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[wlmartin]

I really really want to build a decent minecart track that goes from A-B, hauls what I want and goes back

For testing purposes lets say :

Basically making it go from wood stockpile #1 on the edge of the map to stockpile #2 at my base.

I set the track up right but consistently get DIR/CONNECT track errors
Its going in the right direction
Its setup right with giving/taking from the right stockpile


THE WORSE THING?
But nothing... worse still, my guys are keen to shlep all the way across the map to just deliver it by hand, completely eliminating my plan which is to have the mine cart do it

I can't see any decent tutorials online, the wiki has some instruction pages and even some troubleshooting pages but what I could really use is a video/picture based step-by-step as this is quite a complicated process

Anyone got any ideas?

[Larix]

I could at best make a super-crummy gameplay recording and put it up on the map/video archive http://mkv25.net/dfma/ ; but i don't know what should go in there.

DIR/CONNECT complaints normally mean there's no proper track connection between your route stops:
- are both stops on actual track? If for whichever reason you've _built_ "track stops" at your route stops, those can be constructed over non-track floor which obviously provides no connections.
- is the starting stop on track that's connected in the direction you want to go? i.e. if you want to go west from your first stop, that tile better be a track tile with a "W" link.
- is the track between both points continuous? A single non-track tile will break connection. Connection can also easily break when changing level - this should happen via track ramps, preferably connected in both directions.

If the track is otherwise safe, you can also use "push" as move order - dwarfs aren't so fussy about connectivity when pushing (or riding) carts.

If you want to replace manual hauling by minecart transport, you should set the target stockpile to "only take from links" - and either configure the target route stop to give to the stockpile, or build a track stop on the target route stop which dumps directly into the stockpile.

[wlmartin]

I could at best make a super-crummy gameplay recording and put it up on the map/video archive http://mkv25.net/dfma/ ; but i don't know what should go in there.

DIR/CONNECT complaints normally mean there's no proper track connection between your route stops:
- are both stops on actual track? If for whichever reason you've _built_ "track stops" at your route stops, those can be constructed over non-track floor which obviously provides no connections.

Yup, that was my problem - adjacent to the track is not ON the track and I didn't cotton on that it needs to be on pre-created track

If the track is otherwise safe, you can also use "push" as move order - dwarfs aren't so fussy about connectivity when pushing (or riding) carts.

Dont really understand what you mean here

If you want to replace manual hauling by minecart transport, you should set the target stockpile to "only take from links" - and either configure the target route stop to give to the stockpile, or build a track stop on the target route stop which dumps directly into the stockpile.

OK, so now the problem is avoiding manual transport.
I have set it all up, all in the green but dorfs will only haul manually.
When i set "take from links" only, they all go idle and when i dont they haul manually

Does the stop need to be IN/ADJACENT to the stockpile on either start/stop location?

[wlmartin]

Oops

Possibly fixing it (running now)

Forgot to change "what do i want to take" to stone in BOTH stops, was just showing on one


Lets see how it goes!

[wlmartin]

OK

Step 1 further, still not solved

I have managed to get the goods into the minecart and go from source>target stop.. wohooo

Now it just sits there because I told it to only take from links, and my dorfs don't want to pickup from the cart and take it to the stockpile

So i seem like i am stuck
If i "DO" take from links, even when i say "GIVE TO STOCKPILE ....xxx" the dwarfs don't because they are obviously blocked by (take from links) issue
If i "DONT" take from links, they fill up the stockpile

[greycat]

I have managed to get the goods into the minecart and go from source>target stop.. wohooo

Now it just sits there because I told it to only take from links, and my dorfs don't want to pickup from the cart and take it to the stockpile

The track stop at the receiving end should be constructed to dump in one of the 4 main compass directions at the time it is created.  Unfortunately, you can't change the dump setting once the track stop has already been built.  Even worse, you can't even see what the dump direction is, once the track stop has been built.

If your minecart is arriving full of goods and not immediately dumping, then you've just demonstrated that your track stop is not set to dump in any direction.  The only fix is to tear it up and rebuild it.

[wlmartin]

AH, I thought you shouldn't dump if you want to actually send it to a stockpile.

Isn;t this just quantum dumping? feels a bit like it isn't working like it should, or is this how minecarts work, dumping to 1 spot?


