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[mahrgell]

Did you just say, it is fitting that my dwarf dies building a minecart grinder? Is this an insult? *sniff*

[mahrgell]

Oh and about launching and stopping carts:

Launching:
Put a hatch above an impulse ramp in the grinder, linked to a lever.
New Route ->New Stop ON TOP OF THE HATCH ->remove all conditions -> assign minecart
dwarf will haul the minecart onto the closed hatch
forbid the minecart (sometimes dwarves try to catch minecarts going at full speed to bring them back...)
pull the lever

minecart drops onto the impulse ramp and fun starts

Stopping:

Code: [Select]

WWWIWWWW
IIIIBb.W
WWWWWWWWW = Wall
I = Impulseramp North East
Bb = raising drawbridge, with the walltile being at B
. normal floor

As long as the bridge is raised, the cart turns northwards... lower the bridge and the cart shoots straight through into the empty floor tile.
Access the cart however you like, even though i advise not to do it from the East ^^

[Grimmash]

Did you just say, it is fitting that my dwarf dies building a minecart grinder? Is this an insult? *sniff*

More that it was fitting to have a dwarf die in service of good ideas gone wrong.  That seems to be theme with this fort.

Thanks for the routing info.  We shall name the eastern loop of the grinder the Mahrgell's Misstep, in honor of the dorf who died proving the impulse ramps finally worked.  I am in the process of adding some length to hopefully eliminate the derailing problem.  The whole setup runs on three levels.  The top level is just the drop chute.  The middle level is a north-bound set of impulse ramps.  These previously fed directly into a down ramp to the west, followed by a corner, like this:

Screw code blocks.  I'll post some pictures after working out and dinner.  That might help with troubleshooting, unless I figure it out first.

[LMeire]

So many of of the FBs are undulating... Why? Do they feel the music in their bones or something?

[Grimmash]

As Promised, Mahrgell's Misstep, WIP:

Top

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Middle (Northbound and Down)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bottom (Southbound and Up, with a side of gibbets)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[mahrgell]

quick comment
as said, trackspot next to drophatch is not needed, minecart stops from the route menu don't require a trackstop, you can just ut them right on top of the hatch (same tile)
And then there is not much reason not to use impulse rams for everything (instead of regular tracks) ^^ used properly, they are more efficient in keeping the cart on the tracks then anything else... and if it crashes into the wall, it immediately gets propelled again...
But if it works as it stands, no need to change it.

tracks are only useful, if you really want to slow down... but that is not wanted in a grinder

[Grimmash]

A few tweaks, and I am feeling better about the grinder.  I may try some of your suggestions on the other half.  I just have track mostly at the corners because I thought that was needed.  If Impulse ramp work fine there, I see no reason not to tweak that last bit.  It isn't much more work at this point.

New problem:  Ghosts arising that cannot be engraved.  Are we considering it acceptable to quash those via dfhack, or no?  I consider this a bug, but if others disagree I will ignore them.  We cannot get to the bodies because the humans are still partying out by the river.  All we need is a nice open gate with 15 bladeguards...

[Arcvasti]

New problem:  Ghosts arising that cannot be engraved.  Are we considering it acceptable to quash those via dfhack, or no?  I consider this a bug, but if others disagree I will ignore them.  We cannot get to the bodies because the humans are still partying out by the river.  All we need is a nice open gate with 15 bladeguards...

I'm fine with using DFhack on any violent ghosts. Forlorn haunts and other harmless ghost don't kill and I think they make the fort more aesthetically pleasing. Unless a forlorn haunt can turn murderous, I'm voting we keep those.

[Grimmash]

4th Felsite, 37

I’ve sent orders for two dwarves via the town portal.  We shall see what comes.  Hopefully the new dwarves will be able to live up to the examples of Mc Mahrgell, Big D, and Niku.

14th Felsite, 37

Count one more vile beast in the caverns below.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

19th Felsite, 37

Looks like two new peasants showed up from the town portal, Ayeth and Ringo.  They seem to know each other.  I’ve set them to hauling and butcher the ungodly number of cragtooth boars in this place.

