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[dirty foot]

I'm at a loss. Every time I start an expedition a few floors down, I get a message a few days later that my miners are starving and thirsty. Once they finish their job down there, they just stay until they die. I'm not collapsing entrances on accident, I am sure of this, as I originally thought that I was building up/down ramps too close to each other and spaced them out.

If I don't go down and dig a separate entrance, they will simply stand there until they die.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Are you removing the ramps they channel? If so, you're depriving them of an exit.

[Lord Braindead]

Are you sure that the ramps are usable?

Code: [Select]

#######
##.....
../####
######
This will work while this:

Code: [Select]

#######
##.....
../....
######
will get your dwarves stranded and dying.

[wuphonsreach]

When building ramps, every level should be one column or row shorter then the previous level.  So if you look at 3 levels (going down, left-right):

Code: [Select]

XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX
^^^^^^ XXXXXX XXXXXX
vvvvvv ^^^^^^ XXXXXX
...... vvvvvv ^^^^^^
...... ...... vvvvvv
X = solid wall
^ = ramp up to previous level
v = ramp down to next level
. = open air

So on the surface, you'd channel out 4 rows.  First layer under that, you'd only channel the last 3 rows, then the last 2 rows on the next level, and the only the last row on the 3rd level down.

[Krelos]

A ramp is a 1x2 tile structure and will not work without an adjacent wall and an open space atop said adjacent wall.

Just picture a real pit with a plank in it leaning against one of the sides, that's how ramps work in the game.

[dirty foot]

Thanks for the help guys. I think I figured out the issue, but I'm concerned that the game doesn't let me know when I destroy the function of a ramp. What I was doing was alternating back and forth (north one tile, move next layer down, then one tile south). MY spatial understanding of the game is still iffy, but I assume what I did was create a channel that was more than two layers in depth.

I was burying my miners alive.

[Girlinhat]

Learn how to use stairs instead

[dirty foot]

Learn how to use stairs instead

I tried to use stairs, but I'm still having quite an issue figuring everything out. I put stairs down there last time, but I probably used them incorrectly, because the miner just stood there dying. Steep learning curve in this game, that's for sure. Adventure mode is cake compared to this, lol.

[Girlinhat]

Stairs work in pairs, and that can be hard to understand.  You need a downstairs and an upstairs connected to each other.  The following is a series of side-views...

Code: [Select]

_v_
+X+
+X+
+^+
This is correct.  A downstairs, leading to up+down, ending in an upstairs.

Code: [Select]

_V_
+V+
+V+
+V+
This results in a series of down-stairs, with no up-stairs to connect.

Code: [Select]

V__
^_V
V_^
^__
This is correct, it gives you a "spiral staircase" setup.

[Triaxx2]

The first of those is the superior option. And greatly simplifies exploratory mining. It's then just repetitive.

[Skivverus]

The third, however, provides locations along the way for traps.

[Girlinhat]

And it looks cooler.  A nice spiral staircase around a 5x5 tower is pretty fancy.

[noob]

to make the first option a lot easier you can click where you want the stairs to be and hold the > key down. instant route to the magma sea.

[AdeleneDawner]

Also, if you want to stick with ramps, this design works well to make a 3x3 spiral-ish ramp with multiple paths:

z0:
OA+
VOV
+AO

z-1:
+VO
AOA
OV+

O=wall
A=ramp up
V=ramp down
+=floor

Repeat as necessary, switching between the two designs. (Up ramps on one level should meet down ramps on the level above, down ramps on one level should meet up ramps on the level below.) If it gets confusing, just dig two up or down ramps (whichever direction you're going) in a row with a space between them, and then go to the next level and dig out two diagonal corners (doesn't matter which ones) and then add more ramps in the center top and bottom of the pattern. Like this:

z0:
dig:
AOA

Z+1:
see:
OOO
VOV
OOO

dig:
+OO
VOV
OO+

dig:
+AO
VOV
OA+

z+2:
see:
OVO
OOO
OVO

dig:
OV+
OOO
+VO

dig:
OV+
AOA
+VO

z+3 is the same as z+1


If you want, you can also dig out the central tile of the pattern, or dig it out and put a statue there, or channel it out to make a garbage chute, or whatever you like. Just don't dig out the walls that are on the corners - they're important, and so is alternating which corners they're in.

[dirty foot]

I'm going to need to look up a video of what you just said, because I am entirely confused now.

Maybe I'm diving in too quickly, lol.