Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5

Author Topic: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center  (Read 32066 times)

itg

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« on: December 27, 2013, 01:37:36 am »

This post is intended to be a compendium of community research and science projects, with a probable bias toward recent topics. I intend to update this post from time to time, as new projects come out or as I become aware of older ones. This compendium is incomplete at the moment (as evidenced by the fact that the "personal projects" section is 40% of the post), so if you see anything you want to see here, please tell me!

As this post is an outgrowth of several requests for a compendium of my personal projects, I have included a prominent section to show off my own work.


Personal Projects
Heartmine, at DF Map Archive: The 105-year-old site of nearly all my projects, plus several that didn't get their own post.
The Last Frontier: Draining the Magma Sea (even the bottom) [Colony Complete!]
Astronomy and the Dwarven Lunar Calendar (with giant text display!)
Dwarven Power Mining; Cave in SCIENCE; Collapsing Semi-Molten Rock
On the Construction of the First True Skyfort (Cave-ins ON)
Magma Landmines Revisited: Remote Mines, Player-Operated Switches
Slade mining/candy duplication, the easy way. *Spoilers*
Blind Dwarf Science [I abandoned this one when life got in the way. Feel free to pick up where I left off!]
Dwarven "Special" Forces
The Hell Hole: How to Destroy the Circus Tent (spoilers)

Science 101: Beginning and Intermediate Practical Projects
Single-Pick method for breaching 2-layer aquifer
Double Slit method for breaching aquifers of arbitrary depth--requires some wood and a pick
Pump Stack--a device for moving large volumes of liquid upward.
Magma Piston--Alternate way to move moderate volumes of  magma
Danger Room--The classic exploit for quickly making supersoldiers
Minecarts and Hauling 101--general advice, including quantum stockpiles
Animal-Powered Watchtower
Silk Farming

Military Science
Upright spear glitch aka "Shaft of Enlightenment"
Dwarven Research: A Comparison Study on the Effectiveness of Bolts vs Armors
!!SCIENCE!! War Hammer materials (Arena testing).
Dwarven Research: A Study on Shielding
Modding material properties vs. how the properties are used by the game
Dwarven Research: A Study of the 'Archer' and 'Marksdwarf' Skills
dodging research

Physics and Engineering
SMR Breached; How to Mine Slade; Duplicating Candy *updated* Spoilers
Impulse Elevators - What I've learned and requesting advice/confirmation testing
Bridging the ocean. Science report
My fort has MAGMA LANDMINES
!!SCIENCE!! on mechanics, casting and accidentally the whole pathfinding
Compact Minecart Watercannon
Railgun for exploding creatures of any size (including FBs)
Splitting the tick: The science of build order
Hydrodynamics Education
Cycling magmatic siegekiller
Dwarven Submarines,Hollow Cave-Ins,Instant Spires & Paving the Ocean !!SCIENCE!!
Don't stop me now (supersonic cart)

Computer Science
Dwarven Computer
Cyberdorf Systems: Dwarfputing an A.I. (0.1.1 Alpha)
The incredible Multiplication Machine
The cheaply-manufactured dwarven clock/calendar
Dwarfputing, Episode 0.142: The Pathetic Miscegenation [hq9+ Interpreter]
Dwarfputing like it's 2013! The shift register
Fluid-powered clock
Urist McMarconi cancels send wireless message: blown apart by *silver minecart*

Social Sciences, Atrocities, and Medicine
Dwarven... "Child Care"
reproductive research project **NOW UNDERWAY!**
I'm going to hell - how & why my dwarfs now kill their own babies
"Specialsurprise", The Medical Experiment - For SCIENCE!
Science: some observation on infection and death

Bugs and Patches
Topic: 90% of fortress-born dwarves & animals are 1/10th normal size (fixed in LNP)
Patch for 0.34.11 momentum bug & notes on combat mechanics

Dwarven Agriculture
How to Bacon like a pro [Industrialized Necromancy]
The effect of irrigation on tree farms and why there's none
Secure beekeeping made easy

