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[Mimodo]

yet another question from the stupid newbie...

how can i make my channelling efforts actually succeed? Last fortress, I noticed my guards just dropping food in the barracks, causing miasma, so, i figured the best way to fix that was to remove, then replace the roof, making it count as outside...

Bad idea, it caused a collapse, and killed 10% of my dwarves (They were doing their job, and training to fight off those goblins that I hadn't yet encountered). This caused a downhill and made it pretty much not worth keeping the fortress...

New fortress, much more defend-able base, and I made the mistake of digging out the barracks before digging out the roof...

So, how can I dig out the roof, to make it count as outside, thus removing any chance of miasma, without causing a collapse and injuring or killing multiple dwarves?

As a side note (I dont want to need to make another thread), how can I make a water source that wont freeze over in winter, and is still easily accessible for drinking, without the risk of flooding my fortress

[Flying Dice]

At the very basic level, just only designate one row at a time.

[Girlinhat]

Go to "m"ilitary screen, hit the supplies option, and set "carry no food".

Oh, and also have one miner.  I find the most common issue in delicate cave-in and mason-walling areas tends to be one dwarf killing another.  Slow designations with one dwarf, precision work.

Also: flooding is part of fortress life.  Check my sig for knowledge on fluid dynamics and pressure systems.

[Mimodo]

Thanks

so does the channeling work safely if the underneath is already dug out?

[Girlinhat]

It's entirely less likely to be safe if you do that.

[Mimodo]

If i do it one row at a time, without any dwarves underneath? It's too late, cause i've already dug out underneath (i forgot to do it before)

[Girlinhat]

One row at a time is the safest option, yes.  And a cave-in is known to drag dwarves off of a platform.  At the bottom of a cave-in isn't the only dangerous place.  It's one of the most destructive forces in the world, bar none.

[Aoi]

Effectively, what's happening is that they're not digging from one side and going across, but in such a manner that there's a 'floating' piece... which, naturally, crashes to the floor below.

[Mimodo]

So far, so good... no cave ins, and 2 rows done

[quarague]

if you channel a one tile tunnel straight down you are fine if the bottom square is already mined out as long as the miner only falls 1 z level.

if channeling an area I usually designate it in a way such that every tile to be channeled can be dug from a solid ground tile next to it (not diagonally, only straight) once there done with the channeling, designate more tiles with a solid ground next to it, repeat until done. You need a ring (or at least one side) of solid ground around your hole to carry it off.

[slothen]

for rotting food channel the tile with the food and build a floor over it, effectively sealing it off.  you might have to do this multiple times if you have rooms below that.

[Mungrul]

You can designate as big an area as you like for channeling, with as many miners as you like as long as there are no existing open spaces in the layer you're channeling into.
DO NOT channel more than one z-layer in depth with one designation.
Remembering these points, you'll be flattening mountains in no time

[nightwhips]

if you channel a one tile tunnel straight down you are fine if the bottom square is already mined out as long as the miner only falls 1 z level.

if channeling an area I usually designate it in a way such that every tile to be channeled can be dug from a solid ground tile next to it (not diagonally, only straight) once there done with the channeling, designate more tiles with a solid ground next to it, repeat until done. You need a ring (or at least one side) of solid ground around your hole to carry it off.

I'm not sure I believe this. It's not just the fall, is it? It's the cave in. I swear I've had miners kill each other while channeling just a single level. I'll have to double check.

("Hey! Urist! Go channel that entire platform!"

[Mungrul]

I swear I've had miners kill each other while channeling just a single level. I'll have to double check.

You only risk cave-ins if there are existing tunnels or rooms already in the layer you're channeling into..

[slink]

As a side note (I dont want to need to make another thread), how can I make a water source that wont freeze over in winter, and is still easily accessible for drinking, without the risk of flooding my fortress

This is how I do it.

Dig a room in the first level underground.  This will be your well room.

From the well room, dig a single-tile staircase down to the next level, and obviously one below leading up, that matches.  Dig out a reservoir below the well room that matches the size of the well room.  Channel a hole in the middle of the well room, for the well.

Dig a tunnel one square out from the reservoir.  I make this three tiles wide, but one tile will work.

Dig an upward ramp in the tunnel.  This brings the tunnel to the same level as the well room.

Finish digging the tunnel to the water source, stopping just short of breaching it.

If you want to be fancy, at this time install a floodgate at the water-source end of the tunnel and attach it to a lever in the well room.

From aboveground, channel out the tile separating the tunnel from the water source.  Either immediately, or after you open your floodgate, the water will run down the tunnel and fill the reservoir.

In real-life, this would flood the well room too, but because of how water flow works in DF it does not happen.  However, the floodgate offers a way to be absolutely certain in case the model ever changes.

To construct this requires in total:

1 rope
1 bucket
1 stone block
minimum 1 mechanism (for well)
3 mechanisms for a single floodgate attached to a lever
2 mechanisms per additional floodgate attached to the lever, if your tunnel is wider than one tile