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[VerdantSF]

I'm a magma virgin ready for my first excursion past the caverns.  I've noticed a lot of posts that detail how to bring the magma up.  Other than the distance for haulers, is there a disadvantage to just setting up a magma workshop outpost way down below?

[FuzzyZergling]

There is the possibility that your dwarves could get hungry/thirsty/tired just going down to the workshops.
If you do want to build them down in the magme sea, set up little "outposts" for your metalworkers.

[brucemo]

People seem to view vertical travel as being more expensive than it is, and horizontal travel as being cheaper.  Therefore, I think most forts are too much like pancakes and should be more like beer cans.

I've run forges forty or fifty levels below the surface and had no problem.  I'd rather have it nearer the surface but it's not crippling to have the stuff down there.  I'd be more worried about trying to do a glass industry like this but that's probably okay too.

[Dorf3000]

Digging down can leave a messy stairwell that is exposed to the caverns or has to dodge around open spaces, which can be irritating.  It also takes forever to haul gold ore down there, and forge operators will run back and forth for booze and sleep and to go on break and.. you get the idea.  You'll start smelting earlier, but it will be slower.

If you want to make a gold palace with steel spikes on top of every wall and a clear glass fountain in the courtyard, you'll probably want the forges close to the surface, even if it does take a year to get them running.

[Jordrake]

Bituminous coal and it's like are plentiful. I just use coal fires in my forges. Magma is for drowning dudes in.

[Patchy]

Go ahead and drop a shaft down there and get the industry going for now. Later on if you want it closer to where your main fort is, you can begin costructing a pump stack or piston to move it up. If you set up housing and a dining hall down with your forges, it should mitigate the worse of the travel time. Turn off your forgers hauling labors and let your grunt haulers do the work of moving the ores down there.

[slothen]

I've run forges forty or fifty levels below the surface and had no problem.  I'd rather have it nearer the surface but it's not crippling to have the stuff down there.  I'd be more worried about trying to do a glass industry like this but that's probably okay too.

I'm guessing it would also be possible to dig out a small shaft and drop a 2x2x1 square of sand all the way down to your magma.  Of course, if you do it a bit bigger and with more careful engineering, the same trick can bring magma all the way to the surface.

[Smitehappy]

I've got a more convoluted way then most but convoluted is fun and gives you something to do. Start with just setting up a food/booze fort up near they surface. Nothing fancy at first, just build how you normally would. Once you're establish start digging down till you hit magma. I like to go out horizontally as well as vertically when I'm digging for magma simply because I like the idea of an underground highway connecting my two seperate forts.

Once you hit magma start digging out a new fort for metalworks. Bedrooms, dining halls, and anything else you keep in a normal fort. Once you got it all dug out seperate your two populations with Burrows (BURROWS ARE KEY!). Keep 4 or 5 dwarfs unassigned as runners, disable all labors but hauling on them. Exclude waste hauling if you tend to dump a lot of stone as it tends to keep them too busy to actually run material like they're suppose to. Add more dwarfs if you feel things aren't being moved quick enough.

What I do to keep food hauling simple is disable all raw foods (Plants, uncooked meats, etc) in all food stockpiles but your food producing fort. Instead only allow prepared food (Booze and cooked meals) in all your other forts. It makes dealing with food a lot easier since dwarfs won't haul plants and meats all the way to the other forts.

Repeat if you feel like it and you can have a whole fortress empire spanning the entire map. Usually I have each fort focus on one thing. It also finally eliminated the problems I had with too many jobless dwarfs and now my military have a reason to patrol the underground highways!

[JAFANZ]

I've run forges forty or fifty levels below the surface and had no problem.  I'd rather have it nearer the surface but it's not crippling to have the stuff down there.  I'd be more worried about trying to do a glass industry like this but that's probably okay too.

I'm guessing it would also be possible to dig out a small shaft and drop a 2x2x1 square of sand all the way down to your magma.  Of course, if you do it a bit bigger and with more careful engineering, the same trick can bring magma all the way to the surface.

Wouldn't this need to be at least 2z deep to prevent Cave-in Deconstruction?

[Bernard]

How can you flood the surface world with Magma killing all those pesky elves and trees if you don't pump the Magma up?

[Ephemeriis]

Somewhat unrelated question...

But everyone seems to want to keep their fortress up near the surface.  The discussions are all about either bringing magma up to the surface, or having your dwarves trucking back and forth all day long.

Why not relocate the whole place down below?  Other than immigrants/caravans, why do you need to stay near the surface?

[Arekis]

I've always built my forges down near the magma sea (sometimes 150+ z-levels deep).  It's relatively fast to do and whatever slowdown you might see due to distance you can more than offset by the number of simultaneous smelters/furnaces, not to mention the many idle loiters likely to be in the fort.  Constructing a 150 z-level magma pump stack is not trivial and significantly more time-consuming.  Moreover, you'll need glass/metals for the pump components which are easily acquired with magma furnaces/smelters anyway.

Why not relocate the whole place down below?  Other than immigrants/caravans, why do you need to stay near the surface?

For me it's just a matter of personal preference.  My forts turn out to be just subterranean (minus the forges) and I like having a surface militia, agriculture, and above-ground courtyards/constructions as an option.

[Darkmere]

I fully endorse the Z-spanning fortress. Above cavern 1 is usually housing and offices, meeting hall/hospital/food production is above cavern 2, 3 and below is a magma-belching furnace and heavy industry. Just setup stockpile chains to move junk from the bottom up while it's being decorated with cat bones, let it end up near the trade depot. Seal off the entrance with a small bridge and you're set.

[BigJake]

Huge fan of digging down, not out.  Throw a little bunkhouse, food pile and maybe their own still if it's way down there and they'll be golden.

[Shrugging Khan]

I'm against the habit of building near-surface forts. I've got one fort for Caravans/Migrants/Siege-Funneling near the surface, one small farming/hunting/woodcutting outpost entirely above the surface, a Metalworking/Glassmaking District down with the magma, and a Noble/Crafting/Animal Handling/Storage/Hospital Centre in between. Also, a little recreational/windmill tower out in the Ocean. Yay me, five forts!