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[Livonya]

I am working on my mega project... obsidian tower.  I have the tower formed and am carving, but in the mean time I am terraforming the outside world... and a few questions arise.

1) Stones sometimes change type during a z-level drop?

Normally, I start dropping the top z levels down, until I eventually get a giant flat area... but I have noticed that sometimes a stone level will change during the drop.  For instance I had a level that I dropped and in the dropping the obsidian changed to marble.  The grass/soil/tree levels remained as they were, but the stone levels changed...

Any clue on why stone occasionally changes type during a drop?


2) Is it better to drop levels from the top or bottom...

I was thinking maybe it would be different if I dropped from the bottom, rather than the top.

I could start with the bottom levels first... is there an advantage to either way?


3)  Is there anyway to drop the z-levels that meet the edges of the map.

I would love to drop the entire map to one flat level, but I don't think it can be done due to the  fact that the edges can't be mined.  Any thoughts?


4)  Is there anyway to change stone into soil?  I would love to get some of my pure stone tiles to turn into grass, but I have found no way to do it.  Any suggestions?


5) What happens to the outside tiles that are left after a farm plot is removed?  It is no longer muddy, but will anything grow there?


6) Last question.... I have caught 4 or 5 deer and the deer have had babies, none are tamed.

I was considering letting them loose in a large inclosed outdoor area.  Will they still manage to leave the map if there is no actual exit available to them?

I love the idea of having a wild deer herd that can't leave the map.  The King's private game.

Thanks...

[Rock_n_Rat]

1. yes
2. top to bottom i think?
3.yes if you drop enough levels you will meet the very bottom of the map, normally about 10-20 down.
4. yes you can change into soil. if you get it muddy it will techially be soil. but unless you farm on it nothing will grow there...unless i think if the mud was made using an underground river...
5. they just sit there
6. em...i would keep in the cages? because it would be possible for then to get out through the doors when the dwarfs open them to get at them. Possibly if you made to doors and put a cage traps in between them... interesting idea tho. ill have to play around with it.

[Rock_n_Rat]

the wiki could a solved most of those problems btw...http://dwarffortresswiki.net/

[Livonya]

the wiki could a solved most of those problems btw...http://dwarffortresswiki.net/

Actually, I disagree.  Sometimes the Wiki doesn't really offer real DF experiences.

A lot of times things I read in the Wiki don't actually play out that way in the real DF world.

Getting feedback from players is far more informative as players comes up with other angles ideas.

[Livonya]

1. yes
2. top to bottom i think?
3.yes if you drop enough levels you will meet the very bottom of the map, normally about 10-20 down.
4. yes you can change into soil. if you get it muddy it will techially be soil. but unless you farm on it nothing will grow there...unless i think if the mud was made using an underground river...
5. they just sit there
6. em...i would keep in the cages? because it would be possible for then to get out through the doors when the dwarfs open them to get at them. Possibly if you made to doors and put a cage traps in between them... interesting idea tho. ill have to play around with it.

1) I know that it happens.  The question is why?  And can anything be done about it?  Or does anyone have any advice on how to deal with it? Or control it?

3) Not the bottom, but the edges.  You know the tiles that meet the very edges of the map (N/S/E/W).  Is there a way to drop those edge tiles?

4) I am getting mixed reports on this.  Some sources say muddied outside soil will grow grass.  Some sources say they will not.  I have in fact seen it happen where muddied soil turned to grass.  But I have also seen cases where it didn't happen.

Maybe it has to do with the bio of the area? 

The same for outside farming.  Some reports says it works on outside muddied tiles, and some say it doesn't.  I guess this also might depend on the bio of the area?

[Shoku]

I'm not sure on the exact cause but sometimes dropping stone changes it to the default type of stone on the map. This has frustrated some people trying to pierce aquifers when they find they just got some new aquifer stone.

There are a number of bugs that can change stone to soil (usually sand but sometimes less useful stuff.)
Cut down towercaps leave soil behind but you can also get sand on some tiles by placing and removing constructions.
Carving down staircases into them can also produce soil (though you'll need to collapse it to use it for anything.)

Most people say you get sand from placing floor tiles on cast obsidian and removing them but I've seen it happen with rock salt under a glacier and have been told it happens with a pretty good proportion of stones.

And your deer won't leave unless they can find a way to the edge- or die and rot.
Quite awhile back somebody noticed Mermaid bones are really valuable so they spent a lot of time setting up a good way to capture them and then farm the wild ones.
I'm not sure how well the ocean wall worked out...

[Livonya]

Most people say you get sand from placing floor tiles on cast obsidian and removing them but I've seen it happen with rock salt under a glacier and have been told it happens with a pretty good proportion of stones.

I know that I use the "constructed wall" trick to get rid of obsidian boulders.  If you make an obsidian wall over a boulder and then remove the wall you get a flat obsidian stone tile.  Nice way to get rid of boulders.  In my experience this does NOT work with constructed floor tiles, but only with constructed walls.

I just formed 30 or so 40x40 z-levels of obsidian for my tower.

If I construct walls and then remove them then I get granite.  I suspect that granite was what it was before I turned it into obsidian, but that was just a hunch that hasn't been tested.

So far I have removed about 20 constructed walls from manufactured obsidian and I never once got sand.  Always solid rock.

I should try floor tiles.  In my experience constructed floor tiles don't change the underlying stone type.  I will have to try it on manufactured obsidian.

There are lots of odd things that don't always work as suspected.  It can be frustrating for those of us that are control freaks.

[Smew]

Uhm, for boulders, you can just smooth them like you would any other stone.

[Livonya]

Uhm, for boulders, you can just smooth them like you would any other stone.

Ugly.

I prefer to remove the boulder without having an ugly smoothed tiled in the middle of an obsidian level.

A smoothed tile is fine inside my fortress, but I don't want them outside.

[Shoku]

Smooth it then build a road over it. Makes sense that way.