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[Zantan]

I have a long corridor in which many invaders fall to their deaths.  It is not extremely accessible, so I would like to create a mechanism which automatically collects their stuff.  My current idea is to periodically divert the river through this corridor, and have the river wash the contents of the corridor to a grate.  Unfortunately, i have no idea if and how moving water pushes things.  Is this possible?

[Untelligent]

Moving water can indeed push things, although due to the way fluid flows in DF, 7/7 water will not push anything.

I have no idea if the object's weight affects how water pushes it, or if it's possible for things like iron gear to be to heavy to be pushed.

[Peewee]

Yes it is possible.
If you're trying to move stuff up z-levels, not practical, but possible using well-timed bridge flings.
You'll want to use a pump or two to make the water move quickly enough, but not so fast that it goes to 7/7 instantly. You'll also want to have drains along the corridor to make it drain faster when you want to send down another load.

For bonus points, make water push the stuff to another area for magma-washing.
For super bonus points, drain away the magma and use water to push the remaining iron directly to your smelters.

[Zantan]

Wow, that is a marvelous idea.  I have no choice but to do that now.

[Peewee]

Remember to make a movie of your questionably successful first tries.

[dragon0421]

Yes it is possible.
If you're trying to move stuff up z-levels, not practical, but possible using well-timed bridge flings.
You'll want to use a pump or two to make the water move quickly enough, but not so fast that it goes to 7/7 instantly. You'll also want to have drains along the corridor to make it drain faster when you want to send down another load.

For bonus points, make water push the stuff to another area for magma-washing.
For super bonus points, drain away the magma and use water to push the remaining iron directly to your smelters.

This idea is glorious Peewee.

And of course you have to make it all self automated with pressure plates!

[Peewee]

I was already working on a version in my fortress. It actually already mostly works, and just needs more tweaking.

As dragon0421 said...
SUPER MEGA BONUS POINTS: Make it all run automatically with pressure plates, and start it with the same ones that make the bridge retract.

[Zantan]

What is the method of choice for making DF movies?

[Peewee]

That would be the ingame recorder.
See the wiki article:
http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/CMV

[Kittah_Khan]

I imagine simply going for a bridge where invaders die/get dumped into through other bridges opening would be most useful, then simply use water to sort it all, have the water and light stuff be drained into a chute leading to grates next to a finished good stockpile, and have the armor and weapons dropped to your smelters by opening the bridge.

this may be over-elaborate, as you could simply have a dump-area leading straight from your battleground to your stockpiles.

[Zantan]

How about a retractable bridge above a 2d funnel. 

side view:
  0   ~  0
  |__|__|
   \      /
    \    /
     \#/
      *
      |
 |=*=*=|
 |    *   |
~    |   0
     !!!

_  Retractable Bridge
= | tunnels/channels
\ / Ramps
#  Grate
*  Floodgate
0  Water reservoir
~ Magma reservoir
!!! Workshops

That way I can drop water in from the two sides, and guarantee that all loot would be taken to the grate in the center.  Below the grate is a floodgate, which closes after the water has gone through to a reservoir.  Magma is poured directly over the grate for melting (and since all loot would hopefully be in the center, I would only need 2 squares of magma), and drained down to a seperate reservoir.  Then, the grate and a final floodgate below it would open, allowing the melted iron and steel to fall directly to my stockpiles.

This funnel design should work, right?  The melted metals would not be damaged from the fall?

[Peewee]

IDK if the funnel will work, but that ought to do the trick alright.

I've been working on my own entrance trap, and it's really annoying that flowing water has a tendency to destroy goods. Oh, by the way, it's much easier to move living critters than moving the heavy stuff they carry.

I'm scrapping my current fort and starting over with a better design... and a much larger water tank. I mistakenly made it only as large as it would need to be in order to flood the entrance... not accounting for water flowing down the water tunnel/evaporating.

[Zantan]

IDK if the funnel will work, but that ought to do the trick alright.

Oh, by the way, it's much easier to move living critters than moving the heavy stuff they carry.

And for clarification, if living bodies are easier to push with water than their iron armor and weapons, what about dead bodies?  Same plan either way; water rushes down the ramps and pushes everything into an inescapable grated pit.  The only change would be that if living bodies are easier to push, I would have to make sure everything happened quickly before anyone drowned.

If only you could make conveyor belts.  It is kind of frustrating how few things you can do with your power.  I would also like a piston system to make closing wall traps (or in this case, to push everything around).

[Peewee]

On dying, creatures drop everything they were carrying.
Dead bodies aren't too hard to move... depending on the body.

Careful with the grated pit... I recently read about a bug where water pressure can push things through normally water-only constructions.

My new design is a long ramp with water pouring down and a pit at the bottom.

Code: ("z 0") [Select]

|--entrance
|  XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
V  ++++.+++++++^X
   ++++.+++++++^X (ramp up to base)
   ++++.+++++++^X
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Water shall flow down the ramp, chasing/pushing foes to the pit.
Bridge over the pit for traders and normal use, obviously.

Code: ("z -1") [Select]

   XXXXXXXXXXXXX
   X~%%.%%~~XXXX
   X~%%.%%~~~~~(water goes back to storage via pumps)
   X~%%.%%~~XXXX
   X~XXXXXX~XXXX
   X~~~~~~~~XXXX
   XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hopefully, those pumps will catch all the water and none of the gobs/elves/test subjects. I know how to make extremely high-volume pump arrays, so this shouldn't ever get backed up.

Code: ("z -N") [Select]

   XXXXXXXXXXXXX
   XXXX+XXXXXXXX
   XXXX+D       (to the smelters)
   XXXX+XXXXXXXX
   XXXXXXXXXXXXX
   XXXXXXXXXXXXX
   XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Depending on the location I end up with, I may have a magma cleansing part between z -1 and "z -N"

[HexagonalBolts]

For bonus points, make water push the stuff to another area for magma-washing.
For super bonus points, drain away the magma and use water to push the remaining iron directly to your smelters.

You just made me orgasm in my head a little bit