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[Firnagzen]

I ain't as sure.

Evidence: I had a coupla modded supa-dwarfs (100 all stats) for quick digging to test an idea I had, and one was killed in a cavein, so I savescummed. (Testing, remember.) Tried to prevent the cavein, ANOTHER supa-dwarf got killed. And again and again for about 5 reiterations until I figured out what was happening. Every cavein claimed a super dwarf. These caveins were dropping one floor tile one z-level directly onto the dwarfs.

Well, either it a) has nothing to do with stats, b) it's a guaranteed kill or c) I'm really unlucky.

[forsaken1111]

I'm fairly sure anyone caught under a cave in is killed. They can be injured if they're caught on the edge of a cavein, I've seen that happen, but any cave in that drops on their head kills them from my experience.

[smjjames]

Getting smacked against a wall can also kill them.

I've found small caveins of one tile down one z-level are generally survivable with light grey and brown wounds, basically bumps and bruises, and maybe occasionally a sprained wrist (yellow wound to hand which heals in a few days). This is when channeling though. Although I'm not sure whether falling on soil or rough rock makes any difference in DF.

[Starver]

I've found that designating large areas to become ramps is by far the safest method of 'strip mining' or digging large pits. Just do one level at a time, designate the entire level to become ramps then remove them.

A method I use with ramps is to designate a 'strip' of ramps at a time.  When creating a ramp, any previously created ramps which only abutt the block you have now ramped are removed.

Only when you ramp a block without any further abutting undug blocks (which you could have designated as a ramp to remove this one) do you need to set "Remove ramps/stairs" after the fact.

Practically, this is great for clearing a plateau.  After ensuring there are no trees on the top (or anything else that will cause cave-ins), designate either all 'outer' solid blocks to become ramps, or the western-most edge, then when enough new blocks become similarly to make it worth redesignating for your existing taskforce of miners, do so.  If you have (or will get, after following the above instructions any number of iterations) any "spurs" of 1xN (or more convoluted), just designate the end block of each as ramp, and don't ramp the next block in until the prior end block is ramp (with prior end'block's adhjacent ramps are now gone).  A bit of forward planning (e.g. straightening edges to make more square, or taking corners first to make more 'diamond'-shaped) generally resolves this, modified appropriately to take account of any bits of ground that contains sunken pools (filled or otherwise) that you'll be breaching the edges of.   Continue, to taste.

When it comes to sinking mine-shafts intended to have vertical edges (as opposed to "inverse pyramid" quarries), the inner edges of the shaft that you ramp will still have the outer edge that you don't touch, so you'd need to designate "Remove ramp" on those (and ensure they are gone prior to trying to designate ramps on the same spot on the level directly below), but if you can plan the ramp designations properly (with a little bit of micromanagement) all points set away from the natural wall by at least one block width will get their own ramps removed automatically.  Two variants of designation that I tend to use is either "W->E strip designation" or from the centre outwards.

If you are desginating a large enough shaft, you can even have multiple Z-layers being dug out by starting with a central 1x1 ramp, then the edge 8 of the 3x3 area centered upon this, which gets rid of the original ramp and allows you to safely set a 1x1 in this position on the level below, at the same time as you're designating the 16 'edges'  of a 5x5 at the original level.  When the 5x5 is ramp-edged, at Z-1 you can designate the 8 edges of a 3x3, allowing safe access to designate a 1x1 spot at the Z-2 level.  You can continue this for as long as you do not get stupid about it cause problems by breaking the rules, or encounter features (from additional trees/lanscape on the top, to underground aquifers/other features down below) that you need to deal with to safely continue.  And at any time you can stop expansion of the upper level's size in one or both axes and optionally remove any edge ramps that you won't need for future access where you want to expand the Z-n up to that self-same edge position.

And I've a horrible feeling that the above is far too complex to describe, but it took an awful lot of diagrams to put into pictures, when I first tried to use those to explain.

[forsaken1111]

Getting smacked against a wall can also kill them.

I've found small caveins of one tile down one z-level are generally survivable with light grey and brown wounds, basically bumps and bruises, and maybe occasionally a sprained wrist (yellow wound to hand which heals in a few days). This is when channeling though. Although I'm not sure whether falling on soil or rough rock makes any difference in DF.

I went and tested this. I used 40d and dwarf companion to max out the skills on 6 dwarves. I put all 6 in 1x1 holes, and walled them in to ensure they don't move around. I then constructed above them a support and a floor tile, linked the supports to a lever, and pulled the lever. All 6 of them were superdwarvenly tough, etc.

All 6 died instantly.

Further testing in a new game, with 6 natural stone blocks, also ended with their deaths.

I have not tested natural floors yet, but I suspect it would have the same conclusion.

I think what you've seen is a dwarf near a cavein get bashed against a wall when the dust pushes him around.

[Firnagzen]

I think what we have here is a bit of confusion: Some of us here seem to be talking about dwarfs being dropped z-levels by a cave-in while others are talking about caveins dropping stone onto the dwarfs.

Carry on.

[forsaken1111]

I think what we have here is a bit of confusion: Some of us here seem to be talking about dwarfs being dropped z-levels by a cave-in while others are talking about caveins dropping stone onto the dwarfs.

