Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

40d:Farming

2008-12-07T11:54:09Z

Griphin: /* Increasing yield */

[[Image:Df-crops-diagram.png|thumb|200px|General farming flowchart.]]
'''Farming''' is the most universal source of [[food]] in Dwarf Fortress. On maps with plentiful [[shrub]]s, [[animal]]s or bodies of [[water]], [[plant gathering]], [[hunting]] or [[fishing]] can also produce a lot of food; however, these practices often do not scale to the level needed to feed a full-sized fortress. Farming is a highly efficient, reliable, renewable and scalable source of food -- and, after [[cooking]], of compact but valuable trade goods. [[Plants]] are also the only source of [[alcohol]] and [[dye]] other than [[trading]]. Some can be turned into [[clothing]].

== Finding farmland ==

You cannot plant seeds on a bare rock floor, only on [[mud]] or [[soil]]. The easiest way to farm, by far, is to find some soft, arable soil, which is available in great quantity outside the fortress on most maps (the notable exceptions being mountainous maps). If arable soil is unavailable, you will need to set up an [[irrigation]] scheme to deposit mud on the bare rock, which can then have farm plots placed upon it.

== Aboveground or underground? ==

You can plant either underground or aboveground, depending on the type of [[plant]]s you want to grow. The starting [[seed]]s your dwarves may bring with them can only be planted underground. If you want to farm aboveground, you will need to gather seeds from outdoor [[shrub]]s, which can then be planted. Caravans will also sometimes bring additional bags of seeds.

The farm plot should be either entirely above ground or entirely subterranean. A mixed-class farm plot will allow you to choose any crop for planting, but the chosen crop will be planted only on tiles capable of growing it. Worse, planters will not skip over the infertile tiles, leaving the rest of the plot fallow whether it can support the crop or not.
=== Greenhouses ===
If you want a secure way to farm outdoor plants indoors build a greenhouse! 
[[Channel]] out a square area, you can also use the remains of a dried up pond. 
Now build [[floor]]s out of [[Glass]] [[block]]s, this will allow light to pass through, but not invaders. This can in fact be done with any kind of floor, including raw [[stone]], since the area beneath the floor will still receive light and while still being indoors. This may be an exploit. Though to legitimately get some of the security benefit if you have no access to glass or sand, you could consider using grates 
You can now Plant above ground plants like strawberries or Long Land grass in the light, underground. 
CAUTION,
You must channel out the area first then make the floor, it won't work if you make the block floor and mine underneath.

== Defining the farm plot ==

Once you have a suitable location for farming you can have your farmer(s) prepare a [[farm plot]]. That's the actual bit of soil to be tilled.

Enter the {{K|b}}uild menu and place farm {{K|p}}lots. Use {{K|u}} and {{K|k}} to increase the size of the plot, and {{K|m}} and {{K|h}} to decrease it. When the plot is sized and positioned correctly, pressing {{K|Enter}} will place it. Your grower(s) will now rush in and prepare the field, clearing out rubble and other impediments when necessary.

How much farm space do you need? Surprisingly little. A 5x5 plot will provide enough food to bring you through your first winter, and even smaller fields are sufficient if you stretch out the food by [[brewing]]. If there is rubble in the room, leave a little extra space; otherwise, the farmers tend to stack the boulders under your farm room doors and cause them to get stuck ajar, which if you're not careful can lead to flooding the next time the field is irrigated. You can also avoid putting doors right next to the farm.

Digging out larger farm rooms than you need can be useful in other ways as well: muddied areas can spontaneously produce [[tower-cap]]s (a source of wood), spider webs (a source of [[silk]]), and [[shrub]]s of the same type as your [[crops]].

A 10x20 plot should, with several dedicated farmers, provide enough food to feed a full 200-dwarf fortress.

== Planting ==

Once a farmer builds the plots, it's time to plant. Go into the plot's {{K|q}} menu and select the type of seed to plant. Your farmers will then take care of the rest. Note that your farmers will not work the plot the whole year without being told to do so: you must designate a crop for ''each'' season. You can designate each season ahead of time by using {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} from the plot selection screen. You do not have to plant the same thing each season and can change planting orders at anytime, even mid-season. Some plants are only available during certain seasons.

