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[mirrizin]

So, in the old days, if I wanted a garbage dump, I'd find out a clear vertical path to the magma, and designate a straight line of channels, being mindful of the caverns and the magma. I'd watch the miner carefully, to make sure they didn't starve/dehydate, and dig escape tunnels as needed.

It was tedious, but rewarding.

Now that climbing is a thing, the miners have lost the courage! Three times I assign the job, and three times the miner digs down maybe five z-levels, then suddenly goes "no job" and climbs out, regardless of how far up the surface is.

Does this qualify as a bug, or a feature?

[ArmokGoB]

Does this qualify as a bug, or a feature?

Yes.

[SyrusLD]

The problem is that he doesn't climb down again.
Not sure whether I'd call it a bug or a feature though...

It's become quite tedious digging a simple vertical shaft since climbing, I think last time I made one I had them dig stairs and then removed them level by level.
Maybe if the miner had no way to climb out he'd stay in the hole and finish the job?

Never tried sealing him in with a door or a hatch - maybe since he can't do anything but dig he'll work until he is finished without climbing out? I still doubt it, but it might be worth a try.

[Killgoth]

If they are capable of climbing out to get a drink or take a nap, they should be capable of climbing down again to finish a job.   I say it is a bug.

[Torrenal]

Up is easy.

Down is hard.

[Detros]

See 8667, "Miners climb out of vertical chutes while digging, refuse to continue" and linked reports when Mantis gets back online.

[mirrizin]

Yeah, the refusal to climb back down is the problematic part, at least until Urist tries to climb out of a 50 z level hole and loses his grip just shy of the top...

[greycat]

Dig an up/down staircase adjacent to where you want the empty space.  Once all of the staircases are in place, then channel out the empty spaces.  If you have only one miner, that should be safe.  If you have 2 or more miners, you will have to take caution to prevent one of them channeling a tile that another is standing on.  (Untested: perhaps designate every 2nd tile for channeling, then when those are all gone, designate the other half.)

[mirrizin]

At the same time, as the hole gets deeper (past the first cavern or so) the miner goes back to the old "dig til you drop" approach, and to their credit, they made the remainder of the dig without getting hungry or thirsty.

Curious...

[EBannion]

At the same time, as the hole gets deeper (past the first cavern or so) the miner goes back to the old "dig til you drop" approach, and to their credit, they made the remainder of the dig without getting hungry or thirsty.

Curious...

I suspect it is at the point that the hole gets too deep to climb out of.

Has anyone tried smoothing the walls at the top level of the shaft (assuming that the shaft begins in a stone layer?)

They ca'n't climb smoothed natural walls, and so that might keep them in there.

[mirrizin]

At the same time, as the hole gets deeper (past the first cavern or so) the miner goes back to the old "dig til you drop" approach, and to their credit, they made the remainder of the dig without getting hungry or thirsty.

Curious...

I suspect it is at the point that the hole gets too deep to climb out of.

That makes sense.

[Loci]

Maybe if the miner had no way to climb out he'd stay in the hole and finish the job?

Nope. The problem isn't that the miner is *choosing* to climb out of the hole (they climb out as freely as they climb back in, that is, never), it's that channeling under himself causes the miner to fall, a falling dwarf will attempt a wall-grab, a successful wall-grab results in a climbing dwarf, and a climbing dwarf will not path to jobs (they seem to path to a "safe" location, possibly a meeting area or their previous-idle location).

You can work around this issue by using up/down staircases instead of vertical shafts in most cases. Water will flow freely down a staircase, and refuse, minecarts, and even prisoners will fall down as well (prisoners have a fair chance of grabbing the walls, which is true in the case of a single-tile shaft too). You do need one tile of "free fall", so channel out the top of the stairway after it has been dug.

If you absolutely want a vertical shaft, you can dig channels in a 2x1 pattern, alternating which tile on each level. This will prevent the miner from falling, thus forcing him to complete the job just like in the old days. Then a simple cave-in to remove the ramps left will create a 2x1 vertical shaft straight down.

[Arvoitusmies]

If you absolutely want a vertical shaft, you can dig channels in a 2x1 pattern, alternating which tile on each level. This will prevent the miner from falling, thus forcing him to complete the job just like in the old days. Then a simple cave-in to remove the ramps left will create a 2x1 vertical shaft straight down.

I'm interested in how to do that exactly.
Edit: Just tried to do this, now the miner lies dead at the bottom of the shaft 

[greycat]

Nope. The problem isn't that the miner is *choosing* to climb out of the hole (they climb out as freely as they climb back in, that is, never), it's that channeling under himself causes the miner to fall,

Are you sure?  I thought it created a ramp, with the miner safely moved to the bottom of it.  Unless of course you've got 2 miners digging at once; then it's mayhem.

[Torrenal]

What about a 1x1 stairway, and cave-in from the top to clear the stairs?  Or do stairs even interrupt falling objects?  (I seem to recall people putting water at the bottom of their stairs to catch falling dwarves, who then drown...
//Torrenal