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[Delioth]

Oh, they're all still in one obscenely destructive basket- the Howitzer.

Just instead of dumping all the magma in one place, you're flinging it across a square mile of forests. Much more effective at burning down a forest- more places for a fire to start.

((I assume an obscenely destructive basket must actually mean a steel bucket menacing with spikes of pitchblende filled with magma.))

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Poor sods. Won't even know what happened to 'em.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There are quite a few of them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

EDIT: I'll post a gif of the shot as soon as I can find decent CMV to GIF software.

[Bumber]

EDIT: I'll post a gif of the shot as soon as I can find decent CMV to GIF software.

Play the CMV while recording it with gifcam.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I can't get gifcam to work. I'll try to put the video up some other way. If necessary, I can set up an ftp server and host it myself.

In other news, The goblins slayed Windoils to a dwarf. The last survivor was the mayor, who was knocked off a staircase and fell to his death. A new fort has been founded, to turn the howitzer from a proof-of-concept into a viable weapon.

[Atarlost]

In other news, The goblins slayed Windoils to a dwarf. The last survivor was the mayor, who was knocked off a staircase and fell to his death. A new fort has been founded, to turn the howitzer from a proof-of-concept into a viable weapon.

Maybe you shouldn't have put all your eggs in one extremely destructive basket. 

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I expect to be busy for the next few weeks, with little time to make the new outpost, Grippedcopper, megaproject-ready. I will still have time to answer questions etc. on this thread and may work out how to post a video of the firing. If this thread has died by then, I will start a new one focusing on shotgun/howitzer aimability, otherwise I will continue posting here.

[Delioth]

Notable: you may be able to aim it a little by giving the track a couple of turning tracks (I think someone did !!science!! that the carts track partial sideways velocities as well, so if you put tracks >> - + < it might give a bit of sideways velocity, where - is like a NW track and + is a SW track, with bridges to cover each of them to allow for turning or non-turning. Worth trying. If you've not posted yet, I'll work it into my current cannon to see. That might actually be today or tomorrow.)

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

My plan is actually to collide minecarts at the last minute, although that could theoretically work, as could sideways rollers near the end of the track.

[omega_dwarf]

My plan is actually to collide minecarts at the last minute, although that could theoretically work, as could sideways rollers near the end of the track.

Yeah, this was just mentioned in the thread that I started. You can potentially use differently-weighted minecarts colliding in midair to control the angle of deflection. In theory.

[SOLDIER First]

Maybe it would be possible to mine a tunnel a certain distance away from your entrance, with walls funneling traffic from the tunnel to the entrance, and position the entrance-ward end of the tunnel where the projectiles usually land to "aim" it at enemies - or, really, you aim THEM at IT.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Tests on deflecting minecarts using collisions prove hopeful. I need to tweak relative masses & speeds to ensure the right amount of deflection, then I can incorporate it into the new howitzer.

Code: [Select]

>===#
    ^
> , ^ roller in direction indicated
= , # track

The 4 way track has a pressure plate linked up to a gear attached to the up roller, & the right roller is connected to a lever.  Both rollers have minecarts left on them.
When triggered, the minecart on the left rolls over the pressure plate, launching the lower minecart into it and deflecting its course upwards.
(layout is flat; 'up' & 'down' refer to diagram)

[Iliithid]

I think this entire concept is the greatest thing I've ever witnessed in my dwarven life.

[Amperzand]

This seems like an amazingly good idea.

[Gwolfski]

This seems like an amazingly good idea.