Carry on.

If there is confusion, it's not on my part. I am talking about this quote:

In another totally irrelevant project (not even the same fortress), I have been working on an excavation project of a large 1 z-level mound both for stone and because of its bad placement in accordance to my plans, and one of my miners accidently channeled a cave-in from above, with my other miner conveniently DIRECTLY underneath, and he suffered a mild concussion (yellow head wound). He was in bed for several months, and it slowed my excavation significantly  .

He indicated that a miner was directly under a cave in, and sustained only minor wounds. I tested this and found that things dropping directly onto a dwarf via cave in always killed them in my 6 dwarf trials. Including constructed walls, constructed floor tiles, natural walls and natural 'floors'. This was tested again with natural soil layer dropping on them with the same result, instant death.

The only time I saw a minor wound was when a nearby miner (the one pulling the lever) was blown backwards by the dust. His foot was light grey and his hand was yellow. I did not see if he bashed into a wall or just fell.

[smjjames]

Getting smacked against a wall can also kill them.

I've found small caveins of one tile down one z-level are generally survivable with light grey and brown wounds, basically bumps and bruises, and maybe occasionally a sprained wrist (yellow wound to hand which heals in a few days). This is when channeling though. Although I'm not sure whether falling on soil or rough rock makes any difference in DF.

I went and tested this. I used 40d and dwarf companion to max out the skills on 6 dwarves. I put all 6 in 1x1 holes, and walled them in to ensure they don't move around. I then constructed above them a support and a floor tile, linked the supports to a lever, and pulled the lever. All 6 of them were superdwarvenly tough, etc.

All 6 died instantly.

Further testing in a new game, with 6 natural stone blocks, also ended with their deaths.

I have not tested natural floors yet, but I suspect it would have the same conclusion.

I think what you've seen is a dwarf near a cavein get bashed against a wall when the dust pushes him around.

They are generally survivable when there is no wall for them to smack into though. The one tile caveins I mean.

[forsaken1111]

Getting smacked against a wall can also kill them.

I've found small caveins of one tile down one z-level are generally survivable with light grey and brown wounds, basically bumps and bruises, and maybe occasionally a sprained wrist (yellow wound to hand which heals in a few days). This is when channeling though. Although I'm not sure whether falling on soil or rough rock makes any difference in DF.

I went and tested this. I used 40d and dwarf companion to max out the skills on 6 dwarves. I put all 6 in 1x1 holes, and walled them in to ensure they don't move around. I then constructed above them a support and a floor tile, linked the supports to a lever, and pulled the lever. All 6 of them were superdwarvenly tough, etc.

All 6 died instantly.

Further testing in a new game, with 6 natural stone blocks, also ended with their deaths.

I have not tested natural floors yet, but I suspect it would have the same conclusion.

I think what you've seen is a dwarf near a cavein get bashed against a wall when the dust pushes him around.

They are generally survivable when there is no wall for them to smack into though. The one tile caveins I mean.

Provided the 1 tile isn't falling directly on the dwarf, yes.

[Iapetus]

I recently worked out a nice dwarfy method of channeling multiple z-levels.

I wanted to open my food store to the sky (so that  rotting stuff wouldn't produce miasma), but it was about 5 z-levels below the surface.  What I did was to mine out the area above the store room on evey level above it, then build a support on the level just below the surface and connect it to a lever.  Channel round the surface layer, then pull the lever.  The surface layer will collapse, and smash through all the floors below.

Of course, you have to make sure you move any goods that are below the to-be-collapsed floors, that no dorfs wander through the demolition area, and there are no rooms or tunnels on the level below the one you are collapsing everything onto.

[Kruniac]

I generally let my dwarves (or humans) get stranded in a channeled pit and die of thirst. If they wanted to live, then they wouldn't be so stupid. I WILL make my people smarter by purging the idiots from its population.

So far it isn't working too well, but I'm not giving up.

People taken by moods never get special treatment, and either get the materials because we have them, or go insane and are slain. I always appoint a sheriff, but never use any chains, so that criminals will be beaten savagely. If a recruit who is injured (or a Legendary axeman, whatever) is being a drain on the fort, then he/she will be starved to death via forbidden door creating.

Walling yourself inside of an area calls for much laughter as the person dies screaming for their friends on the outside to help them. If they wanted to get out, then they can deconstruct the wall themselves. If they don't, then I guess it wasn't dire enough to warrant my attention.

We produce a lot of coffins around my forts, I tell you. A -lot- of coffins.

[Starver]

We produce a lot of coffins around my forts, I tell you. A -lot- of coffins.

But surely if they wanted to be interred within containers, they'd have gone to the trouble of making sure their last gasps occured as they laid themselves in them...

[Kruniac]

We produce a lot of coffins around my forts, I tell you. A -lot- of coffins.

But surely if they wanted to be interred within containers, they'd have gone to the trouble of making sure their last gasps occured as they laid themselves in them...

Actually, I've taken this approach to it recently. Usually, Urist McDwarf ends up in the river to be torn to peices by carp. I only bury people who were worth something, and only vital people get a tomb.