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[Loki]

I've been wanting a good waterfall-using fort for a while now, but each time I try, it results in the water backing up and flooding.

So, I was wondering what others did-- maybe you could post an example?

Here's my current idea which I'm about to try (and savescum if it fails)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Level 1
.......
.GGGGG.
.GXXXG.
.GXXXG.
.GXXXG.
.GGGGG.
.......
Level 2
.......
._____.
._XXX_.
._XXX_.
._XXX_.
._____.
.......
Level 3
   C
   .
   .
   .
.......
.......
..UUU..
..UUU..
..UUU..
.......
.......



. = floor
G = floor grate
X = up/down stairway
_ = channel
U = upward stairway
C = a chasm some many squares away

[TheToeBighter98]

A quick question: can you use rivers as dumping zones for excess water, or will they just overflow?

[DanielLC]

The river will overflow.

You can just use the surface as a dumping zone, so long as it's far enough from the fortress entrance that the water evaporates before it gets there.

The best way to prevent flooding is to use closed-circuit water works. If you have a chasm, that works too. Is your stairway part of the plumbing? If so, you could get your dwarves swept into the chasm. Otherwise, it should work.

[Dameleth]

I used a river, I don't know how overflow at the same level works, but since I re-routed my river through the fort and exited back in the river. (also to my luck, five levels down as it was an eight level high waterfall) It was fine as the same basic amount flowed through anyways. A circuits good, but if ya flow from one end and exit it out your map another, it should be just fine.

[kotekzot]

here's a beautiful example of water deverted from a brook passing through the fortress and being dumped into hfs. it inspired me to try something other than dull efficient fortresses (though i'm nowhere near that!).

[Crossroads Inc.]

here's a beautiful example of water deverted from a brook passing through the fortress and being dumped into hfs. it inspired me to try something other than dull efficient fortresses (though i'm nowhere near that!).

Beautiful Fort there! i love how deep down the main fortress is.. How can I download it from the site? would love to play around with it

[kotekzot]

i don't think you can, it's just a bunch of images of it, but perhaps you could pm its creator?

[TheToeBighter98]

Ok then, the river overflows. Fuck.

What if I block off the river so its flow stops at the point I want it, then redirect the river to flow through some waterfalls then make its way through use of screw pumps to a lake where it will rejoin the original brook and leave the map.

That would work?

[Ter13]

The reason your waterfall is overflowing, is that you have less intake than output.

In my current fortress, my design has five 1-tile wide intakes. Meaning, assuming a 7/7 square on each pump, the fortress will only pump in 35 units of water per step. My waterfalls fall through the fortress, pressurize to fill some of the odd cisterns here and there, and then when they have moved a sufficient distance, they pass through my drainage tubes.

My drainage tubes are 2 3-tile, and a single 7-tile tube. This ensures that every single step, my fortress is able to dump 91 units of water. If I turn on the redundant drains, I can raise this number to 133 units per step.

If you look at your diagram, your fortress is overflowing because the water only has 1-tile of drainage, and from what I can tell, several tiles in intake.

You have to prepare for redundant drainage. I don't recommend a closed system, nor do I recommend 1 for 1 intake to drainage ratios. I don't think anything less than 2 for 1 is safe.

[sneakey pete]

i don't think you can, it's just a bunch of images of it, but perhaps you could pm its creator?

Or, as has happened here, i could just randomly stroll in here after a month of not reading the forums, see "waterfalls", think "ohh, interesting" and stumble across your post. Bloody coincidence....

I'm afraid i've lost the save for it, and you can't reverse engineer anything from the map uploads: its just a picture.

The basic principle of waterfalls is to make sure that you have at least 2 z levels below your main level. eg, like this side view

Code: [Select]

###WWWW
###W###
   W  
   W  
 D W  D
###W###
   W 
WWWWWWWW This is your brook etc.

Basically, this is done because water doesn't instantaneously progress down one level, but if it ever gets 3 high, it will, as long as there's a path out. Or unless you do something extreme like empty a 9 z level 20*40 tile resiviour into a canyon... but that's another story....

PS. thanks for all the great praise for my fort

[kotekzot]

thank you, sneakey pete.

[DanielLC]

Come to think of it, I think you could keep your river from overflowing by boxing it in like this. (# is wall, %% is west-facing screw pump, ~ is water on that z-level)

Code: [Select]

###
#~%%
###

I'm not entirely sure how pressure works, but I think once that middle tile gets to 7/7, it will be able to empty into any tile in the river, and probably off of the edge of the map. I think this is the effect that keeps waterfalls from overflowing.

[zchris13]

That pressurized water must path the entire length of the river. That is what causes the lag so often associated with waterfalls.  STROKE OF GENIUS.

[Volfram]

here's a beautiful example of water deverted from a brook passing through the fortress and being dumped into hfs. it inspired me to try something other than dull efficient fortresses (though i'm nowhere near that!).

Just following the river and wagon exit, I need to see that map in 3Dwarf, and even that wouldn't do it justice.

Snakey, think you could re-create the aesthetic of that map?

[RedWarrior0]

.