v0.34:Minecart

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v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34.11 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

A minecart is a tool used mostly for hauling. It is made of wood or metal at a carpenter's workshop or a metalsmith's forge. Minecarts store five times as many items as wheelbarrows, but have the disadvantage of requiring a dedicated track system along with micromanagement. Minecart tracks take up a lot of space, may be complicated to construct, and often will require substantial resources to complete. Since you can only engrave tracks in natural stone, minecart routes are especially expensive when built above-ground or in artificial structures.

The interface for selecting minecart usage can be accessed from the hauling menu.

Track

Tracks are carved with designations, with d T, or alternatively built from the construction section, with b C, in where you can not only build tracks (with T), but also build stops (with S). While engraved tracks can only be carved on natural stone floors, they are much more convenient and can be smoothed for refurbishing.

Engraved tracks have corners added automatically, while constructed tracks let you decide exactly what type of segment to build. Tracks can move up or down z-levels by means of ramps, but not stairs.

Any tracks, when constructed, will designate the square as a low-priority traffic order. This reduces the odds of dwarves walking into a high-speed minecart, however it should be noted that pets and livestock ignore traffic orders.

As constructions or tile features, doors and other furniture can be built on tracks. A door or floodgate can be turned on or off by a lever, effectively controlling the flow of automated minecarts. This may be dangerous, however.

Bridges can also act as tracks, but only if it is lowered or not retracted. This property can enable levers to turn tracks on and off.

Track stop

Place a track stop on a track that has already been carved or constructed to set friction and dump controls. In the b C S menu, set the friction level of the stop and/or if a cart should automatically dump out its contents at the stop. If set to dump, select the direction to dump in. Once you proceed to build the track stop, these settings cannot be seen or changed. Note that a minecart on a dumping track stop cannot be filled by a dwarf.

Use h to set up routes. This allows you to place route stops on top of the track stops themselves (or just the bare track). Place the route stops and assign the vehicle (minecart) that will be used. For each route stop, you can tell the dwarves exactly what items to take, where to take them from, when to transport them, etc.

Then set up the stockpiles nearby, link them accordingly, set up the give or not give so everything moves where you want, then wait for them to be guided or pushed!

A track stop is not needed in every tile that has a route stop; in fact, track stops are completely unnecessary to all basic minecart designs, rather being useful for automated designs. Track stops are commonly built at the beginning and end of a track.

Roller

A roller is built by a mechanic with one or more mechanisms and a rope in the b M menu by selecting r. Rollers must be powered, and they serve the purpose of moving a minecart without dwarf-power. Rollers may apparently be placed on ramps to help pull carts up Z levels. If minecart routes are set to push, rollers may be very useful to maintain the cart's momentum. Rollers are variable-length, variable-direction, and variable-power, all traits that can be set at construction time.

At the highest speed, a roller uses two units of power per tile it is long.

Rollers can be frozen if exposed to cold temperatures. If they are in that state, they will not operate.

Because of their one-way nature, rollers are unsuitable for most two-way minecart tracks. However, a minecart set to be guided is not affected by rollers at all — this allows a one-way track to be used in both directions.

Removal

Constructed tracks can be removed like any other construction with d n. Engraved tracks can be removed by simply smoothing the track, with d s, or by building a floor and subsequently removing it.

Counterintuitive to their construction method, track stops are also considered buildings and must be removed by q x. Rollers are, as one would expect, buildings and must be deconstructed in the same manner.

Physics

When pushed, minecarts will move along the track in a straight line, until they either run off the tracks or encounter a turn. Behavior at T-intersections has not yet been conclusively determined. This behaviour is not present if the minecarts are guided.

Some samples with behavior:

 A <-> B     A <-> C               A <-> B      
   B╥          B╥                     B╥
    ║           ║                      ║ 
A╞══╝       A╞══╩══╡C              A╞══╬╗
            You can only go A->B       ╚╝
  Works      when the cart           Works
             is in Guide mode.       

In the second example above, if you attempt to "Push" from B to A or C, the cart will go careening off of the tracks.

Skipping

If a minecart is moving fast enough, it can skip over water or magma, making splashes as it attempts to move on them horizontally. This horizontal movement is independent of the minecart and its content's weight.

Stacking

If a minecart lands on another minecart in exactly the perfect orientation and time, they may form a stack (effectively a pillar) of minecarts. This pillar, aside from the megaproject uses possible, is also useful for trap design with minecarts as the weaponry.

The location of the upper minecarts, above what seems to be thin air, can be confusing. These minecarts generally need to be struck with another minecart to move out, or have their support removed. The latter option can be somewhat dangerous, however.

Hauling route

From the hauling menu, minecart routes can be set up, and stockpile links set. Navigate the list with the +, -, * and / commands.

