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[expwnent]

By draining out a level of a magma pipe and either constructing walls, digging, or being clever with obsidian, you can change the shape of a magma pipe. What effect does this have on the flow of magma? Specifically, if I made it thinner, would it fill faster? If the inward flow of magma is constant, I would imagine that it would flow through a thinner tube faster, although it would be the same amount of magma.

[Ubern00b]

Just to hijack this important thread.

Another question, would the top layer fill back to 7/7
As I was just thinking of making the top layer squared out

[Retro]

Magma generates at the top of a magma pipe in 1/7 amounts fairly regularily (unless the pipe is already full of course), so it will always fill to the same height regardless of shape. The flow doesn't come from below, it just appears as if it does. So a thinner tube would flow faster, but it would be less magma (hence filling faster, the fill speed would be the same, just in a smaller space).

This makes changing the size of the top layer okay, as the magma would expand outwards after generating there, but there's risk of evaporation as the magma would most likely be resting on ground for a little while. It depends on how much bigger you're going to make the opening - just don't get caught in a perpetual evaporation loop.

[Grax]

You can do every thing with magma, as you wish. The pipe will refill to the top unless you obsidianize the lowest floor.

The refill rate depends on the straight vertical open area in the tube - so you won't make the tube like "S" shape refill to top.

[TheCatfish]

If you build walls raising the sides of the magma pipe; Would it fill up to the new top? If not what if you pumped in some additional stored magma to make it to the top; Would it then be recognised as the new top and fill up to there?

[Grax]

If you build walls raising the sides of the magma pipe; Would it fill up to the new top? If not what if you pumped in some additional stored magma to make it to the top; Would it then be recognised as the new top and fill up to there?

Never tried this.

[Retro]

No to the first, not sure to the second - but I'd highly doubt it. As far as I can tell, magma simple generates at the recognized top of the pipe as of embarking if it's not full. So you could artificially fill your pipe higher, but it wouldn't automatically refill to there unless you had a really complicated cistern/floodgate/pump system.

[Ubern00b]

Hi all,

Just tested this.
Dug out a channel all around my magma 5 square wide. HUGE amount removed and it still instantly floods to 6/7

I dont think theres any worry about evaporation.

[BlazingDav]

I think I remember something somewhere about a bug causing a magma pipe to refil higher than before.

Though an interesting idea of maxing the area of the magma pipe to cover the exact area (or more) compared to the bottom most magma flow. Then build upwards (probably capping it at the start with linked hatch covers for the safety of your fort is advisable) You could possibly increase the size of your magma pipe, with enough work you might even reach the top of the sky and have the tallest magma pipe possible

[Innominate]

Magma cisterns work fine. That is, increasing the capacity of the magma pipe (the pipe itself or an offshoot of it) will simply cause the new volume to be filled - but only up to the same maximum z-level as before. Trying to increase the height however will do absolutely nothing, unless you discover a neat glitch.

If I recall correctly, magma 'spawns' at the normal top of the magma level. When draining a pipe players have sometimes reported their workers being killed by magma falling from above the current level of the magma. Though this may of course be pre-40d behaviour.

One thing to test, though testing it would be very tedious and would be bound by statistical limits, would be whether the game spawns the same volume of magma per unit time for a constricted pipe as for a normal/enlarged one, or whether the volume spawned is proportional to the number of tiles with an uninterrupted vertical path to the magma source at the bottom z-level. If we get constant volume then we can create an artifical volcano, otherwise we just reduce our magma production.

[Quietust]

Magma doesn't spawn just anywhere at the top of a pipe - it only spawns at spots that have a clear path down to a "Magma Flow"/"Lava Flow" at the bottom. Thus, if one level of the magma pipe is very narrow, that'll severely limit the rate at which it refills.

It also doesn't strictly spawn at the top of the pipe, but from the surface of the magma, specifically as small columns 1-3 Z-levels tall (but never above the top of the pipe itself).

Code: [Select]

##        ##
###       ##
##       ###
###     ####
#  A B #####
#  A B C   #
###A B C####
##~~~~~~~###
####~~~~~###
###~~~~~####
##~~~~~~~###
#~~~~~~~~~##
##~~~~~~~~##
In this side-view, magma will not spawn at location A, but locations B and C are both possible.

[Firnagzen]

Oh, so that's why magma doesn't spawn on constructions the the magma pipe. Hm. It shouldn't be too tough to remove those choke points with some careful digging and caveins...

[Demetrious]

Hmmm.

I'm making my first magma fort now, and I was planning on building a giant pump stack going clean down to one of the lowest levels of the magma pipe so I could feed a magma cistern near the surface from the very bottom of the pipe, and thus never have to worry about running out of magma either for magma forges OR my obsidian farm.

If the pipe refills that fast, I take it that this is an overly complex dwarven solution?

[Dorf3000]

Hmmm.

I'm making my first magma fort now, and I was planning on building a giant pump stack going clean down to one of the lowest levels of the magma pipe so I could feed a magma cistern near the surface from the very bottom of the pipe, and thus never have to worry about running out of magma either for magma forges OR my obsidian farm.

If the pipe refills that fast, I take it that this is an overly complex dwarven solution?

It depends.  If you need a large quantity of magma quickly its the only way, but you may need to wait a long time for the pipe to refill depending on its shape.

Also you don't really need a cistern for magma furnaces.  If you design the tunnels to be 1z lower than the source, and make sure you don't pressurize it, then it will stay in the tunnels and not flow back out again.  If you're really paranoid you can create the furnace room, channel out 1x1 tiles where you want to put the workshops, fill the whole thing with magma and then pump it or drain it back out.  Then you're left with the 1x1 pits of magma.

[Demetrious]

  If you're really paranoid you can create the furnace room, channel out 1x1 tiles where you want to put the workshops, fill the whole thing with magma and then pump it or drain it back out.  Then you're left with the 1x1 pits of magma.

Yeah, that was one of my ideas- to make a magma-proof floodgate, fill the channel containing the magma, and then shut it off again so that the channel always has some 7/7 magma in it no matter what the magma levels in the pipe.

The pump stack idea is primarily because I don't want to have an inoperable obsidian farm because the magma pipe's first two z-layers are empty and have a ton of magma sitting below, unused.