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[Old Skool]

How do you get rid of annoying ramps when you channel into flowing water to build a moat? Before 2010 I would just dig out the moat then channel out the last couple of tiles but now I get ramps whenever I channel. I saw a trick in the wiki but I was hoping for an easier way.

[Hyndis]

Channel it out, then after channeling it out remove the ramps. You will still need one last bit of stairs or a single ramp for the miner to get out of the dry moat before you fill it, but its a good idea to have occasional ramps or stairs so anyone who falls into it can escape before drowning.

Make sure the exit is to the outside of the moat, not the inside. You don't want an elite goblin falling into the moat and then climbing out into your dining hall.

[Old Skool]

What do you do when your situation is something like this:

h = channel
g and G = ground
7 = flowing water
w = walls

GGGGG7777
hhhhg7777
hhhhg7777
hhhhg7777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777

I want to turn those last 3 ground tiles ('g') into channels. Do I have to live with the ramps? I sure dont want one next to my walls...

[Passive Fist]

You have to have planned ahead, mostly. If you channel a floor where the level below it is already dug out, you don't get any ramps.

[Hyndis]

Or just leave half of the ramps there. Remove the inner ramps so there is a sheer wall going from the bottom of the moat to your fortress. Leave the ramps on the outer edge of the moat. This means anyone who falls into the moat can easily escape, but they will end up on the outside of the moat. They cannot fall into the moat and climb out on the inside of it, which would put them past your defenses.

[deoxy]

If you channel a floor where the level below it is already dug out, you don't get any ramps.

This.

OR... I like to leave one square NOT channeled, out in the middle.  I make a retractable bridge from it to the outside and one to the inside, and get rid of all ramps except one leading to that one-square island.  If one of my guys falls in, he can climb out and I let him back inside.  If an enemy falls in, I can let him in for slaughter or out if I'm busy right now.  If he dies in there for some reason (like, say, crossbows), I can get in to reclaim the goblinite.

[Old Skool]

OK.. back to my situation

h = channel
g and G = ground
7 = flowing water
w = walls

GGGGG7777
hhhhg7777
hhhhg7777
hhhhg7777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777

I dig (from z-1) under the g closest to the wall.. This lets water in from 7. I can then go back to level z and channel out where g is closest to the wall.. after a few moments I will have this situation:

GGGGG7777
4567g7777
5677g7777
567777777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777

with all the water tiles rapidly filling up to 7. How do I get rid of the other g tiles without leaving two ramps behind? The best I can figure is leaving something like this (with d being a down ramp):

GGGGG7777
7777d7777
7777d7777
777777777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777

But for aesthetic reasons I would really like:

GGGGG7777
7777d7777
777777777
777777777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777

or even better:

GGGGG7777
777777777
777777777
777777777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777

Any ideas?

[Hyndis]

Hold off on filling it with water until you have it all dug out. Once its dug out fill it up later. It makes it much easier to dig. I like lining the moat with rock blocks for both the floor and walls to make it all the more impressive, and this takes my masons time to do properly.

This also will allow you to drain or fill the moat whenever you want, such as to retrieve things that fall into the moat. You don't need to drain or fill it very rapidly. A single dwarf powered pump is enough since it would be rarely used and there is no time crunch, unlike a trap to catch goblinite.

[einstein9073]

OK.. back to my situation

Code: [Select]

GGGGG7777
hhhhg7777
hhhhg7777
hhhhg7777
wwwww7777
GGGGw7777...
Any ideas?

I think you don't get what you want with this moat. You have your water waiting right there next to the area you need to work in. You can wait for winter, or if it doesn't freeze there you may just be hosed.

[Christes]

Well, you can always dam off your stream too.  I mean, that's the overly engineered and dwarven way of doing it.

[Sizik]

If you dig out the middle tile, then the edge tile, the middle tile ramp will disappear since there's no wall supporting it.

[ohgoditburns]

You could *try* micromanaging the digging. If you've noticed, wall tiles go through several dig states before breaking down. If you carefully manage that, you could get each one to "almost dug", then designate the outside two for digging. Water floods in. Now designate all of the tiles for channeling from the top.

No ramps on the outside ones because they were dug first. No ramps on the inside ones because they'd be freestanding.

[Passive Fist]

You could *try* micromanaging the digging. If you've noticed, wall tiles go through several dig states before breaking down. If you carefully manage that, you could get each one to "almost dug", then designate the outside two for digging. Water floods in. Now designate all of the tiles for channeling from the top.

No ramps on the outside ones because they were dug first. No ramps on the inside ones because they'd be freestanding.

The 'one step' command would be good for this. It's the period key: .

[Nil Eyeglazed]

If you dig out the middle tile, then the edge tile, the middle tile ramp will disappear since there's no wall supporting it.

I don't think freestanding ramps automatically collapse anymore.  Even without a supporting wall, the middle ramp will remain.  Not that it'll matter for any reasons other than aesthetics.

[Old Skool]

The freestanding ramp does collapse. I saw this on the wiki and may try it out.. http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Channel

See the section on removing ramps.