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[Fewah]

Hey guys,

i cant figure out how to properly harvest magma to be used for forging or anything at all..

i dont understand how to make pumps use them or how to use the magma properly with a metalforge...

can someone please help?
Read the wiki... twice... i get to the magma and i end up losing 5 dwarves trying to properly flow it places.

thanks

[Cotes]

Eh, what were you exactly trying to do?

Pumps work like this:

Code: [Select]


  pP~~
~~####
######

Pumping from left to right (sideview)
~ = liquid
pP = pump (tile [p] is walkable and does not block liquid, i.e it acts much like a floor. [P] tile blocks liquid and is not walkable)
# = wall

Remember the U-tube effect too. Even magma, which normally does not have it, will always rise to the level the pump is:

Code: [Select]

Without pump:

~~~###    #
##~~~~~~~~#
###########

With pump:

pP~###~~~#
##~~~~~~~#
##########

E:
Magma forges and smelters and such works simply by building the workshop partialyl over magma. Typically you dig out one square from the floor under which the magma is and build the workshop over it:

Code: [Select]

From side:

z1|  WWW
   -- --
z0|~~~~~

WWW = the magma fueled workshop
- = floor tile
~ = magma



[Fewah]

uhh thats total gibberish to me :/

[vinegarninja]

http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/03/02/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-11-%E2%80%9Cburning-hot-mag-ma%E2%80%9D/

If this doesn't help, I know not what could.

[Cotes]

uhh thats total gibberish to me :/

Each letter/symbol in the diagram represents a tile in the game. This ### is a three tile long wall for example. pP is pump because pumps have too tiles in the game (in this case the capital is the outflow tile).

And again, try to be a bit more specific about what you want to know. The most basic thing to know about pumps is that they pump from one level beneath to the level to pump is.

 Like this:

Code: [Select]

this is the pump, on level z1
    | 
    v   
    pP
~~~~#####  <-- this is bunch of wall tiles, on level z0 (that is one under z1...)

^
|
this is magma, also on level z0



Code: [Select]

When you star pumping:

  magma is pushed up to the level z1 to the other side of the pump
       |
       v
    pP~~~~~
~~~~#####


[Beeskee]

Pumps are used for moving liquid up a level, if you don't need to do that then you don't need pumps. I've had good luck putting my metalworking and obsidian manufacturing on the level where the magma is. Pumping magma is tricky, if you haven't done any major pumping projects I'd recommend waiting on that for now, until you have more experience with magma.

I put in plumbing (corridors that will be flooded) first and then knock out the last wall that holds the magma back from the floor above by channeling, once everything is constructed.

Magma workshops have a blocked tile, it will be the dark green tile that you see when placing the building. Channel out a hole where one of those spots will be before placing the building. This hole should lead to your plumbing. Once the magma fills above a depth of 4 the building will go active. If the plumbing is filling slowly the building will flicker between off and on until the magma rises higher.


Obsidian casting needs 3 chambers, all the same size and stacked atop each other, with a retracting bridge for the upper chamber. The upper chamber fills with water, the lower chamber fills with magma, and the middle chamber is where your dwarfs enter to mine out the obsidian. It's also needed from what I understand, as water has to fall onto the magma from above.  Dig out the upper chamber, then channel downwards for the lower chambers. If you want a floodgate for the magma you will need 3 magma safe mechanisms, check the wiki ( http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Magma_safe ) if you don't feel like experimenting.  If not, there are some designs for obsidian manufacturing that don't need a floodgate.


If you're having trouble and would like to see an in-game example, I can upload a fort that has all the magma workshops and a small obsidian manufacturing system already built.

Edit:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BX5NPQ2F

I uploaded it.   F2 takes you to the magma workshops. All levers are labeled. For obsidian casting, lock the chamber door, then pull the left and center levers until the two chambers are full, then pull them again and when the chambers are sealed, pull the rightmost lever. Once the obsidian is cast, pull the rightmost lever again, unlock the door, and begin channeling the magma chamber out.

The workshops are all set up already, the plumbing is visible on the level below.

Warning, I was playing with Invaders disabled, so defenses are untested.

[Rkui]

Use the old version section about magma in the wiki, they are some nice drawing on how to channel magma properly. And i never used pump on magma, the all idea is a bit strange to me to start with, and i always try to have a vulcano so my dwarf won't freeze in that snowy montains.

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Magma


You cannot "harvest" magma, you need to channel it, then built a forge or whatever on top of it, well just a part of the worshop need to be in contact with magma, so your dwarf wont have to swim in it :/ Watch the Captain duck video about it.

[Cotes]

The notion that you don't need pumps to move magma around, even if it is to the same level or lower, is only true for really short distances.

It will take ages for unpressurized magma to flow through half a site, and with bad luck it will at some point start to evaporate faster than it fills.

[Jelle]

Magma doesn't flow slow for me at all.
If it evaporates before it can flow where you want it, it's likely the distance is just to much. Try filling sections first. Can't say I've ever had any difficulty with magma evaporating though.

[Cotes]

Magma doesn't flow slow for me at all.
If it evaporates before it can flow where you want it, it's likely the distance is just to much. Try filling sections first. Can't say I've ever had any difficulty with magma evaporating though.

Or I can just make one damn pump and never have to worry about any of that.

[slink]

Pumps are easy.  Make the pump of all green glass parts.  It shouldn't work, but it does.

[Cyntrox]

Magma doesn't flow slow for me at all.
If it evaporates before it can flow where you want it, it's likely the distance is just to much. Try filling sections first. Can't say I've ever had any difficulty with magma evaporating though.

Or I can just make one damn pump and never have to worry about any of that.

The simplest way to use magma for forges, though, is in my opinion to just build forges above the magma sea.

[Cotes]

Magma doesn't flow slow for me at all.
If it evaporates before it can flow where you want it, it's likely the distance is just to much. Try filling sections first. Can't say I've ever had any difficulty with magma evaporating though.

Or I can just make one damn pump and never have to worry about any of that.

The simplest way to use magma for forges, though, is in my opinion to just build forges above the magma sea.

I don't really like to do it like that. I mean the first temporary forges go over magma sea or pipes, sure, but I always want the fortress' real forges to be actually inside the fortress.

Besides, doing it like that always gives you a project or two to focus on for the first few years.