I was recently reading this utterly fantastic thread:
http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=24413.0And was wondering if there might be some decent way to make it less of a hassle.
What I'd like to sugest is some kind of a connecter building.
It can only be build on the edge of the map.
It is triggered similar to a water wheel.
The idea being that you build this on the edge of the map and connect a flow of water or magma to it.
It acts as a drain for the water or magma which is being pumped into it much like an aquifer.
It would have 3 states.
Empty, Water and Magma. (must be magma safe materials for magma)
When you abandon an equivilent connecter building is generated in the next site over.
when you abandon if it has a state of "Off" when you embark on the next site over with it's twin entering the edge of your map then nothing comes out of the connecter, if the state was "water" or "magma" then it acts as a source for the appropriate material much like a brook or the bottom of a magma vent.
This could of course mean that if you had a small quantity of magma or water and set up some pumps with a connecter and then abandoned while the flow was still moving that it would be marked as "water" or "magma" on abandon which could allow infinite magma or water to be generated but this would be in the same vein as the perpetual motion machines and could be tolerated.
Just think of it.
Someone wants the perfect site so they build a pipeline from one end of the world to the other to bring water and magma to their fortress.
Also embarking on a site which you've connected to with a magma flow without first building anywhere for it to go on the other side could be interesting.