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[Lytha]

Soil layers which aren't sand or clay.

[Torgan]

Soil layers which aren't sand or clay.

Pffft, they are potential tree/plant farms or vast pastures for your hordes of creatures once mined out.  These prove useful distractions if enemies get into your fortress as they run around trying to kill all your cows.

[Lytha]

Pffft, they are potential tree/plant farms or vast pastures for your hordes of creatures once mined out.  These prove useful distractions if enemies get into your fortress as they run around trying to kill all your cows.

Yeah. They could do the same in a soil layer that is sand or clay.

All the peat and sandy loam and loamy sand and whatevers are just there to be annoying and to make it less likely that you get sand on your embark.

[Psieye]

Pffft, they are potential tree/plant farms or vast pastures for your hordes of creatures once mined out.  These prove useful distractions if enemies get into your fortress as they run around trying to kill all your cows.

Yeah. They could do the same in a soil layer that is sand or clay.

All the peat and sandy loam and loamy sand and whatevers are just there to be annoying and to make it less likely that you get sand on your embark.

Which is why I've modded all my soil layers to be sand if they are not already clay. I will not tolerate worthless tiles.

[Saiko Kila]

I have no idea why anyone would like to create junk from sand or clay.

[Psieye]

I have no idea why anyone would like to create junk from sand or clay.

Glassmaking is a single skill that can replace 4~6 labours depending on how you run your fort. As bonuses, the raw materials are infinite (and spawn right next to magma with the help of grazers) and all the products come out in one colour. Clay is more for novelty. Personally I don't understand why anyone would waste time making junk (slabs, pots and millstones are excluded from that definition) from rock. Waste of time if you're after wealth and you can atom-smash or apply magma if you just want to get rid of it. Fine if that's all you have access to and you need some stuff quickly, but running rock industries far into a fort's life is a waste to me.

[Saiko Kila]

I have no idea why anyone would like to create junk from sand or clay.

Glassmaking is a single skill that can replace 4~6 labours depending on how you run your fort. As bonuses, the raw materials are infinite (and spawn right next to magma with the help of grazers) and all the products come out in one colour. Clay is more for novelty. Personally I don't understand why anyone would waste time making junk (slabs, pots and millstones are excluded from that definition) from rock. Waste of time if you're after wealth and you can atom-smash or apply magma if you just want to get rid of it. Fine if that's all you have access to and you need some stuff quickly, but running rock industries far into a fort's life is a waste to me.

Rock doesn't use fuel and glass is waste of time. If I had to make things from sand, I wouldn't make it to magma in another five years, because I'd need to plant trees for fuel, and all that fuel industry, which takes much more time than some hauling.

[Psieye]

I have no idea why anyone would like to create junk from sand or clay.

Glassmaking is a single skill that can replace 4~6 labours depending on how you run your fort. As bonuses, the raw materials are infinite (and spawn right next to magma with the help of grazers) and all the products come out in one colour. Clay is more for novelty. Personally I don't understand why anyone would waste time making junk (slabs, pots and millstones are excluded from that definition) from rock. Waste of time if you're after wealth and you can atom-smash or apply magma if you just want to get rid of it. Fine if that's all you have access to and you need some stuff quickly, but running rock industries far into a fort's life is a waste to me.

Rock doesn't use fuel and glass is waste of time. If I had to make things from sand, I wouldn't make it to magma in another five years, because I'd need to plant trees for fuel, and all that fuel industry, which takes much more time than some hauling.

Oh, right. I forget not everyone sets up magma industries within a fortnight from embark.

[Reelyanoob]

Rock doesn't use fuel and glass is waste of time. If I had to make things from sand, I wouldn't make it to magma in another five years, because I'd need to plant trees for fuel, and all that fuel industry, which takes much more time than some hauling.

Oh, right. I forget not everyone sets up magma industries within a fortnight from embark.

Gotta agree with Psieye, when you go for magma metal industry, you get glassmaking for free, plus it's magma-safe and infinite, so you save having to use steel tubes.

Also, clay is an unlimited building supply and no magma or processing needed. Think of the time savings on mining/hauling rock from deep underground when building above-ground structures, and it's all one colour.

[Geb]

I'd say the most worthless item in the game is the spilled "water" contaminant liquids. Their only purpose is to generate a cleaning task, wasting the time of a dwarf, and you've had to waste proper usable flow water in order to gain it.

Even if there's no cleaning done, they make the floor look messy.

[MrShovelFace]

i dont think you can call spilled water an item

[aragaer]

Lost limbs of still-alive dwarves. What would you do to those?

[Saiko Kila]

Rock doesn't use fuel and glass is waste of time. If I had to make things from sand, I wouldn't make it to magma in another five years, because I'd need to plant trees for fuel, and all that fuel industry, which takes much more time than some hauling.

Oh, right. I forget not everyone sets up magma industries within a fortnight from embark.

Gotta agree with Psieye, when you go for magma metal industry, you get glassmaking for free, plus it's magma-safe and infinite, so you save having to use steel tubes.

Also, clay is an unlimited building supply and no magma or processing needed. Think of the time savings on mining/hauling rock from deep underground when building above-ground structures, and it's all one colour.

I think you're talking about some exploit. I have no sand on my map, and need to buy sand from caravans. How do you get sand for free? Rocks are  for free. I have clay and kaolinite (which is the best, but it is rock anyway) but it seems makers choose material randomly. And I need to glaze it - with ash. Which is also random, they can glaze perfectly good pots, already safe for fluids.

Anyway, I make rock doors, blocks for bridges, cabinets,  floodgates, hatches and some other furniture (I don't need many tables and similar). And of course hundreds of mechanisms and large pots. Material is for free and next to their workshop, thanks to quantum stockpile. I use only rocks which were dig out and hauled because they were obstacles. I don't mine for rocks specifically as a material. I can't see how glass can compete. And rocks have different colors, which is nice. When I have magma I make things from nickel and iron/steel (or other fancy metal, I have never found gold so steel is the best so far). Why to play with sand when you can use metals, I don't understand. But I understand that anyone can have his or her sentiments.

[Reelyanoob]

I never said "free sand" i said adding glassmaking industry is basically free once you're put in magma forges anyway. This is something i do in every single fortress, so glassmaking in no way is a "cost".

Anyway the "exploit" I think you're referring to is a deliberately programmed feature. Muddy rock tiles become soil once a plant is removed, I've heard this is true for trees and grazed grass. This is something Toady has deliberately programmed in.

The real exploit is not that tiles become sand, it's that sand tiles are never depleted.

[Jelle]

A barrel of monarch butterfly ichor.

As for an item you can make...I'll go for my artifact blowgun.