Trade and Craftsdwarfship
Trade Goods Production Stats (WIP)
Artifactory: How to create awesome artifacts (most of the time)

Other Compendiums
Dwarven Relativity; The Dwarven Knowledge Centre

Loud Whispers

  • Bay Watcher
  • They said we have to aim higher, so we dug deeper.
    • View Profile
    • I APPLAUD YOU SIRRAH
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2013, 01:40:09 pm »

Dwarven Agriculture:
How to Bacon like a pro [Industrialized Necromancy].
The effect of irrigation on tree farms and why there's none.
Secure beekeeping made easy [OP is slightly wrong, bees only need to be adjacent to open space to count as having outdoor access which is why I linked to that post and not OP].


Computer Science:
Cyberdorf systems, advanced Dwarfputing

Crashmaster

  • Bay Watcher
  • CARP, Canada's new helth care plan for the elderly
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2013, 07:04:12 pm »

I looked into this but didn't pursue investigation of it's finer details.

!!SCIENCE!! on mechanics, casting and accidentally the whole pathfinding

The pathfinding effects seem to have the most promise. I read some post where the OP had problems with cast-in mechanisms becoming unsupported but I suspected it was due to them being built on top of dfliquids'd obsidian which seems to do some weird things especially (or at least) In Ocean biomes.

Happy new year!

wierd

  • Bay Watcher
  • I like to eat small children.
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2013, 10:15:07 pm »

Ahhh.. the treegrowth experiment. Proof that negative results are valuable to science! (Eat your hearts out out michaelson and moorley!)

That was a fun and easy experiment.

I really do want to revisit it concerning growthrates of cavern mosses though.
Until DFHack gets better tools, I can't reasonably get that though.

(Don't suppose I could bribe quietust or DaVinci to make me a dfhack scriptlet to count grasses over a range, could I? As long as it isn't *too* costly, I might be coaxed into offering some form of financial or material compensation for the request. Does not need to be fancy. Just needs to report number of grassy/mossy tiles, and their densities over a ranged selection using the look cursor. If either is interested, the can PM me a price and preferred method. No pressure though.)

Logged

Urist Da Vinci

  • Bay Watcher
  • [NATURAL_SKILL: ENGINEER:4]
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2013, 11:58:12 pm »

Perhaps Zivilin could elaborate, but I found this post (from another thread) very useful with regards to experiment design:

This is a seminal piece of research! I think the methodology presented here should be a model for future investigations, where possible.  This work and its method:

1. Allows for a control group, which can be used to determine the significance of the results.
2. Avoids feedback problems inherent in having experimental groups with different equipment fighting each other. 
3. Gathered fine-grained data (# bolts used) rather than less precise binary data (dead/alive), providing superior statistics.
4. Was transparent and easy to understand, so the results were clear.
5. Discusses its weaknesses and limitations.

What I've learned:

1. Run a few controls to determine variance.
2. Each experimental group should perform identical tasks, i.e. face identical enemies.
3. Consider the type and quality of data gathered. Perhaps time to kill, or number of dead enemies after a given amount of time, etc.
4. Presentation is important.
...

Science is more than just setting things on fire for lols.

blue emu

  • Bay Watcher
  • GroFAZ
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2013, 01:07:14 am »

Science is more than just setting things on fire for lols.

Good God... it is?
Logged
Never pet a burning dog.

Lielac

  • Bay Watcher
  • [ETHIC:PEDANTRY: PERSONAL_MATTER]
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2013, 01:27:03 am »

Science is more than just setting things on fire for lols.

Good God... it is?

Maybe 1% or so, yeah. Mostly still setting things on fire.
Logged


Lielac likes adamantine, magnetite, marble, the color olive green, battle axes, cats for their aloofness, dragons for their terrible majesty, women for their beauty, and the Oxford comma for its disambiguating properties. When possible, she prefers to consume pear cider and nectarines. She absolutely detests kobolds.