On a farm that is built but not planted, each tile will look like a solid (not blinking) double tilde (~). Once a square has been planted, it will look like a double line. Once the square has been harvested, it will return to the previous state (double tilde).

In the first year, you may want to focus your production on berries aboveground, or fast growing [[plump helmets]] underground, because they can be brewed and eaten raw or cooked. [[Quarry bush]]es, [[cave wheat]] and [[sweet pod]]s require processing before they can be eaten and take longer to grow. [[Pig tail]]s and [[dimple cup]]s can produce cloth and dye respectively, so grow these later. Dimple cups are the only underground crop that can neither be brewed nor otherwise processed into food (except for its seed, which can be cooked). Consider processing and cooking (and adjusted farming) as soon as possible since it adds quality levels to your food and in the case of quarry bushes and sweet pods quintuples the amount of food. Also, if you want to cater for the preferences of your dwarves, you will likely grow all types of crops sooner or later.

You cannot buy outdoor seeds upon embarking. If you choose to plant outdoor crops, designate a dwarf with [[plant gathering]] to gather plants outside until you get some suitable plants, then brew them to get the seeds. You may also [[trading|trade]] for outdoor seeds directly from a non-dwarven [[caravan]], which can be a very effective way of getting a lot very quickly. The biome the farm plot is in might have an effect on the plants permitted in the plot.{{verify}}

Should you wish to plant nothing for a season, you can select {{K|z}} "fallow" from the farm plot menu; this is useful when your larder is overful. If you possess [[potash]], you can fertilize the field to increase yield (see below).

== Increasing yield ==
Any crop may bear more or less fruit, or (as is sometimes the case with unskilled growers) it may even bear no fruit at all, thus wasting the seed. A higher yield will have many benefits along the whole assembly line of further food processing: workers will always work on one "stack" at a time – if (for example) a brewer has "sweet pod [5]" to work with, he will produce "dwarven rum [25]" and somehow squeeze it all into a single barrel.

The yield from a single seed depends on the farmers' [[skill]] and, if above ground, on whether the plot was fertilized.

* '''skill''': no particular skill is checked when harvesting. Only the [[grower]] skill of the farmer who '''planted''' the seed is taken into account. Dabbling planters will frequently produce stacks of only one, and sometimes even zero plants. Legendary growers will often produce "plant name [5]" and rarely even "plant name [6]" stacks from a single seed on a non fertilized field.

*'''fertilization''': Fertilization increases yield up to about 1.5 times{{Verify}}. The amount of [[potash]] needed to fully fertilize a field depends on its size and whether it is indoor or outdoor. Outdoor farms require much more fertilizer. Using {{K|q}} to view the farm plot, look for the field that looks like "''n''/''N'' ft." ''n'' is the amount of fertilizer applied so far, while ''N'' is the maximum amount that may be applied. To fertilize the field choose the {{K|f}}'''ertilize''' command. The {{K|s}}'''eas Fert''' option tells your dwarves to automatically fertilize a field after each season change. You can only fertilize some farming set ups: muddy farm plots, [[irrigation]]-enhanced farms, plots bordered by damp walls on multiple sides. The exact parameters are unknown.{{verify}}

In a discussion concerning the chances to get stacks of 6 plants, [[Toady]] has mentioned:
Yeah, even a novice farmer will get 6 of them once out of every 12000000 attempts.
I think the most you can get is 11 with full fertilization and good farming skill rolls (and some luck).

== Harvesting ==

A few weeks after planting a seed, a crop will sprout on that spot. Crops must be harvested within another few weeks or they will wither. By default, all dwarves will harvest, including [[children]] and even [[nobles]]. This may or may not be desirable: on the one hand, it makes sure that no crops will wither; on the other, it may lead to far away dwarves interrupting their work and running a long way in order to harvest a single plant and less skill gains for your planters.

Harvesting plants earns dwarves [[experience]] in the "growing" [[skill]], so do not be surprised if all your dwarves soon become "dabbling" (or better) growers. Because of that, peasants with no other occupation become farmers almost automatically. Do not be afraid that they might trample your fields: the skill is of no importance during harvest, and no matter how much skill they earn they will still only plant crops if you allow them to in their individual "labor" menu.

