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[Skynet 2.0]

I think you're referring to the fire underneath Centralia, Pennsylvania, which burned for almost 50 years, and eventually caused so many sinkholes and collapses that the town was abandoned. It would be interesting, but you would have to somehow not notice a coal fire for half a century in dwarf fortress before it became anything more than a minor annoyance.

[G-Flex]

It caused problems far sooner than fifty years after it started, and people knew about it. It was after a less than twenty year period when some guy actually nearly died falling into a damn sinkhole that opened up under his feet in his backyard, and a few years after they basically relocated the town.

[Footkerchief]

Also, given DF's whimsical approach to the passage of time, faster-burning coal fires wouldn't be a stretch.

[DarkCloud]

Ah yes, Skynet, that's what I was thinking about (!)

[Granite26]

Or the secret underground haven of trees that have been freed from the tyrany of serving as a mere fuel source.  Survived the uprooting process and all.

Of course, dwarves would also have to be able to go into the secret dream world of trees to hunt them down, but hey, alternate plains are coming...

[DarkCloud]

Speaking of Trees... Roots could play a useful role in tunnels. (Bloat Idea)

If a tree is above a stone space, dwarves could, when they hack into the stone, also extract valuable wood? (More resources to manage). And if they uproot all the roots of trees, then the trees above perish and fall over and begin to rot?

[Cheshire Cat]

the tree root idea would probably have to wait until toady does trees that span more then one z level, something i really like the idea of, though cutting them down will involve a whole lot of problems in regards to dwarves getting squished by falling trees as they swarm around collecting wood. im sure toady has somethign like this in mind, he has treetop elf towns in his list of things he would like to do eventually.

and, in regards to coal fires, they can go for centuries. and people dont not notice they are going, they tend to just leave them, as most are started in mining accidents, and its incredibly hard and expensive to put them out. there is one in the novel "lady chatterlies lover" in the area the story takes place, which gives the little english town a whole unpleasant hellish feel to it what with the constant smoke and smell and ash when the wind is the wrong way.

here in australia we have a natural coal fire, at a place called burning mountain. there are a few naturally occuring ones around the world, started by surface fires or ligtening strikes. from wikipedia - 'According to Smithsonian Magazine, "Scientists estimate that Australia's Burning Mountain, the oldest known coal fire, has burned for 6,000 years."' thats a very long time.

so underground coal fires could be a site feature you could embark on. that would be interesting and challenging, and could potentially involve unique creatures like fire imps.

[LegacyCWAL]

Oooh, something great that would be related to coal fires without needing actual fire: porcelainite.  If you ever see pictures of the badlands, you know the red stripes going through the buttes?  That's porcelainite, which is left behind when one of the (relatively thin) veins of coal catches fire and is essentially the same material as the "clinkers" left over in coal stoves.  It doesn't have a whole lot of use IRL, but if we're putting in coal fires, I think the first thing that should go in is the prettiest and most permanent legacy they leave.  Plus it lets there be evidence of coal fires without subjecting a fortress to a !!Legendary Miner!! or three

and, in regards to coal fires, they can go for centuries. and people dont not notice they are going, they tend to just leave them, as most are started in mining accidents, and its incredibly hard and expensive to put them out.

I think the expense is actually why they decided not to put out the coal fire in PA when they had the chance.  Of course, AFAIK it's gotten to the point where it's done even more damage anyways.  And it's not like they helped things by continually giving the fire new sources of O2



Oh, and as long as we're on coal...

Anthracite should be put in the game.  I learned while living in North Dakota that it's "better" than bituminous, and one of the reasons for this is that it's very, VERY clean while giving just as much energy as bituminous.  Anthracite is so clean, in fact, that it produces virtually no soot when burned, and more applicable to the game, I may be misremembering but AFAIK it can (among other things) even be used raw in blast furnaces without being turned into coke first.

So to simulate this, there could be a job that basically just breaks the rock into pieces, turning 1 anthracite into 3 coal fuel, but not needing to use up fuel to do so.  Another option might be to have any reaction that uses 1 anthracite rock give the usual products plus 2 coal fuel (i.e. 1 coke/charcoal + 1 magnetite = 1 iron bar, but 1 anthracite + 1 magnetite = 1 iron bar + 2 coal fuel).

[Granite26]

as long as you realize that their intent was to drum up support for 'clean' coal, and as such qualifies as propaganda...

[LegacyCWAL]

Oh, I know there was plenty of propoganda around anthracite.  That's why I double-checked as much as I could before posting.  The "as much energy as bituminous" is an example of such, as I had assumed it gave more energy, but found out otherwise.

[G-Flex]

Theoretically, if it's cleaner (i.e. fewer impurities) than another form of coal, wouldn't it pretty much have to give out more energy per gram, since more of that mass is actual fuel?

Then again, that's assuming the fuel portion is the same, and that the difference isn't just some negligible amount.

[Impaler[WrG]]

I've added Anthracite to my game and its got equivalent coke production to Bituminous but the Smelter reaction to create coke from it doesn't require fuel, thus it effectively nets 1 more coke.  Also I allow Anthracite in metamorphic rock which is a great boon on maps with Marble and other metamorphic rocks that used to lack fuel.

[Footkerchief]

I've added Anthracite to my game and its got equivalent coke production to Bituminous but the Smelter reaction to create coke from it doesn't require fuel, thus it effectively nets 1 more coke.  Also I allow Anthracite in metamorphic rock which is a great boon on maps with Marble and other metamorphic rocks that used to lack fuel.

Could you post the stone entry for that?  I don't usually use mineral mods but this one sounds good.

[Warlord255]

I've added Anthracite to my game and its got equivalent coke production to Bituminous but the Smelter reaction to create coke from it doesn't require fuel, thus it effectively nets 1 more coke.  Also I allow Anthracite in metamorphic rock which is a great boon on maps with Marble and other metamorphic rocks that used to lack fuel.

Could you post the stone entry for that?  I don't usually use mineral mods but this one sounds good.

Seconded; also, on the note of stone modding, all I ever do is give more value to rare colored stones.

[Skynet 2.0]

I usually mod it in too, for some coal in my volcano maps. I use:

Code: (Stone Entry) [Select]

[MATGLOSS_STONE:ANTHRACITE]
[NAME:anthracite][COLOR:0:7:1][TILE:15]
[ENVIRONMENT:METAMORPHIC:VEIN:100]
[ITEM_SYMBOL:15]
[SPEC_HEAT:409]
[IGNITE_POINT:11440]
[MELTING_POINT:NONE]
[BOILING_POINT:16708]
[SOLID_DENSITY:1846]

Code: (Smelter Reaction) [Select]

[REACTION:ANTHRACITE_TO_COKE]
[NAME:make coke from anthracite]
[SMELTER]
[REAGENT:1:STONE:NO_SUBTYPE:COAL:COKE]
[PRODUCT:100:3:BAR:NO_SUBTYPE:COAL:COKE]
Most of the information is from the bituminous coal entry, I just set the density a little higher.