Hammer

Hammer is a signal-controlled building that produces a striking animation and sound when activated. Its main practical use is to hit selected infrastructure components, including Gas Pipe, Liquid Pipe, Wire, and Signal Wire. The note it produces depends on the length of the pipe or wire segment being struck, which makes it usable as a simple music device for players who want to sequence tones from their colony’s plumbing and power grids.

Because the sound depends on segment length, Hammer can turn ordinary infrastructure into a tuned instrument. Different lengths of the targeted pipe or wire produce different notes, so arranging segments deliberately lets you build a mechanical melody without any dedicated audio building. This works with the standard variants and their related forms, as long as the building is striking a compatible line.

Hammer also follows the usual resource-and-building temperature transfer rules, so the material used to construct it can affect its starting temperature. If built from Sandstone or Granite, it gains a 10% or 20% decor bonus respectively, making it slightly more attractive to place in visible areas than a generic construction material would be.

A few practical notes:

• If Hammer is off-screen when it receives its activation signal, the striking animation can remain stuck on the building until the mouse cursor hovers over it again. The visual effect continues, but no sound is heard while it is stuck.
• Its note output is tied to the length of the pipe or wire segment being hit, so the exact layout matters if you are using it for music.
• Since it interacts directly with infrastructure, it is best placed where it can reach the specific pipe or wire sections you want to use as sound sources.
• Choosing a high-decor building material is worthwhile if the Hammer will sit in a heavily trafficked or decorated room.

Hammer is therefore both a utility and novelty building: it can be used for signal-driven effects, but its most distinctive role is as a colony-made musical instrument.