The Advanced Freezing MethodA revolutionary new way to breach shallow to middle depth aquifers in freezing biomes!
What is The Advanced Freezing Method?The Advanced Freezing Method (AFM from here on out) is a fancy new way to breach aquifers in freezing biomes. It is extremely fast and can breach up to three layers of aquifer within a season, even using a single miner! It is unfortunately limited in the amount of places that it can be performed, as the method can only breach three layers of aquifer before fizzling out. It must also be performed in a freezing biome
1, as the ending walls will be made from ice.
A unique part of the AFM is that it can function as an addendum to the regular freezing method. Those familiar with the method know that using the freezing method requires a pit whose size is dependent on the depth of the aquifer you want to breach, which follows the formula of (2x + 1)
2 to determine the area of the first layer you dig, where x is the depth of your aquifer. The AFM allows us to subtract three from x, which would mean that when you try to breach a 6z aquifer, instead of having to make a pit 169 tiles in size, you would only have to make a pit 49 tiles in size. So for our theoretical 6z deep aquifer, we would do the regular freezing method for the first three layers and then switch over to the AFM for the last three.
The AFM itself is rather complicated (hence the advanced in the name), but when done properly it is the fastest way to breach aquifers in a freezing biome. If you are not comfortable with the game's mechanics regarding fluids, light, and z levels, then instead take your time and pursue the regular freezing method. While the AFM isn't extremely easy to mess up, the third layer gets somewhat tricky and you can still flood the bottom of your stairway irreversibly.
The AFM also requires a single tile capable of being used for construction, as well as, obviously, a pickaxe. In a challenge embark where there is no ice (the AFM traps all resulting ice in ice walls, so you can not use any ice from it) and you have brought nothing but the anvil and copper nugget needed to forge your pick, the ash you used to make your forge (or the extra copper bars from the nugget) can be used. Four construction materials is preferred for maximum speed, but you can make do with one if need be.
I first found the AFM in a challenge fort, when I was attempting to quickly breach an aquifer using the freezing method. The aquifer was much deeper than I had planned for, and so I had to quickly attempt to re-design my failed breach method in order to get by. Unfortunately, I messed up while working on the third layer of the now-developed method, which resulted in the fort starving to death with only a single layer of aquifer between it and the caverns.
Doing the Advanced Freezing MethodThe numbers presented on each layer references what layer they are in the game menu's top right corner. Layer negative three is above layer negative four. Layer numbers with an A after them are aquifer layers. The left image in each step is what designations are made in that step and the right image is what the end result should look like for that step.
Step 1 | |  | 2 |
The first step is simply getting to the aquifer. Dig a 1x1 stairway down until you hit your damp tile and dig channels in the four cardinal directions. I prefer to dig the diagonals to provide a little more openness, but it is not necessary to do so. Dig the channels down to the same level as the final staircase, such that the first level of aquifer will be turned into ice.
With ice surrounding the center aquifer tile, we can do the shortest step. Extend your staircase down another tile. If your aquifer has only one layer, you're done!
With the new stair tile dug, we can finally start doing real work! Channel the four ice tiles surrounding your lowest stair, which will also remove another layer of aquifer tiles, instead replacing them with water. The first layer of the aquifer will flow into the second in the same fashion that the double slit method uses to power its descent.
Now we just need to expose the lowest water to some sunlight, and it'll all freeze into ice and let us proceed. The only tiles in our way are those four ice floors. Lets channel them away.
Everything is turned to ice once again, and we can expand our staircase downwards. In addition, we can also repeat step three and remove another layer of aquifer source tiles. If you have two layers to your aquifer, it is unnecessary to dig the channels and instead you can just dig your staircase down and out of the aquifer.
Step 6 is where things start to get weird. Channel the highest ice wall (not the floor above it, but the wall itself). Be very attentive here. As soon as your miner finishes digging, there will be a few steps where there is nothing in the tile your miner just dug, and then there will be ice again. Before the ice appears, construct a wall. Ice will still form, but the wall will be built over the ice because dwarf physics.
