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Author Topic: See soil types in mountain Biomes  (Read 1180 times)

Luriant

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See soil types in mountain Biomes
« on: January 20, 2017, 11:20:40 am »

Hi all.

Mountain biomes don't have soil, only grass in the surface that don't grow after pasture, and cave moss over natural mud.
I know that build a Paved road in a mountain biome, and remove the road, reveal the highest soil type attached to the mountain biome, and the same with cave moss reveal the lower soil type.

I want to use this info to make sand/clay tiles in mountain embarks, but the soil is the same in all the mountains biomes, or if really is the highest/lower soil type when I remove the construction. I don't know if DFHack can reveal the associated soil, or the existence of intermediate soil layers that i can make with constructions.
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PatrikLundell

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Re: See soil types in mountain Biomes
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2017, 05:11:28 pm »

Clay and sand ought to be present on the embark only if the pre embark indicators state they are present (and the sand indicator is a DFHack enhancement). Digging into the soil is the best way to determine the type of soil in each layer, but the DFHack probe command probably provides the soil type underneath the greenery (I don't know if it provides info about unrevealed tiles, but suspect it doesn't).
However, in most embarks there are some bare patches without vegetation where you can see the soil (and there are frequently pebbles of rock as well, but they are sort of surface contaminants that cannot be removed without digging).
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Fleeting Frames

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Re: See soil types in mountain Biomes
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2017, 08:04:16 pm »

There are sadly no intermediate soil layers - what you have on surface is what you got.

On normal (not mountain, glacier or ocean) embarks, the cavern soil and the soil given to stone pebbles with plant growths on them on embark is picked from the lowest soil layer. Like roads, you can also use farm plots to display soil for this; the farm plot doesn't actually need to be accessible to a farmer for it to clear away vegetation.

However, it might be possible that you have non-mountain biome in an adjacent region. This can shear into your airspace and can have different type of soil than mountain biome one. This soil floor is accessible through casting obsidian and digging it away.

Salmeuk

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Re: See soil types in mountain Biomes
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2017, 03:55:49 pm »

However, it might be possible that you have non-mountain biome in an adjacent region. This can shear into your airspace and can have different type of soil than mountain biome one.

You might want to look for this. I find the embark screen to be an iffy indicator sometimes, especially regarding aquifers and soil types. It might be only a few tiles of clay/sand on the opposite side of the embark from your fortress, but that's really all you need.
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