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[Gutanoth]

Is it just me, or is there way more aquifers in the new version than there was in 40d? and is there any way of reducing the amounts of aquifers?(without editing the raws to just not let any rocks hold one)

[peterix]

It's not just you. Do custom world generation and use regions instead of islands.

[Lemunde]

From what I've seen, aquifers tend to form pretty much anywhere where there aren't mountains nearby with some exceptions.  Near water it's almost guaranteed to have an aquifer.  It would really help if we had some kind of aquifer view for the embark map.  Searching tile by tile is really a pain.

One strategy I've learned is that if you come across an aquifer in an area that has the types of stuff you're looking for, you can check bordering biomes to see if they have an aquifer.  If they don't you can embark near a border and you'll be able to dig down into the area without an aquifer to get under the area with an aquifer.  I'm doing that with my current map.  Aquifers can be quite useful if you can get past them.

[JAFANZ]

I haven't tried it, but AFAICT Aquifers tend to be attendant on lower elevations & proximity to map visible water sources.

So when genning your next world, I suggest: No Oceans, Higher Minimum Elevations, nullifying the Required Low Elevation Subregions setting, & possibly lowering Maximum Rainfall.

& Don't embark on Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, or Streams (Brooks seem to be ok).

Note: Sand or Sandy soil layers seem to be especially prone to Aquifers, IMAO.

[Gutanoth]

alright, thanks people. I'll try the region thing. If you make a region instead of an island does it prevent any of the lakes being saltwater?

[melomel]

alright, thanks people. I'll try the region thing. If you make a region instead of an island does it prevent any of the lakes being saltwater?

I have...  actually never made an island map.  o_0  As far as I've seen, whether your lakes are freshwater or saltwater seems to depend on the world seed.  Regions get oceans and saltwater lakes, too.

I haven't tried it, but AFAICT Aquifers tend to be attendant on lower elevations & proximity to map visible water sources.

So when genning your next world, I suggest: No Oceans, Higher Minimum Elevations, nullifying the Required Low Elevation Subregions setting, & possibly lowering Maximum Rainfall.

& Don't embark on Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, or Streams (Brooks seem to be ok).

Note: Sand or Sandy soil layers seem to be especially prone to Aquifers, IMAO.

You're definitely right about some soil types being prone to aquiferliciousness (conglomerate, I don't think it even exists without aquifers, but sand, peat, and sandstone are bad, too).

Lakes can be hit or miss--sometimes you'll get a perfectly dry and cromulent sedimentary layer on the shore.

Depending on what kind of embark the OP is looking for, I've had better results setting meshes to 2x2 and weighting things towards the medium range (40-60), maxing out the number of subregions, and taking out ocean/desert/etc. minimums altogether.  No edge oceans.

Screwing around with height and drainage gave me big problems with human/elf/kobold survival in 40d, though it doesn't seem to be as bad in 2010.

[Astramancer]

You could always remove the Aquifer tags in the raws.  I would assume that would keep them from forming.