How do you prevent wells from running dry?

Hans Lemurson · 2018-03-12 17:34:14

With ponds, you can see how much water they have in them and avoid draining the last drop (or at least refill them if you empty them by accident).

But wells don't seem to give any indication as to when they might run dry, and when I've encountered a dry well, there doesn't seem to be any way to fix it.

Do wells regenerate water over time automatically?
Are wells permanently destroyed if you drain their last drop?
Can you revive a dry well like you can a pond?

ned · 2018-03-12 18:10:30

From the recipes, you can refill drained wells. Like ponds, they add a water value every 5 min when not dry.

The most important question: how much water can a well provide? From the code (numUses) its 7 for a shallow well (or 6 waters from full without draining) and 14 for a deep well (or 13 waters without draining it).

Joriom · 2018-03-12 18:38:56

ned wrote:

From the recipes, you can refill drained wells.

False. You can refill NON-DRY wells. If it dries up - you basically have a fancy wall without any use. You can't put water into DRY well (both shallow and deep).

Also - it takes 300s for well to replenish single (single? or more at once? unknown) unit of water. For comparision. It takes 120s for wet carrots to sprout, next 120s to grow full and 300s to seed.

TLDR:
Wells are currently useless - just a fancy tileblocker.

Last edited by Joriom (2018-03-12 18:40:51)

ned · 2018-03-12 19:52:40

Joriom wrote:

False. You can refill NON-DRY wells. If it dries up - you basically have a fancy wall without any use. You can't put water into DRY well (both shallow and deep).

Oh. I misinterpreted the recipe. This definitely changes the utility of wells. Thank you for pointing that out!

Joriom wrote:

Also - it takes 300s for well to replenish single (single? or more at once? unknown) unit of water. For comparision. It takes 120s for wet carrots to sprout, next 120s to grow full and 300s to seed.

It takes 300s for ponds to replenish single units as well. This does not affect their utility.

Joriom wrote:

TLDR:
Wells are currently useless - just a fancy tileblocker.

This seems to be the case.

Joriom · 2018-03-12 20:11:21

Well, I just thought about a roundabout ways to make wells usefull without any "water ammount indicator" on them. Need to test it out though.

It goes something like this:

SOLUTION I

Preparation:
Put a well and two cisterns next to each other.
Usage:
Before taking water from well, always fill it up to brim from cisterns so you know exactly how much water is left in well.
Collect up to half (or 2/3) od well water suply and put it in cisterns.
Deep wells are better because you can collect more and leave them for longer to refill.
Water farms only from cisterns.

SOLUTION II

Preparation:
Build well (or few of them) next to a pond.
Usage:
Collect water from well always at the same time when you pick it up from pond.
Pond collects water at the same rate so it will be the well indicator.
Deep wells get water at the same rate but are less prone to getting dry due to higher water ammount.

SOLUTION III (mix of I and II)

Put wells next to ponds.
Before collecting water, refill wells from ponds up to full.

Cons:
Easy to troll well dry killing entire settlement.
Any interference from outside can be deadly.

Assumptions:
You can't overfill the well like a pond.

Hans Lemurson · 2018-03-12 20:57:20

Keeping ponds from going dry is enough of a challenge on its own in a farm, and you can SEE the water level. How many ponds next to a farm do you think have NEVER been drained of their last drop? How long can a goose realistically survive by a farm even if it's never hunted? Eventually, some fool is going to see the blue water and mistake it for spare water.

So now come wells, and not only do they have NO indication of their current water level, but when drained dry are permanently ruined.

You really can't avoid this, not as far as I can see, even with the "top off from cistern" method, because farms are eternally thirsty of water, and if there's some spare water sitting uselessly in a cistern, why can't I use it? Some fool is bound to think that cisterns are actually magical water fountains, drain the measuring-water, and end the scheme.

