Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: New Optional Display for Water  (Read 2365 times)

LMeire

  • Bay Watcher
  • Likes Troglodytes for their horradorability.
    • View Profile
New Optional Display for Water
« on: September 28, 2013, 02:43:22 pm »

How many times has this happened to you? You're setting up an artificial underground beach for your dwarves, by draining the sea into a tunnel that flows into an open cavern, when suddenly half your population (Including several legendaries and most of your military) are drowning with no hope of surviving. And then you're invaded by a dragon, because sure, why not?

Or how about the opposite problem? You've created an elaborate execution chamber that drowns prisoners using water pumped in from below, all so you can stare at the abstract symbols on your screen and imagine their eyes locked on the floor drain silently begging you to release them while you cackle with unbridled glee. Only the water never comes, so now you've got to drag the elves out of the slightly damp "drowning chamber" where they've been playing "20 Questions" for several weeks (The answer is always "tree" because elves are terrible at "20 Questions".) and take them to the dropping cliff like some kind of savage.


What I propose is an alternative water display, one that informs the player how many levels a pressurized "7" of water will attempt to rise without a ceiling. So in its normal depressurized state it would read "0" with another magnitude added for every level the water will need to rise to once again be depressurized. That way, the difference between the highly dangerous water main from the surface and the normal drinking pipes that you're looking to expand becomes immediately obvious before you kill everyone.
Logged
"☼Perfection☼ in the job puts pleasure in the work." - Uristotle

Maklak

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2013, 05:28:44 pm »

Some indication of pressurised water would be useful, yes.
Logged
Quote from: Omnicega
Since you seem to criticize most things harsher than concentrated acid, I'll take that as a compliment.
On mining Organics
Military guide for FoE mod.
Research: Crossbow with axe and shield.
Dropbox referral

assasin

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2013, 10:48:23 pm »

I guess you could have it so that everything above a seven is pressurised. So seven would be filled to the brim and 8 would be flowing over slightly if it could, etc.
Logged

King Mir

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2013, 11:21:58 pm »

I guess you could have it so that everything above a seven is pressurised. So seven would be filled to the brim and 8 would be flowing over slightly if it could, etc.
There are only 2 digit above 7. You could use 8 and 9 for pressurized water, but I don't think that would add clarity.

Mohreb el Yasim

  • Bay Watcher
  • ♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2013, 01:11:45 am »

I guess you could have it so that everything above a seven is pressurised. So seven would be filled to the brim and 8 would be flowing over slightly if it could, etc.
There are only 2 digit above 7. You could use 8 and 9 for pressurized water, but I don't think that would add clarity.
there are 2 digits above 7 in a decimal system, if displayed in something bigger, hexa for example you can have A,B,C,D,E,F
Logged
Mohreb el Yasim


GENERATION 24:The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experime

assasin

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2013, 07:53:20 pm »

Quote
There are only 2 digit above 7. You could use 8 and 9 for pressurized water, but I don't think that would add clarity.


Hell, I'm blind sometimes.

Quote
there are 2 digits above 7 in a decimal system, if displayed in something bigger, hexa for example you can have A,B,C,D,E,F

I'd have to agree that hexa is probably the best solution.  Currently the water seems to use octal anyway (even if the maximum water level is seven, if you're looking at it as a range from no water to full to the brim, a level of zero would count as a digit, even if its not shown on screen)
Logged

Maklak

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2013, 08:00:47 pm »

Pressurization and level are not the same thing. There can be a flow of pressurized water, keeping it below 7/7, but it is still pressurized (or can be). I would rather have a toggleable view for water pressure (similar to what depot access does) instead of screwing around with water depth.
Logged
Quote from: Omnicega
Since you seem to criticize most things harsher than concentrated acid, I'll take that as a compliment.
On mining Organics
Military guide for FoE mod.
Research: Crossbow with axe and shield.
Dropbox referral

Cobbler89

  • Bay Watcher
  • Cobbler cancels celebrate Caesar: mending soles
    • View Profile
Re: New Optional Display for Water
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2013, 10:53:06 pm »

Perhaps most importantly, how the game models pressure is likely to be improved at some point in the future. As much as it would be nice to have an in-game indicator of pressure as it is currently modeled, Toady has a habit of avoiding code that he knows may or will be overhauled in general (possibly because he doesn't want to waste time, possibly because whatever he did would likely introduce more interdependencies that would have to be updated when the thing they relate gets updated).

It might be most fruitful for now to look into creating such a display with dfhack instead.
Logged
Quote from: Mr S
You've struck embedded links. Praise the data miners!
Quote from: Strong Bad
The magma is seeping under the door.

Quote from: offspring
Quote from: Cobbler89
I have an idea. Let's play a game where you win by being as quiet as possible.
I get it, it's one of those games where losing is fun!
I spend most of your dimension's time outside of your dimension. I can't guarantee followup or followthrough on any comments, ideas, or plans.