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[Twi]

I looked into this with the magic that is search, and it did not appear to have more than one post in any of the search results, so....

Basically, cranes that build things. Not cranes that move things, cranes that build things. The basic idea is, a crane will take the building item and build a building in the area it can reach (which extends both upwards and downwards). The crane would be powered by manpower or by mechanics, much like pumps.

Cranes could be built in a bunch of ways. First, the components, which would be wood, rope and mechanisms. Put some number of those together, and you can build a crane.

Second is to use crane parts, like the way siege weapons are built.

I originally came up with this specifically to make building stuff underwater a little easier. The idea is, you use the crane to make a piece of tunnel some depth into the water. You put in pumps and some mechanism for powering them as you go. When the tunnel is finished, you activate the pumps, pump the water out, and make it completely watertight, and you have a little tunnel underwater. You can then move on to the next section.

Of course, this would be limited by the crane's vertical range, so it's not as easy as it could be made.

But the crane would also be useful for building things that are really tall, or in a deep chasm...

[Waparius]

I kind of like the idea of cranes, but I think they should have more than one use.

IMO they would be a good device to include when improved hauling, ladders and maybe building improvements come in.

That way you have two uses for them - hauling heavy items between Z-levels now that you can't just get your dorfs to carry that <=*glumprong bed*=> up thirty flights of stairs, and building multilevel constructions.

Maybe if cranes and ladders were a sort of reusable component as well as a building. If ladders are included in the construction then dwarves will claim a ladder (built at the carpenter's or wherever) and can climb up the walls. If a crane is included then they can haul up heavy stuff - ladders force you to use thatched roofs because there's no way to get big chunks of rock up. If architecture is revamped to allow constructions to be built all-at-once (as an option in one-level constructions so emergency walls can still be built) that would work even better.

 I like the idea of "crane parts" being built at the siege workshop, or some future modification therof. When using them as a building they require three parts. When using them for construction they need one part per Z-level.

[nenjin]

Cranes would be very, very dwarfy. Seems like they are along the same lines as climbable ropes, which Toady mentioned he thought was kind of interesting. Lord knows cranes would really streamline a lot of hauling though, especially with the UG cave system.

[Zrk2]

I recommend combining this thread with this one:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=71291.0

[Twi]

I kind of like the idea of cranes, but I think they should have more than one use.

IMO they would be a good device to include when improved hauling, ladders and maybe building improvements come in.

That way you have two uses for them - hauling heavy items between Z-levels now that you can't just get your dorfs to carry that <=*glumprong bed*=> up thirty flights of stairs, and building multilevel constructions.

Maybe if cranes and ladders were a sort of reusable component as well as a building. If ladders are included in the construction then dwarves will claim a ladder (built at the carpenter's or wherever) and can climb up the walls. If a crane is included then they can haul up heavy stuff - ladders force you to use thatched roofs because there's no way to get big chunks of rock up. If architecture is revamped to allow constructions to be built all-at-once (as an option in one-level constructions so emergency walls can still be built) that would work even better.

 I like the idea of "crane parts" being built at the siege workshop, or some future modification therof. When using them as a building they require three parts. When using them for construction they need one part per Z-level.

That last part is a really good idea...

After all, I would like to have differing Z-level ranges.

Cranes would be very, very dwarfy. Seems like they are along the same lines as climbable ropes, which Toady mentioned he thought was kind of interesting. Lord knows cranes would really streamline a lot of hauling though, especially with the UG cave system.

I was talking about building stuff with cranes, not hauling stuff with cranes. Hauling stuff is all well and good, but it's not the topic. <_>
On the topic of hauling stuff, I had the idea of an assembly line, where you find a piece of material and designate it to be sent to a workshop and used, and then designate THAT to be sent to another workshop and used there, etc.

With minecarts.

I recommend combining this thread with this one:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=71291.0

...why?

[nenjin]

If it involves getting material to a site, even from the crane to the sit, it involves hauling.

[Twi]

If it involves getting material to a site, even from the crane to the sit, it involves hauling.

...you missed the point.

[GaxkangtheUnbound]

When moving parts of a fortress are implemented, we can use a single crane to construct entire buildings.

[Twi]

I thought of this...
But what I didn't yet think of...
If we have moving fortress parts, we can build the building in an easily accessible location (a 'construction dock', if you will) and then MOVE IT into place.
EDIT: Presumably, it would drop down one level so that the wheels didn't show.

[Zrk2]

Because they both relate to new ways to build buildings, it would make more sense to combine the ideas to come up with a more cohesive suggestion.

[Urist McUristy]

Totally derailing here, but it would be awesome if, sometime in the future, some caravans come by boat, and you could load up supplies onto the boat using a crane. you could build a totally awesome port if we could do that...

[Twi]

Totally been discussed in great detail elsewhere.

[Urist McUristy]

Alright then, show me the link.

[Twi]

See this thread.
Of course, it doesn't involve cranes, but still.

[Urist McUristy]

So cranes loading up supplies onto ships hasn't been discussed in great detail there?