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Author Topic: step ladders and rope ladders  (Read 730 times)

Uzu Bash

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step ladders and rope ladders
« on: February 25, 2015, 08:22:30 am »

Right now, grates can be made once and used for temporary flooring anytime there's a furniture hauler available. Why not install step ladders and rope ladders for temporary stairs? Both of them would have a greater falling hazard than an equal height of up/down stairs.

A rope ladder can be fashioned from rope without rungs, but it would be more dangerous to use. Rungs might be made of wood, metal or stone. Step ladders could be linked to cross multiple floors if there's a supporting tile next to them. Rope ladders only need a supporting tile at their top level, but the time to uninstall grows similar to the time it takes to bring a bucket up and down a well.
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TBeholder

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Re: step ladders and rope ladders
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2015, 12:49:21 am »

Yup. Ths also raises interesting questions.
Stepladders would do well much like they are used for fruit gathering, only as furniture type "building" - staircase without supporting.
But then, why have two versions? Maybe the present use should involve installing them as furniture with flag that automatically slates them for removal once the job is done? This would also be immune to related problems caused by job interruptions and widen the bottleneck of hauling+collecting:
  • All requests for ladders from 1 or more dorfs trying to collect fruit (but can't reach them) generate generic jobs for arbitrary number of furniture-hauling dorfs.
  • Likewise, once there's no more jobs to be done using it, slating it for removal allows any idle furniture-hauling dorf to do so,
  • If there still is a job to do with this ladder, it will not be hauled back and forth, but used by the next fruit-collecting dorf, until there isn't - and then see above,
  • If somehow a bug still wriggles through? Being furniture, it can be removed manually just like any other building, which is at least less inconvenient than a "stuck" ladder.
Hmm, why only stepladders? The same "remove after use" flag could be also useful at least for single-use levers and pressure plates.

Rope ladders... perhaps mostly a great bonus to climb skill?
(BTW how climbing affects pathfinding, anway?)
« Last Edit: March 05, 2015, 01:02:45 am by TBeholder »
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Bumber

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Re: step ladders and rope ladders
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2015, 01:31:12 am »

Rope ladders... perhaps mostly a great bonus to climb skill?
(BTW how climbing affects pathfinding, anway?)
I think climbing only happens as a result of combat or when unable to return to the meeting area. They don't use it for jobs. In other words, rope ladders need to be handled as proper stairs to be of any use.
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Vattic

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Re: step ladders and rope ladders
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2015, 03:38:07 pm »

Quote
01/23/2010: For rope ladders/etc., I didn't want to tackle the two big issues there (pathing and multi-z buildings), so I went ahead with the quick fix, which is allowing you to build stairs most places, including down into an open area. When I get around to the proper solution, that ability will likely be removed.
From the dev log.

If I remember correctly pathing was an issue because some creatures shouldn't be able to climb them. To stop them would have likely required another connectivity map (on top of swimming, flying, walking etc.). This could be easier now we have climbing.

We should be able to lower / raise them without constructing / deconstructing.
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