up/down stairs? Or only by mining?

You get ore when you dig stairs out, and ramp. You don't get any engraving a fortification out, but you does when you dig it out.

Of course that's dependant on luck of one in four unless it's gem cluster, and I believe, bluemetal

[GreatWyrmGold]

Being able to dig through liquids seems worth it all by itself.  It does seem like an easier way to dig a 1x1 shaft... though I'm not entirely sure why'd you want to...

I'm not sure why it would be easier. Could you explain?

[AutomataKittay]

Being able to dig through liquids seems worth it all by itself.  It does seem like an easier way to dig a 1x1 shaft... though I'm not entirely sure why'd you want to...

I'm not sure why it would be easier. Could you explain?

Draining flooded part of fortress or cavern into the next layer, is one thing I can imagine.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Being able to dig through liquids seems worth it all by itself.  It does seem like an easier way to dig a 1x1 shaft... though I'm not entirely sure why'd you want to...

I'm not sure why it would be easier. Could you explain?

Draining flooded part of fortress or cavern into the next layer, is one thing I can imagine.

Seems like it would take an autonomous drilling machine or a really long drill...
The former seems difficult to power.

[Karakzon]

hmmm.

uses i can imagine from the top of my head:

Drainning liquid pockets into caverns etc. Mainly quifyers.
A safer method to get allot of down digging in a shaft done without risking dwarven lives.
Trap: goblin blitzer

Coupled with a lift it would mean less messy subsiduary shafts/stairs have to be made. Could mount it on railtracks to be pushed, and the drill manned by a dwarf, with it extending for say 10tiles in a chosen direction per mechanical peice. If coupled with being able to pass through without destroying fortifications it could be an interesting toy. Really its use would depend on what it affects and how. As a general digging impliment unless it piled all the boulders on its tile or something then it wouldnt really be very usefull compared to a dwarf. Though hvaing said that, using it to breach something like say magma tubes across a hole for the liquid to drain into would be a good use for such a thing.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Unless it came with a chair for an engraver to carve tracks from, and an onboard dwarven water reactor, I don't see a mobile drill like you suggested being plausible.

Let's face it, moving drills sound awesome, but barring magical sources of mechanical power they're not happening. That means this will take long drills to even start to compete with dwarven miners.


And for the record, dwarves dig deep shafts just great if you keep the drop at the end short.

[10ebbor10]

Unless it came with a chair for an engraver to carve tracks from, and an onboard dwarven water reactor, I don't see a mobile drill like you suggested being plausible.

Let's face it, moving drills sound awesome, but barring magical sources of mechanical power they're not happening. That means this will take long drills to even start to compete with dwarven miners.


And for the record, dwarves dig deep shafts just great if you keep the drop at the end short.

Or if you have backup miners.

I'd say we'd see these (or not) whenever we get to the moving fortress parts arc.