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[Ancalagon_TB]

So, I've finally pierced an entrance to the caverns. 

I first made a "defense room"  so that invaders could be fought with success, then started digging down.  However, my exploratory shaft missed it completely despite going quite deep, so built a large "grid" then started digging down at various spots on the map.  I eventually managed to find it...

However it's really far away from the central stairwell - and thus the defense room, the barracks, the dining hall etc...

I currently have 2 squads: one of pretty solid crossbowmen with moderate armor, and one heavily armored, highly trained melee dwarves.  The melee squad is exploring the cavern, but it's *very* far from home.

How do I manage this?  Should I move the barracks for one of the squad?   

And how can I best use this cavern? 

[Tacomagic]

By default there are three cavern layers and, depending on how mountainous your terrain is, they can actually span several z-layers and have z-layer gaps within the same layer of caverns.  So, it's posslbe that you'll eventually find some caverns much closer to your stairwell than what you're currently using.

As far as utilization, it is very situational so depends entirely on what you need.  If you're in a biome that is relatively fertile by itself (trees, surface grass, surface plants, running water, etc), the only thing the caverns can really provide for you is underground spores (so you can create underground grazing areas), and a source of FUN!  Well placed cage traps can also provide some very lucrative food and war animals, such as Jaberers, Rutherers, and Draltha.

If you're doing a challenge embark, such as single-pick challenge on a glacier, often times the caverns will be your only source of water, food, and farmland early on.

[Quartz_Mace]

Caverns are also good for metal, minerals, water, and magma, if you need any of those. Like Tacomagic pointed out, they can also help serve the agriculture industry and provide war animals.

[Ancalagon_TB]

I'm not 100% sure what level I pierced to be honest - is there a way to tell?

I do have to say I'm very impressed by how the caverns are depicted - this complex up and down layout is difficult to deal with, but it feels right.

[Authority2]

You could build a floor/wall over the opening and make another defense room near it before you unseal it again.
Something fun to do is to mostly wall off a big square in the middle for yourself, then build cage traps in the gap in the wall so you can catch cavern creatures. If you're lucky, you might get a GCS. Of course, this might be hard depending on your cavern layout, and/or dangerous.
Be careful about civilians running into the caverns to grab silk webs/corpses/socks.

[Quartz_Mace]

I'm not 100% sure what level I pierced to be honest - is there a way to tell?

I do have to say I'm very impressed by how the caverns are depicted - this complex up and down layout is difficult to deal with, but it feels right.

What sort of trees exist? The trees vary based on level. Check the wiki for the exact types of trees for a cavern.

[Tacomagic]

I'm not 100% sure what level I pierced to be honest - is there a way to tell?

I do have to say I'm very impressed by how the caverns are depicted - this complex up and down layout is difficult to deal with, but it feels right.

Also, certain creatures tend to appear on certain levels.  They can wander between levels, so it's not a certainty, but it can give some hints.

For instance, Troglodytes appear on layers 1 and 2 and rutherers appear on layers 2 and 3.  So, if you see both troglodytes and rutherers in that cavern layer, there's a reasonable chance that it's layer 2.

There are a few creatures that only appear on specific layers (they can wander in from others, but if you see them appear on the edge of the map, then you know for sure).

Exclusive to Layer 1:
Large Rat
Naked Mole Dog

Exclusive to Layer 2:
Manera

Exclusive to Layer 3:
Amethyst Men
Blood Men
Cave Blob
Cave Dragon
Creeping Eye
Flesh Ball
Gabbro Man
Hungry Head
Iron Man
Mud Man

[FrankyPlaysGames]

I'm not 100% sure what level I pierced to be honest - is there a way to tell?

I do have to say I'm very impressed by how the caverns are depicted - this complex up and down layout is difficult to deal with, but it feels right.

Also, certain creatures tend to appear on certain levels.  They can wander between levels, so it's not a certainty, but it can give some hints.

For instance, Troglodytes appear on layers 1 and 2 and rutherers appear on layers 2 and 3.  So, if you see both troglodytes and rutherers in that cavern layer, there's a reasonable chance that it's layer 2.

There are a few creatures that only appear on specific layers (they can wander in from others, but if you see them appear on the edge of the map, then you know for sure).

Exclusive to Layer 1:
Large Rat
Naked Mole Dog

Exclusive to Layer 2:
Manera

Exclusive to Layer 3:
Amethyst Men
Blood Men
Cave Blob
Cave Dragon
Creeping Eye
Flesh Ball
Gabbro Man
Hungry Head
Iron Man
Mud Man

Not Tony Stark, mind you. Also take note that the lower cavern layers have a....... bloodier color tone to them.

[Ancalagon_TB]

I've locked a door, hope it will be enough for now, will floor over it asap.  My first defense room also had a drawbridge.

I've seen evidence of reptile men getting massacred by something, I've seen a Giant Olm - who doesn't want to engage - and an Elk Bird.

I'll take a look at the trees later.

A few minutes after revealing the first cavern, a second one was revealed at the opposite end of the map - and a number of levels down.  There was a note about finding a deep passage, although as far as I can tell there is no connection at the moment.  This second cavern seems to be basically a giant gem mother-lode.

Lastly, still wondering on advice on how to defend both the surface and the caverns...

[Quartz_Mace]

I've locked a door, hope it will be enough for now, will floor over it asap.  My first defense room also had a drawbridge.

I've seen evidence of reptile men getting massacred by something, I've seen a Giant Olm - who doesn't want to engage - and an Elk Bird.

I'll take a look at the trees later.

A few minutes after revealing the first cavern, a second one was revealed at the opposite end of the map - and a number of levels down.  There was a note about finding a deep passage, although as far as I can tell there is no connection at the moment.  This second cavern seems to be basically a giant gem mother-lode.

Lastly, still wondering on advice on how to defend both the surface and the caverns...

A well-trained military is very powerful and can be deployed virtually anywhere. Drawbridges make a great failsafe.

[utunnels]

Can someone explain or is there a topic about how creatures spawn/appear in caverns?
I want to wall up a reasonable large area but I need to be sure things can just pop up inside the walls.

[Col_Jessep]

Cavern creatures wander in from the edge of the map. If you wall it off you are safe. However, it's easy to miss a spot and you might want to work with a 2nd walled off area close to your cavern breach. Don't forget to build the walls up to the ceiling! Most things can climb or fly.

As was already said, cage traps in the caverns are useful and can pay off big time if you catch a valuable creature. Just keep in mind that some creatures are trap-avoid and will just walk over the traps or can pick locks on regular doors. A drawbridge works as last line of defense, just like above ground.

Another caveat: Breaching the caverns seems to have quite an impact on your FPS after a while. If you don't need access to the cavern right now close the drawbridge to prevent the pathfinding algorithm to query the area continuously.

[Ancalagon_TB]

I've seemed to have breached level 1, based on the trees.   The deeper map on the other side is level 2.

... oh and those weren't gems, they were webs...