Novelty Elevators

[Bahamut2001]

This is an idea I've been puzzling over on and off for a long time. (with a multitude of failed designs in my wake >_<) Hoiks make faster (and easier) elevators, but I just wanted to see if I could build something that would work like a real elevator. Its been a while since the last time I tried, so I figured I try again. What I came up with is...more of an escalator than an elevator, but at least it's FUNCTIONAL this time lol. Actually, I have two working builds out of this. One uses a dummy ghost, and the other a bird statue. I had a couple that used timers, too, but one used +2k wire and the other was not very good so I scrapped them.

This is the one I started with. The down side is very simplistic, but I figured, you can't fall any faster with a complicated (non-hoik) mechanism than you do without. The original idea was to have some switches to select the floor you wanted then pull the lever to go up, but that proved...complicated. So I settled for this design in the end. I might revisit the idea when my brain does feel like mush.

This design came about when I saw how the first one behaved after I got it working. It's meant to be left on, and hope in and out to get to different floors. At first, it was powered by 1 sec timers and a bat statue. Very simple and easy...if you want to go down. Inverting the timer pattern to make it go up took +2k wire and more space than I was willing to give it. Which was kind of a shame, because it very was smooth operating. (and the bird statue gave me problems with how I have the pressure plates wired ) Not sure how to deal with the offset block on the right, other than separate bird engine for that side.

Also, I kinda see potential in this one to move mobs/npcs up (or down), en masse.

 

[darthmorf]

That looks really useful. Would it be possible to show a screenshot of each individual colour of wire? That would ease construction significantly.

 

[Bahamut2001]

 

[Talrey]

This is really snazzy. Much prettier than the hoik-based ones I've been working on. As for floor selection, you might be able to use something similar to a reset line, but disconnecting the plates from the actuated hoiks. I'm on mobile and won't have the game in front of me for another ~18 hours, but here are some shoddy schematics I drew with my thumbs. Hopefully they're clear enough... Oh, and rotate them 90 degrees CCW to make sense, I can't edit on mobile.
http://imgur.com/a/NZJGm
Yes, my phone was charging, don't worry

 

[ZeroGravitas]

Very neat. I like the floor-by-floor functionality (and your lovely Gif). Your wiring looks quite similar to that on my old, novelty elevator (after-all, we were both limited by 3 wire colours and player height dictating a 6 tile height repeat). But actually your activation system is a little more complex and nuanced, turning each lift step on and off each activation cycle. Also faster, since I didn't bother going beyond bunnies (a lot faster with the dummies)...

Originally posted this video up on the old forums (which was how I came to stumble upon other people's use of sloped blocks for up-lift).

I'm not sure if your wiring is fundamentally, topologically, different to mine, but my design is deliberately easy to extend upwards indefinitely. I'd envisioned a version with a skeleton traversing a complex, upwards square-wave zig-zag plate activation track to allow for a long distance 1 tile-second elevator... But obviously with ghost dummies we can forgo that complexity. (And even have the dummy far enough away not to hear the teleporters.)

This would be quite a fun way to travel, I think. Within a massive base, or up to the clouds, etc, on a server (presuming it's ok in multiplayer) or in a dramatic adventure map...

 

[Bahamut2001]

I'll just put this here.....
[DOUBLEPOST=1441680293,1441675523][/DOUBLEPOST]This was prolly the most complex thing I've ever built...and now that I look at it all at once, it doesn't LOOK all that complicated. >_<

I was able to get it to stop at any floor I wanted by making a programmable repeat mechanism. (top left track) The number of repeats are loaded from the tracks below it, which are hooked up to the floor switches. Getting those to work like I wanted was a pain in the %&#. I thought I had it several times then find out I can't get the last wire where it needed to go cause it was trapped. lol

Half way through I decided to put in a locking mechanism on the floor switches so you couldn't screw up the floor selection. I was able to get it to work, but not completely. Once you input your floor, you can't change it; but hitting the floor switches again messes up the next round. You also can't start the elevator unless you have a floor selected.

a lot faster with the dummies

I actually had to slow the dummie activations down for not to drop me out of the elevator

And the individual wire colors. Since it was asked for before, figured I put them up too. Also, in case you guys didn't know, there is a new beta release of TEdit.

