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Author Topic: Collapsing for a purpose?  (Read 978 times)

treczoks

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Collapsing for a purpose?
« on: January 14, 2012, 04:47:33 am »
Fellow Dwarfherders,

I'm contemplating to build an additional "main staircase" in my fortress. One big problem is that cave level one is about 80% lake, with more than enough connections to the map edge, and the position of the staircase is, of course, in the middle of a lake.

Using magma is a dwarfish, but something I have already used, so I'm into something new. Apart from that, magma  is 50z down and hard to get through the lake anyway, so I'd have to move it 50+ tiles across, too. No, thanks.

I thought about carving a big piece out of the ceiling of the cave and let it collapse into the lake. Is this feasible? Will the dropped stuff produce at least one z-level of stone, so I can build my staircase? Is there something that I should take into account when dropping a ceiling into the water, like tsunamis?

Apart from the current main staircase about a hundredsomething tiles away, the cave is unused because of all the water.

Yours, Christian
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shadenight123

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2012, 04:59:50 am »
drain the lake.
into the magma sea.
a part from the fps drop, use ceiling drops to close off the boundaries of the lake so it doesn't get "refills"
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rhesusmacabre

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2012, 05:04:45 am »
Natural (as opposed to constructed) wall tiles survive being dropped, so if you drop a 2z high block, you will get a 2z high block. There will be significant water displacement and cave-in dust, so make sure you clear the area (or set up a special noble seating area if you prefer).
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kardwill

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2012, 08:58:38 am »
Yup, dropping a big rock into the lake is an efficient cave-breacher for a main staircase. Quite a bit of work if you have cave walls to clear beforehand, but very satisfying when the dust clears and you see the filled lake  :)
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Triaxx2

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2012, 11:22:42 am »
On the other hand, build down to the water, and construct pumps and pump the water out to build regular walls, and then the stairs inside those walls. More work? Sure. More Dwarven? Absolutely.
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treczoks

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2012, 07:13:09 pm »
Quote from: Triaxx2 on January 14, 2012, 11:22:42 am
On the other hand, build down to the water, and construct pumps and pump the water out to build regular walls, and then the stairs inside those walls. More work? Sure. More Dwarven? Absolutely.
Don't know whether this is more dwarven than collapsing a cave, but I already did the watervac-method in cave three. I also used the magma stack on cave three to block out some water - It was just 11 z-levels up, so this was easy. I was in to something new.
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treczoks

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2012, 07:19:48 pm »
Quote from: kardwill on January 14, 2012, 08:58:38 am
Yup, dropping a big rock into the lake is an efficient cave-breacher for a main staircase. Quite a bit of work if you have cave walls to clear beforehand, but very satisfying when the dust clears and you see the filled lake  :)
Yep. indeed. Cave collapsed, and now I can build the staircase.

But it was hard work with all those stone pillars in the cave - connected to them over the lake via floors, dug them away, and dug out the block to drop, secured the area, pulled the lever connected to the one support, the support crumbled - and nothing happened. I found the place where it hung, but that cost me six miners... But now I know how to do it right the next time. So basically, the dwarves gave their lives for !!SCIENCE!!.

Thanks to all for the help.
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I fall into a strange mood. I withdraw from society. I claim a computer. I draw pictures of bedrooms. I draw pictures of farming levels. I draw pictures of defenses. I draw pictures of pipes and pumps. I start playing Dwarf Fortress!

Triaxx2

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Re: Collapsing for a purpose?
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2012, 10:33:03 pm »
Technically, the water vac is more dwarven, but the loss of lives increases the dwarven rating and puts it above the vac. Technically it's a multiplier.
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