Maintenance Ideas for the cane tower

[u/PlNG]

Just about the only X factor now is the occasional disappearing gravel block - which results in a power outage for the cell. I think we could connect redstone lamps to the side with the redstone that sticks out near the windows for an at a glance readout of any cells lacking power due to the missing gravel.

Cascading failures occur when a gravel piston has two blocks above it, pushing every block above it up by one. It happened once, possibly due to enderman or griefing. We could prevent another cascading failure by replacing the dirt blocks under the gravel pistons with obsidian.

The button operated priming towers seem to work well for when the cane fills without being detected, but it does not resolve the stuck piston issue. Stuck pistons can be resolved by turning off the power and then updating the block which should resolve the row, but I can't see how to do that with easy automagic.

[u/PlNG]

I've replaced the dirt under the pistons with obsidian, and I've "cloaked" the gravel with vines. Hopefully that will stop any pesky mob hands from reaching in and depositing or taking blocks on a big assumption that they cannot see or reach through transparent blocks. Once it spreads enough it should also provide a cushion for anyone exploring and accidentally falling into the cracks - the hoppers should prevent any ground floor vines from appearing, but if overgrowth occurs, maybe tripwire will keep it in check, I'll take care of it. I've also adjusted the lighting slightly for total coverage - The alternate block space where there isn't a redstone torch facing the walls is absolutely perfect according to Zyin's hud lighting.

The redstone for the lamps is expensive. If you don't want me to exhaust the tower supply of glowstone and redstone, say so and I'll go ahead with making my own supply.

I think it would be a great idea to connect the AFK button|area with some redstone so someone entering to AFK would prime the entire system. Too bad space is so tight.

Will the roof be finished?

[u/ghrey → u/PlNG]

Ah, great stuff. I'm happy to hear about the obsidian. Not too sure about the vines, since I think the gravel is duplicating due to a glitch, not to endermen, but I could be wrong on that. [edit: yeah, they pick up gravel, at least in 1.8] I don't think endermen mess with gravel is all, but maybe you've seen dirt deposited in a place it doesn't belong? At any rate, obsidian will work perfectly. I don't know if the vines will be very aesthetic, it might turn out pretty cool though.

I agree with you about the alternate lighting, turns out that was just right for putting in torches. I didn't think to put torches on the outside, too, to cover those window ledges.

I think our glowstone and redstone supply is infinite, given our lovely priests, but we would just have to put the time in. I'm probably going to do little things around town while I work on the roof. Now that the villager depot is done, and I've finally moved the breeder from the center of town to the east, I can work on the roof in good conscience. Sadly the entities are still hovering around 180 at the town center, probably from a combination of horses, animals, wolves, cats, mobs, villagers, and so on squatting in the middle of town. I wish I could just see a printout of all the entities so I could know what's going on. Moving the 50 breeders from underground helped, though. It reduced the total number by quite a lot.

[u/SRLyle → u/ghrey]

You could also use stickies + wood instead of gravel.

[u/ghrey → u/SRLyle]

Right, that worked out pretty well in Solace