Okay, I finally got around to running a field-test of the system I diagrammed in the quoted post below. After finally managing to carve everything out, getting the pump-tower running off of the underground river, and clearing the area of scrap-rock, I closed the exit drain and turn on the intake valve. The trenches in each chamber filled to a moderate amount while draining through to the next level's trench. Once it hit the closed drain at the end, it backed up predictably, filling one Z-level at a time from the bottom. Once the top chamber was irrigated, I opened the drain at the bottom, and due to water pressure, it all drained out in a manner of seconds. None of the water flowed up into the workings of my pump-tower due to pressure, it just flooded the underground river and filled the entire chasm at the end of the river for a few seconds until it all rushed out. Due to the design of the system, once the water completed the path from the intake valve to the drain, it routed back through the intake valve before leading to the bottomless pit. I now realize though that I could've just had a single pipe leading off of the underground river, serving as both intake and drainage. When the circuit was completed, the pump-tower started taking in way more water. This caused the trenches to fill to 7/7 throughout their entire area, but it still didn't cause any flooding. Instead, the water pressurize and went down the hole, pressurizing the next trench and flowing down into the drain. Everything turned out perfectly, although the whole thing seems to make my frame-rate drop to ridiculously slow levels. I'll have to rethink the design for a less frame-intensive device.
In situations like that with ridiculous amounts of water released all at once, it might take a more path of least resistance approach, and not act completely according to theory. For example, people have made highly pressurized fountains that shoot water up in pyramid formation, if their stories were accurate. I'm just talking about free-flowing water pouring into a lake, so there shouldn't be any problem. Also, I don't need to do anything to try to keep hallways dry, as the water will be falling directly into a large body of water. I'm planning a design looking something like this:
First floor:
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█.......................█
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█...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...........≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...........≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...........≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...██D██...≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...█XXX█...≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...DXXXD...≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...█XXX█...≈≈≈...█
█...≈≈≈...██D██...≈≈≈...█ . - Floor
█...≈≈≈...........≈≈≈...█ D - Door
█...≈≈≈...........≈≈≈...█ X - Stairwell
█...≈≈≈...........≈≈≈...█ █ - Wall
█...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈...█ ≈ - Surface of the water a level down.
█...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈WWW≈≈≈≈≈≈≈...█ W - Water falls into the channel from above here.
█...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈...█
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One floor down:
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█≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈≈≈≈≈###≈≈≈≈≈≈≈█ # - Floor grates, down to another chamber.
█≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈█ ≈ - Water
█≈≈≈███████████≈≈≈█ █ - Wall
█≈≈≈█ █≈≈≈█ X - Stairwell
█≈≈≈█ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █████ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █XXX█ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █XXX█ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █XXX█ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █████ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈█ █≈≈≈█
█≈≈≈███████████≈≈≈█
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███████████████████
This pattern will repeat and alternate back and forth, with each chamber's reservoir filling at one end, and dumping into the next reservoir at the other end. At the very end, the water will drain into the bottomless pit at the end of a cave river that I diverted. I'll make the floor in the chambers wet so tower-caps will grow there, possibly by just plugging the drain and letting the chambers flood initially. If all goes as planned I'll wind up with a multi-layered underground tower cap forest, farmable soil, a safe underground water source, and a series of tranquil mist-generating waterfalls. I'd make the whole area round and organic looking, but I'm bad at grid-based curves. Theoretically, this should work just like my test scenario but on a larger scale; The trenches should fill up due to inadequate drainage, and falling water coming from a level up should teleport down the drain into the next chamber's trench rather than spreading over the surface, continuing the cycle until it pops into the chasm at the end.
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Topic: Question regarding water pressure pathing. (Read 1535 times)