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Have few types but with many possible functions for each.  The simpler option

38 (42.2%)

Have many different types that each takes a particular input, for long assembly lines

29 (32.2%)

Have many types, allow using the wrong ones, but using them correctly lets the items have quality levels

23 (25.6%)

Total Members Voted: 69

[hanspeter]

Well.  This one's pretty experimental, but...

The 'Aerial Transport Device' lets gnomes fling items across the map.  Including themselves.

It's not exactly useful like this, but it sure is fun to play with!

How is it not useful? You finally created a device we can build proper projectile traps with.

Power.
Floor hatch above the workshop.
Dump lots of spears, stone or whatever on top of it.
Link hatch to pressure plate.

PROFIT

I managed to kill 4 of my gnomes just testing how it works. Best. Device. Ever.

[mahrgell]

Hm... If you can make softer walls... Would it then possible to also make 'spiked walls'? Like default upright spears, just on walls... I'm just thinking how to improve the design of my minecart grinder even further. Or would it make a difference if remove the natural sand wall and replace it with some constructed welded wolfram wall?

[IndigoFenix]

Well.  This one's pretty experimental, but...

The 'Aerial Transport Device' lets gnomes fling items across the map.  Including themselves.

It's not exactly useful like this, but it sure is fun to play with!

How is it not useful? You finally created a device we can build proper projectile traps with.

Power.
Floor hatch above the workshop.
Dump lots of spears, stone or whatever on top of it.
Link hatch to pressure plate.

PROFIT

I managed to kill 4 of my gnomes just testing how it works. Best. Device. Ever.

Well, yes, there is that. 
I need to figure out why items don't seem to go the same distance as creatures even if they are given the same initial speed.  Ideally, you'd be able to test your trajectory by launching rocks or logs before you set it to start chucking gnomes or pets.  Not sure if item gravity works differently than creatures or if I just left out a number somewhere.

Hm... If you can make softer walls... Would it then possible to also make 'spiked walls'? Like default upright spears, just on walls... I'm just thinking how to improve the design of my minecart grinder even further. Or would it make a difference if remove the natural sand wall and replace it with some constructed welded wolfram wall?

Not spiked, but denser materials do more damage on collisions.  Apparently the game simulates collision damage by creating a 'block' of the material with a size based on the creature's size, then hitting the creature with it at the speed it was moving.  Damage is based on density.  So lightweight cushions do only a tiny bit of damage - and somewhat perplexingly, so does adamantine (apparently only density matters, not hardness - a bit unrealistic but that's just a quirk of the physics system).  To deal heavy damage, just make the floor/wall out of a really dense material, like lead or platinum.  Also, creatures weak against the material will take extra damage, so it might be worthwhile to incorporate shadesilver/moonsilver walls into your traps... extra damage against the relevant creatures, and silver is already a fairly dense material.

[Meph]

So.. if I make a material that does 100x damage against everything, but only allow blocks as buildmats from it, someone digs a 5 zlvel drop with floor made of it... everything would splatter and explode on impact, if dropped into that pit?

[IndigoFenix]

So.. if I make a material that does 100x damage against everything, but only allow blocks as buildmats from it, someone digs a 5 zlvel drop with floor made of it... everything would splatter and explode on impact, if dropped into that pit?

Seems like it.
Of course, blocks of that material would be a completely overpowered weapon in adventure mode.

[Meph]

Yeah, but your gonmes would love this. You can make a goblin grinder with a goblin-grinding material. Make the minecart of something that does extra damage against goblins... ^^ This means race-specific traps and siegeengine ammo is a thing.

[IndigoFenix]

Hey Meph, I'm going to add some tags to the inorganics.  (Magnetism and conductivity reaction classes.)  Are there any files that are likely to be changed in the next update, to ensure that there are no conflicts.

...Also, what happened to cryolite?

