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Author Topic: Changing the walls of a magma pipe  (Read 1189 times)

stolensteel

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Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« on: November 30, 2009, 06:03:31 pm »
In my current game, half the map is a glacier, and the other half is mountains. I want the entire thing flat though, so I've started to level the mountain down to the same elevation as the glacier.

It's working perfectly, except for one thing: there is a magma pipe that starts five levels above the glacier.

So, I could just leave a natural (crooked) obsidian tower to house the magma, but that would look ugly, and surrendering to construction problems isn't a dwarfy thing to do.

Instead, I want know if it is possible to get rid of its obsidian casing and build a more circular home for it, preferably with ice walls.

Could I drain it into a chasm temporarily to do my work? I don't want to redo the entire length, just the part that will be above ground. Anyone have experience or ideas for projects like these?
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Quietust

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2009, 06:10:41 pm »
Quote from: stolensteel on November 30, 2009, 06:03:31 pm
Could I drain it into a chasm temporarily to do my work?

Absolutely - once the magma is out of the way, you can rebuild your own walls around it. Take care, though, to build the walls all the way up to the original height of the magma pipe, otherwise it will overflow as it tries to refill.
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Quote from: Lord Dakoth on September 17, 2009, 10:47:58 pm
It's amazing how dwarves can make a stack of bones completely waterproof and magmaproof.
Quote from: Neruz on September 18, 2009, 06:58:26 am
It's amazing how they can make an entire floodgate out of the bones of 2 cats.

Retro

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2009, 06:14:07 pm »
What Quietust said, plus remember to use pumps rather than let it pour out (sluggish magma, when will you ever learn?)

Love the dwarfiness of encasing the new magma silo in ice, btw.
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zchris13

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2009, 06:19:47 pm »
Magma melts ice.
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yaklin

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2009, 06:21:20 pm »
not constructed ice
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Mangled

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2009, 06:28:47 pm »
Even if it did melt constructed ice I doubt it would get through all the layers of vomit.
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stolensteel

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2009, 06:59:49 pm »
Quote from: Mangled on November 30, 2009, 06:28:47 pm
Even if it did melt constructed ice I doubt it would get through all the layers of vomit.

Vomit layers? My masons and miners are well used to working outside in the cold...

And how many pumps should I need to keep it down?
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Quietust

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2009, 07:49:40 pm »
One pump should be sufficient, but it never hurts to have several.

Just make sure that the pump's input tile does not have empty space beneath it extending all the way to the Magma Flow, otherwise the magma pipe will refill onto the pump and create an annoying mess.
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Quote from: Lord Dakoth on September 17, 2009, 10:47:58 pm
It's amazing how dwarves can make a stack of bones completely waterproof and magmaproof.
Quote from: Neruz on September 18, 2009, 06:58:26 am
It's amazing how they can make an entire floodgate out of the bones of 2 cats.

stolensteel

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2009, 08:05:41 pm »
Could someone explain the physics of magma pipes? I'm afraid I don't quite understand.

I've heard that they fill up from the top, but does that mean it will rain magma down the cleared section onto my masons? Also, what are the boundaries that the magma will spawn in? If I build the walls in too far, will it spawn outside the walls? Should I use the base or the top of the pipe as the boundary for my ice tube, or should I use all layers to form the minimum radius?
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Quietust

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2009, 08:09:14 pm »
Magma pipes refill by spawning columns of magma, 2-3 Z-levels tall (but not extending above the original top of the pipe), at the current surface. This only occurs at locations that have a clear path down to a "Magma Flow" tile at the bottom of the map.
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Quote from: Lord Dakoth on September 17, 2009, 10:47:58 pm
It's amazing how dwarves can make a stack of bones completely waterproof and magmaproof.
Quote from: Neruz on September 18, 2009, 06:58:26 am
It's amazing how they can make an entire floodgate out of the bones of 2 cats.

stolensteel

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Re: Changing the walls of a magma pipe
« Reply #10 on: November 30, 2009, 08:23:25 pm »
So does that mean it would be possible to cap a magma pipe by block a level from having a clear path down? That is awesome...
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