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[Particleman]

Anyone have any advice on this? Preferably in a way that won't take ages?

Presently I'm digging out some shift-squares and I'm setting up a pump to fill them one at a time, at which point I'll pull a lever to open the doors to the next room so the next can be filled. Then once they're all filled I drain them into the next cavern layer, but obviously setting this up can be a lengthy process even if you don't clear the stone out beforehand, and the draining is going to take a while.

How do you guys do it?

[Lmaoboat]

Just embark on an area with a soil layer.

[Particleman]

How astoundingly unhelpful. Besides, I did. I'm churning out enough crap that that's not enough to keep up with my wood requirements.

[Azated]

You could dig out an entire dirt layer below the surface. As long as you leave the very last tile on the edges un-dug and ensure that any openings to the surface are roofed over, you'll be completely safe.

[Callista]

You could dig out an entire dirt layer below the surface. As long as you leave the very last tile on the edges un-dug and ensure that any openings to the surface are roofed over, you'll be completely safe.

Ditto. You got soil layers--use 'em. You can't possibly have such a huge wood industry that you need more than two or three levels worth of trees.

[Particleman]

I'm aware of that. That's not what I'm asking. I am specifically asking about processes by which large areas of stone can be muddied quickly and efficiently.

Also, I have ONE soil layer. It's not enough. I'm turning out crap I need bins for by the truckload.

[werechicken]

You need to breach the caves first or nothing grows on underground soil. Also you don't have to.to have a soil layer, you can just flood a largish room and then cut off the water source, when it dries out you'll probably already have several trees.

It does take a while in game though.

[Nullnostalgia]

I'm aware of that. That's not what I'm asking. I am specifically asking about processes by which large areas of stone can be muddied quickly and efficiently.

Also, I have ONE soil layer. It's not enough. I'm turning out crap I need bins for by the truckload.

Flooding- if you have a river, flood the place.

If not, DFhack.

If not, bucket brigade.

If not, breach into a cavern and then begin ardous task of channelling down into it to expose it to sun.

[Nan]

Why dig out shift squares? Why not just dig out whole levels, and flood whole levels? The drains can be set up in advance blocked by raising bridge (for fortification carved map edges) or retracting bridges (for downstairs to caverns), then once the level is flooded, open the drains.

This is assuming infinite water source - without more info on where you're sourcing water it's hard to be useful.

[werechicken]

Probably because digging out a whole level would take ages and filling and draining with that much water will kill your fps.

A largish chamber is more than enough.

[Wannazzaki]

Okay pierce the caverns, that releases spores. After that floor areas of bare rock you dig out or leave bare soil thats not been exposed to sunlight. After that you have to wait for trees to grow, there is no way to speed it up save DFhacks grow all (which also effects shrubs)

[Nan]

Probably because digging out a whole level would take ages and filling and draining with that much water will kill your fps.

A largish chamber is more than enough.

Not really. If the water is just spreading out on a nice big flat area, it doesn't cause much fps hit. I flood way larger flat areas than 11x11 without even noticing any FPS hit, and the laptop I'm using is pretty shitty, heck I do it with magma too without noticing much fps hit. What does seem to harm fps is when water cascades down multiple z-levels, causing heaps of mist, and complicated pressure calculations.
Taking ages to dig shouldn't be a problem with a heap of miners - in any case, it's not going to take longer than digging out separate 11x11's would.

What I'd probably do is dig out the entire level, carve fortifications into the corners of the map edges to allow the water to drain off, then flood it from as close to the center as I can get the water - using a gravity feed from an aquifer, river or cavern lake (by punching staircases up from below), with a floodgate in the feed so it can be shut off. Once the area is completely wetted, I'd just shut off the input and let the water drain naturally off the map-edge. The input can then be re-used for the next level down by just punching a hole in the floor.

[darkflagrance]

Flood-farming was a more necessary activity in 40d, so I looked up the relevant article.

The most important thing to read is the bit entitled Reservoir Irrigation, especially the diagram.

[imperium3]

1. Dig out the area you want.

2. Prepare some controlled way of getting water to it (floodgated pipeline from aquifer/river/murky pool, or small pumpstack from a cavern lake)

3. Dig a drain at the other end of the future farm, leading to a cavern lake (or aquifer, if you're above an aquifer level). Put a grate over it just in case (to stop stray dwarves being swept in, or something nasty using it as an entrance). If you're really savvy you can put several levels of farm on top of each other with the water flowing through each one by one. If you don't want to use a drain, you'll have to send just enough water in to cover the area but still leave 1/7 tiles so it will all eventually evaporate.

4. Unleash the water!

5. Stop the water and leave it until enough trees have grown.

6. Harvest time!

You can also get enough wood from the caverns to sustain pretty much any operation, though you then need to watch out for nasties down there.

[albatross]

1. Punch in through to a cavern.
2. Look for chokepoints in the cave system.
3. Wall them shut, up to the ceiling, until you have a sealed area where trees grow.

The downside is that sealing off a section is tricky as you might miss a spot but on the upside there's no need to concern yourself with water, as cavern floor is already muddy. How much wood do you need?