Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Wrex]

So, I embarked on a volcano. Lots of stone, not so many trees, obsidian blades for all, etc. Does anyone have tipes for early magma manipulation, especially with volcano magma? Aiming for a magma fed metal industry.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Wait until you have expendable dwarves, to stay on the safe side.

[celem]

Since flat volcanos are rare nowadays i'll go with my favorite for true volcanos.

Tapping the keg. 

Dig out where you want your magma forges, put a stair down tucked in a corner somewhere.  Under your forges build a radiator, thats the grid of 1-wide tunnels to fill and fuel the forges.  check spacing to fit the number of forges you want in the right places, modifying these is essentially impossible once you fill.

Now dig a nice 1 wide tunnel all the way to 1 tile short of the volcano.  If you want to theoretically be able to empty the radiator one day go ahead and install a lever-linked floodgate in magmasafe materials (mechanisms too remember).  If you close the floodgate permenantly the radiator will actually eventually drop to the point you get brownouts, it needs topping up once every few years.  With it shut you could pump the magma in the radiator elsewhere to do maint...try and avoid this.

I usually breach using an engraver since i like my miners and generally tap a volcano too early to even contemplate possible pick loss.  Smooth the final obsidian tile, then set it to be fortified.  As soon as the guy starts to cut fortifications pause, set a single smooth designate up in your magma forge and turn off any other engravers, now your guy should beeline for safety....it helps if he has good agi.

Once its filling, floor over the down stair you used to cut it.  cut channels over the radiator grid and build workshops

The fortifications is to keep out magma critters btw, though i rarely have issues with mine liking to lurk by the sea.

[Wrex]

Any way to force an engraver to breach it, or is that what using it as a fortification is for?

[toomanysecrets]

Fortification allows magma thru. You could mine it, you don't have to. Fire imps are no fun whatsoever.

[Wrex]

Can't fire imps just swim through the fortification if it is at 7/7 magma?

[chris_strain]

If you are really protective of your dorfs and fear losing one, you can use the ramp/bridge method to safely pierce the wall in safety.

As far as the magma critters go, you shouldn't have to worry about them if the magma only feeds forges.. just line up the magma access hole with the impassable tile of the workshop (top center for smelter/glass/kiln and either left or right tile middle row for forges).. that will prevent critters from passing/firing through and your dorfs won't see them either... win win.

[Bartinyou]

Can't fire imps just swim through the fortification if it is at 7/7 magma?

As far as I remember, animals only swim through fortifications when the flow pushes them through the fortification, otherwise, they won't.  If this is not the case, my military dwarves may have a surprise whenever a forgotten beast comes into the right cavern and visits my well.

[Fnear]

With a volcano, the safest way is to tap it at the top - either building a shelf over it for your workshops or doing as above, but instead of tapping it at the radiator's z-level, make a stairway to the top alongside the volcano and channel a tile to let magma flow down the stair.

[Quietust]

Can't fire imps just swim through the fortification if it is at 7/7 magma?

As far as I remember, animals only swim through fortifications when the flow pushes them through the fortification, otherwise, they won't.  If this is not the case, my military dwarves may have a surprise whenever a forgotten beast comes into the right cavern and visits my well.

You remember incorrectly - even back in 40d, any creature could freely swim through fortifications submerged to 7/7 depth. With depths less than 7/7, however, creatures can certainly be pushed through by moving liquids.

[Bitharne]

As Finear said: Channeling is the best way to access magma at next to zero risk to your dwarves (cap the channel with a magma-safe grate or hatch).

My personal favorite is to use a pump (pumping is HUGELY faster to fill up the "radiator") to fill up the channels bellow the forging level. This puts you 2 levels above the magma, or use another channel or two to get it lower.

                                  |+X+ +X+ +X+|   Magma smelters, the X is the top middle spot, channel ONLY under that spot
                            #88-~~~~~~~~ |   Radiator level. The # is a channeled tile above the magma with a magma-safe grate for added insurance.
~~~~MAGMA~~~~~|      ^ "88"s are the pump            Magma level

This will save you from losing a dwarf in breaching the magma, and give a 3x safeguard to magma monsters:
1.) Channeled hole only access up, grate if over (can't be broken from below)
2.) Pump over the grate (can't be broken from below, if breakable at all)
3.) Only access from the area protected by 1 and 2 is guarded by impassable forge/smelter/kiln tiles (can't be broken from bellow)


Lastly, fortifications DO NOT stop creatures from passing through when submerged in liquid. They count as open tiles if so.