Looking for automated ranch ideas

[Prince Mandor]

I'm looking for design to fill ranches with adult critters automatically.

But. All found designs have same 'problem'. If design store an adult creature 'on-deck' for instant replacement, then oldest creature come to replace dead one. Sometimes it is so old, it cannot even reproduce before dying itself. Do anybody know some pez-dispenser or any other idea without this drawback?

[Saturnus]

A solution would be a waiting room between that floods and thus kills off the adult critter after it's reached a number of cycles.

The easiest way I can think of to do it is to make the wating room into a water clock.

[zach123b]

i'd say use an incubator with a pez dispenser.  it may take more of space depending on the size of the ranches but set it up to take only fresh eggs before they go to an evolution/culling room.  like 2 ranches of 8 hatches should take 3 incubators for 15 hatches uptime.  you could add in the new cuddle pips to double the hatch output per incubator with the next patch fwiw

you could do as @Saturnus suggests and make it fill up every 5+ cycles with an exit that only adults can get out.  or use pokeshells, just add/remove a pokeshell egg to start the evolution process

 

 

[blakemw]

Is there a good reason you don't want to just let a newly hatched critter drop in?

The best way I can think of to ensure that adults are young and fresh is to park them in an oven or freezer so they essentially have a timed life. This does mean the ejected adult critter will be hot/cold but it gives a continuous supply of adults.

[SackMaggie]

The option to kill critter is just temperature, drowning, angry-pokeshell pick your poison and start making build from there.

[Occam Blazer]

On 5/18/2022 at 10:44 AM, Saturnus said:

The easiest way I can think of to do it is to make the waiting room into a water clock.

Diabolical.

 

[Red Shark]

3 hours ago, SackMaggie said:

The option to kill critter is just temperature, drowning, angry-pokeshell pick your poison and start making build from there.

And if you're playing Spaced-Out! you can add radbolts to that list!

[Prince Mandor]

21 hours ago, blakemw said:

Is there a good reason you don't want to just let a newly hatched critter drop in?

No good reason. Just optimization for optimization sake.

newly hatched critter do nothing for 5 days, occupying ranch space, but not producing anything in meaningful amount. So there are lot of systems, allowing only adult creatures inside ranch. Usually by using jump or water crossing -- this actions impossible for baby.

But to have adult creature replace dead one in a ranch, you need it to be ready in some chamber already. This is simple design (6 tiles two doors for hatches, for example) but most designs place first available creature in such 'storage'. So they can be very old at the moment next inhabitant of ranch dies

[beowulf2010]

Here's my Pez dispenser style stacked Stone Hatch ranch. Only thing for Dupes to do is groom the critters. Eggs hatch on their own, get dropped into the proper pen if needed, then drown if not needed.

Basic layout

Spoiler

[6Havok9]

What I almost always do: deliver an egg every x cycles, where x is (adult critter lifespan) / (Number of desired critters in the stable). So 11,875 cycles for hatches and the like.

Let the eggs flow freely towards their "final destination" and only be intercepted if it's the right moment. With a shutoff, a meter, an automated chute into a dispenser. Whatever.

This requires culling until the stable is full of properly "timed" critters, then it's hands-off. I use a critter sensor to warn me if culling is needed. Once all the critters are properly spaced out in time, the sensor is used to prevent the new adult from entering the stable if some old critter decides to stick around in this plane of existence for more than expected.

Tada, stable always refilled with 5/6 cycle old critters. It just works ™

It could break if critters go glum and stop laying eggs: this relies on good ranchers and a steady supply of food. Never had a problem tho. 

ok, no I had tons of problems many patches ago due to automation stuttering. But it is reliable now, for now 

[Prince Mandor]

8 hours ago, beowulf2010 said:

Here's my Pez dispenser style stacked Stone Hatch ranch. Only thing for Dupes to do is groom the critters. Eggs hatch on their own, get dropped into the proper pen if needed, then drown if not needed.

Is it reliable for "only one at a time" ?

Can you show an automation layer of dispenser part?

[beowulf2010]

On 5/23/2022 at 2:10 AM, Prince Mandor said:

Is it reliable for "only one at a time" ?

Can you show an automation layer of dispenser part?

If 2 eggs hatch simultaneously *and* both adult hatches decide to move at the same time, you can get 2 dropping at the same time, but the 3 doors usually prevent this. So, 90% reliable? And honestly, with the 4 stacks of the ranches that I use, I have enough egg production that if one ranch sits at 7 for an extra cycle due to bad luck, it's fine.

Note: All Sage, Smooth, and normal Hatch eggs get sent directly to the drowning room. Only Stone Hatches are kept for potential ranch refilling before dropping into the drowning room if not needed.

Automation is fairly simple.

Spoiler

 

[Prince Mandor]

On 5/24/2022 at 4:04 PM, beowulf2010 said:

Automation is fairly simple.

Thank you

It is very old automation, before 'Below' was added to critter sensors, yes?

And is it just sends a hatches fast, or is it keeps them for some time? How long filters is?

[beowulf2010]

12 hours ago, Prince Mandor said:

It is very old automation, before 'Below' was added to critter sensors, yes?

And is it just sends a hatches fast, or is it keeps them for some time? How long filters is?

Yes, this is pre-below sensors, but it works for me as it keeps the doors "behind" the Hatch closed to give the next door time to trap the Hatch or for it to fall when in the final chamber. I'm sure there's a better way to do it but what's an extra 100kg of refined metal, eh?

Usually I set the filters to 10 as Hatches can take some time to actually fall once all the ranches are populated and I get my Drecko ranch running too.