So what should I do, dump it to a 1x1 stockpile spot and then have the main stockpile take from that single spot to complete the loop?

[smakemupagus]

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Minecart#Troubleshooting

[wlmartin]

Firstly, I have figured it out.. yes, it does involve quantum stockpiling, something I am not to keen on as I think it is a bit of an exploit but will figure out

Secondly, I really dislike people who post a link to a response for something. Do you not think i have looked on the wiki? Sometimes a wiki doesnt always answer your question because the context is not understood. I did find my answer on the wiki but NOT at the link you posted and I had not discovered it before on there (despite half a dozen reads) because my understanding of minecarts had to come further for me to understand what the wiki was talking about.

Please think when posting a link. At least if you are going to post a link, say something alongside it rather than just posting it. I consider this trolling because you are not actually getting involved in the conversation, just throwing links at people is not a discussion.

You might as well reply to every post every written on any forum with just www.google.com ... same difference.


So thanks for all the helpful posts, i am going o give the quantum stockpiling effort a try and get my minecart learning on

[smakemupagus]

No, in fact i didn't think you looked at the wiki.  It wasn't my intention to annoy you, but since the bookmark at the link directly addresses the "Set dir/connect track" error that you had posted, i didn't think a lot of further elaboration was going to add anything.

[wlmartin]

Well, in fact considering that I had already resolved the issue of connecting the track when you posted the link, it goes to show that you didn't actually pay attention to the content of the thread, just read the OP and decided to give your 2p worth without thought

Had you read the thread, you would have noticed that someone helped me resolve the problem

Just goes to show that my original point on your post was valid, it was unhelpful and completely un-needed

[Spectre Incarnate]

No, in fact i didn't think you looked at the wiki.  It wasn't my intention to annoy you, but since the bookmark at the link directly addresses the "Set dir/connect track" error that you had posted, i didn't think a lot of further elaboration was going to add anything.

It was stated in the OP:

I can't see any decent tutorials online, the wiki has some instruction pages and even some troubleshooting pages but what I could really use is a video/picture based step-by-step as this is quite a complicated process

I also find posting links to the wiki without any further discussion/explanation is very unhelpful and flippant, as if shoving a textbook in someone's face saying "Answer is right here. Read it" when it is you who did not read and really *listen* to the actual question being asked.

And I fully agree a wiki is not always helpful without understanding the context involved. A person can read a wiki page over and over twenty times and still not "get it" without that one little light bulb moment where they realize they may have been looking at something from the wrong angle. Not everyone is able to fully understand text instructions, either.

This is why I feel Dwarf Fortress' learning curve is not caused entirely by a complex game, but by community members directing new players to the wiki and leaving it at that. New players then have to struggle to be heard beyond the wiki. The wiki should be treated as a reference guide, not the end all be all of discussion.

Reading =/= understanding.

[wlmartin]

Yup, it is a complex game you are right... and it is what makes it rewarding as well

Minecart = Tick
Now if I can only figure out how pumping works lol

I am taking a break from DF a little this week though, as I started dreaming a little about stockpiles and work orders in my sleep. Fairly sure that is the sign of an obsessive mind needing to be reigned in

[Loci]

Secondly, I really dislike people who post a link to a response for something. Do you not think i have looked on the wiki? Sometimes a wiki doesnt always answer your question because the context is not understood. I did find my answer on the wiki but NOT at the link you posted and I had not discovered it before on there (despite half a dozen reads) because my understanding of minecarts had to come further for me to understand what the wiki was talking about.

Please think when posting a link. At least if you are going to post a link, say something alongside it rather than just posting it. I consider this trolling because you are not actually getting involved in the conversation, just throwing links at people is not a discussion.

None of us on here are getting paid to answer your questions. When somebody volunteers their time to try and help you out, it is manifestly ungrateful to insult them because they provided information you already knew in a form other than that which you prefer.

[greycat]

Firstly, I have figured it out.. yes, it does involve quantum stockpiling, something I am not to keen on as I think it is a bit of an exploit but will figure out

Then set up a big-ass stockpile next to the dump stockpile, and set it to take from the dump stockpile (and from links only).  That will make your dwarves undo the lovely quantum stockpile that the minecart created for you, and spread everything out.