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[kingthlayer]

I don't know if this is in the plans already, so apologies if this has already been covered. I'm watching a program on TV now about how people in italy I think would build wells to collect rain water, and use sand to purify it. The would first build slopes down to a pit, which they put a hollow metal tube with holes at the bottom to allow the water in. Then they would fill the space around it with sand. The water would flow downhill, soak through the sand and be purified, and they would be able to collect it because the tube would keep most of the sand out. This might be a good use for sand, because other than glassmaking I don't know any other uses for it.

[Lightning4]

Sandbags. They could be used for barricading something off. 20 sandbags or so could block off a passage to both water and creatures (except large ones with buildingdestroy)

They could also be used as a non-lethal weapon trap (as if you'd want one of those). Advantages, they never jam. They stun and knock an enemy that passes under it into prone. Would be benificial for those who dislike mass amounts of weapon traps and would rather rely on dwarven might. If you use enough and the creature is small, it might fly a tile or two away!

You could also mix it with water and make quicksand. Imagine the look of horror when a horde of goblins charge at your entrance through seemingly normal sand, then suddenly they get stuck in the stuff. Then it's a simple matter of plucking them off one by one from range. Really cheap and rude, but effective... those little child-stealing bastards have it coming anyway.

[mickel]

How about sandbag fortifications for your crossbowdwarves to shelter behind? Less-lethal catapult ammo? No, wait... They'd be just as lethal.

The main advantage of sandbags as building material is that they're quick to get into place, but that's not really a problem to the dwarves, who have plenty of stronger material and super-fast labor on hand. As much as I like to build with sandbags, I can't think of a use for them in construction in DF.

As traps, though? It's workable. They'd do well as a replacement for rocks in a rock-fall trap too. Instead of a single rock, you get a deluge of sandbags over a wider area. Stuns and impedes.

[Zulaf]

No training parter? use a sandbag. of course they would need to use wooden weapons so not to puncture the bag , either way the bag would ware down after a lot of use. it also would only build up the weapon skill.

[Sowelu]

Gritting the path outside on icy maps, of course.

[Klokjammer]

Sand boxes: Put the sand it in a (wooden/metal/stone) box so the little dwarven kiddies can play in it.  This will keep them occupied and well away from the front of the fortress where the Goblins could get them.

Mace: The town watch will carry a bag and will throw sand into the offender's eyes temporarily blinding them.

I'm more serious about the former than I am about the later idea, but its late and I'm tired.

[Salmeuk]

Heh, I was watching that same program as well.

This would , most likely, be limited to non-dwarf civilizations, as rain does not fall underneath the mountain.

Though, the idea would be great for a human civilization, and long periods of no rain or desert biomes could mean death.

[Jaqie Fox]

it's called a cistern.

I don't see why it couldn't be used in the 3D version, being that you can easily do it anywhere on the surface (outside, on top the mountain, etc).

[Tamren]

Sandbags are great against bullets because the grains break up the bullet on impact.

No idea what it would do against bolts however. Arrows can go right through some types of bulletproof vests, ditto with knifes. Would sandbags stop an arrow?

[Mechanoid]

quote:Originally posted by Lightning4:
[sand purifiers]

Using sand as a way to purify water is a good idea, but i can only really see it working with things like sludge and large particle matter. You'd need really, REALLY fine sand in order to stop microbes... That or equally fine copper, silver or copper-alloy, silver-alloy metals mixed in with the sand (copper and silver among others are germicidal; they kill microbes)

 

quote:Originally posted by Others:
If you use enough and the creature is small, it might fly a tile or two away!

Protip: Knock a creature off a cliff to kill them.
I like.
 

quote:You could also mix it with water and make quicksand

You'd only sink if you were denser then water.
 

quote:Sandbag fortifications /catapult ammo

Yes please, and also as ballista ammo (the equal of bean bags fired from a shotgun)
 

quote:training

Wrestling and crushing weapons only i think, otherwise the peircing /slashing /cutting weapons would damage the bag and spill sand everywhere. They could be used as shooting targets though. And i'm pretty sure that bolts and arrows would be stopped by a full bag; as a plus, the arrows and bolts would never be destroyed!
 

quote:pathing material

Yes! You should also be capable of dumping it onto stone floors to cheapen the room quality.
 

quote:sandbox

YES! Anything to stop the children from running out into the wilderness just asking to be captured by a goblin pedo.
 

quote:mace

makes me lol every time i read it

[ October 09, 2007: Message edited by: Mechanoid ]

[Lightning4]

I didn't post the purification thing, but it's a good idea anyway. I'd imagine that'd be necessary once water sources aren't always necessarily composed of pure, crystal clear water.

[Novocain]

Beds.

[Emperor Bob]

Actually, you can stop arrows with a samurai sword and lots of training (I've just seen it, it's pretty awesome, he cuts the arrow in half while it's flying toward him, so that the wood shaft hits him instead of the sharp metal head).

But there could be a use for sand bags in catapults: soak them in a liquid fuel (animal fat? whale oil might work) and you have and incendiary missile. Bursts on contact, spreading flaming sand all over the place. Actually, have the bag be made of thick leather, and put a piece of burning wood on it, and the whole thing would only burst into flames when it strikes the ground.
Plus it would make pretty patterns on the ground:

code:

.!..!..!!
.!.!...!.
..!.!.!.!
!..!0!...
.!!.!.!!!
..!.!.!..
!!...!.!.

!:fire
.:ground
O:Burning hole in the ground.

[Phant]

quote:Originally posted by Klokjammer:
<STRONG>Sand boxes: Put the sand it in a (wooden/metal/stone) box so the little dwarven kiddies can play in it.  This will keep them occupied and well away from the front of the fortress where the Goblins could get them.

Mace: The town watch will carry a bag and will throw sand into the offender's eyes temporarily blinding them.

I'm more serious about the former than I am about the later idea, but its late and I'm tired.</STRONG>

I cant be the only person that immediately thought of the King of the Hill
episode where Dale Gribble flings sand into someones eyes to effect an escape,
shouting 'pocket sand!'.

[Thallone]

quote:Originally posted by Emperor Bob:
<STRONG>But there could be a use for sand bags in catapults: soak them in a liquid fuel (animal fat? whale oil might work) and you have and incendiary missile. Bursts on contact, spreading flaming sand all over the place. Actually, have the bag be made of thick leather, and put a piece of burning wood on it, and the whole thing would only burst into flames when it strikes the ground.
Plus it would make pretty patterns on the ground:</STRONG>

Until some dwarf learns to properly tame fire, I really don't even want to think about using fire that indiscriminately.

' Oh look, a !!Cave Spider Silk bag!!, I'd better go get that then.'  :roll: