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[Immortal-D]

Before I really commit to a new Fortress, I check the bug reports for the current version.  As of 43.03, seems that every weapon trap can insta-crash the game, with the exception being spikes.  I know Toady mentioned this being fixed in the next version, but I'm wondering how common or rare the bug is in 43.05.

[Bumber]

Doesn't it happen whenever a component breaks due to wear?

[Astrid]

Yes, i can confirm it. A Horde of goblins rushing over a weapontrap WILL crash the game, due to stated wear issue.

I have heard that currently all trapcomponents are affected by this but not regular weapons put into the traps. I could be wrong tho.
That spike components are not affected by this is new to me, are you sure?

[PatrikLundell]

As far as I understand, Bumber is correct. Thus, it depends on usage. If a trap isn't used, the components/weapons won't be worn. If they have been used, inspection after use and rebuilding if any wear is detected might help. However, a safer bet is probably to use cage traps and trap like designs (such as narrow walkways over long drops combined with dodging inducing measures, mine cart steam rollers, or mine cart shotguns. Pressure plates connected to things can also be used).

I've heard one of the gurus say anything in a weapon trap breaking will break the game (as I proposed that real weapons might be exempt). I haven't seen any wear on menacing spikes (and I use those, as opposed to weapon traps [apart from necro reanimation butchering and ogre elimination]), but I view them with suspicion.

I would have thought a goblin horde would just continue to jam the trap around the third gobbo as they have in the past. Has jamming been removed in favor of breaking?

[Immortal-D]

Thanks for the info   Although I avoid over-building Traps for the sake of challenge, I do employ all varieties.  How many walnut wood spiked balls does it take to cripple a goblin wearing an iron helm?  The answer may surprise you!   Guess I'll wait for the next version before I start a new Fort.

[Astrid]

I would have thought a goblin horde would just continue to jam the trap around the third gobbo as they have in the past. Has jamming been removed in favor of breaking?

No idea, i just know that a mix of gobbos and trolls rushed over the fresh unused trap and after the second or so individual the game insta crashed.
Tested it two times on that ol save.

[Merlota]

A ballista will also crash the game when the bolt wears and breaks after firing.  Catapults are safe though so I redesigned to have a mess of catapults firing into a zigzag hallway at invaders.   That plus some cage traps thins em out enough for the militia.

I had decent luck with steel weapon trap components, they would last until the trap got jammed.  Iron or bronze would wear too quickly against goblinite and crash the game.

[Fleeting Frames]

That's because it isn't a thing being in a building that crashes the game - as shown by magma-unsafe mechanisms with magma-safe floodgates - but a thing that isn't a weapon/shield/armor/clothing breaking apart. If you engage in coinstar or earring (or other small thing) drop training (people standing beneath a minecart that constantly drops earring down on them and then gets those same earrings hauled back up on it), those will also crash the game with last messages in gamelog looking like this:

*** STARTING NEW GAME ***
** Starting New Outpost **
The feather wood bracelet strikes the expedition leader in the right lower leg, bruising the muscle through the (reindeer leather trousers)!
The force twists the right knee!
The xfeather wood braceletx strikes the expedition leader in the lower body, bruising the muscle through the (pig tail coat)!
The Xfeather wood braceletX strikes the expedition leader in the lower body, bruising the muscle through the (pig tail coat)!
The XXfeather wood braceletXX strikes the expedition leader in the head, bruising the muscle through the (pig tail cap)!
The force pulls the neck, bruising the skin!
The XXfeather wood braceletXX strikes the expedition leader in the left upper leg, bruising the muscle through the (pig tail coat)!
The XXfeather wood braceletXX breaks!
The force pulls the left hip!

Tested it many months ago, not sure if this or last year. I imagine same bug is also present in adventure mode, for those that engage in throwing.

  As of 43.03,

As of 43.04. 43.03 doesn't have item wearing as result of combat.

