Print

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

[Leif]

I had an idea last night. My fortress is sealed from the outside world due to goblin invasion and a poorly trained militia. The fort is all underground except a tower which goes pretty high. (40-50 Urists) I thought could build a sky bridge reaching across in each direction, and then build a 3*3*3 pod with a door on one side and a chair in the middle. The pod would be held in place by a docking clamp/floodgate; a dwarf would grab his or her weapons, sit in the chair, and then be dropped into the goblin hoard to cause mass confusion and death. Most likely a one way trip, unless he/she kills them all, but I suppose a co-ordinated drop would have a much higher chance of success.

Idea feasible?

[Babylon]

I had an idea last night. My fortress is sealed from the outside world due to goblin invasion and a poorly trained militia. The fort is all underground except a tower which goes pretty high. (40-50 Urists) I thought could build a sky bridge reaching across in each direction, and then build a 3*3*3 pod with a door on one side and a chair in the middle. The pod would be held in place by a docking clamp/floodgate; a dwarf would grab his or her weapons, sit in the chair, and then be dropped into the goblin hoard to cause mass confusion and death. Most likely a one way trip, unless he/she kills them all, but I suppose a co-ordinated drop would have a much higher chance of success.

Idea feasible?

The drop would kill the dwarf I think, unless Urist lands on a goblin.

[Flare]

There was a fruitless thread about this ending in the realization that there's no way to effectively do this without killing the dwarves in the process.

Several strange ideas were brought up, like the hypothesis that if another entity dropped onto another living entity the entity that was dropping might survive. Thus was born the idea of making long single tiled chutes to the ground where at the bottom rested a cat for cushioning. I do not know what became of that idea. Mayhaps the person found out it didn't work but at the same time found out it was very fun to fling dwarves from very high places.

[mdqp]

What about having water right down the pod? could it make the fall non-lethal?

[raptorfangamer]

I think that on a set height dwarves will die no matter what.

water wont help, they might drown too

EDIT: besides, the stunned dwarves would be cannon fodder at best

[mdqp]

Oh well, I guess it might still be fun to test on nobles (If the fall doesn't kill them, they drown. If they manage to swim to safety, the siege is there to correct the problem... It lacks magma, though  ).

[Eoganachta]

What about having water right down the pod? could it make the fall non-lethal?

i think there was a dwarven water elevator threat somewhere around here.

[clockout1]

Couldn't you just drop the pods on goblins without anyone inside them?

Oh well, I guess it might still be fun to test on nobles (If the fall doesn't kill them, they drown. If they manage to swim to safety, the siege is there to correct the problem... It lacks magma, though  ).

That too. That's always an option.

EDIT: What if the dwarves were caged (somehow) while they were dropped? If you can survive drowning in one, why not a fall?

[Jacob/Lee]

Water does a whole load of nothing to break falls. A 10 z-level fall into water is the same as a 10 z-level fall onto solid steel flooring. It just adds another factor to the avalanche of threats, drowning.

[Sphalerite]

EDIT: What if the dwarves were caged (somehow) while they were dropped? If you can survive drowning in one, why not a fall?

Certainly, the dwarf would survive.  The cage would protect the contents from any damage from falling.  And then the dwarf would still be trapped in the cage.  The only way to release the dwarf would be for another dwarf to come and let him out or take the cage to be built, which would defeat the purpose.

Water does a whole load of nothing to break falls. A 10 z-level fall into water is the same as a 10 z-level fall onto solid steel flooring. It just adds another factor to the avalanche of threats, drowning.

Not true at all, in the current version falling through levels of water has been proven to partially or totally negate levels fallen through air.

[Wannazzaki]

ACtually i think we decided on using tubes of water and obsidian casted pods because we then got onto other things like a 40k mod...no one could present a good way of doing this however

[NobodyPro]

Oh, it's this thread again.
Summary:
1. Water doesn't negate fall damage or stun.
2. Cages protect occupants.
3. Melted cages release occupants.
4. Lava heats the tiles directly above it.

Solution:
1. Mod in new material that melts at the temperature of the heated floorboards.
2. Make a cage of said material.
3. Put armored dwarf in said cage.
4. Drop onto heated floor.
5. "And They Shall Know No Fear."

[Dr.Propz]

EDIT: What if the dwarves were caged (somehow) while they were dropped? If you can survive drowning in one, why not a fall?

Certainly, the dwarf would survive.  The cage would protect the contents from any damage from falling.  And then the dwarf would still be trapped in the cage.  The only way to release the dwarf would be for another dwarf to come and let him out or take the cage to be built, which would defeat the purpose.

Water does a whole load of nothing to break falls. A 10 z-level fall into water is the same as a 10 z-level fall onto solid steel flooring. It just adds another factor to the avalanche of threats, drowning.

Not true at all, in the current version falling through levels of water has been proven to partially or totally negate levels fallen through air.

Can't you link a lever to the cage to automatically open it? Or does it not work that way

[BloodBeard]

http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-2361-27z-levelopendroppod

Water works with enough of it.

I think this is the 3rd topic about this that I had to squash the myth that water doesn't project falling dwarves. I have a pet peeve about bad dwarf science

[acetech09]

Couldn't you just drop the pods on goblins without anyone inside them?

Exactly what I'm thinking. The dust will be more powerful than the dwarf, in many instances. Build a giant platform with holes ringed by floor grates. Haul up stones and have a dedicated staff build constructions off of the floor grates. Dwarven bombing system.