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Magma Up!  I need my Sun Berries!

46 (32.6%)

Dwarves Down.  Real Dwarves don't need sunlight!

58 (41.1%)

Magma?  Meh.  Overrated.  I'll just cut more trees.

14 (9.9%)

I use burrows.  Why engineer the terrain when you can engineer the workforce?

23 (16.3%)

Total Members Voted: 141

Voting closed: April 19, 2010, 06:16:05 pm

[Forumsdwarf]

It's a pretty huge engineering project to bring magma 120 levels up through (or around) labyrinthine caverns patrolled by dangerous beasts and the dreaded giant cave spiders.

It's also inefficient, assuming you find a safe path to the magma and build deep underground, to have your dwarfs constantly running up 120 flights of stairs for surface goodies like sun berries, whip vines, or the always-convenient rope reeds when tails are out of season.

There are several ways to solve it.  What's your favorite?

[JoystickHero]

Down. If you want your sun berries that badly, dig a shaft. Indoor/outdoor is still bugged so that even if you put a ceiling over something outdoors, it still counts as outdoors even when it isn't getting light. If you dislike using exploits, cover it with glass instead. This also allows you to centralize all your farming in one general area, which means less hauling plants around, which means fewer spoiling before they get to a stockpile.

[darkrider2]

down... personally I wonder if there is even a need for the surface, we have underground trees, and underground oceans,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

and magma seas oh my!

[PopeRichardCorey]

Both.  Flood the surface with magma, shelling your dwarves off as it was meant to be.  There is a reason that they like shells so much, you know...

[Wolfius]

Well, you could use burrow restrictions(or just walls, airlocks, etc.) to split your dwarves into near-surface and deep mines populations. With a drop-shaft, sending loot down is a simple matter of dumping up top and reclaiming it down in the mines.

You could even do your trading up there, either making the goods up top, or transporting high-value item from the mines. Then drop the loot down the shaft.

[Paul]

I just use custom world gen to reduce the z-levels. It's much more manageable with fewer z-levels, especially if your magma is only 14 levels deep (penetrating the 1st cavern layer). Better FPS.

[lastofthelight]

I don't understand how anyone could have any sort of metal industry without magma. I can clear-cut an entire forest just making barrels, bins and beds. Let alone worrying about charcoal and so on.

[Vieto]

I just use custom world gen to reduce the z-levels. It's much more manageable with fewer z-levels, especially if your magma is only 14 levels deep (penetrating the 1st cavern layer). Better FPS.

the only problem with this, is that lower caverns have more savage wildlife and plant types, and you get less HFS.

[PopeRichardCorey]

I don't understand how anyone could have any sort of metal industry without magma. I can clear-cut an entire forest just making barrels, bins and beds. Let alone worrying about charcoal and so on.

Lignite and Bituminous Coal.  If the economy kicks in, it'll employ twice as many dwarves!

[JoystickHero]

If the economy kicks in you're a masochist and didn't turn off economy, it'll employ twice as many dwarves!

FTFY.

[PopeRichardCorey]

If the economy kicks in you're a masochist and didn't turn off economy, it'll employ twice as many dwarves!

FTFY.

Hey, I get bored with the normal stuff once my fortress is up and running.  I want to balance some REAL challenges!

[Paul]

I just use custom world gen to reduce the z-levels. It's much more manageable with fewer z-levels, especially if your magma is only 14 levels deep (penetrating the 1st cavern layer). Better FPS.

the only problem with this, is that lower caverns have more savage wildlife and plant types, and you get less HFS.

The site I picked has all the features and HFS intact. It's just set to the minimum between layers. No downside that I can see other than less solid stone layers to dig in (thus less resources overall), but I doubt I'll run out considering how abundant resources are.

[DarthCloakedDwarf]

For Armok's sake, man, leave the liquid fire alone.

[Pickled Tink]

I vote for pumping magma up into the sky and building a mechanism to drop it on people. Anything else is undwarvenly behavior.

[Foxbyte]

Magma up. On my current map, the magma's only 50 levels down. That's nothing!