If you chose to turn off "All dwarves harvest" in your {{K|o}}rders menu, only dwarves with the "Farming (Fields)" labor enabled will harvest. However, they will often choose to plant new seeds instead of reaping the existing crop, so you risk that some amount may wither. After harvesting a plant (plucking it out of the ground), dwarves will carry it to the nearest [[stockpile]] unless you have "Dwarves ignore food" set in your {{K|o}}rders menu, in which case they will leave the plant blinking on the field. If not moved to a stockpile within a few weeks, it will wither.

== Caveats (warnings) ==

=== Food hauling ===

If you manage to get large-scale farming up and running, you will need to employ many food haulers in order for the food produced on your farms to be edible, even if it has already been harvested. This is because in the current version of the game, items tagged for pending tasks (including Move to Stockpile and Store in Barrel) are unavailable for any other use -- such as eating. An entire fortress of dwarves can starve while they wait for somebody to ''move the food''.

One way to deal with this problem (at least during the heavy farming/harvesting seasons) is to disable hauling of both stone and wood in the top-level {{K|o}}rders menu. This way, most of those jobs will clear out of the job queue, and you will be left mostly with "Store in Barrel" type jobs. You can also increase the number of dedicated food haulers.

=== Storage ===

It can be difficult to manage barrels to store food and drink, and bags to store seeds and processed foods. Combat this by [[Cooking|cooking]] food to consolidate it into larger stacks that won't rot outside of a barrel (it just needs to be indoors on a food stockpile). In the {{K|p}} menu, you can also reserve some empty barrels that will not be used for food storage; instead, they will only be used for brewing and syrup processing tasks. Leaves, sugar, and flour are not edible; to use them up and free their bags, you must cook. You can also cook excess seeds (albeit only up to 4 at a time), to reclaim the bags they occupy. Make sure not to cook your last crop seed!

== See also ==

* [[Crops]]
* [[Irrigation]]
* [[Skills#Growing|Farmers]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]
[[Category:Jobs]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Irrigation

2008-12-07T11:07:31Z

Griphin: /* Wave irrigation */

'''Irrigation''' is the process of making rocky ground suitable for [[farming]]. This is usually done by [[flood]]ing it with [[water]]. Inside [[cave]]s, [[rock]] cavern floor tiles that are covered with water instantly become muddy tiles, which you can then build [[farm plot]]s on. There are many possible methods for getting the farm area muddy.

Dwarf Fortress uses realistic water dynamics, including measures of [[water depth]]. A depth of 7 is full, depths of 1 will evaporate, leaving the stone wet and thus suitable for farming. Your goal in irrigation is to get a section of ground to be 1/7s.

== Dryland farming: farming without irrigation ==

Some locations have layers of [[soil]] a few z-levels thick. It is not necessary to irrigate soil in order to grow crops on it; it is possible to build a farm plot directly on any soil tiles, although the dwarven crops such as [[plump helmet]]s can only be grown in a [[subterranean]] plot. In lowland areas, a farm plot built on any tile marked [[Outside]] can be used to grow outdoor crops such as [[prickle berry|prickle berries]]. This method obviates the need for irrigation entirely, so is recommended for newbies.

== Easy irrigation ==

# {{K|d}}ig from the [[farm plot]] to any source of water, but keep a single tile of [[wall]] between the newbuilt passage and the water.
# Dig a passage from the plot towards lower ground or a pit, to serve as a water drain ''(this stage is not 100% necessary, but means you don't have to worry about having too much water and so is recommended)''.
# Build a [[floodgate]], and three [[mechanism]]s. (If you're worried about delay, use [[door]]s instead of floodgates.
# Place the floodgate in the passage. The idea is that it'll block the water from coming through when it's closed.
# Build a [[lever]] and link it to the floodgate.
# If you are building a drain, follow steps 3-5 again and place the second floodgate at the entrance to the drainage channel, linked to the second lever.
# {{K|P}}ull the first lever so the gate opens.
# Send a miner to dig that last wall keeping the water from rushing in.
#: Alternatively, have the miner dig a [[channel]] ({{K|d}},{{K|h}}) on that last wall from the Z-level above. This is much safer, since the miner will dig out the wall without actually having to stand in the way of the water.
# Use the first lever to close the channel once you've got enough water to spread over the area. If you have a drain, you can now let any excess drain off using your second lever.
# The water should now cover (or have covered) 1/7 of each tile.
# Wait for the water to evaporate and/or drain off (Dwarves can built farm plots in 1/7 water, so you don't need to wait).
# Enjoy your newly irrigated land.