 

[Talrey]

That's lovely. I'm having a hard time visualizing how your repeat mechanism works, but maybe that's because I've been staring at my own version pretty much non-stop since you brought this up. Well done, and thanks for the inspiration

http://imgur.com/a/nlsoo#3

 

[Bahamut2001]

@Talrey Yours looks a lot simple than mine. lol You also used levers for you floor switches, I completely forgot about being able to wire levers like that. It completely removes the need for the mechanism under the input. (which is what I used to get around wires crossing).

I'm having a hard time visualizing how your repeat mechanism works

It works like a reset hoik; but after it hits a pressure plate, the dummy ghost is teleported to the small chamber under the track to wait until elevator 'motor' has run it course. It repeats that until it hits the last teleporter which sends it back to box it started in

It took me a while to figure out your timing method, as well, cause I couldn't 'see' the ghost stop the timer. The vertical design is interesting, too. I have really messed around with vertical hoiks much

 

[Talrey]

Oh, I see it now I think. You're using teleporters to bookmark the dummy's position, that's a clever idea. I have yet to make a money farm, so I'm leery of using too many teleporters- engineering on a budget, haha.

I was using a horizontal device with alternating hoik teeth to jump the dummy along part of the distance every time the timer ticked, but I ran into issues when I tried changing the timing on it for different floors so I decided to use a gravity feed instead. The complex hoik in the right module, the timer, is because there's no way to predict whether a given floor will be toggled left or right when the dummy first enters, so I had to come up with a hoik that toggled to push the dummy either 1 or 2 blocks depending on the floor's state. I also discovered that up-hoik pattern pretty much by accident, I had to use a horizontal hoik off the teleporter to guarantee the dummy was where I wanted him, but getting him to reliably hoik into the vertical part was a pain. I kept changing it around and it finally worked
[DOUBLEPOST=1441778527,1441778307][/DOUBLEPOST]I just remembered, this isn't visible in the gif but I can never get to floor 6 for some reason. I just drop back down to floor 5 when it actuates, even though it's wired exactly the same as the previous floors. Any idea why that could be happening?

 

[ZeroGravitas]

I can never get to floor 6 for some reason.

Presuming no slip up with the wiring or timing, then one difference is the last floor has no actuated block extending about it's stop. Usually actuated blocks behind player stop the step-up effect that these elevators work on though. I.e. can be used to make sure you go down a foot height down hoik tooth, instead of stepping up onto it (so that's puzzled my poor brain a bit)...

 

[Talrey]

Presuming no slip up with the wiring or timing [...]

Well I decided to double-check everything and yup, a single piece of red wire was missing from the line. It's hard to spot these errors with overlapping lines- I imagine it's just going to get worse with 1.3.1 and yellow wire.

I didn't know you could use actuated blocks to stop step-ups, but I'm looking at your hoik diagrams again and it looks like that's how your F bottom hoik works...? I wonder if these lifts are working because they're full blocks instead of slopes, and getting actuated one tile level at a time.

 

[ZeroGravitas]

it looks like that's how your F bottom hoik works...?

If you mean Diagram 3 Figure F (here), then no... Doesn't seem to be an example there. Probably made before I understood it. But you don't need a block about your head (e.g. Diagram 2, Figures 12, 13, 14) to stop you stepping up, you can have an actuated block directly above the up tooth, since game doesn't want you to automatically step up 2 tile height 'steps'. But you don't even need to actuate it solid with the first down tooth, you can leave it as background...

