Plumbing / Water Delivery Systems

Oh Steven,

You are the knower of all things stonehearth

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I know, right?

@Geoffers747 is totes jealous too… prides himself on being such an academic… bah, whose the smart one know? I! I is the smarter one!

(2 internet points to the first to point out each of my mistakes above)

@Geoffers747 is totally jealous too**, he** prides himself on being such an academic**.** Bah, who’s (or who is) the smart one now? I am! I am the smarter one!”

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well done @GeorgeCrecy! you “corrected” a few things i hadn’t intended to be corrected… :smile:

but you did indeed knock out the required items… +2 internet points for you!

i summon @Swift_Cube!

I came here in his place, he’s a bit… indisposed of at the moment. :smiling_imp:

Sir yes sir! My internet legions are at your command!
The Official Internet Point Scoreboard is right here: Internet Point Scoreboard!

To take this thread back to topic, I personally love water systems. Everything about pipes, pumps, watergates, fountains, dams. I think a lot of this can be realised without breaking too much of the theme.

well, the good news is, Radiant already has designs for full irrigation systems to (among other things) aid in the farming process (if the player chooses to get a little more hands on in that area)… :+1:

Pff, farming. I want water powered contraptions. Elevators. Furniculars. Perhaps even dip into electricity a bit.

There’s nothing that says “power” like having giant 50m tall gates that open magically with hydraulics. Also, they could crush enemies.

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should you not be as inclined to get digital dirt under your nails, take comfort in knowing that the framework for irrigation systems will be in place for farming… which means they can be stolen/reworked to apply elsewhere… should be relatively trivial for someone with your talents… :stuck_out_tongue:

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If it were me I would make it so that water “flows in” or is Regenerated at a specific rate. (ie; the river flows in from the north edge of the map and brings 20,000 gallons per “minute,” or the well can produce 10 gpm.) However it would then flow back out if allowed. (So in essence water would be infinite over time yet finite at any singular moment.) In this way a well of course would fill up to a max and then stop (as wells do) while a river from the north would just drain out to the south unless dammed.

Being able to dam the water would also be a good thing as long as it was done well. puting in a dam should not just stop the water and allow for drawing. Water needs to have volume, if you dam a river it should start flooding the area around the river behind the dam. Which means that if you put it in the wrong place it could flood your city or mine or the river might shift and take another rout and suddenly your dam is useless for anything but shifting the river.

As far as the “Cycle” goes, you really only need about half. Evaporation for the water cycle, snowmelt and all those other things are fairly unimportant to a game that does not take into account the full global world. What is needed is;

  • How much water volume flows in with the river,
  • How fast water seeps into the ground (and whether or not there is a limit)
  • How fast will our citizens be using said water,
  • How far from the water source will irrigation be effective,
  • Will rain have an effect on water seepage, irrigation, or water levels.
  • Will there be system for water pressure (pumps, volumes, and gravity)

When dealing with the end product of the water (ie: sewage) is another system entirely that would be handled under the disease mechanics. After all any sewage that can’t be handled by the water seepage system is most likely solid.

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The main problem here is that every more-than-simple implementation of water gets calculation intense rather quick (Terraria is a good example; although it caps the calculations it does per frame its simulation can either take forever or breaks completely).

How is Dwarf Fortress dealing with water? If I remember correctly it was similar to Minecraft in the sense that it had 8 levels of water or something?

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Yeah, with all the calculations you’d need (Analyzing volumes of water being rained, the water flow in and out, the calculation of consumption (and creation :wink:) of water would probably send a few sparks flying.

Well, so far all we know is that they want water that can be dammed, will turn a water wheel, and put in an aqueduct. Whether those are complex calculations involving pressure, length, depth, and height from ground, or simply “duct ‘A’ now has water,” or “you may now place water wheels on your dam” will be up to the creators and how complex they feel would be right.

However, I do see them at least differentiating between river water and lake water. Lake water would not be useful in running water wheels and there is little to no reason to put a dam in the middle of a lake (and it would most likely be tainted over time by any city built on the perimeter.)

Guys, must we go into such micromananging tangents about a small part of Stonehearth gameplay? I’d rather play the game than do sophisticated calculations about micromanaging pipes and water delivery.

How can you play a game that cannot tell the difference between “water beam pushing enemies back with 2 bar” and “water beam pushing enemies back with 2.1 bar”?!

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i think it really comes down to options… as with the farming system (and as has been mentioned before), players will be able to determine which way they prefer to play… those who are not as interested in maximizing the returns from a farm can simply “place crops” and be done with it…

however, should a player have an interest in digging deeper (insert pun reference here), they’ll have that opportunity (maximizing crop returns by weighing irrigation, soil types or any number of other crazy detailed parameters)… you would be getting optimal results from your farm (but might come with a tradeoff elsewhere)…

similarly, we might see a plumbing system that could have very basic requirements (which will provide a minimal benefit to your settlement), as well as the option to more specifically manage the configuration/options (for an added benefit, of course)…

So, there will be waste?

Icky! Will it pile up if you neglect it?

Ickier!

doubtful… :poop:

only @Geoffers747’s… :smile:

but yeah… no idea if there would even be a system of this sort… my intention was to point out that if such a system were introduced, it could be handled in a similar fashion to what we’ll see with farming… (varying levels of player involvement, providing varying levels of returns)…

Yeah, I skimmed over your idea, it was very well thought out.

One could imagine poo used for fertilizer!