[Meph]

No idea about cryolite. ^^   

And no, I havent done any work yet, I am just collecting issues and bug reports. But I got most sponsoring stuff done, I got my new bike two days ago. Next week I should find time for DF.

[IndigoFenix]

Oh, ok.

...Found it.  It has !NOMIN! before it.  I guess that means it's listed as one of the optional, unimportant stones.
Unimportant to dwarves, maybe, but it's an essential part of the (electricity-using) aluminum smelting process.  So I guess I'm going to want to change that too.

I think I'm going to have electricity, but make it a largely optional tech tree instead of an essential part of the gnome's game, so players can decide which style they prefer.  Basically the story I'm going by is that gnomes know how to harness electricity, but prefer clockwork.  Running machines off of mechanical power directly is more efficient than converting mechanical energy into electricity and back again.  Humans like electricity because it's quiet and can travel long distances by wire, but gnomes are more environmentally conscientious, tend to live in close-knit communities where mechanical power is freely available, and enjoy watching clockwork move around, so they don't really like using electricity for anything that can be replicated by clockwork, instead limiting it to things like aluminum smelting, high-voltage lightning guns, and 'thunder coils' (Tesla coil traps).

I think I'm going to keep the infinite-ammo elemental weapons, but make them require gems of Armok.  Magitek has to show up sooner or later.

[Meph]

Yes, all the removed minerals are useless for dwarves. For example I put brimstone and saltpeter back, because of blackpowder, or cinnabar/realgar because they contain titanium and aluminium. So if you have other RL minerals, that I previously excluded like the cryolite, let me know and I can put them back in.

[hanspeter]

Well.  This one's pretty experimental, but...

The 'Aerial Transport Device' lets gnomes fling items across the map.  Including themselves.

It's not exactly useful like this, but it sure is fun to play with!

How is it not useful? You finally created a device we can build proper projectile traps with.

Power.
Floor hatch above the workshop.
Dump lots of spears, stone or whatever on top of it.
Link hatch to pressure plate.

PROFIT

I managed to kill 4 of my gnomes just testing how it works. Best. Device. Ever.

Well, yes, there is that. 
I need to figure out why items don't seem to go the same distance as creatures even if they are given the same initial speed.  Ideally, you'd be able to test your trajectory by launching rocks or logs before you set it to start chucking gnomes or pets.  Not sure if item gravity works differently than creatures or if I just left out a number somewhere.

Could you include some rough guidelines in the manual on how much power is needed to fling a gnome/stone/log for 1 tile. Currently it's just guesswork - and lot's of dead gnomes in the process.

[mahrgell]

Uh... even back in WW2 they made rangetables for the artillery by letting the women at home fire thousands of shells through the testarea.... So the testing stage your gnomes are going through is entirely normal
Well... and sacrifices have to be made for !!SCIENCE!!. this again is entirely historical.
And DF is set in an age far earlier then the twentieth century ^^

[IndigoFenix]

I don't actually know how much power is needed.  I keep changing it.  Seems there might be some loop-around issues in the numbers.
But I figured out the item/unit problem, so the next update will let you fire items to test the distance.  It's still not exact, but it's close enough.

EDIT: It seems that this is only accurate at low power levels.  Apparently item projectiles have a speed limit that creatures don't need to obey.  Which is unfortunate, because it means that the automatic item-launching gatling gun I just made has fairly limited range.  Unless you decide to fill it with live animals.

I fear that the benefits of the Nature Shrine will not overcome the temptation to unload a 200 KPM* automatic weapon into an invading goblin army.

*Kittens per minute

[CptCrunchy]

I fear that the benefits of the Nature Shrine will not overcome the temptation to unload a 200 KPM* automatic weapon into an invading goblin army.

I wonder if it would be possible to have magmalings release magma mid-flight, leaving a beautiful lava rainbow to descend on the enemy hordes.

That would probably require impeccable timing on the gnomes' part though

[hanspeter]

I can't quite get the power to work on the Aerial Transport Device. How and where exactly do I have to connect it?