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[ragincajun]

Hey all... finally found a magma pipe after piddling around with this game for a couple of months (yes, they are hard to find..lol).

Anyway, I've hit an obsidian wall on two levels (call them levels 4 and 5 going down from the surface).  Level 5...when I select the MINE option, has one grid on the wall flash red which I am assuming tells me magma is behind that wall.  When I go up one level to level 4, the same grid on the obsidian wall does NOT flash red. 

So, two questions here...

1. Level 5 flashing and level 4 not flashing, does that tell me the magma tops out on level 5?
2. Now that I've found magma...I'm really not sure what to do.  I read the wiki but still confused and I don't want to botch this up after hunting through dozens of created fortresses to find a magma source for smelters and forges.

Any tips, suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

[Cal]

For question 1, magma pipes are not static in size, one level might be (roughly) 20x20 and then a level up or down from that may by 15x15 or 25x25 (again, roughly, I'm sure you know they're not square) so to find out mine upward and over towards what you think the center is, when you find the cap, which will be an open space area with visible magma, it will reveal the entire magma pipe or pool.

For your second question, let's take a smelter for example:

-X-
---
---

That's the shape of the smelter with the X being the blocked space, beneath that blocked space you need a channel and in the channel at least 4/7 level of magma. The channel only needs to be in that one space, the rest should be normal floors. So, dig out a long pipeline up to the edge of the magma pipe (not into the pipe just yet) leading out towards your fort, I tend to do something like:

#########
                #
#################
                #
#########

With enough room for multiple smelters, forges, kilns and glass furnaces for expansion in the future, the # simply being dug out spaces, if you keep in mind that the buildings are all 3x3, each fork should run under the middle of your line of buildings, that way whatever tile you need to channel out will get filled with magma.

After you get your tunnel for the magma to flow set up, you're ready to let the magma flow, almost.

          |MM
#####|MM
          |MM

the # is again the dug out spaces with | being the wall right next to the volcano and M being the magma. You can place a floodgate and link it to a lever in the # spaces if you want, this lets you stop the flow from the volcano after your channel is full but it isn't really needed unless you're planning multiple magma things like moats and the like where you need to stop the flow right near your smelters and open another channel to fill the moat. From that depiction, you'll want to go up a level, preferably where the volcano is smaller than the level your tunnel is on so that you can have a miner stand next to the spot where the # meets the | and channel it out, letting the magma flow into the tunnel. Seal the downward stairs first, either with a locked door or hatch over the stairs so that your miners don't for some reason go back down and get killed (it's happened to me before) then channel out that space and enjoy smelting/forging with no fuel.

[Ivan Issaccs]

Magma doesn't exert pressure like water.

So the easiest is too start at I suppose the top level and dig out a 20*20 square next to the pipe and seal it off with a wall.
Then you can dig a channel in the dividing wall between the chamber/magma on the level above. (Make sure its possible to do that first of course without A. The tile already being submerged in magma or B. Flooding the top chamber.

Now you can dig an identical chamber above the first. In this chamber you can build as many magma related buildings as you like and once you have the first you will realise how easy it is to expand.

Two tips though.
Start a level or two below the top of the pipe. That way if you expand the area later you wont need to worry about the magma level dropping below 4 and stopping your forges.
Build a row (or two) that the magma needs to pass to get into your chamber. This keeps out most of the magma nasties and build a floor above the original channel.
Have fun

[Astramancer]

Now that you've more or less found the pipe, it's probably best to reveal it by going to the surface and just digging out a shaft straight down.  As stated earlier, once you get a down stair into the pipe, it will reveal the whole thing.  Nothing can get out of the pipe through this shaft because there's no up stairs on the magma's surface, but I like to cap it off with a constructed floor.

The easiest way to tap the magma is to find a place in the pipe where the upper level is smaller than the lower level.  Dig the magma tunnel that your forges and smelters are going to be above, and dig it to two tiles away from the magma.  Smooth and engrave a fortification at the end of the tunnel (the fortification will have one tile of obsidian between it and the lava).  Then get everyone out of the tunnel, and channel out that one tile from above.  The Fortification will keep most of the magma pipe beasties out - flow can push stuff through impassable tiles (like fortifications), but maga doesn't flow very well, so the odds of having something sucked through the fortification is very, very low.

Since magma doesn't flow well, it does take forever to get your magma to 4/7+ (depending on length, it can take several years for the whole thing to fill up).

Recommendation: Do not make magma buildings until it's always 5/7.  This is because the moment it dips below 4/7 (even if it's just for one step) it removes all pending jobs (annoying), and any moody dwarf that has chosen that particular forge will go instantly insane (very annoying).

Visuals!  (X = unmined obsidian, F = fortification, M = magma, C = channel here)

Code: [Select]

Side view:
XXXXXMMMMM
XXXXMMMMMM

This is what you're looking for when you go to make your magma tunnel.