3rd Hematite, 37

I had an odd dream over the night.  Maybe this place is more than just a cursed tomb for all that come here.  I was sitting at my desk, with the Grinder plans before me, trying to twist out the reasons for my continual failure to make the device work.  Mahrgell wrote some notes in the margins, and sat with me for a time, explaining how to improve the corners and the drop chute.  Armok be damned, when I woke up the notes were on the plans.  Not in Mc Mahrgell’s handwriting, but my own.  This place is starting to seep into my very beard.

12th Hematite, 37

Summer dawns, and after a few more adjustments, Mahgrell’s Mistep has proven functional.  While his spirit seems to rest easy, I almost feel as though he is still guiding us.  Work on the second loop of the grinder begins.  Once both are complete, we shall open the gates and be done with these foul beast from below.

3rd Malachite, 37

A band of rhesus monkeys are running around across the river from our beloved human guests, stealing loot off the plains.  But instead of engaging, the humans are happy to drink and eat.  For all I know they are have unholy relations with those damn kangaroos over there.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All our dwarves are busy building the second half of the grinder.  But Urist, one of our lead miners, has just been possessed, running off to claim some shop or another.

I’ve attached some drawings of the Grinder, and of the tunnels that have begun around it.  When we open the gates to the hordes below, I plan to give us enough time to close off the fortress if the contraption fails to wreak Armok’s bloody vengeance.  The two sides of the grinder are symmetrical.  Long tunnels lead out of the north end to trick the undead to come towards us, but give us time to seal bridges that will be built.  As of now, the access tunnels are undug, but I am wary of striking that stone too soon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The real test will be all the fell beasts that have also take up residence below.  We know of the following:

Metah, a beakless oxpecker with feathers and some sort of poison.
Okor, a caterpillar with deadly spittle.
Okung Ukuukla, a winged, hairy snail that shoots webs.  Although I’ve been told it is slowly rotting to death, I am not so sure.
Igojir Ehipolu, an enormous cockroach which exudes poisonous vapor.  It too is maimed and crippled, but refuses to die.
Ormon, an enormous pangolin with leathery wings that spread some strange dust.
Seviro Volturius Tuber, a great sauropod that also shoots webs.

Even if the grinder kills them, the combination of all their foul secretions will make the tracks a death trap to any who dare walk in if we ever reopen the doors.

We have a new problem, as well.  Ghosts are arising that cannot be laid to rest.

[kamikazi1231]

It's looking great. You could make it so you can flood lava in to clean up secretions and body parts. Just let it flow into the cavern haha.  I'd say it's okay to use dfhacks fixing ghosts commands. The unmemorable ghosts are more of a bug than a feature. Also I'd suggest using a boar chained up to lure in so we don't have to risk enemies getting in. Hell throw up some cage traps and let a webbed fb trap itself then chuck it at the humans with the siege engine plugin.

[Grimmash]

Well, two votes for dfhack, plus me makes three.  I stopped after the update because I wanted to check on that.  Your irregularly scheduled Cathedral of Carnage will return tomorrow.  Probably.

[BigD145]

Ghosts that can't be slabbed?

[Grimmash]

Yep.  They are usually the result of caravan units getting killed, and then one of a few things happen:  No one saw the units, the bodies are destroyed, or the game bugs.  All three can result in ghosts appearing that are able to be buried or put to rest via slab.  It is a documented bug.  I was hoping the humans would leave and I could try to find bodies, but given our current situation, I do not want to risk more deaths due to buggy game mechanics. 

We have at least two unslabbable ghosts at the moment, both caravan guards who died outside the walls before being seen.  I found one body, but it would require opening the gates during a human siege.  The ghosts are hovering around our workshops.  My plan is to dfhack them, and then get the bodies when possible.

[BigD145]

You could mark for dumping and use dfhack to put them inside the walls. Autodump or whatever the command is called. Get them seen and then throw the bodies back outside. They should be forbidden with autodump. It's a super quick thing to do. I haven't been following too closely this week, so apologies if this has been said.

[CaptainMcClellan]

I'm not above using DFHack when it's necessary. After all, FPS death due to inconvenient placing is a huge bummer. As for dealing with murderous ghosts, sure. After all, it'd be unfortunate if the fortress ended before my turn. So 4 votes for that.