Commoners · 2018-03-12 22:21:00

Wells will fail by design. There is no margin of error for drawing out the last water from it, and this game naturally has a huge amount of player error even with people who know exactly what they're doing.

ryanb · 2018-03-12 23:26:31

I've added a suggestion on Reddit to have a way to refill dry wells.

aFilthyPeasant · 2018-03-13 02:20:28

Perhaps a simple fix would be to decrease the time it takes for a well to replenish a unit of water. I dont believe that if you can make a well you have the magical water fountain that was mentioned.

Perhaps they could hold as much water as a pond but have the added benefit of refilling once it has been drained completely, but at a slower pace than if it had atleast 1 unit of water in it. That way there is a punishment for overusing the well, but not the end all be all situation that arises from natural ponds.

Besides, wells draw water from deep in the ground. It wouldnt make sense for them to dry up unless the underground water was all gone. This being said, perhaps the deeper wells could hold more water than a pond (and shallow well) and also refill quicker while still refilling after being totally drained (with the same increased regen speed penalty as before, if not a less harsh one).

Hans Lemurson · 2018-03-13 08:31:32

Thanks for making the reddit topic.

Wells IRL don't run dry until the whole water table is depleted, and even then you just keep digging them deeper until that is no longer feasible. That's simulated to an extent in that if a shallow well runs dry you can deepen it, but it's not quite the same. (Especially since you can dig a new well nearby and have that work)

Left4twenty · 2018-03-14 13:14:26

The mechanic of the water regeneration being reset when water is drawn that affects ponds may affect wells. If thats the case habing a cistern and a well, drawing all but a few waters (a buffer for safety) and dumping them all in the cistern for later use, while never touching the well again for nearly an epoch while it regenerates most efficiently. With ponds when you pull water the timer resets, so drawing 4 from a pondand leaving it to draw four from the next while it refills and so on, is more efficient than one at a time, in many cases

Last edited by Left4twenty (2018-03-14 13:14:48)

ned · 2018-03-14 14:07:40

I wonder if there will be a craftable depth gauge that can display well depth.

This could be a floatation device (short shaft) attached to a simple pulley system (modified wheel and rope) and counterweight (stone). The stone would start on the ground with slack, and once it gets to the top beam, it has one water unit left. When the well runs dry, the stone will fall into the well, and the only thing you'll see is a well with a vacant pulley.

Just thinking about how Jason approaches these crafting recipes, they tend to be pretty realistic.

Potjeh · 2018-03-14 15:37:37

IMO wells should be significantly better than ponds. Just increase construction cost if balance is the problem. Or maybe add some maintenance cost, like needing to use a staunching kit to turn a dry well into a full one.

Hiker170 · 2018-03-17 09:56:05

Potjeh wrote:

IMO wells should be significantly better than ponds. Just increase construction cost if balance is the problem. Or maybe add some maintenance cost, like needing to use a staunching kit to turn a dry well into a full one.

They are significantly better you can place them where you want and they store more water,. Along with creating an entirely new regenerating water source. It's just if you want to have them in the village you need someone to manage it. At the very least they are now no longer permanently useless.

One problem I do have is the fact the shallow well keeps the charges it has when it becomes a deep well. It doesn't suddenly gain 7 charges like it does when you create the shallow well, which is kind of annoying seeing as it requires some resources, but probably not as valuable as a bunch of stones.

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2018-03-12 17:34:14

How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#2 2018-03-12 18:10:30

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#3 2018-03-12 18:38:56

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#4 2018-03-12 19:52:40

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#5 2018-03-12 20:11:21

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#6 2018-03-12 20:57:20

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#7 2018-03-12 22:21:00

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#8 2018-03-12 23:26:31

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#9 2018-03-13 02:20:28

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#10 2018-03-13 08:31:32

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#11 2018-03-14 13:14:26

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#12 2018-03-14 14:07:40

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#13 2018-03-14 15:37:37

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

#14 2018-03-17 09:56:05

Re: How do you prevent wells from running dry?

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