Zivilin

  • Bay Watcher
  • Dwarven Science Division
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2013, 03:56:30 pm »

Perhaps Zivilin could elaborate, but I found this post (from another thread) very useful with regards to experiment design:

[...]
1. Run a few controls to determine variance.
2. Each experimental group should perform identical tasks, i.e. face identical enemies.
3. Consider the type and quality of data gathered. Perhaps time to kill, or number of dead enemies after a given amount of time, etc.
4. Presentation is important.
[...]

Every project has its own nuances. In general:

1. Familiarize Yourself thoroughly with the researched subject. Decide on exactly what You are setting out to prove/disprove.
2. Think long and hard on what types of parameters/data will conclusively prove/disprove Your hypothesis.
3. Design an objective experimental setup.
4. Identify all conceivable variables that may influence Your setup, and modify the setup to eliminate them. Repeat until satisfied that all variables are eliminated, or at least accounted for.
5. Ascertain that Your results proved/disproved Your hypothesis. See if any other interesting research byproducts can be extracted from collected data.
6. Present the results in a clear manner, to the best of Your abilities.

And while I'm posting, I believe Modding material properties vs. how the properties are used by the game has a place in this compendium, possibly under a new "Game Mechanics" subsection. It has a treasure trove of material and combat mechanics-related information, forum-exclusive.
Logged
No signature

se5a

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2013, 04:39:45 pm »

This needs to be on the wiki.
Logged

itg

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2013, 01:57:55 am »

Updated the OP to include everyone's suggestions, plus a couple other things. I decided to add the "modding material properties" post to the "Military Science" section, since weaponry/armor/combat is the primary (almost the only) practical application of material science.

Sooner or later, I'll probably have to come up with some guidelines on what I can add to the OP, so it doesn't get to be overwhelmingly long. I'd like to have some quasi-objective criteria, if possible. Any thoughts?

vanatteveldt

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2013, 08:48:25 am »

I think this belongs in here:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=129994.msg4620472#msg4620472

It is a method for digging through a 2 layer aquifed with nothing but a pick and without exposing to the surface. I've successfully applied the method, e.g. here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=133272.msg4815920#msg4815920
Logged

Larix

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2013, 05:30:35 pm »

I looked into this but didn't pursue investigation of it's finer details.

!!SCIENCE!! on mechanics, casting and accidentally the whole pathfinding

The pathfinding effects seem to have the most promise. I read some post where the OP had problems with cast-in mechanisms becoming unsupported but I suspected it was due to them being built on top of dfliquids'd obsidian which seems to do some weird things especially (or at least) In Ocean biomes.

I re-checked since i was casting obsidian anyway, and mechanisms that get cast in obsidian generally become "hanging" and can no longer be supported from above or below. Unless you dig them out, obviously...

The "k" menu doesn't show this, you have to "q"uery them. They'll remain responsive to power and switch signals and will not immediately deconstruct, but if e.g. you build and remove a connecting axle, mechanisms try to pop out of the obsidian (and will get crushed if there's no open space on the same z-level nearby). The concept would be to cast the mechanism or axle into obsidian, then remove the casing and build supporting/connecting machinery. Transporting power through walls should work this way, as long as the support isn't entirely made up of gearboxes that get disengaged sometimes.

This was properly cast obsidian, i don't do dfhack.
Logged

MDFification

  • Bay Watcher
  • Hammerer at Law
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2013, 06:01:38 pm »

Science is more than just setting things on fire for lols.

On the other hand, !!SCIENCE!! is literally on fire. It's important to state the distinction between the two when posting - you could save lives!

EDIT: We really should have a seperate science subforum.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2013, 06:03:56 pm by MDFification »
Logged

CyberUrist

  • Bay Watcher
  • Nothing satisfies—Attain liberation with vigilance
    • View Profile
Re: Dwarven Academy of Science: The New Knowledge Center
« Reply #14 on: December 29, 2013, 06:41:39 pm »

Posting to watch, because interest.
Logged
Slog looks overjoyed at this revelation.
Slog is a barrel of endless dopamine.
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5