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[Crossroads Inc.]

For many of us in 2.0 we reached a point were we wouldn't even CONSIDER playing on a map unless there was an esaily reached magma pipe.  So within the first year we would an inexhaustable supply of Smelters and Magma Forges  while All wood on the map could be turned over to the important and vital "Four Bs"
Beds
Barrels
Bins
Buckets

Now however... NOW We must dig down almost 50 to 60 Z levels, through 3 Underground worlds before reaching Magma.  And then, unless oyu are REALLY good with mgma pumps, you end up having to rebuild a fort down their so people don't die of thirst or hunger from the trip up and down.

SO I am curious, how is everyone coping at having to WORK for our magma now?

[smjjames]

It is possible to find a magma pool which reaches up to the first or second level of the caverns, reducing the distance to less than 20 z-levels in some places. Having to move the magma 30 z-levels is better than having to move it 50 or even more levels.

I haven't really done fort mode very much, so I haven't gotten to the point of setting up a forge/smelter area.

[Hyndis]

I'm currently using the automatic vermin remains => coke reaction, and that combined with how plentiful coal and lignite is is enough for me to get my metal working industry up and running.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Wait how do you convert vermain remains into coke?

[Sorcerer]

my current fort is producing steel bars non-stop, but i still can't get rid of my 300+ coke bars

magma is for melting elves

[Logical2u]

I've been playing with the same sort of world-gen parameters as I used in 40d and generating copious amounts of volcanoes, so I can get very-early magma access. (60+ volcanoes on a "Smaller" world)

The new volcano shape parameters though still make me work - especially when combined with the ambient heat transfer bugs. Sacrificing a single immigrant for the good of 32 magma smelters is a rite of passage for my forts now.

Crossroads - it's a custom reaction

[Nirreln]

There are still volcanoes so getting magma higher up isn't that big of a deal. The magma pools in the higher caverns seem rather rare, but maybe high vulcanism level might help that.

[Pickled Tink]

I prefer to build my fort down that deep right away. It's not hard. The limiting factor on depth would probably be getting goods from the surface down to that depth. No one likes a 230 tile round trip. Easiest way to get everything down to the stockpiles is to chuck it down a 100 z level deep hole you dig as you do your stairs down. It's surprisingly effective, and you get a quantum stockpile right away.

I'll admit there are some defensive issues, but those can be addressed by the creative. You can get a fort established down there sitting between the third underground and the magma sea in about two months. The only difficulty is in getting the stuff to the trade depot, but before you start doing the massive trading, you can get a 100 z level ramp leading the caravans down to your level (At which point you seal the top of the shaft and fill the caravan route with traps and you're set)

[Hyndis]

Wait how do you convert vermain remains into coke?

Check the modding forum.

Its actually a workaround because currently vermin remains do not rot, and its just an automatic smelter reaction to turn 1 vermin remains into 1 bar of coke. It takes care of two problems at once. You get fuel for your metal industry and it also stops your refuse stockpiles from entirely filling it. It even makes cats useful pets! 

[Squirrelloid]

I dig a stair shaft straight down, first a single-tile exploratory (to see what the underground looks like), and then either find a place to drop a 3x3 stair shaft through solid rock, or wall off caverns around a 3x3 centered on the single tile exploratory.  I'm looking for magma ASAP.  Ultimately, i can channel out the central stair and designate a garbage dump on any level straight down to magma.

I try to build my fort around this stair shaft.  Sure, farming will be at the top - but my farmers never need go all the way to the bottom.  I don't build bedrooms until later, so those can be sunk 20 z-levels, and the dining hall can be about the same depth (this isolates bedrooms from noise pretty effectively).

The transit time isn't that bad since you're only walking it occasionally.  And you can separate your fort into deep dwarves and 'surface' dwarves via burrows.  You can even make a second dining room and drink repository near the bottom.

[slink]

I'm buying all the wood that I can get from the caravans, to make charcoal, to make glass pipes and corkscrews.  So far I have completed 33 of the 107 screw pumps required to bring magma up to the fortress which occupies the first three levels under the surface.  Then I will need to build 12 waterwheels on the brook.  The question is whether I will have given up for other reasons (such as population-caused lag) before I complete the project.

I did turn off invasions so that I could learn how the military works (or doesn't work, as the case may be) at my own speed.

Maybe after this fortress grinds to a halt, I will try Squirreloids method.  It sounds interesting.

[Jamini]

In my current (300 Challenge) fort, I actually chose to simply start on the surface and work my way down slowly while my military grows.

Suprisingly, I'm finding it really easy to keep my forges fed with regular wood and coke/lignite in the new version. (Granted, I also embarked in a tropical rain forest and have two legendary Herbalists constantly clearing the map of other plants that get in the way of tree growth. Currently I'm just getting into year 3.

I imagine that it will be harder to support a metal industry without magma later on, however really one wood burner and a few furnace operators focusing on coke can easily supply a fort without much trouble.

[Owlbread]

I survive by embarking only on maps with volcanoes, which was made easier by generating the world with the maximum number of volcanoes.

[Paul]

I just find sites where the magma isn't very deep, like the map I'm playing on now with magma 14 levels below the surface on the first cavern layer. I put my fort down in the cavern system and barely had to move the magma.

[Erk]

I'm buying all the wood that I can get from the caravans, to make charcoal, to make glass pipes and corkscrews.  So far I have completed 33 of the 107 screw pumps required to bring magma up to the fortress which occupies the first three levels under the surface.  Then I will need to build 12 waterwheels on the brook.  The question is whether I will have given up for other reasons (such as population-caused lag) before I complete the project.

I did turn off invasions so that I could learn how the military works (or doesn't work, as the case may be) at my own speed.

Maybe after this fortress grinds to a halt, I will try Squirreloids method.  It sounds interesting.

Why don't you just build a temporary set of glass furnaces down in the magma layer until you've finished your pump stack?