40d:Machinery

This is an overview of how the different machine parts work and work together, with some basics about each of them. They all have more details - once you understand the basics, refer to the main articles for more complete discussions - these links will be listed in bold.

Machinery in Dwarf Fortress consists of systems of triggers (either levers or pressure plates) that control the machinery, the windmills and waterwheels that provide power to it, the gear assemblies and axles that transfer that power, and the pumps and millstones that use that power; and let's toss in bridges, because they move and will come into the discussion sooner or later. No one part is very complicated, but combined they can be as complex as your warped little imagination can conceive. You can't do everything with DF machinery, but with creativity you can come close.

Machinery overview

The basic part is the mechanism, the same thing that lets you build stonefall traps - that can also become a lever, a pressure plate, or a gear assembly - as well as all the other various simple one-tile traps. Mechanisms are created using the mechanic labor in a mechanic's workshop, and can only be made of stone. In version d40, mechanism "quality" makes no observed difference when creating DF machinery, so any mechanism will work as well as others*.

(* Except in magma, which requires bauxite mechanisms - a separate discussion, but that's pretty much the sum of it.)

Main Articles: mechanism, trap

Triggers

The simplest machine use of a mechanism is the trigger, usually as a lever. Both levers and pressure plates are "triggers" - they trigger something else to happen. That "something else" is determined by you when you "link" the two - the trigger and the object to be activated.

A mechanism is placed as a lever using build Traps/Levers lever, and then once that's been completed, you go into that "building's" menu ( q ) and link it to something else - this takes 2 more mechanisms, one at the object end (1st chosen), one at the lever end (2nd chosen), for a total of 3 mechanisms used: one lever plus a link at each end. Link the same lever to something else and you need 2 more mechanisms, etc etc. No limit. One pull, they're all activated.

Main Article: Lever

Pressure plates

A pressure plate works like a lever, but is based on either being stepped on, or fluid reaching a certain depth. The triggering process (and problems) are the same, but you have some variables you can designate when placing the plate - whether friend/foe triggers it and what size they must be (min and max), or fluid depth (1/7, 2/7, 7/7), etc.

A pressure plate is placed with build {k|T}}raps/Levers pressure plate, and is otherwise identical to the lever - one mechanism, two more to link it, etc.

Main Article: Pressure plate

Connection and activation

If all you're doing is connecting a lever to an object, then a dwarf pulls the lever to activate that object. If a pressure plate, then it gets stepped on or the fluid reaches the designated depth - it's that simple.

Attached to a support, the support crumbles (and brings down whatever it was supporting, ~IF~ that was in fact the last thing connected to it!) Attach to a cage, the cage releases the occupants. These are both 1-use.

Connected to a barrier - a door, a hatch, a floodgate, or a bridge - it becomes the sole activation for those. Dwarfs cannot open/close doors/hatches that are linked (and cannot open/close floodgates or bridges without one).

Main Articles: door, hatch, floodgate

On/off, open/close

Note that a trigger does not just "toggle" a barrier - it doesn't always work "throw and it's open, throw and it's closed". The lever has to be in the right "phase", left or right, to open or close, and if the barrier is out of phase, nothing happens. What this means to you is that you cannot link one door, open it, then link another and have them stay opposite each other, opened/closed - they will get back "in phase" almost right away, both open, then both closed.* There's a complete list here.

(* But there are ways to achieve this - read main articles for full discussions.)

Activation lag time

Also note that a few types of barriers respond "immediately" while others are delayed - (again, see that same list for full details). If delayed, and you open/close the trigger quickly, it will get out of phase, missing the second command while waiting for the first. Also, if anything - a dwarf, creature or the smallest dropped object - is blocking a door, hatch or floodgate, it won't shut when ordered to, and, again, out of phase. Then the lever must be pulled twice, once to get it back in phase, and once to activate it the way you wanted. Headache city.

