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Author Topic: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae  (Read 61541 times)

slowpokez

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #30 on: February 20, 2012, 07:43:27 am »

Sphalerite you just never seize to amaze me ;D ...oh, and if you need more socks you can have mine aswell.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2012, 07:45:58 am by slowpokez »
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Garath

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #31 on: February 20, 2012, 07:57:56 am »

If you don't have a beard and an alcohol addiction yet, I'd be amazed. To the dwarfiest person go the socks!
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Xotano

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #32 on: February 20, 2012, 09:20:26 am »

keep up the great !!SCIENCE!! i wana see the results.
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Alloran

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #33 on: February 20, 2012, 09:29:01 am »

Throwing in my hat for the awesome !!SCIENCE!! test. SOCKS FOR THE SOCK GOD!
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Garath

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #34 on: February 20, 2012, 09:29:36 am »

by the way, pump forcefields to keep the ocean in place, I'm truly amazed
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Kogut

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2012, 09:32:07 am »

It is amazing!
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Meta

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #36 on: February 20, 2012, 09:36:09 am »

Legendary topic is legendary! :)

*gives his pair of ¤phantom spider silk socks¤ to Sphalerite too*

Now we should find a new project for you. Vampire/zombies/were-animals/poisonous mist weaponizing?
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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #37 on: February 20, 2012, 09:43:30 am »

*Gives socks in tribute to Sphalerite*

Now quick question, why would you not use catapults for this? If you dump stone on the tile the seige engine operator will be standing on I have heard you can get 2-3 stones in the air at a time, and wouldn't you have been able to set up a lot more catapults because you wouldn't ahve to go through all the trouble of making ballista ammo? Also why would you cage the animals first and not just scare them directly into the camber via the war dog method you seem to have perfected?
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Sphalerite

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #38 on: February 20, 2012, 09:51:02 am »

In my experience, catapults are almost completely useless for actually damaging anything.  Ok, so are ballista arrows, but I wanted to at least try to harpoon these whales rather than just throw rocks at them.

Actually, keeping a solid supply of ammo to the ballista was never a problem.  The siege operator is confined to a burrow covering the ballista and the ammo stockpile right next to it.  The ballista arrows after being fired fall down into the collection area to the east so they can be reused.  I have a constant stream of haulers grabbing arrows from the collection area and hauling them back to the ammo stockpile.  The ballista is managing to fire nearly non-stop, the operator only having to take breaks for food or drink.

The problem with just scaring the animals into the firing range is that I wanted to be able to select what animals I was shooting at.  Whales are a rare spawn, I had to catch hundreds of other fish before enough whales showed up to set up the shot.  I have an animal stockpile full of sharks and fish, bycatch from the operation.  I also wanted to catch a breeding pair of sea serpents for a bit of farming on the side.
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Aspgren

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #39 on: February 20, 2012, 09:58:00 am »

Astonishing. Truly astonishing.
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Hotaru

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #40 on: February 20, 2012, 10:04:58 am »

Incidentally, how much is a whale aquarium worth in dwarfbucks?

You would think a lot, but then...
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Monk321654

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #41 on: February 20, 2012, 10:48:05 am »

Have my *Sheep Wool Socks*!
Oh, my feet are cold...
Anyway...
Big creatures like Whales could potentially stand up to large shot from something like a siege weapon.
Have you tried any smaller fish besides those tuna?
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Sphalerite

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #42 on: February 20, 2012, 10:49:41 am »

Have you tried any smaller fish besides those tuna?

Not yet.  Smaller creatures don't last long enough in the target chamber for me to even get off enough shots at them - they get pushed through the wall grates and air-drown.  I may redesign it with a second layer of grates to try and keep fish inside.
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Monk321654

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #43 on: February 20, 2012, 11:34:46 am »

Sharks seem about Medium Size between Whales and small fish...
You should do experiments about how easy it is for certain size creatures to be pushed through grates...
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Girlinhat

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Re: Oceanshoots: Hunting whales with ballistae
« Reply #44 on: February 20, 2012, 11:36:53 am »

If you would please, can you post/PM me with a list of your good threads?  It seems that Dwarven Relativity fails to do you justice.  I'm now motivated to make you your own section, because every single thing that you do is amazing.

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