Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Smackinjuice]

I HATE aquifers; I just don't understand how to get past them.  I have read on the wiki and tried a few of the ways but I guess I just don't understand it.  BTW I realize i can go around them, but sometimes you spawn in an area that is completely aquifer all around.  I just have them turned off for now but I feel as if I'm cheating.  Honestly I'm extremely a visual person, so if someone can just post pictures of step by step (or even finished products) of how to do it i will forever be your dwarf slave.  Following and praising you on these forums wherever you may post.

Sincerely, Dwarf Ryan

[Internet Kraken]

1.) Go into raw folder
2.) Open up all the inorganic_stone txt files
3.) Delete any [AQUIFER] tags found
4.) Gen new world.
5.) Never deal with an aquifer again.

[MadBoat]

There are a couple ways.

1) pick a spot that doesn't have an aquifer in all its' biomes. dig under the aquifer in the biome without an aquifer. You can then either ignore the aquifer or tap it from the bottom (if you tap it from the bottom, make sure you have a way to dispose of the water while you seal the aquifer with constructed walls).

2) pick a spot that freezes in winter. dig into the aquifer (at least a 5x5 square for a single level aquifer), allow it to flood, and wait for it to freeze. Dig a 3x3 square in the ice, erect walls on the outside, and a stairway in the middle. repeat until you're through the aquifer. You need to use a large enough hole at the beginning so that you can breach the bottom level of the aquifer with at least a 5x5 square

3) pick a spot with a volcano. dig a stairway right next to the caldera; often the stone right next to the pipe doesn't allow water in. not guaranteed to work (volcanoes are tricky bastards). DO NOT tap the aquifer next to the caldera.

4) pick a spot with a volcano. dig into the aquifer (at least a 3x3 square), allow it to flood. channel or pump magma out of the volcano and dump it into the flooded area. This produces obsidian, which blocks the water. dig through normally. If you are obliged to use a pump to move the magma to an aquifer it must be made of magma safe materials; Green glass will work if you have access to sand (bring bags).  As with the ice method, you must start with a wider hole on top than you expect to make on the bottom.

5) Bring components for several screw pumps and power generation with you on embark (everything with the exception of the stone block and any gear assemblies you need can be made out of wood, which you might be able to harvest on-site.) Dig into the aquifer. Screw pumps pump water out of a hole faster than it leeches in through the aquifer, so with several screw pumps pumping out of the same hole you can keep the hole dry enough to work in. Erect constructed walls as normal. As with the ice and magma methods, you must start with a wider hole on top than you expect to make on the bottom.

I've only ever used the first method, because every other method is a pain in the ass for one reason or another.

[Urist Imiknorris]

1.) Go into raw folder
2.) Open up all the inorganic_stone txt files
3.) Delete any [AQUIFER] tags found
4.) Gen new world.
5.) Never deal with an aquifer again.

This is what I use. I highly recommend it.

[LealNightrunner]

everything with the exception of the stone block

You can make wooden blocks.  You can also construct a pump mostly out of glass as well (I don't know if you can make the screw out of glass), but without magma you have to use wood to make that glass anyway if you can't find lignite/coal, so wooden pumps are generally the best. 

The stone for mechanisms for power generation and potentially gear assemblies are the only things you absolutely need to bring with you if you're concerned you won't be able to find any stone above the aquifer whatsoever.

Supposedly, you can cave in a chunk of natural walls on top of a dug out square in an aquifer, and those will replace the water tiles, which will let you dig through them because the new tiles that fell into the channeled out area won't be tagged as aquifers.  My experience attempting that once ended up pretty disastrously, and it's obviously pretty dangerous, more so if you don't have a bunch of excess mechanisms for remotely collapsed supports.

[Urist Imiknorris]

You can also construct a pump mostly out of glass as well (I don't know if you can make the screw out of glass)

Yes you can.

The stone for mechanisms for power generation and potentially gear assemblies

You don't need stone for windmills or water wheels.

[MadBoat]

You don't need stone for windmills or water wheels.

its for the gear assemblies. it's a whole hell of a lot easier to power your pumps when you can turn corners with a power train.

[Nyxalinth]

1.) Go into raw folder
2.) Open up all the inorganic_stone txt files
3.) Delete any [AQUIFER] tags found
4.) Gen new world.
5.) Never deal with an aquifer again.

This is what I use. I highly recommend it.

My favorite method!

[Smackinjuice]

Guys I know how to take them off, i even said in my OP that I have them off as it is right now; but i feel as if that's cheating.  Toady put them in the game for a reason, if you check magma wiki they have a way that evolves digging a 5x5 square; have it outlines with stairways and then go through the center of it; but i don't know how to get this to work properly.

I just want to know how to get through an aquifer; no going around it as such.  So if anyone has pictures of that or how they did it let me know please

Thanks though to everyone who has posted so far.

[o_O[WTFace]]

Channel out a square, surround it with pumps, channel out some spaces directly behind each pump, power the pumps, smooth out or wall off the leaky aquifer stone, repeat as necessary.  You can also substitute immigrants for power.   

