Print

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

[rknewell]

The ability to build 3x3 glass lenses that focus sunlight onto a single square a level below. Primary use would likely be for a scenario like below.

Goblin invasion walks up to front gate.
Goblins ponder the charcoal and booze barrels littering the area.
Urist Mcleverpuller pulls the lever. Hatchs covering the lens open.
Whoosh.

Probably entirely too specific a use to bother, but we could really use a non-magma reliable ignition method.

[existent]

Probably entirely too specific a use to bother, but we could really use a non-magma reliable ignition method.

I agree with this statement 100%. Really, flaming weapons would do the trick 95% of the time. Just slug those barrels with a flaming arrow, and you're set.

[Alastar]

Would be be able to attach these lenses to the head of carp?

In all seriousness, I think torches would be the next logical step for firey fun.

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

Lenses would be awesome. You could cover them with bridges to disable them, and open those bridges to let in the light of death! Also, a way to heat things without fire or magma would be nice anyway. Think of boiling water or gnomeblight. Not deadly, but if you've got your enemies trapped it'll be a wonderful way to kill them slowly.

[Medicine Man]

My god...This is wonderful!I would love another way to set things on fire.

[Rowanas]

Well, I think we could make this suggestion less specific (and thus, more likely to get in) if you could create a giant lens, being a 1x1 object that could be installed in place of a wall, floor grate, paving slab, etc, and had a direction in which it was considered to be pointing (set it the same way you do bridges). Any light hitting it from "behind" is increased in strength and allowed through to the other side. How to transform that light into heat is another subject entirely.

Perhaps light can be checked like cave ins and if the light hits a preset level (set in the raws), it converts the excess light into heat. That would solve the whole hot/cold biomes stuff, because anywhere that gets a lot of light would naturally get hotter, although that might be counteracted by the local environment...

New suggestion needed....

[Macalano]

Well, I think we could make this suggestion less specific (and thus, more likely to get in) if you could create a giant lens, being a 1x1 object that could be installed in place of a wall, floor grate, paving slab, etc, and had a direction in which it was considered to be pointing (set it the same way you do bridges). Any light hitting it from "behind" is increased in strength and allowed through to the other side. How to transform that light into heat is another subject entirely.

Perhaps light can be checked like cave ins and if the light hits a preset level (set in the raws), it converts the excess light into heat. That would solve the whole hot/cold biomes stuff, because anywhere that gets a lot of light would naturally get hotter, although that might be counteracted by the local environment...

New suggestion needed....

It would have to be a specific type of glass. I say this because if they were to implement ignition caused by sunlight through glass, he would need to make an actual sun, and like a normal sun it would move across the sky. Now if it's about 5' o clock game time, your normal, non-ceiling windows will start igniting everyone who walks by.

Sun  O
Window |
Wall =
Dorf 


Ex. 1-1                            Ex.1-2
      =                                 =
   =                                 =
      =                                 =
      |               O         ! ! |            O
      =                                 =
      =                                 =
     

[Rowanas]

Actually, that's a good point, but one I tried to cover by suggesting that it'd be an entirely different (and specific) object.

Think about it, lenses aren't lenses because they're made out of magical sun glass, they're curved to get the effect, so DF lenses would have to be the same. Windows won't kill poor passing dwarves unless you installed lenses instead (and had them in high-light, high temperature areas), in which case you deserve all the burning dwarves you get.

Since the sun never moves, we can assume that the sun comes from directly above, all of the time. I guess there are issues that need threshing out eventually, what with adventure mode and the nature of the DF worlds and everything.

[Macalano]

Actually, that's a good point, but one I tried to cover by suggesting that it'd be an entirely different (and specific) object.

Think about it, lenses aren't lenses because they're made out of magical sun glass, they're curved to get the effect, so DF lenses would have to be the same. Windows won't kill poor passing dwarves unless you installed lenses instead (and had them in high-light, high temperature areas), in which case you deserve all the burning dwarves you get.

Since the sun never moves, we can assume that the sun comes from directly above, all of the time. I guess there are issues that need threshing out eventually, what with adventure mode and the nature of the DF worlds and everything.

I think they need to make the sun far more dangerous in DF.

[TomiTapio]

Probably entirely too specific a use to bother, but we could really use a non-magma reliable ignition method.

What comes to mind is connect lever to vodka barrel. pull lever (or pressure-plate trigger the firebarrel-building.)

[Andeerz]

Dorf lazer death-ray pew pew pew!!!  SHOOP DA WHOOP!!!

[Socializator]

I am not entirely sure, but doing such a huge lens properly is out of reach of even today technology. I am well aware, that we are talking about dwarfs, but I am not sure that they are specializing in some star-gazing techs

Problem with large lenses are precision and material. Cross-section of lens is quite wide so you need material that wouldnt crumble under its own weight and still is very transparent and homogeneous.
These requirements are the reason why telescopes use mirrors instead. Despite that it leads to more complicated construction.
But perhaps even crappy lens are still good enough for putting things on fire

[VoidPointer]

I'm more than a little rusty on my optics, but I'm pretty sure there's a way to make a lens with only one viable focal point, to prevent the "wandering hotspot of death" issue if the sun moves.

However, this isn't necessary. A large number of mirrors, angled correctly (possibly by siege operators) can achieve the same effect. Archimedes did it in the third century BC.