Metro System

[Gulliver]

Traveling by foot is a bitch, and teleporting commands don't work for me and are too simple a solution. I was hoping we might be able to create a powered, subterranean metro system as a cheat assisted public works project so that with the push of a switch we can zip to the points of interest. I will confess I haven't actually taken the time to do the technical planning necessary, because I didn't want to spend time doing that if this had no hope of happening.

[Limitless Events]

I can temporarily donate some supplies to this endeavor in order for us to figure out how this will be set up and wired.

[Wast]

I support this endeavor. You are authorized to cheat here.

[Gulliver]

As you may all well know, I have with Limi's assistance developed a functional system for launching and braking a single minecart at stations. I have not figured out a way to have multiple carts per station if we want that. More pressingly, if we're going to have multiple stations we need to develop a mechanism to ensure that carts are always waiting at a station or on their way, and to prevent collisions at stations, all without having to do regular manual maintenance of the system. The simplest method would be to put a cart at each station and have an approaching cart trigger its launch to clear space. This of course would cascade down the entire line which some people might find annoying, and there could be some waits involved. There's also the danger of too many trains leaving from a single station in rapid succession causing trouble, though that could be mitigated by having carts launched as far ahead of an arriving cart as possible. A great deal of how functional such a system would be depends on how many people we expect to use the system. Elu had some alternative ideas, which I hope he'll contribute with.

[Eluvatar]

I'm starting to think the simplest solution is to keep minecarts in chests at each station. You just grab a minecart, use it, and then put it away. With 18 minecarts per station and 36 slots per chest, it shouldn't be a problem to correct any imbalances now and again. Maintenance can be as simple as putting (or if need be giving yourself) (18-N) minecarts at each station (where N is the number in the chest), and disposing of any surplus minecarts at the end in an incinerator. I would expect that to take about 30 seconds per station or less, and I don't think it would be needed very often.

[Towlie]

I can hack the inventory so we can stack 64 per slot if that is the route we are going

[Eluvatar]

then we might want a cart disposal incinerator at each station too XD

We'd be able to have... depending on our choices up to 1152 and 2304 minecarts per station XD

[Gulliver]

If we went the route of manually putting carts on the track, you could just require people to bring their own. So, in some ways it would be a bit more like roads than rails, but still functional. It would also deal with how it sometimes glitches and the carts warp into the blocks. Though if we do stock stations, instead of chests, we could use dispensers and a button you press to get a cart. Because that would be cooler. >_> Anyway that would be a functional solution to start, though I'm still inclined to think out an automated solution. Maybe one involving multiple minecarts at stations that can vary within a certain generous range so that cascading adjustments to prevent any station from being under or overstocked happen rarely... a man can dream can't he?

[Eluvatar]

We'll build it with dispensers and not demolish the MoT test range so we can keep developing. The stations should be easy enough to alter if need be.

[Gulliver]

Did we resolve the question of subway versus elevated rail? The advantage to a subway is that there's less building involved and it's easier to hide the nitty gritty mechanical bits. I do recall however the argument that an elevated rail would look cooler and be more scenic though. I would be willing to do that if I can find a way to house the mechanics that looks nice.

[Eluvatar]

Did we resolve the question of subway versus elevated rail? The advantage to a subway is that there's less building involved and it's easier to hide the nitty gritty mechanical bits. I do recall however the argument that an elevated rail would look cooler and be more scenic though. I would be willing to do that if I can find a way to house the mechanics that looks nice.

All the mechanical bits would be at a station. You just make part of the station an enclosed utility area. We can make an elevated rail proving ground to experiment with station layouts up in the air.

[Gulliver]

I realize you'd enclose it. I just mean, if the wiring section were large enough enclosing it could become an unsightly eyesore.

[PoD Gunner]

This is a living proof that if work = fun the productivity will shoot up through the roof! If I ever get a mine I'll be sure to hire you all.

[Gulliver]

Elu, if you haven't noticed, we decided your elevated rail was an eyesore and opened up a functional subway station in your absence and laid out a track that goes to you castle.