[PatrikLundell]

Not quite, if one of the forum gurus is to be believed. Anything in a weapon trap breaking due to wear, including real weapons, will crash the game. The error is caused by the wear destroying items not used as a weapon/shield/armor/clothing. Destruction by fire and melting isn't wear as such, even if they cause destruction and item degradation that looks very similar.
A speculation based on that is that it *might* be "safe" to use a sock or ear ring as a melee weapon in adventure mode, and possibly even as a throwing weapon as long as the adventurer is the thrower rather than "the environment", although I wouldn't try either out without a recent save to revert to.

[Fleeting Frames]

Expect only weapon gets worn down in a weapon trap...

...right?

*INVESTIGATION*

Here we have an exquisite mechanism weapon trap, with a copper pick from wagon:


Here be Dragon. Just one.


... It killed the dragon in 4 pages, getting no wear.

Very well. Here be 42 dragons.

...No wear at all.

Okay, lets try attack on adamantine giant



...my DF capped reports at 66 pages pretty soon, but it amputated giant's ears and nose and crushed his eyes and lacerated his face in general, but neither armor nor the pick accumulated any wear levels in 43.05 in three years with dfhack 43.05-r1 (though the giant did name the greaves and mail shirt).

In fact, by using gui/gm-editor I checked wear levels on the pick and every piece of adamantine equipment, and none of them had acquired a single point of wear. (I then changed the breastplate to copper just to check it works - it got to X within a day, and broke during the next two, with about page's worth of deflections. Then replaced breastplate, changed pick to masterwork adamantine, and still failed to get any wear or any non-face injuries in half a year. At least giant's got Legendary +42 armor user out of this.)

Thus, I have to ask: How did said forum guru break a regular weapon in a weapon trap, when copper on adamantine doesn't work? Since the only other way I can think of is fire procedural melting copper, but that doesn't crash the game, at least previously. (on that note, quick exterminate on giant, reveal demons and teleport fire imp/fire man/magma man - all failed, so dumped magma on top - which melted/deconstructed the weapon trap without crashing.)

PS: I'm sure sock would be safe ( it is clothing ), but I'd suspect (ff can't into adv) unattached earring wouldn't be, for the same reason it isn't when the projectile ring is thrown by a minecart. Better stick to weapon/armor/shield/clothing only.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Do regular weapons actually wear out when hitting adamantine? It's very light. (Or dragons for that matter). Do picks suffer wear in regular combat (they are designed to hit rock all day, after all)?

[Fleeting Frames]

It should be based on durability, but adamantine bolts can be weird, so - I recall a mention that weapons wore down far more slowly, but they did, but can't find a link - though as far as armor or hitting with shields go, there's From Iron to Steel: A survey of v0.43.05 combat [Long] *VERSION UPDATE*.

Anyway, few arena mode tests manage to get some wear timer on copper picks with steel armor...eventually:
,
but nothing with ady (the copper pick in giant test was perpetually stuck at 134kish timer)

Spoiler: it took a while (click to show/hide)

Must take even longer if you use a good material weapon - merely with above, a squad of ten with 10 picks could cut down entire steel dark fortress without breaking single one. I imagine other weapons are more fragile - the example I recall involved longsword.

(Also, man, I've been underestimating vampires. No tiring is an impressive buff on skilled peeps.)

Anyway, given that, decided to run the giant test again with steel armor. Well, that did give a wear level in 4 months. Thanks for addressing it to me. Actual breaking took longer than expected from that, due dodging improvements, but ...Segfault is indeed present.

The XX(copper pick)XX strikes the giant in the lower body, but the attack is deflected by the giant's large steel breastplate!

(Deflections never display message for loss of wear.)

On an interesting note, with steel armor it did manage to punch through enough to fracture giant's arms.

Two conclusions: 1) Adamantine has bizarre physics & 2) weapon traps are more broken than I thought (though the out-of-trap bracelet break is still present, of course). Shows how I nearly don't use them *shrugs*

And here I thought it was just an unhandled exemption on what breaks, thanks for getting me to check it.