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[jjdorf]

Reading through the Wiki, I find myself wondering... are there any really practical applications of fluid logic within a fortress?  Also, how reliable is it?  Any problems with water flipping between 3 and 4?

[Jude]

I have no idea if this is feasible, and I'm gonna guess "probably not" but it would be super sick if you could make a "living" intelligent fortress that reacted to enemies in a pseudo-intelligent way by herding them toward certain traps, springing the traps, resetting itself, etc. somehow based on fluid logic.

[Stargrasper]

I have no idea if this is feasible, and I'm gonna guess "probably not" but it would be super sick if you could make a "living" intelligent fortress that reacted to enemies in a pseudo-intelligent way by herding them toward certain traps, springing the traps, resetting itself, etc. somehow based on fluid logic.

Some people do exactly that.  Pressure plates are your very dear friend when designing autonomous systems.  DF actually allows surprisingly sophisticated systems to be designed.  The utility of such systems in debatable, but this thread is all about that debate.

[calrogman]

I have no idea if this is feasible, and I'm gonna guess "probably not"

Guess again, this is Dwarf Fortress.  Anything can, and will, happen.

[Magua]

Define "practical".

You can make, for instance, automatic drowning chambers.  They're neat.  Enemy steps on pressure plate, large chamber seals off, floods itself, waits some amount of time, then drains itself and opens up again.

Ludicrously less practical than an entire tunnel of cage traps.  Eminently more fun.

[BlazingDav]

I have such a system in my fort, though I will mostly use the pressure plates to close my bridges when the enemy comes knocking, it only stops for when I'm going to choose between water or magma, the only problem is accounting for steps, technically its elves that make them less practical and other faster than usual critters, though those ones will simply end up in my trade depot airlock , I have to account for about 200 to 220 steps in my forts accounting for speeds of 10 steps per tile to 4 steps per tile sometimes even less I guess, though indoor security makes looting alot safer =P

[slink]

I have not explored this nearly as much as other people, but for me the most common failing in the system is entirely Dwarvish.  Every system involving pressure plates and water has eventually failed due to the presence of a drowned Dwarf stuck in the mechanism.   

[Magua]

I have such a system in my fort, though I will mostly use the pressure plates to close my bridges when the enemy comes knocking, it only stops for when I'm going to choose between water or magma, the only problem is accounting for steps, technically its elves that make them less practical and other faster than usual critters, though those ones will simply end up in my trade depot airlock , I have to account for about 200 to 220 steps in my forts accounting for speeds of 10 steps per tile to 4 steps per tile sometimes even less I guess, though indoor security makes looting alot safer =P

I get around this by simply making my drowning chambers very long and narrow.  Wastes a lot of water and time, but I don't need to worry about elves vs goblins vs wild animals.

[jjdorf]

Define "practical".

You can make, for instance, automatic drowning chambers.  They're neat.  Enemy steps on pressure plate, large chamber seals off, floods itself, waits some amount of time, then drains itself and opens up again.

Ludicrously less practical than an entire tunnel of cage traps.  Eminently more fun.

I like the idea of a reactionary maze for enemies to have to run through and try to survive, and it is a practical application (Though, of course three dozen cage traps are much more practical for my marksdwarves' target practice... who needs archery targets when you have a firing line?)

Essentially, by practical, I mean that the fluid logic should do something "for" the fortress, and not merely be some excuse to demonstrate an adding machine or something similar.

I had an idea to make a giant water clock for my dorfs, and may even do that, but ultimately, I don't consider it a "practical" application, because my dorfs won't appreciate such a thing one bit.

Basically, I want to know if people are using those AND and OR gates for something useful, and if a very complicated trap system is what that something useful is, well, then I'll have my answer. 

Better yet, maps on DFMA showing it's use would be excellent. 

[Geb]

Timers for automated atomsmashing of dumped goods might just squeeze by the limits of the word "practical".

Self-resetting obsidian vending machines would be a better example. Pull lever -> receive volcanic glass.

[Magua]

Well, no, dwarven computing is not practical at all.  There's no task that a dwarf computer can do that a human can't do better, faster, and with less accidents.

(Consider my drowning chamber: it works great.  But if there's a dwarf who's in the chamber itself when it's activated, perhaps looting some previous victims....well, that dwarf is dead.  Whereas if it was a manually controlled operation, the dwarf could be ordered away first.  And, as usual, a tunnel of cage traps would outperform both.)

Similar tasks I have done:

1) The cleansing pit.  Gobbo junk gets dumped in.  It's periodically rinsed with lava.  Iron comes out to be melted.

2) The automated obsidian mold:

Code: [Select]


      X     Pp
     pP     ^Xmagma
waterXX     Pp
     pP     ^Xmagma
waterXX     Pp
     XXXXXXXXXmagma

X = wall
pP = screw pump (P is output, p is input)
^ = pressure plate

Magma is pumped in for some time that is longer than it takes to fill the container.  Water is then pumped in over it; water is stopped when pressure plate is at 7/7, triggering next level of
magma.  Rinse, repeat.

3) One that I'm playing around with right now is ripped off from another thread in the forums.  A "wave" generator for the arena, it will (in theory) release one enemy, then two enemies, then three enemies, etc.

[Slogo]

Well that's where the computing comes in! You need to build the watery logic equivalent of enemy && !dwarf. Using some sophisticated mechanisms you can have pressure plates that prevent the drowning chamber from activating if a dwarf is within the chamber. Of course that means your dwarf may cause the downfall of your fortress but oh well!

[Aspgren]

Do mist generators count? Some guy posted a simple and effective design.

HPH
P  P
HPH

H = Channel. P = pump.

The idea is that the pumps are driven by electricity so they're always moving, one of the channels is marked as a pond - and dwarves put one unit of water in it. After this I don't know if you should inactivate the pond or not, more water in circulation could increase mist .. or leak.. anyway the water is transfered from pump to pump and generates mist on the level below the contraption. If placed above your legendary mining room there forms a nice mist in there and dwarves get happy thoughts from it.

[Sphalerite]

I have been attempting to use fluidic computing to make a one-way corridor.  Creatures walking the corridor in one direction will have no impediment, while creatures walking the other way will find doors slamming in front of them forcing them to turn back.

I have been having trouble with pressure plates not clearing, apparently due to water levels in the timing cistern fluctuating, causing the trigger plate to be repeatedly pressed and released.  This seems to screw things up and cause the pressure plate release signal to not always get sent.  I'm also having trouble figuring out the logic of what happens when you have multiple pressure plates set to the same target device.

[PantheraDwarfus]

In other words, we need a debouncer on the circuit.