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[as18cdr]

So, when playing 0.31.25 getting magma flowing from a volcano was pretty easy.  Dig to one square away, place floodgate and retract with lever, then have miner excavate last square of stone and run towards the iron escape door.  Magma flowed slowly enough that he could outrun it past the gate, which could then be closed.

As I'm sure some folks are aware, this doesn't work in DF2012.  Magma flows faster, and Urist McMiner will be unable to outrun it for very long.  Needless to say many Bothans died to bring us this information, and by Bothans I mean dwarf miners and the occasional dwarf child on an ill-timed "take your daughter to work day."

I've tried arranging a door of a non-magma safe material in front of the floodgate to slow the magma down.  Initial operations proved successful, as the miner escaped with his life, but I didn't realize until too late that the **** door won't melt unless it's submerged in magma.  Attempts to link it to a lever for remote opening ended in hilarity when the door melted just as the dwarf mechanic was attempting to attach a mechanism to the door.  Did disturbing the door's state somehow cause the program to realize it wasn't magma safe, dooming my worker?  Does attaching a mechanism to a door open it momentarily?  Or was this just really, really bad luck?

Anyone have any suggestions?  I suppose I could just use a magma-safe door instead of a floodgate and link it for remote opening before breaching the volcano wall, but that seems like cheating somehow.  Is there any way to keep using floodgates without requiring a blood sacrifice every time I open a new magma passage?

Not that I mind, y'understand, but I need my craftsdwarfs making bolts, and engraving all these memorial slabs is starting to seriously cut into it.  You know how it is.

[thiosk]

I've not yet encountered a magma pipe that I've needed to actually breach from the side.  My typical method is to prepare a stairwell parallel to the magma pipe that descends to the holding area.  I then seal up the holding area as desired, and make the final dig from the top level of the magma and channel into the dividing wall.  The magma then simply flows down the stairs and fills the array, no maintenance needed.

Does magma flow more slowly through a diagonal?  If you must side-breach, that might help.

[knutor]

Have you tried a diagonal engrave, while the other side flows into a 1x1 reservoir away from the dorf, but still in series with the main channel.  This will direct it away from the dorf instead of engulfing him. 

Rumor has it we can mine on diagonals now, but I dunno.  I haven't really proven that rumor, myself.  Just hearsay. 

We could also, paint a 1x1 burrow there where he cuts from, to prevent the dorf from falling into the magma channel, when the smoke comes out.  He might pass out, however.  Needs SCIENCE! 

It's too easy for me to use a disposable dorf.  *scratch head*

[Hans Lemurson]

I think a thing to test here would be to see if non magma-safe doors get degraded by adjacency to magma.  Wooden doors might work well for this purpose.

[AndreaReina]

Dig a pipe up to one tile away from the magma. Dig the same pipe one z-level above the first pipe. Now, on the upper pipe, designate the last stone tile for channelling. Due to the pipe below the ramp created is unusable, therefore the miner stays on the upper pipe when he's done channelling. The lower pipe fills first, then the upper pipe, giving your miner plenty of time to escape.

See here for pictures.

[xl 4ndre lx]

Also if you put a magma safe door where the miner will stand  to channel the  breaching piece. As soon as he finishes the door will close behind him sealing off the magma

[Mad Jackal]

I have only channeled from the top layer, into staircases like above mentioned. When I am lower down, (with magma at higher z than my miner) I am unaware how to breach via channel. So I have used the 'dig' command.

Does this building a door also save a miner when he digs to release the magma ?

[xl 4ndre lx]

It's not perfect. The door will close, blocking the magma, as soon as he steps off of it. When I do this with magma it works well.  I tried this once with water but it hit him too fast and knocked him into the channel where he had no way to escape.

[gchristopher]

The trick with a dwarf standing on a ramp directly under an extended bridge works as well with magma as it does with water.

If the bridge is made of non-magma-safe materials, then it will eventually melt and the magma will flow down the ramp, but the dwarf will be long gone by then.

If the bridge is magma-safe, then it'll just flow over the bridge, presumably to your magma tunnel. Don't forget that it's pressurized, if you're not getting it from the top magma layer!

[Dunamisdeos]

heres my method.
L= Lava
C=Channel
X=Wall

L L L L L
L L L L L
XXXXXX
XC  C X
X  C   X
XC  C X


Channel out a checkerboard pattern in front of the wall-to-be-broken. With a chamber underneath, the lava will slow enough for the dwarf to escape. Make sure you break the lava wall by channeling.

[i2amroy]

Personally I've never had problems just digging straight in from the side. Here's the key though, you need to have another digging task for the miner to queue set up before they actually dig into the lava. If there is something else for them to dig then once they breach the magma pipe they will immediately turn and head to the access point (I usually use a nearby staircase) and outrun the magma. If you don't have another digging task for them to perform right then then instead they will pause for just the briefest of moments while they pick a new task to do. The result then is the magma fries them.

Key thing: Have another digging area designated when you breach the tube from the side. They don't actually have to reach that point and dig it out, but it reduces their "retask" time by just the tiny amount needed to outrun the lava.

[Dunamisdeos]

Key thing: Have another digging area designated when you breach the tube from the side. They don't actually have to reach that point and dig it out, but it reduces their "retask" time by just the tiny amount needed to outrun the lava.

That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks =)