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Author Topic: Can I see warm stone above me?  (Read 1093 times)

Caledonian

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Can I see warm stone above me?
« on: June 17, 2008, 10:32:45 pm »

My fortress experiments thus far have rarely lasted the first year - with my latest, I decided I would 'go the distance'.

I knew there was a volcano on the map, but it couldn't be seen, so I deduced it was underground.  One long exploratory shaft later, I suddenly received a warning: warm stone!  Clearly the magma vent was just beyond the wall.  I needed to figure out where the top level was, so I moved back several squares and began digging upwards.

Two levels up, I dug the staircase right into the magma vent.  Once revealed, I could see that the chamber was significantly wider on that level - I had been digging directly underneath the magma.  But I'd had no warning at all.  My fortress was, of course, destroyed.

Is there a 'warm stone' warning for magma above or below the level the dwarves are digging in?  Or is tunneling in the vertical always Russian roulette?
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Jay

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2008, 10:43:07 pm »

No.
Being cautious about this stuff goes a long way.
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Lord Dullard

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2008, 10:44:36 pm »

In short: yes. You won't receive the same dig cancellations while going up a level as you would just digging horizontally.

In a situation like the one above, I'd have my dwarf go to the surface level and begin digging down over the area I thought the pipe was located at. Once you reach the magma the entire pipe will be revealed and you'll be at no risk of flooding.
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Caledonian

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2008, 10:49:44 pm »

Yeesh, that's a bummer.  I did have the foresight to save the world's generation seed, so perhaps I'll give that fortress another try.

Is the lack of a vertical magma warning intentional, or a legacy of the old 2D days?  I never played the game before it was three dimensional.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2008, 10:55:35 pm by Caledonian »
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Kagus

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2008, 10:59:36 pm »

It's an oversight.  Or an undersight, depending on how you look at it.

Suffice to say that it is not intentional, and that Toady means to fix it some day..

Derakon

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2008, 12:29:14 am »

In short: yes. You won't receive the same dig cancellations while going up a level as you would just digging horizontally.
This is in fact false. When you make a down staircase, you reveal the square below you, thus allowing you to see if it is safe to dig into. You don't reveal the square above you when you make up staircases. I filed a bug for this and several people tried to shout me down...

Upshot is, if you think you've found something, retreat up to the top layer through known-safe rock and then dig down.
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Lord Dullard

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2008, 01:41:34 am »

Question:
Or is tunneling in the vertical always Russian roulette?

Quote from: Derakon
This is in fact false. ...

I assume you read my post incorrectly, since you just called it false then restated exactly what it said as true in your reply..  ;)
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sneakey pete

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2008, 10:42:30 am »

It helps to remember: things don't flow up, its always safer to dig down.
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Derakon

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2008, 10:50:45 am »

I assume you read my post incorrectly, since you just called it false then restated exactly what it said as true in your reply..  ;)
D'oh! Yeah, I read "will" where you said "won't". My apologies.

Edit: Sneakey Pete: be careful with underground rivers. They can change z-levels over the course of their flow, but the lower-level water is pressurized, so if you tap it, it'll go up to the level above. Of course you have no way of knowing where the highest (and thus only safe) part of the river is.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2008, 10:52:21 am by Derakon »
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Bullion

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Re: Can I see warm stone above me?
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2008, 11:00:56 am »

it's been said before, always dig down into it.
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