Note that if you set up lots of routes and stops and then resize your screen, the list will scroll off-screen in the hauling menu. You can still navigate the list with the keyboard commands listed above, but cannot see the stop/route name. This will be fixed in the next release.

Route

A new route is created with the route key. An existing route can be removed (without confirmation) with the x key. A route can also be nicknamed. Before operating, the route must have at least one vehicle assigned to it (this can be done from the route or from a stop; it does not seem to matter which).

Stop

The s key is used to create a new stop. Like routes, stops can be removed with x or nicknamed with n. Stops can also be reordered with the promote key. Without a definition, however, a stop is fairly useless. The Enter key accesses the stop definition screen, which has two modes: advanced and basic.

Stop definition

The Stop Definition screen shows the 'orders' for a certain track stop. There are two types of orders: departure conditions, and stockpile links.

Stockpile links

By moving the cursor and using p, you can create a new stockpile link for a track stop.

Departure condition

Departure conditions involve setting conditions in which the minecart will leave on the route. Each condition includes:

1. A departure mode (Guide, Ride or Push)
2. A departure direction (NSEW)
3. A timer, before which the departure condition cannot be met
4. Conditions on the amount of items in the cart

The "Advanced" screen allows you to have precise control over No. 4, as a percentage from 1 to 100. Departure conditions are created with the n key. A new departure condition will read: "guide north immediately when empty of desired items". This condition can be changed with c in the basic screen, or f, F, m, and l specific to the advanced screen. Common to both screens are the p, d, t, and T options.

Troubleshooting

Because of the complexity of the system, all but the most careful and experienced minecart users will encounter issues. Most route issues can be diagnosed and fixed from the hauling menu.

The ! Set dir/connect track message may be caused by one or more of several reasons:

• The departure direction of the stop might be invalid. Edit the stop using Enter and pressd until it is pointing in a valid direction.
• The track stop might not be built on top of a track. The track stop must be deconstructed to remedy this issue.
• The desired/kept items might not be configured correctly.

If the route always shows 0% V, then the cart is probably not able to fill properly.

• The stop may not be set to take from a stockpile. Edit the Stop using Enter and make sure you see a message like "Take from Stockpile #1".
• The take conditions must correspond with the contents of the stockpile.
• The track stop may be set to dump. A track stop set to dump cannot be filled. You must either set the stop to a time-based departure or deconstruct the track stop and rebuild it without dumping.

Capacity

Minecarts have five times the capacity of wheelbarrows, which is an enormous amount. A single minecart can carry 2500 rolls of cloth, for example, or even a hundred stone block. Unfortunately, loading 2500 boulders onto a minecart is not possible.

Water and magma can also be loaded to and dumped from minecarts, the former from passing through the fluid and latter via a track stop. Loading these onto minecarts can be difficult because the fluids' weight can slow the minecart down greatly. Curiously, a minecart filled with magma does not injure a dwarf set to ride the minecart.

The capacity in a minecart affects whether a pressure plate triggers or not, based on the pressure plate's setting.

Rider

Minecarts can be set to ride in the hauling routes screen. This setting encourages a dwarf to board the minecart, and will make the minecart move faster down ramps. Interestingly, a dwarf will drop its baby, if it has one, when boarding the minecart.

Although most of the utility of minecarts is in fortress mode, an adventurer can also ride in a minecart.

Danger

Minecarts are not without danger. Although designating a track automatically sets the traffic designation to low, dwarves may still walk on them. If an unlucky dwarf fails to dodge a minecart, he or she can be injured. Most of this danger can be avoided by setting the minecart hauling commands to guide instead of push or ride.

Minecarts can careen off tracks. If this occurs, the items may be scattered; this can cause even more hauling jobs than the minecart aimed to eliminate. Even worse, scattered items, especially weapons, can injure passing dwarves or other creatures.

Animals

Animals will ignore the automatic "Low" traffic order set by constructing minecart tracks, and will therefore tend to block minecarts. This can be bad for the animal if it fails to dodge the minecart and if the minecart is moving at a fast speed. Most of this problem is resolvable by pasturing the animals.

As an item

Minecarts are also a type of item, similar to wheelbarrows but unlike wagons, which are creatures. They are stored in a furniture stockpile. Although they hold five times the amount wheelbarrows do, they are not much larger: only four thirds as large. A no-quality minecart is identical in value to a no-quality wheelbarrow of the same material, however, the value may differ due to the item quality.

When falling, a minecart appears to cause no damage upon collision with a creature, possibly to allow cart "stacking" across Z-levels. ^[Verify]

As items, thieves or even mischivous animals can steal minecarts, even when moving on a track.