[The_Countess]

i'm assuming you have a limitless supply of wood, and enough components for at least 2 screw pumps (4 is prefers)
no power required, althou it can make it easier)
and that you have more the 1 layer of aquafer to go through (1 is easy, just 1 pump line wall build staircase))
it can be done using just 1 pump operator for all but the last level, then I'd recommend getting 2)

i relied on the fact that aquifers not only generate, but can also absorb limitless amounts of water)
and that aquifers don't generate water in diagonal squares.

make a 4 by 4 square above the aquifer.

channel out the 4 corner. build a pump between 2 of the holes.

one hole is being emptied and the water drains away into another.

if you look on the first aquafer level you now see this (just portraying 1 corner)

x=rock
r=ramp

Code: [Select]

xxx
xrx
xxx
order one of the 4 sides to be mined, and build a wall there out of wood. (if you can smooth the walls that's even better and quicker, but in soil you cant)
after 3 or 4 cancellations (less if the carpenter is any good) the wall is built, and you move on the the next side. (which will have fewer cancellations)
build op 3 of the 4 sides, and leave 1 side open facing another corner.
x=dirt
r=ramp
w=wall

Code: [Select]

xwxxxx
wrxxrx
xwxxxx
mine that out and line the 3 sides (on the inside 4 squares you can also make a up/down staircase all the way to the next aquifer level to help with drainage, but this can cause trouble for the last aquifer level, i only used 1 of the inside blocks as staircase instead of all 4)

when done on the first aquifer layer it now looks like this
x=dirt
r=ramp
w=wall
o= open space

Code: [Select]

xwwxxx
wrowrx
xwwxxx
in this case we now move the pump (above here) to the hole to the right, and build up the 3 remaining sides there.
then remove the in between wall, and then mine out and build a wall for each of the 2 remaining dirt walls. you then have this

Code: [Select]

xwwwwx
wroorw
xwwwwx
you could now already build a pump down here have move on to the 2de layer.
if you have only 2 layers you can already break through now. build the 4 walls in the 2de aquifer layer and then build a staircase and channel down.

if you have more layers then you can now continue to build this moving on the next hole moving the pumps around as appropriate.

connecting the last bit is a bit tricky as you now have nowhere to pump the water.
wall off one of the corners you wall up earlier, remove one wall facing a dirt layer and you now have a place to pump water into again, that you can fix later quickly without causing to much spillage
ita wise to have at least 1 drainage to the a lower aquafer level when you do that thou, just in case things take longer then planned. and if you're on the last level of the aquifer make sure you dig down have a wide open space down below for excess water to evaporate (i was left with only 9 patches of mud when i did this).

once you go all the way around, build a stairs in the centre, move the pumps down and channel out the 4 corners again, rinse repeat.

as long as you keep the number of open aquifer wall as low as possible you should be able to to this without too many cancellation, specially as your dwarfs learn to swim.

just some general tips.
- make a burrow of the working area and assign the proper dwarfs to it so they stay close,
- make a meeting hall close by, and keep some food and drink handy too.
- and of course make a wood stockpile close by and a place to store pump components for quicker rebuilding.
- always get the pump as close to your working area as possible, plan ahead so you can do this.

if you have enough power you can move the water upwards and out of the hole without any risk of spillage when connecting the last corners of course. just make a 5th channel on top to drain it into.

hope that helps (and its at least somewhat clearer then mud). just used this technique to go through a 3 layer aquifer in 3 seasons, without spending all my time on it.
no overly quick, but pretty doable.

p.s. someone posted this technique earlier somewhere (in a somewhat shorter description), credits for the idea go to him... if only i could remember who.

[Gr33kjester]

1.) Go into raw folder
2.) Open up all the inorganic_stone txt files
3.) Delete any [AQUIFER] tags found
4.) Gen new world.
5.) Never deal with an aquifer again.

This is what I use. I highly recommend it.

My favorite method!

Best method in my books!

[Hans Lemurson]

Why does nobody READ the original post?  He says he knows how to eliminate them from the game, but he wants to know how to CONQUER them.

That said, what The_Countess wrote is a good method which I myself have used.  I've gone a little bit more advanced and have developed a method that can let you drill through an unlimited number of stone aquifer-layers with a 4x4 shaft.  One of these days I'll make a tutorial on how to do this...any day now.

In lieu of that, I'll just tell you the secret that I learned when digging through that aquifer:  There is no aquifer which cannot be penetrated by the sufficient application of Screw-pumps.  I was even able to mine for iron and coal in the water-logged sedimentary layer by digging a grid of holes in the ground spaced 2 apart from each other. 

Digging in the following pattern (make it as big as you'd like) does 2 things that work together with great synergy:

Code: [Select]

.........
.r..r..r.
.........
.........
.r..r..r.
.........
-It reveals ALL the tiles, so you have a full view of the layer beneath you (ore deposits and gems don't leak water).
-It is perfectly spaced for you to put pumps between the holes.  An aquifer-hole is both an infinite source of water and an infinite drain.

Be ready to construct and deconstruct a BUNCH of Screw-pumps.  Fortunately, the pumping itself won't be much of an issue, since you'll rarely need more than one pump operating at any given time.  Play around with pumps and smoothing aquifer-stone to understand how it all works.  I pierced a 6-level aquifer on my 3rd fortress, so it's not TOO difficult.  I honestly don't see what the big deal is.

Pro tip: Aquifers don't leak diagonally.

[malroth]

I'm not very good with pumps  but i've breached one and two layer aquifers via caveins and have drowned a couple of forts getting the hang of it.   But I have to say modding out an important underground feature simply for convience sounds awfully elfy to me. 

[Rose]

using pump operators means no having to worry about mechanisms.