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[Davichococat]

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.


Okay, I just struck the first layer of the caves. Guess in what level. -5. Yes you are not blind I found it at -5. I was just digging the entrance of my fort, digging ahead on the 'some soil'(since when 3 layers of soil is 'some soil'). First layer, dug. Second layer, dug. Third layer, dug. Oh wait theres stone at the third layer! **digs amazingly big room**. Oh nevermind, theres sand here. Fourth layer, d--- "You have discovered an expansive cavern deep underground"; What the?!

If it's normal to have caverns at that level, I'm sorry.

Here are the questions.

1)Are caverns really supposed to be that 'deep'?
2)Can't I even dig my fort on a stone layer in peace?
3)Did you guys ever found caverns that deep?
4)Is that a bug, or is that normal?
5)Do caverns on that deep can change my FPS(I'm somehow at 50, and yes it's still spring. Normally when I embark my FPS is 90-100)? I also have a brook, but brooks don't change my FPS a lot...
6)Why ins't the cavern floor muddy? I thought caverns had muddy floors...

Thanks for helping.

[LordSlowpoke]

Caverns aren't spoilers, bub. And they actually happen to be that shallow in quite commonly, it all varies on the place you embark on - one can have the first layer at -40, the other one at -5 like yours, etc.

About your questions, guess I already answered the first one, and the fourth... so moving on.

2) You most probably can. But then, you have to look for space between the cavern layers, or if you're dorf enough, build in the caverns themselves.
3) I did, can't speak for others.
5) Caverns do hurt FPS indeed, since suddenly you have cave critters to track, a lot of revealed space for pathfinding (guess you should wall them off if you don't plan on using 'em), and such.
6) No idea. The only thing I can think of is you reclaiming or running some kinda quick clean hack that removed the mud, but you didn't say so. May be a bug.

[Dutchling]

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.


Okay, I just struck the first layer of the caves. Guess in what level. -5. Yes you are not blind I found it at -5. I was just digging the entrance of my fort, digging ahead on the 'some soil'(since when 3 layers of soil is 'some soil'). First layer, dug. Second layer, dug. Third layer, dug. Oh wait theres stone at the third layer! **digs amazingly big room**. Oh nevermind, theres sand here. Fourth layer, d--- "You have discovered an expansive cavern deep underground"; What the?!

If it's normal to have caverns at that level, I'm sorry.

Here are the questions.

1)Are caverns really supposed to be that 'deep'?
2)Can't I even dig my fort on a stone layer in peace?
3)Did you guys ever found caverns that deep?
4)Is that a bug, or is that normal?
5)Do caverns on that deep can change my FPS(I'm somehow at 50, and yes it's still spring. Normally when I embark my FPS is 90-100)? I also have a brook, but brooks don't change my FPS a lot...
6)Why ins't the cavern floor muddy? I thought caverns had muddy floors...

Thanks for helping.

1) It happens
2) The first cavern layer is totally safe as long as you have a few guys with iron+ weapons/armor (except if you get a dangerous FB ofc)
3) Yes, i abandoned, I hated it
4) Normal, this is the same question as 1)?
5) I'pretty sure the creatures have been there all the time, so no, they do not decrease it more after you discovered it
6) Is there water? If there is no water there is probably no mud/plants.  (or did you reclaimed this site?)

[utuki]

You can set number of zlevels of stone above first cavern in advanced world generation.
Normally caverns do not significantly affect fps, maybe you got some bug or really slow cpu.
Cavern floor isnt "muddy" in description but you can farm on it without irrigation.

[JmzLost]

1)Are caverns really supposed to be that 'deep'?

It varies, but sometimes they are.  Other times you get my current embark, where the first cavern is at z-96.

2)Can't I even dig my fort on a stone layer in peace?

Yes, but it will need to be under the cavern.

3)Did you guys ever found caverns that deep?

Yes, I had 2 cavern layers between the surface and z-15.

4)Is that a bug, or is that normal?

Normal.

5)Do caverns on that deep can change my FPS(I'm somehow at 50, and yes it's still spring. Normally when I embark my FPS is 90-100)? I also have a brook, but brooks don't change my FPS a lot...

It depends on how much is moving around in the caverns, and if there are fliers (very bad for FPS).  Turning off temperature helps a lot, but magma won't burn anything, and water won't freeze/thaw.

6)Why ins't the cavern floor muddy? I thought caverns had muddy floors...

Since the introduction of grazing, caverns have a soil floor for moss/fungus/shrubs/trees to grow on.  It works the same as the muddy versions used to.

Thanks for helping.

You're welcome.

EDIT: triple ninja'd while typing 
JMZ

[Davichococat]

Thanks for helping, guys.

I don't run any hacks, I'm playing on vanilla and I did not reclaimed.

And yes, caverns are spoilers. I'm not the right guy to say this, since I have low experience with military and almost none experience with caverns. They may not be a really big spoiler but they are spoilers, but since they are a hidden feature of the game they are spoilers.

Got triple ninja too. Damnit.

Yes my CPU is slow. I'm on a damned notebook with 1024 mb of ram, damnit.

All I have on the cavern is a Giant Toady .

I think if the cavern is that deep it's because theres a very large cavern with lots of magma.

[gtmattz]

And yes, caverns are spoilers. I'm not the right guy to say this, since I have low experience with military and almost none experience with caverns. They may not be a really big spoiler but they are spoilers, but since they are a hidden feature of the game they are spoilers.

They aren't exactly hidden, considering the fact that every single embark has them.

Personally, I think this whole obsession over 'spoilers' that goes on on this board is a little silly.  If there was a main storyline or something that the game followed, and one would have the experience ruined by having the whole plotline laid out before they could experience it, yeah that would be a spoiler.  Caverns, Adamantine, Demons, Forgotten beasts, Titans, whatever else you can think of, are no more spoilers than capybaras are (hey capybaras are 'hidden' until they show up on your map, does not the same logic apply?)...

[Scaraban]

demons, fortresses, and hell are spoilers though, spiral dementia wasn't spoiled and he had a lot of FUN^TM

[BurnedToast]

AFAIK caverns are at about the same absolute depth (number in the bottom right of the screen) across the whole world (and that can be influenced in the advanced world gen options). Depending on where you embark, there might be more or less dirt/rock on top of that.

So, embark on or near a mountain and you might have 50 z-levels before the first cavern. Embark in a swamp next to the sea or some other low-laying area and you might only have a couple like you got.

It seems really random because I don't think it's possible to determine absolute elevation on the embark screen, only relative elevation compared to the highest/lowest point on that square.

I believe the default value is ~90 for the first cavern, so unless you edit it you can get a rough idea of how far down you have to go after you embark, and maybe save yourself some time by abandoning right there if the caverns are too close (or too far) for your plans.

[Misterstone]

I like shallow caverns, gives me a place to pasture my goats.  Also good hunting, you can scout of minerals easily, more fun... really, just make a nice bottle neck around your stairs with traps and such, and enjoy.

[obeliab]

The next time you generate a world, consider increasing the LEVELS_ABOVE_LAYER_1 number in your custom settings.  I usually go with 20-25, but that might be a bit more than you want.