Machine power

You can run a pump manually (or use querns instead of millstones for milling), but there are 2 kinds of power systems that are used to run pumps and millstones: windmills and waterwheels. Both are buildings - you build them just like a workshop. There are some limits and considerations - build them wrong (without support) and they'll collapse.

windmills

A windmill provides 0, 20 or 40 power - it depends on the "wind" on your map, you either have it or you don't - it's constant across a map and time, and you don't know until you build your first windmill. shows you the power for that windmill on your map. Power comes out the bottom, via a gear or axle. Or you can build it directly over the item to be powered - that works too (but there's no way to shut it off then - see below.)

Main Article: Windmill

waterwheels

A waterwheel provides 100 power (but ww's consume 10, including the first one powered up, so call it 90/) if it has "flow" under it, but you can create artificial flow. Line up several, and you have all the power you want. Power comes out the side.

(Note - too many waterwheels can kill your framerate. Be careful about getting carried away.)

Main Articles: Water wheel, Power

Power connection - gears & axles

Connecting is easy, especially if you've ever played with tinkertoys. If you your pump or millstone adjacent to the source, touching side-by-side, they're automatically connected. (Building "over" another, between floors, is tricky - see articles). If there's distance (horizontal or vertical) between power source and destination, there are axles, and gear assemblies. Axles are just logs - 1 log can get you up to 3 tiles in a straight line, horizontally or vertically, and can be connected in line no prob. Placed Gear Assemblies (more mechanisms) allow you to change direction of the axle line, either horizontally or vertically.

Main Articles: axle, gear assembly

Power consumption

Pumps and mills consume 10 power each (as do waterwheels, powered or not). Gear assemblies use 5 power/, and axles 1/tile. So you can have a windmill that pumps 40 power, and 4 axles over, a gear, 3 axles up, another gear, and a pump and mill adjacent to that gear - that's 4+5+3+5+(10+10) = 38 - no problem. If you wanted more power, you'd need another windmill or a waterwheel, and connect it in to the grid.

Wheels, windmills, pumps, mills, axles and gears will all show the power they have and the power they need when viewed with q. If no power, you've done something wrong.

Turning powered machinery on/off

Now, you can also link a trigger to a gear assembly, to disengage that gear in the power train - this is how you turn on/off pumps that are attached to power, and how you create fluid traps that "turn on" automatically when their target is in the desired location.

Notes: If powering pumps, build the gear and lever and link them [u]first[/u], then throw the lever to disengage the gear before connecting the power - or you'll find your fluid of choice pumping merrily into your fortress until you find a way to shut off what you just built.)

Also, be aware that disengaging a gear that's directly under a windmill will cause it (the windmill) to collapse, and the same will happen if you disengage a gear assembly connected directly to a water wheel. A "disengaging" gear has to be located later in the power train.

If building a gear assembly over a pump or millstone, that will work, but the floor between must be channeled first.

Main Article: gear assembly

There are also quirks to what are "adjacent" items - sometimes floors get in the way, sometimes they don't, depending on the building - read the wiki for those details.

None of these are that hard to build or connect, and doing it is the best way to learn. Plan a little, expect it not to be 100% optimal the first try, and you'll get it right the second time.

Building/connection limitations

Machinery (including axles, gear assemblies, and screw pumps) acts differently from other constructions. It can be built in one of two states:

Stable Foundation - The machinery is built on top of a floor, either natural or constructed.
Hanging - The machinery is built attached to another piece of machinery. No additional support is required (except for screw pumps). The supporting machinery needs only to have been designated for the hanging machinery to be built. If the supporting machinery is canceled, disabled, or removed the hanging machinery will collapse to base materials.

Windmills may only connect to machinery directly below their center tile.
Water wheels may only connect to machinery on either side of their center tile.
Screw pumps may connect to machinery from any tile in any direction. (However, the walkable tile of the screw pump MUST have a floor under it, so it cannot connect directly below the walkable tile)
Gear assemblies connect in all directions.
Horizontal axles connect to either end.
Vertical axles connect directly above and below.

See also: