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[Way]

After failing to make a pump stack over a dozen times, I would like to know the following:

-Why can dwarves move down a down ramp, but then can't move back up that same ramp to the level they were just on?
-How exactly does crossing z-levels via ramps work, and how is it different from stairs?
-What is the best digging pattern for a pump stack? I'm asking about the exact keystrokes required for minimum micromanagement (a macro would be even better). Does such a thing even exist?

If someone could provide a very precise digging pattern for a pump stack, that would be great.

Related to the pump stack:
-How does glassmaking work? Must a dwarf first "make raw green glass" from sand, then convert it into product (e.g. a glass tube)? Or does it go straight from sand to tube? If the latter, what is the purpose of "make raw green glass"?
-What are the requirements to make the 3 different types of glass? From what I read on the wiki, refined coal is not necessary for making green glass at a magma glass furnace. Yet I keep getting job cancellations for bituminous coal.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Zuglarkun]

Ugh, ramps (and stairs). Difficult to illustrate. I'll let someone else more experienced handle that, I'll pass. Alternatively, go look up the wiki. Do you have a picture of the unusable ramp in question?

As for efficient designating of pumpstack, that depends on the layout of your pumpstack.

Here's how I do mine for a straight down pumpstack. Let's see if I can make a gif for easy illustration.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is the layout for a straight down design. The sideways T shape is where the pump is located. The bottom of the sideways T is the input tile that draws from the magma on the z-level below it. The top of the sideways T is the output tile. The X's are up/down stairs. I'm going down the z-levels so you can see how they are placed.



This is how to designate it. You can cut down the number of keystrokes if you don't want to utilize the 3 tile output that allow heat conduction and saves some FPS lag from heat calculations. In that case, you can just make the access tunnel one tile and ignore designating the 3 tile output all together. Do note that I did not designate the channeling on the input tile. Usually I do it after digging out the pumpstack, but there you can go about it in whichever order you want. Also not shown here is the channeling of 1 tile where the pump stack is placed to allow for the power to travel across the different z-levels. I use this design to easily connect a power generator to the pump so it can pump automatically without manual dorfpower.



Here's how it looks like in operation. Apologies for the wonkiness at the end there.

As for glass, it goes straight from sand (sand bag) to green glass tube. Raw glass is itself a finished product that's used for decorating purposes. You'll want to make glass parts using sand instead of raw glass. (in your case, glass blocks, glass tubes and glass enormous corkscrews are all magma safe components for making pumpstacks)

Green glass is made from just sand.
Clear glass is made from sand and pearlash.
Crystal glass is made from rock crystal and pearlash.

You can process a bar of pearlash from a kiln, but you'll need a bar of potash (potash is made from either ash or lye at an ashery)

Functionally, all the different glass types are the same. However, some dwarves may have a preference for certain types of glass to use in moods and such. So having those on hand (in their raw form) might save a mood from failing. Dwarves that prefer a certain type of glass might also enjoy good thoughts from having furniture made from that kind of glass.

Not sure why you are getting cancellations for bituminous coal. A magma glass furnace is already powered by magma, so you don't need any fuel (coal, charcoal) at all. A glass furnace on the other hand, requires fuel to power it.

[PatrikLundell]

Raw glass is used only for moods, but if you use glass you ought to start with producing a few of these for moody dorfs to grab later (I typically try to keep 5 on hand).

Pump stack digging:
I dig a stair beside the stack and tunnels accessing the tile the pumper would stand on if it had been manually pumped for access. When digging the stack itself I use this alternating pattern:



wwwww
wdwdw
wwdww
xddww
wwhww
wwwww

and

wwwww
wwhww
wwdww
dddww
xwdww
wdwdw
wwwww

where:
w = wall
d = dug space
h = channel
x = staircase

The 'w' in the middle of the top of the T shape will get an up ramp from the channeling of the level above.

When all of this has been dug out, I make sure all stone in the top of the T is hauled away (you only need to do it for the magma safe ones, but I do it for all. I've had stone blocking the intake of pumps in the past). After that I order the channeling of the power transferring tile (two tiles from the channel you already have. This will block access to the top of the T, which is why any stone hauling will have to be done before this, which may be the cause of your miners getting trapped).

Stairs are vertical, while using ramps requires horizontal movement as well. A ramp goes up a wall, and you exit onto a flat surface (or another ramp, or up stair) on the level above and on top of the wall supporting the ramp. Note that a ramp can go up on up to 4 sides (if channeling a single tile pit), and that a ramp has to have empty space above it to be usable, and is unusable if there is no orthogonally adjacent wall. When digging, ramps (usually) automatically disappear when the last supporting wall is removed (sometimes you may get unusable ramps sitting in the middle of a channeled out floor, those can be removed with the remove ramp, 'z', dig order). There's also some wonkiness with ramps and SMR that can trap miners.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Raw glass is a rough gem.

[PatrikLundell]

I stand corrected. Raw glass is indeed treated as a kind of rough gem, and can be processed as such (cut, etc). However, for mood purposes the various kinds of raw glass can not be replaced either with each other or with "normal" rough gems.