Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ChairmanPoo]

... and make tainted water spread miasma and disease, and/or be unable to be used for cleaning.



This would make use of the existing game mechanics to see how sewage could possibly work in the game, without adding at this point extra bodily functions

[heyguys]

I'd like bodily functions. It isn't really a problem to anyone. Designate a floor grate and poop into the magma. bodily functions should be liquids like those left after ice wall

[FunkyWaltDogg]

I like this idea a lot; it could give players a reason to build a sewer system (which is what a lot of the feces advocates really want) without the thematic downsides. 

There would be three types of water; from good to bad, clean, tainted (unsafe for drinking or hospital use but not obviously dirty), and filthy. Wells and water source zones could have a "keep clean" flag, defaulting to yes for wells and no for other sources.  Tasks for drinking water, bringing water to wounded, and cleaning wounds would prefer water from a "keep clean" source, while tasks for cleaning oneself and cleaning the fort would prefer a source not set to "keep clean", but any of these tasks would use a non-preferred source if no preferred source was available. Filthy water would be generated as a waste product of cleaning tasks, and clean water that comes into contact with a contaminant (blood, vomit, etc.) would become filthy.  Introducing filthy water into clean should result in tainted water, and the taint would propagate through water, I'm not sure how.  Pit/pond zones set to pond would have a few options; "any" and "clean only" seem obvious, and "not filthy" might be good enough for farming. Garbage zones would have a flag to permit or forbid dumping of water, with the default setting depending on whether the zone was adjacent to an open space.

A dwarf cleaning the fort would begin with a bucket full of clean or tainted water, and after cleaning a certain number of tiles (seven?) or running out of tiles to clean, the task would end and the water in the bucket would become filthy, generating a "Dump water" task.  The cleaning dwarf would immediately take this task and dump the water in a pond accepting filthy water, a garbage zone set to allow water if there is no appropriate pond, or as a last resort, into a water source not set to "keep clean".  I don't know if it's even possible currently for a bucket to hold water if it's not in a well or being held, but it would be nice if a bucket of water could be left sitting on the ground in case there is no suitable place to dump filthy water and no water source not set to "keep clean". As a bonus, if a dwarf was cleaning or hauling a water bucket and was interrupted by a non-emergency event, he could set the bucket down rather than dropping it.

Dwarves that clean themselves can also use a source that's either clean or tainted, and the task will have a fair chance (say 1 in 3) of generating 1/7 of filthy water.  If there is a garbage zone that accepts water in very close proximity (3 tiles?), waste water from cleaning self would be dumped there instantly without generating a task or needing a bucket.  In cases where such an arrangement is not feasible, the player could build a basin (a new furniture item that holds water and can be made of stone, wood, glass, or metal) by the water source to hold waste water. As the basin fills, it generates "Dump water from basin" tasks that require use of a bucket to complete. If there is no garbage zone and no basin with available capacity, the water just goes back in the source, tainting it and perhaps even making it filthy (thus nearly useless) if done often enough with a stagnant source.

[Julius Clonkus]

I can sympathize with the need of seperate cleaning areas. It adds the same gameplay element as adding the more often requested kinds of sewage whilst being less offensive.
Basically what FunkyWaltDogg said.

[Draco18s]

The only problem I have with the OP's suggestion is that cleaning causes tainted water which then can't be used for cleaning, essentially meaning that on maps without rivers you will (very quickly) run out of a supply of water usable for cleaning.

[FunkyWaltDogg]

The only problem I have with the OP's suggestion is that cleaning causes tainted water which then can't be used for cleaning, essentially meaning that on maps without rivers you will (very quickly) run out of a supply of water usable for cleaning.

Isn't there always supposed to be water in the caverns?  Given that, this idea simply adds to the challenge in embarking on a map with no river or aquifer; it doesn't render it impossible.

[Draco18s]

The only problem I have with the OP's suggestion is that cleaning causes tainted water which then can't be used for cleaning, essentially meaning that on maps without rivers you will (very quickly) run out of a supply of water usable for cleaning.

Isn't there always supposed to be water in the caverns?  Given that, this idea simply adds to the challenge in embarking on a map with no river or aquifer; it doesn't render it impossible.

Caverns are flooded, ah la lake.  I don't believe that water has flow unless you drain some out.  So in theory one could pipe that water to make a "renewable" cleaning location in any embark.

The problem is that the underground can be very dangerous and one contaminant shouldn't make an entire body of water unusable for cleaning.  Essentially this suggestion means that embarking with "ideal" features forces the player to have flowing water.  There is no way to embark on a map with no flowing water and keep it that way, and contaminants aren't healthy for FPS either!

[ChairmanPoo]

No, not an entire body of water. That would be broken, I agree. There should be proportionality involved.

Cavern water does renew itself, though, but it probably does need to decrease first to get "renewed"

[CppThis]

I'm ambivalent to the sewage idea as I just don't see how dorf shit would improve the playing experience, but I do like this idea as it would introduce some interesting infrastructure options.  I don't really want my bloodied, puking, probably-soon-to-be-dead military/hauling dwarves hanging out around (i.e. making friends with) my legendary weaponsmith who only leaves the safety of his factory-fortress for the occasional non-alcoholic beverage for obvious reasons.  And really, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that wading around a pool while covered in nasty crap *wouldnt* contaiminate the water.

[Draco18s]

And really, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that wading around a pool while covered in nasty crap *wouldnt* contaiminate the water.

Oh it would make it bad for drinking alright.  But would you be unable to clean yourself in it?  No, its still water and still cleaner than you are.

[ChairmanPoo]

my arse. If the water is dirty enough, you come out of it less clean. That's why people don't bathe in septic pools

[Draco18s]

my arse. If the water is dirty enough, you come out of it less clean. That's why people don't bathe in septic pools

That's my point its not binary: clean or dirty.  There are levels of contamination and in order to do this suggestion you'd need to track it and you'd have to account for new water as well as sediments, well, settling.

[Hyperturtle]

My dwarfs crap on themselves and LIKE it!

with that said, it is odd that dwarfs will clean themselves out of the same pools they drink from.  I think if there is active water flow, that should simplify that issue. 

Or if you have a few wells they can pull strictly from those.

[Zalminen]

I'm one of those who don't want sewage in the game but this kind of a compromise I could live with.

[truckman1]

this would be really complicated, but new methods of water purification can be added. Maybe through evaporation? or a sand filter? Of course to be worthwhile there'd need to be other fun uses for those systems, like maybe make the evaporated shit rise up into your trade depot not only giving you the psychological upper hand when dealing with elves, they might get E.coli and bring it with them back to their people in the forests