== Reservoir irrigation ==

The reservoir method involves building a small reservoir between two [[floodgate|floodgates]] and a farming chamber about 7 times as large as the reservoir. A reservoir of 12 tiles, for instance, can water a 70 tile chamber effectively. Water is let into the reservoir by lowering, then raising one floodgate. The other floodgate then releases the water into the farming chamber. It spreads around, then evaporates after becoming 1 deep.

The reservoir may be built above the plot to be irrigated with a [[hatch]] or [[bridge]] in the floor, to one side using floodgates, or below and [[pump]]ed upwards. Note that [[Bridge|bridges]], in their default state, will block water from falling between levels. The large surface area you can get this way can make the water spread over your farm area much faster than by using floodgates.

It is possible to achieve the same result using a natural pond as the water reservoir. Doing so is easier in the short term but it is not advised if you want to keep replenishing your reservoir for other uses, such as [[well]](s), for natural ponds have a very finite amount of water available. On particular maps, natural ponds can replenish themselves at the beginning of each spring.

=== Worked Example ===

To create this irrigation system, you need: [[Image:Tree_farm.png|right]]   

* A large growing room.
:*The large room can be any size. (For this example, we will use a 24 by 24 size room.)
* An adjacent smaller filling room that will be filled with exactly the right amount of water.
:*To calculate the size of this room, see below.
* A water supply line such as a tube leading to a water source.
* Lever-controlled [[door]]s or floodgates connecting the large room to the smaller one, and the smaller one to the water supply. Doors are preferred as you don't need levers for your [[dwarf]] to pass. (However, if you're paranoid or your dwarves are particularly dumb, you might want to lever them anyways. The creator of this method ([[User:GreyMario|GreyMario]]) recommends using doors because they have no delay when triggered.)

'''Calculating Room Size'''

There are 576 (24²) floor tiles in the large room (L). The small room (S) must hold enough water to cover the large room, the small room, and the space occupied by the door(s) (D) in between with 1 unit of water. Each tile of the small room can hold 7 units of water, so:

S = (L + S + D) / 7

-or-

S = (L + D) / 6

577/6 = 96 1/6; rounding up, this gives 97. This is the number of floor tiles in the smaller room: a 9X10 room with 7 extra tiles. Be aware, however, that if you make your "large" room ''too'' large, some of the water from the "small" room will [[evaporate]] before reaching the other end, and you will not have enough [[water]] to coat the floor. This behavior was observed in a room of 42X35 tiles.

Now, get digging. The water supply connects to the smaller filling room by a 1-tile hole where a door or [[floodgate]] will go. The filling room connects to the growing room the same way, and the growing room needs a door too. Remember to have the [[door|doors]] in place before breaching the water source and flooding the water supply line!

When you do breach the water source, immediately forbid the first door your miner runs through (see, this is why we use doors), which should be the door closest to the water source. Don't bother forbidding the other two. Link all three doors to three separate [[lever|levers]] and test the system. Close the door between the filling chamber and main farm area and open the door that leads to the water source. When the filling chamber is full, close the door to the water source, close the door leading to the farm, and open the door between the [[farm]] and filling chamber. The water should spread out and coat the entire farm in a thin layer of water. At this time, plant your farms and begin the wait until they yield products.

== Pond irrigation ==

Dig a farm room, and dig a channel one Z-level above it, creating a hole down into the farm room. Create a [[zone]] on the hole, and make it a pond. Your dwarves will attempt to fill it with water carried in buckets. As they dump water in, it will muddy the farm room floor. After it has been sufficiently muddied, disable or remove the pond zone until you need to irrigate it again. Dwarves can build farm plots in 1 unit deep water.

NOTE: Even though it works, this is probably the slowest way to irrigate a room since dwarves only carry 1 unit of water per trip. Especially if you don't have a more than one or two idle dwarves and buckets, or if the water source is far away. It also probably wouldn't work very well on larger farm areas.

NOTE: Digging a channel from the surface will mark the tile below Outside. This means that cave plants will not grow there.