___CXMMMM
__FCMMMMM

your miner stands up top and channels away, perfectly safe.
[code]

You can either wall up this access tunnel or just floor over the channel, either way, magma beasties can't get through.  Magma will flood through the lower tunnel, but it won't ever go up into the upper tunnel (well, unless you use a pump to pressurize the magma, but if you're doing that, you don't need a basic tutorial)

One thing you can do to speed up the usable magma flow (getting to and keeping it at 4/7) without having to use pumps is to make your magma tunnel fairly short, and make a whole bunch of them in a row, with one tile of unmined rock between them.  When the first segment fills up to 7/7, channel out the block.  If you make them short enough, then even when it's filling up the new segment, the old segments won't drop below 7/7.  More micromanagement, but you can use it earlier.  If you have a ton of bauxite, you could do it automatically with pressure plates at the end of each segment opening up bauxite floodgates.  It's more work up front, but you don't have to pay attention to it once it's going, which is a plus.

[slink]

My method is the same as Astramancer's up to the point of digging a tunnel.  Rather than wait for the magma to flow somewhere else, I locate two levels with the largest difference in size between the lower, larger one and the upper, smaller one.  I dig out the rock surrounding the smaller section of the pipe, except for the part needed to keep the magma inside the pipe.  Then I plan my furnace and forge locations based on placing one of the darkened Xs over a spot where magma lies below.  A darkened X in the workshop plan indicates a blocked tile, and it will block anything from rising from below also.

I have them channel out one tile and immediately have them build the workshop, then repeat.  You will want to have your anvil(s) stored nearby before you designate a forge, because it takes a long time to drag those from far away.  If you are careful, you can have all the forges and furnaces set up before the imps figure out what you are doing, and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it after you are done.   

[Corinthius]

So if I understand this correctly, the entire magma pipe will be revealed when
1) The pipe wall is breached.
2) You find the capstone.

I've had quite a bit of Fun with magma recently, so I'm trying to figure how to not have quite so much Fun with it.

Here is the problem:


I am digging. I get the "Magma pipe found" notice when I first hit obsidian. The magma pipe is not revealed. I dig left a bit to try to hit the magma pipe at a 90 degree angle, thought that was the problem, but it wasn't. So anyway. I continue digging through obsidian. Soon I get the "warm stone located, digging stopping" type warning. However, by the time I get that, as you can see, the miner has already breached the wall, flooding the tunnel and the fortress and everyone. =[ Should I switch to digging up as soon as I get the initial warning regarding "magma pipe found?"

[gtmattz]

When I am in your situation (I know a mnagma pipe is there, but its not revealed etc), when I get the warm stone message I immediately save the game, then open it back up and start digging into the warm stone until the pipe is revealed and my miner dies etc.  Then I go up the pipe and find the level of the top and make a note of its location, then use ctrl+alt+del and end task on DF in the task manager (i.e. 'savescum').  Then re-load the game and use a staircase to reveal the pipe from the middle of the top.

[Corinthius]

I see... interesting. So there is no way to do this safely without savescumming?

[Hungry]

You can do it by digging up in levels and then towards the pipe till you stop hitting warm stone, and instead hit the end chamber.

Like this.

[Corinthius]

But the problem with that is, my dude never stops in time. He's already breached the wall when I get the warm stone warning. So instead, I'm trying to just watch carefully: once I hit obsidian and no pipe shows up, I know I haven't hit the top yet. So I go up another level.

[Shaostoul]

You could try starting above it and using up/down stairs until you hit the pipe.

Also, are you certain it's a pipe? It could be a pool..?

[silhouette]

Thats... weird...
it should automatically undesignate those places when it says "warm stone found" or "damp stone found"..
well atleast it does it for me...

[Corinthius]

It's definitely a pipe. I had always thought that he would automatically stop after the warm stone warning, but as you can see in the picture, he doesn't. Strange.

[Astramancer]

The picture also says that it is canceling digging designations.  Keep in mind that if the stone is already flashing 'warm' when you designate it, it won't cancel.

However, there are ways of keeping it from flooding your fortress.  Magma (currently) won't melt something unless it's in the same square as it (except Ice, in some situations).  This means that a wooden door will hold back magma, as long as someone doesn't open the door to take a peek at the magma - at that point, some magma will leak into the door tile, setting it aflame, and causing much fun.  Magma also will not flow up, like water will.

This means that if you're worried about accidental breaches, then build a u-bend (or even just a small pit with ramp access or something) to keep the lava at bay, or build a door or two that you can lock behind your miner, ensuring that the magma will at least be stopped there.  On a similar note, use a fresh soapmaker to do the breach.  You can either do the draft and station trick, or the assigned lever trick to get him into the right area, then lock the door behind him, and then start the dig designations.

To protect against wandering attention (on your part), you could even link the lever to the door behind him, and a drawbridge in front of him.  Then you can set all the designations, the drawbridge will keep your good miners from trying to bathe in lava.  Then you set the 'pull' order, your sacrificial pawn gleefully locks himself in, and then reveals the designated stone, and now he gleefully mines into the pipe.  Sure, it takes more prep, but you don't run into the situation where you suddenly realize he's been chasing cockroaches for the past year and refuses to try to mine out the pipe because he's so hungry and thirsty.