 

[darthmorf]

Hi, I built the bird engine elevator from the OP. however, it's broken. (I suspect this might be due to the fact it's on a TShock server, as I've experiences pressure plates + actuators not working well in it before, but I'd like confirmation)

Can you guys see any errors here? :

Thanks.

 

[Bahamut2001]

I don't see any problems in your wiring. (Did notice you missed a green wire on the right side, but that wouldn't break it. Not on the down side anyway) What's it doing that's not right? Its hard to see, but it looks like all the blocks but the top two are actuated into the background. If so, that would break it the way its wired.

 

[inomanoms]

Can you guys see any errors here?

File for download?

 

[darthmorf]

I don't see any problems in your wiring. (Did notice you missed a green wire on the right side, but that wouldn't break it. Not on the down side anyway) What's it doing that's not right? Its hard to see, but it looks like all the blocks but the top two are actuated into the background. If so, that would break it the way its wired.

So should I start with all the blocks solid? Your giude above showed them deactivated, except for the level of entry.

File for download?

I'll see if I can get one. (It's on a server).

For now, I'll try and make a gif to show you what it looks like.

 

[Bahamut2001]

So should I start with all the blocks solid?

Its every sixth block that needs the be solid. (its always the second blue wire in the direction the elevator is moving) That block is acutated at the beginning of each cycle so that is doesn't get in the way of you going up. With it starting actuated, it would be made solid at the beginning of the cycle and prevent you from going up.


That's why I put my 'entries' on those blocks. I'll see if I can find a way for it to work with the blocks actuated like that.

 

[darthmorf]

Its every sixth block that needs the be solid. (its always the second blue wire in the direction the elevator is moving) That block is acutated at the beginning of each cycle so that is doesn't get in the way of you going up. With it starting actuated, it would be made solid at the beginning of the cycle and prevent you from going up.


That's why I put my 'entries' on those blocks. I'll see if I can find a way for it to work with the blocks actuated like that.

Oh, right. Awesome.
[DOUBLEPOST=1444036132,1444036114][/DOUBLEPOST]

Its every sixth block that needs the be solid. (its always the second blue wire in the direction the elevator is moving) That block is acutated at the beginning of each cycle so that is doesn't get in the way of you going up. With it starting actuated, it would be made solid at the beginning of the cycle and prevent you from going up.


That's why I put my 'entries' on those blocks. I'll see if I can find a way for it to work with the blocks actuated like that.

Oh, right. Awesome.

 

[inomanoms]

Can you guys see any errors here?

@darthmorf: To be honest, it's hard to see anything on the gif as it's been screen capped at night, and I don't know 100% how this works, but simpy comparing how the OP has connected the green wiring to the bird track to what you've done, you've got a piece of green wiring connecting the third and fourth pressure plate that should not be there.

The other wire colours should follow this same schematic, only shifted to the right in a loop over the bird track, so maybe double check what you're done there.

@Bahamut2001: left side in your build goes up and the right side goes down, correct? Just in case Darthmorth was planning to enter his underground area from the house and not by the tree...
[DOUBLEPOST=1444041852,1444036959][/DOUBLEPOST]

I've been staring at my own version pretty much non-stop since you brought this up.

@Talrey: I totally missed your build. That's pretty awesome. How do you return to floor level? Or is it just an up elevator?

 

[Bahamut2001]

you've got a piece of green wiring connecting the third and fourth pressure plate that should not be there.

I completely missed that >_<

left side in your build goes up and the right side goes down, correct?

Yes, but they are easily reversible. It would probably be faster just to move the house, though
[DOUBLEPOST=1444055866,1444047450][/DOUBLEPOST]I figured out how to make it work with all the blocks actuated. That way if you have a long run, you won't have solid blocks in places for no reason. I added an eighth pressure plate in the engine and moved the end of second blue wire from the first plate to the new plate.

I also move the engine and wiring to make room for some pressure plates so you can turn it on/off at each stop. Just don't activate the pressure plates too fast or you'll get more birds in the engine than you want. If that happens, just turn it off and it will reset and work fine