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[Teamwork]

There should be a power setting up the screw pump building that allows us to limit the amount of fluids that get through from 2 to 7. These should also have an affect on how long it takes dwarves to get tired and also how much power is needed from mechanisms.

[Sutremaine]

What would this add and what problem does it solve?

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

It allows people to set up flowing water, the non-teleporting kind. Other than that, I don't see it either.

[Lord Vetinari]

Maybe such a big range is a bit too much, but I'd like two settings, one for slow pumping without pressure and one that behaves as it does now.

[Jeoshua]

Variable pumps might be interesting, but Sutremaine raises a valid point.  What would the introduction of this mechanic do for you?  And would a more advanced engineering process do just as well?

Imagine a pump system that has a holding tank somewhere prior to it's end.  In that holding tank there is a pressure plate that activates at 2/7 water depth, and it's result is to open a flood gate.  Only a metered amount of water would get through this system.

So you can already do this, it just requires a bit of thought and planning.

[Pilsu]

Problem is, a screw pump should not be able to move water at these speeds to begin with.

[Mckee]

Problem is, a screw pump should not be able to move water at these speeds to begin with.

Thats a different suggestion really, which I don't really agree with (Seems like the units in this game are arbitary or atleast poorly defined in relation to real world equivalents, so the speed of pumping can't really be argued not to be possible. Unless you can suggest a comprehensive scaling of all the units, that would then prove water couldnt move at that rate.)

As for the original suggestion, I think its not really necessary. Also, since you can engineer a similiar system, using a bit of planning and know how, its more desirable that way than having it made a setting for pumps. The pump should really only represent one part of a larger irrigation system (Pump, tunnels, floodgates and pressure plates, not to mention power generation). I know this is more complex, but I don't think that is a bad thing. Part of this games alure is the discovery of new techniques and constructions that add extra functionality.

[NW_Kohaku]

Unless you can suggest a comprehensive scaling of all the units, that would then prove water couldnt move at that rate.)

Volume and Mass.

The game is already going down the road of defining volumes of almost all its objects, as well as its densities, and then deriving mass from those terms. 

It is dummied out now, but large pots, for example, have a [CONTAINER_CAPACITY:60000] stat.  Presumably, this will eventually mean they can carry any combination of items that have a combined SIZE of 60,000 or lower.  (Size, incidentally, relates to mL.)  For now, however, this is dummied out to 6 items, regardless of size.

For now, I calculate that a tile in total has a SIZE of 27,000,000 mL.  7/7 water fills that completely.  Basically, 3.86 million mL per 1/7. 

Conversely, a bucket can contain 10 units of water, and any number of water units in a bucket will produce a 1/7 water in a pond.  Buckets presumably have a capacity of 10,000 mL (which is a pretty big bucket, but the smallest possible size right now.) 

[Mckee]

Thats kind of what I was getting at: there isn't any real scaling of items interactions and mass, at the moment. Until Toady worked out that scale and adjusted everything, trying to set pumps to act realistically whilst everything else is all over the place, seems fruitless. I would be in favour of sorting all volumes and masses out properly, just not one specific thing at a time.