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[Jimmy]

Seeking input from players who have experience with using the bottomless pit as a magma reservoir. I'm playing on a map with a magma pipe and a bottomless pit, and I want to create a screw pump tower between the two that will create three multi-z level magma stores.

My main question revolves around the bottom of the pit. I think I remember someone talking about smoothing the pit's lower tiles to create a surface that will support magma. Does this need to be done using constructions, or can it be accomplished a different way? I'd rather not use constructions for this job if I can avoid it. Casting the magma is an option, since I have a river nearby, but that's gonna be a lot of effort.

[gtmattz]

From my experimentation with using bottomless pits as reservoirs you will have to build constructions across the bottom.  You cant really cast magma down there, as you have to have it puddled on the bottom, and it cant do that if it keeps falling into the chasm tiles now can it?

[Jimmy]

Unless I build an iron bridge on the bottom level, pour magma onto that, then cast it.

[njero]

What happens to constructed floors when you cast on top of them? I've always assumed they're obliterated in the process. If that's the case, and not constructing is an aesthetic option, you can indeed cast a concrete floor across the pit, it'll just take an extra step.

[edit]
Ah, you beat me to it. Are bridges obliterated in the process as well?

[Quietust]

If you're using bridges, it'll work as long as you pour the water in from the side - if you drop it in the middle, it'll cause an instant cave-in and destroy the bridges.

[Jimmy]

I'm also interested in the results of casting on top of constructed floors. If I mine out the obsidian, will that reveal the object used to create the construction, or will that item be removed from the game, or will it remain in my stocks screen as a ghost item?

Also, regarding the bridge scenario, will a cave-in occur if the cast obsidian is connected to a wall when it's created?

[Raphite1]

If you're using bridges, it'll work as long as you pour the water in from the side - if you drop it in the middle, it'll cause an instant cave-in and destroy the bridges.

     That's if you're pouring the water as the second step, after the magma is in place, right? Otherwise, this is something new to me, and blows my mind.

[Quietust]

I'm also interested in the results of casting on top of constructed floors. If I mine out the obsidian, will that reveal the object used to create the construction, or will that item be removed from the game, or will it remain in my stocks screen as a ghost item?

Also, regarding the bridge scenario, will a cave-in occur if the cast obsidian is connected to a wall when it's created?

From my experience, the floor materials will probably become "hidden" - in order to retrieve them, you might be able to channel out the obsidian floor and have them show up, or you might simply have to construct more floors on top and then deconstruct them (yielding 2 stones per tile).

If the obsidian is connected to a wall when it's created, it should not cave-in.

If you're using bridges, it'll work as long as you pour the water in from the side - if you drop it in the middle, it'll cause an instant cave-in and destroy the bridges.

     That's if you're pouring the water as the second step, after the magma is in place, right? Otherwise, this is something new to me, and blows my mind.

In order to make obsidian, you have to mix water and magma together, so the bridge has to be already covered with water or magma beforehand. If you cover it with magma, then you pour water on it from the side; if you cover it with water to begin with, then you pour magma on it from the side.

[The Grackle]

I'm also interested in the results of casting on top of constructed floors. If I mine out the obsidian, will that reveal the object used to create the construction, or will that item be removed from the game, or will it remain in my stocks screen as a ghost item?

If you construct floors on the bottom z level then cast obsidian over them, the constructed floors are replaced with natural obsidian floors that can't be deconstructed or channeled away(no channeling on bottom z level) or even destroyed by collapsing stuff on them. The ghost items will remain in your inventory even though you can't see them or get to them.  It pretty much kills the pit tiles. 
I never tried using magma-proof bridges, though, so IDK with that.

[EliDupree]

Why would you ever want to destroy a perfectly good bottomless pit?!

[LordSlowpoke]

Why would you ever want to destroy a perfectly good bottomless pit?!

Because we can.

[Zaranthan]

Why would you ever want to destroy a perfectly good bottomless pit?!

That's what I wanted to know.

Then I read the topic and now I want to know why everybody's so carried away with the obsidian casting. You can build a perfectly normal floor down there and it'll hold the magma just fine. If you want natural flooring, dig your own pit rather than ruining a perfectly good natural feature.

[Firehound]

maybe it's the drain for a underground river or something and he wants some of the cave creatures to survive

[Zaranthan]

Nah. The way he's describing it, he wants to use the pit as an extra magma reservoir. That would require either damming up the river (which would save said creatures anyway) or filling the entire cavern with magma (which would encase them all in obsidian).

[Dorf3000]

It is possible to magma cast at level 1 above the bottomless pit tiles, without leaving constructions behind.  You just need to floor over the very bottom with magmaproof bridges, fill it with 2 z-levels of magma, then pour in water on the top layer ensuring no cave ins (which can be hard to do, without buckets or constructed guide paths or turning cave ins off, doh).  After that, just open the bridges to let out the remaining magma and go down to deconstruct them.

I can think of one good reason to use a pit as a second reservoir, you don't have to wait a year or two for it to be dug out.