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[palin88]

So I traded with the caravans to acquire two steel blocks, and a steel anvil. My plan was to use those to start up a magma smelter and magma forge. My difficulty is that as soon as they have a route to reach my delicious flammable dwarves, the imps and magma men start harassing me. I don't want to keep a gaurd stationed there 24/7 to stop incursions (and besides, the magma man took out my best swordsdwarf when I tried that) so is there a clever method to have access to magma without letting flame creatures in?

Only idea I had was to use a single channel blocked with a steel floodgate, then once the magma reservoir was full I could seal the vent. Problem with that plan is that it uses up both pieces of my steel to make a floodgate and mechanism that can withstand the heat, and I don't have a way to get anymore until the dwarf caravan comes in with another shipment.

[Vanigo]

I put steel bars in the channel before I flooded it with magma, which I think will keep nasties out, although it hasn't been long enough for me to really be sure. Keep in mind, though, that stone blocks can be used to create magma workshops now - only steel can handle being submerged in lava, but stone can deal with sitting next to it just fine.

Oh, a couple other things:
First, you can't use metal blocks to make metal objects - you use metal bars. Blocks are for making buildings.
Secondly, using a floodgate to cut off the magma is a bad idea. Magma cut off from the volcano gradually hardens.

[palin88]

Thank you for the suggestions, I'm glad I ran it past you before I tried it  

Hmm, I'll experiment with vertical steel bars and floor grates. I already have covered trenches by building floors over all but one of the magma tiles. I should know fairly quickly if the grates are working, since I got two fire imps and a burning man within the first ten minutes of laying out the forges.

[Karlito]

You could refloor above the magma and create a smaller entry point for you forges from the magma.  Though I'm not sure how well this would work.  If you built floors such that there was only one spot open to the magma and then covered that with an impassible magma smelter tile, would that stop them?

[palin88]

alright, first test (using floor grates) didn't work, since I can't build a workshop on the same tile as a grate. Building with the exposed magma underneath an impassable workshop tile will probably work, but I'll have to plan it out rather carefully. I kinda want to try out the vertical bars in a covered trench, just because it seems more "official" that way, that I've designed my fortress to keep out the fire demons rather than exploited a glitch.

Doing that will require some time to redig the chamber though.

[Shurhaian]

First off, fire imps seem unlikely to notice a single-tile channel dug out of the side of the vent. I've had one for a year and a half and not once have any of the lava denizens pestered me. And I have weapon traps set up - just in case.

Also, this is not the old version! You do NOT need steel to set up a magma (X) - only fireproof material. My magma workshops are made of shale and rhyolite.

[Asehujiko]

Build a platform ontop of the volcano and then collapse it. 95% of the caldera will get instaggibbed. Things under overhangs will be knocked uncountious, which will cause them to sink and take falling damage while doing so. And if they get something crippled, there's a fat chance they will drown.

There's a video of somebody doing it on the DFMA.

[Mephisto]

'Twas I. You may not want to do it, though. I found that if there are no overhangs and you collapse the whole roof, you get a shaft of lava. Lava cannot be used like magma can, can it? I heard that forges can't be built on it.

[Durnheist]

I keep thinking magma men can destroy stuff, so while steel bars should keep out fire men and fire imps I don't think it will block magma men.

[Akael]

I made a long, thin shaft leading from the magma vent to an(accidentally) flooded room that my forge is on top of.

Never had a problem with critters from the fire. I guess they never bother themselves to travel the distance.

[Yag Alone]

quote:Originally posted by Mephisto:
<STRONG>'Twas I. You may not want to do it, though. I found that if there are no overhangs and you collapse the whole roof, you get a shaft of lava. Lava cannot be used like magma can, can it? I heard that forges can't be built on it.</STRONG>

lava CAN be used as magma, my latest fortress have temporary outside magma forge, smelters and glass furnaces on top of a completely exposed volcano vent

[Chariot]

my last time with a magma forge setup, i had a tunnel dug to 1 square of the magma at 1 level down from surface, with the other end an exposed channel for workshops to go over. when that was set up, i dug a channel in the square between the tunnel and the magma, let the whole thing fill, then dumped water into that same spot again

the water turns that square to obsidian, making it impossible for any magma creatures to swim down the tunnel to my forges

[palin88]

Can someone confirm that magma will solidify if you block it off from the main magma vent? If not, that's the easiest solution (like the previous poster said, turn the one entry point into obsidian.) I had several long open trenches set up in my forge, which is probably why the fire critters took a notice to my operation. Once I have a chance (been a few days since I could play) I'll try again with smaller openings.

[Paul]

Magma does not solidify for me. Even when exposed to the surface.

I've had a magma trap that has no connection to the magma pool going for years, and its not solid. The magma is regularly dropped on people, drained into a pool, pumped back up, and it still remains liquid. The only attachment is a z level below the pool where it falls into, which is the location that I pumped it into the pool from.

But it is disconnected with a pump and a z level in between, and multiple z levels from the pool that drops magma from above.

I just tested it exposed to the surface by digging a pit down to a magma channel going to my forges, and then digging another pit farther down near the river dumping water onto the channel for 20 squares. The section is disconnected by 20 squares, and it remains liquid, including the section that is exposed to the air. This is on a warm map, so temperature COULD make a difference?

For reference, temperature and weather are both on. Rain would probably solidify the exposed bit, but it isn't raining at the moment.

[palin88]

Well, apparently vertical bars cannot be constructed at a forge. There goes that plan, but apparently narrow tunnels scare them off so I'll try that instead.

*EDIT* Well duh, vertical bars don't have to be preassembled like furniture, going to make a set right now.

[ November 08, 2007: Message edited by: palin88 ]