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Author Topic: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds  (Read 3006 times)

isitanos

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New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« on: March 27, 2011, 05:13:59 pm »
Once I open a floodgate (for farming, or something else), it's hard to ensure a dwarf will be available at the right moment to close it. I often end up flooding my fields too much and having to dig around them for the water to spread and evaporate. On the other hand if I queue two pull lever jobs, then the floodgate usually closes too fast. There are workarounds, but they're rather tedious.


Therefore it would be nice to add a new job to levers: Toggle for X seconds. This would cause a dwarf to come, switch the lever to the opposite of its current state, wait for the specified number of seconds, and switch it back. Then the job completes and the dwarf would be free to go.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2011, 09:22:07 pm by isitanos »
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NW_Kohaku

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Re: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2011, 05:19:01 pm »
Actually, (without looking to see if this has already been suggested), this sounds like something that could be added into the Additional Mechanisms list.

Rather than a new lever job, it might just be a new version of a lever - a lever that only stays on for a set period of time before turning itself off.

(Although for flooding a field, I actually prefer to just use a water basin and a manually-powered screw pump - the dwarf has to be there pumping manually to make that one work, anyway.)
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Jeoshua

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Re: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2011, 08:23:45 pm »
I think it would work better ,as described, as a seperate "mode" for flipping the lever.
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Uristocrat

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Re: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2011, 11:02:14 pm »
Quote from: Jeoshua on March 27, 2011, 08:23:45 pm
I think it would work better ,as described, as a seperate "mode" for flipping the lever.

I just build standard ~~#X^B style repeaters (# = fortification, X = floodgate, ^ = 7/7 water trigger pressure plate, B = Raising bridge (any direction)) to handle this sort of task.
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Dutchling

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Re: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2011, 10:00:01 am »
I just close the door the control room so the dwarf will stay there.
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Draco18s

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Re: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2011, 01:03:10 pm »
Quote from: Dutchling on March 28, 2011, 10:00:01 am
I just close the door the control room so the dwarf will stay there.

That's an idea.  You could even link said door to the same lever.
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isitanos

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Re: New lever job: Toggle for X seconds
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2011, 08:41:48 pm »
Quote from: Draco18s on March 28, 2011, 01:03:10 pm
Quote from: Dutchling on March 28, 2011, 10:00:01 am
I just close the door the control room so the dwarf will stay there.

That's an idea.  You could even link said door to the same lever.
Sure, that's one of the workarounds I was mentioning. Knowing myself though, I'll get distracted by an attack after flipping the lever, and eventually let a dwarf starve to death in that room. Or run into trouble when setting up the door and the floodgate so one is open while the other one is closed.

So I really think my idea would be a great addition. Simple and versatile, and most importantly very simple for Toady to implement (speaking as a programmer with limited knowledge of how DF works, of course.)
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