It is okay if you fail, just channel it again. This step will also re-freeze the layer below it, one of the ones you just channeled out in step five, so you'll have to channel that layer out again. I failed to record that layer, so it is not shown in the gifs.
With your walls constructed, channel the floors right above them. When you're done, the tops of the walls should be revealed. Simple enough.
Deconstruct the walls. You've gotten what you want: weird ice. When your walls are deconstructed you can see it in all its majesty. All wall tiles have some kind of tile above them, be it a floor tile that is always attached or another thing (like a down stair, up stair, or other wall) in the floor's place. Not these ice walls. Above them is listed as 'open space,' which means we don't have to worry about the topmost floor tile when we channel. Interestingly, they don't seem to have any unusual properties and still function as per usual.
Channel away the "weird" ice, and everything will freeze!
With everything frozen for the last time, extend your staircase down and through the third (and hopefully, final) layer of aquifer. Congrats, you've completed the AFM!
New DiscoveriesAs a new discovery, the AFM is merely the true form of the regular freezing method rather than its own method. All three layers can be done with any size staircase or channel-hole (only the centermost staircase is suggested, for larger shafts the outer stairs will need to be removed to allow freezing), although due to the third layer taking an excessive amount of time it may be more efficient to just have a slightly wider hole. I have personally tested this in a real situation where I underestimated the depth of my embark's aquifer (which is becoming a disturbingly common occurrence), and had completed the third layer of the AFM. I did step three and four on the lowest level of my regular freezing method's hole, which gave me an extra z level to perform steps five through ten on the original AFM hole, albeit transcribed down one z level.
I may have to post pictures to better describe the exact machinations at work in the situation, but for now text can describe that you can indeed make much larger staircases through an aquifer using the AFM, and also apply the principles of the regular freezing method to enable much more effective and rapid aquifer breaches.
Further DevelopmentI don't believe that the AFM is fully developed. It may be possible to breach the fourth layer, but due to strangeness with tile classifications, I have been unable to get any farther than three.
I also have a few open ended curiosities about some various portions of the method, which I'll list here, as well as my best guess. I might pursue answering some of them myself, but others (like "Is there a fourth layer to the AFM") will remain unanswered because I've already tried my hand at answering them.
What is the deal with the "weird" ice tiles? Can dwarves walk over them? Do they behave normally in all aspects?
Guess: Weird ice behaves normally in all aspects.
What happens when ice melts while there is a wall constructed over it? Is the water annihilated or does it flow out?
Guess: Water will flow out of the constructed walls rather than being destroyed.
Can the middle staircase be made into a 2x2? How about a 3x3? Can it be of arbitrarily large size?
Guess: Yes, any size staircase should function the same.
EDIT: The correct answer is yes, you can!
Is it possible to add a more crude method to the bottom of the AFM, or is the aquifer breach doomed to fail if you try to breach four layers with the AFM?
Guess: No, your aquifer breach will fail if you try to breach more than three layers using only the AFM.
EDIT: The correct answer is yes! It is annoying, but by expanding your hole in width you can gain extra layers without completely starting over.
Is there a fourth layer to the AFM?
Guess: No, it is not possible to remove all the ice walls above at the same time, thus barring you from ever being able to freeze the fourth layer.
Updates4-17-2019: Created
4-19-2019: Multi-tile breaches tested
Footnotes1 With some modifications (replacing ice with walls via the method used in step 7, as well as having a drain area at the end of your staircase for the resultant overlapping ice walls that may or may not melt), speed, and a little luck, it should be possible to do so in a cold biome, but I can't recommend it.2 Yes, I hate that they're both slightly off-sync and that only one of them uses show priorities. The priorities are shown on purpose so you can see what I recommend for doing step 1 all in one designation. I suggest prioritizing your channels even if you do dig the staircase first.
Author
Topic: A New Way to Breach Aquifers: The AFM! (Read 3471 times)