Bay 12 Games Forum

I just started a fort that got the random name "Webstandards".

I'll try to keep it W3C-compliant.

Please use the strict syntax. I weep for the existence of the looser ones

I am bookmarking this thread.

I haven't looked at any of the DFHack headers, but would it be possible to have DF Designer optionally emulate a DF executive - i.e. occupying the appropriate memory space (obviously not simultaneously) - so that fortresses could be viewed in any visualiser that uses DFHack?

You could potentially have a mechanical lock of some sort that only opens if the right levers are pulled - optionally in the right order. For example, imagine you have a 2x2 set of levers, called A, B, C and D in some order.

You have a pump that can be turned off to disallow access entirely, three doors and a pressure plate then a drain (here a floodgate).
÷÷╪╪╪^XLevers A and B control the first and second doors, respectively. The third door is connected to a pressure plate elsewhere that has water on it normally that is pumped off when lever C or D is pulled, permanently locking the door until more water is added (by some external lever). The pressure plate in the diagram opens the airlock door (near our levers) and triggers the floodgate - after 100 steps the floodgate will open, draining the liquid (you could also use a pump for this) and closing the door.

The problem with this simplistic setup is that it requires manual resetting: you have to reset the levers to the right state afterwards. You can set up a mechanical toggle system for each one as well, but it would be tedious.

Probabilistically, there is a 1/6 chance a gremlin will open your doors with this 2x2 setup. If you use more complex mechanical logic you can get better odds with just 2 levers (being pulled multiple times). Technically, you could have something as simple as needing to pull a single lever twice, which might bamboozle gremlins (will require testing of course). The only real question is whether designing and eventually implementing the system (which might take dozens of mechanisms and linking) is worth it for any fractional improvement.

I have not yet tested this with a barracks designated from an armour stand or weapon rack, but I have established one annoying little fact: dwarves will not spar in a bed-designated barracks full of beds. At least, they will not initiate sparring in such a barracks. I invite further testing.

EDIT: To clarify, there must be at least one non-bed tile in the barracks area. I haven't tested whether it can be some other occupied type.

This is a bump of approval.

What do people think about starting a fantasy ark project? Goal would be to produce thousands of innovative non-sentients for all biomes. Bladderfish would be fantastic for a swamp biome, for example.

Could I request a feature? The ability to "query" a tile; that is, report what the floor or wall is (material and constructed vs. natural), what buildings are on it (and if they're impassable), what items are on it (as of the last item update for that tile), level and type of liquid, creature occupancy, etc. This would ideally be activated by hovering the mouse over the desired square and pressing the "query" button. Since this information would already be stored by Stonesense it would just be a matter of retrieving and displaying it. This means that it should play nicely with the upcoming version - no work should be required to change the functionality beyond what would be done for Stonesense anyway.

I could potentially provide some pseudocode for the mouse position to tile function if you need it. It should be doable for you guys though, given the magic you've already wrought. The function might need to be used for the name display/mouse interaction anyway. A point to consider: should the function just return the first (highest z-level) non-empty tile underneath the cursor, or should it do a "raytrace" so you could choose a tile that is behind another tile with a ramp/creature in it? For example, if there is a bat in one tile and a dwarf in the tile isometrically below it, would we return the bat's tile all the time or would we return the dwarf's tile if the cursor wasn't pointed at the bat directly?

General point: Space is the volume the Universe exists in. Space is the nothiness, finite or infinite. The Universe is everything else in Space - again, finite or infinite. This is my PoV.

I you draw parallels with the balloon, imagine a reverse balloon. Or a balloon in space, if you want. Space is the balloon, the air in it is the universe. It's not so much the air pushing against the balloon, it's the balloon allowing air to be as large as it can stretch.

What does it mean to be "outside the universe"?