== Pump Irrigation ==

If you have access to [[wood]], [[stone]] floors can be irrigated conveniently from a water source on the level below, by use of a [[screw pump]]. Simply dig a channel to access the water on z-1, install a [[Screw Pump]] and set to Start Pump Manually ({{k|Enter}}). Any dwarf with the 'Pump Operating' duty active will quickly pump enough water to irrigate a large area (so rapidly that irrigating other rooms becomes a concern!). This can be improved by installing a second pump to draw water out of the room, allowing you to rapidly drain the room in the event of over-filling.

== Wave irrigation ==

Although seawater is unfit for carrying to your farm in a bucket, areas muddied by seawater seem to be farmable. My favorite method of achieving this is building a farm room under a beach and making a hole in its roof, closable with a hatch, to let waves in. Also pumping water seems to desalinate it, so pumping it to your farming room seems to work fine.

[[Category:Agriculture]]

40d:Dam

2008-12-05T12:41:33Z

Griphin: /* Actual building */

[[Image:dam.jpg]]

A dam can be built across a [[river]] or [[brook]]. This has several uses:

*Stop a river from flowing altogether
*Modify a river's path
*Create a pretty lake or functional reservoir
*Create water-based traps

=Dam Building=

Finding the direction the water flows is probably a necessary step to take. This is actually fairly simple - at one end, the river falls off the map, and so is of a low water height. Check the outmost tiles of both ends of the river.

==Ice Method==
The easiest and quickest method of Dam manufacture is only possible if your map freezes during winter. Simply dig out a thin section of [[channel|channels]] across the river and build a wall out of floodgates, blocking the path of the water.

==Draining method==

Another way is to drain the river. This can be done by building a tunnel next to the river that dumps into a chasm or deep valley. An alternative method to this is to use a large number of pumps to move more water out of the river than can be replaced using screw pumps. For a river with a width of 4 tiles, you will need three on either side pumping it into channels or tunnels, ideally off the map, a waterfall, or somewhere where flooding will not be a concern. While the pumps are operating, it will be drained enough to build the dam.

==Actual building==

Once the river has been drained you may have to dig into the riverbed to be able to place buildings. It will look a bit like this:
[[Image:Dam2.JPG]]

Once the dam has been built and when the water comes back it will fill up the gap as far as it must to let the blocked water flow further. If you build your dam up to the level of the river the water will stop at the top level of the dam (it will not overflow). Since this defies logic it may be fixed in future releases.

You can create a massive flood if you build a dam out of floodgates and open them all at once.

==Further possibilities==

A similar technique can be used to create water "holes" in large bodies of water, such as lakes or even the ocean. Build a ring of floors at the water's surface, and line it with an immense number of pumps, facing out of the area you wish to drain. The pumps should be able to push out water faster than it can come back in, allowing you to build a dike in this area. This is hazardous if the water is more than one z-level deep, since it's highly likely a dwarf can drown. Even if technically safe in that the water level doesn't rise high enough to be dangerous, the rapidly-fluctuating water levels may cause dwarves to repeatedly stop work at the site anyway.
[[Category:Guides]]

{{Water FAQ}}

40d:Water pressure

2008-12-05T11:43:48Z

Griphin: /* Pumps */

The only pressure that Dwarf Fortress attempts to replicate is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_statics#Pressure_in_fluids_at_rest hydrostatic '''water pressure'''].

In layman's terms, if you have a tall body of water (such as a [[lake]] or a tower you have pumped full of water) then the water at the lowest [[z-level]] is being 'squeezed' by the weight of the water above it. If it is released it will move with remarkable speed and can flow up [[stair]]s, [[ramp]]s, and over [[channel]]s. It will continue flowing until it runs out of space or it fills to a [[z-level]] equal to the source.

Dwarf Fortress does not model surface friction nor air pressure, so the water will not slow in transit nor will 'trapped air bubbles' form. Magma does not have pressure (it cannot flow up, and doesn't appear to move at greater speeds).

== Dangers ==

It is easy to flood your fortress accidentally by not accounting for water pressure. For example:
* It is safe to dig out a [[cistern]] one level below a murky pool, and to channel above a few tiles of the [[cistern]] so that your dwarves can get water from it without having to go outside.
* It is safe to refill a murky pool with water from a pump or brook/river/etc on the same level.
* It is not safe to do both to the same pool! The water from the pump/brook/river/whatever will fill the pool to 7/7, and will then pressurize the water in the [[cistern]], which will then flow up out of your channels and flood your fort.

== Mitigating dangers ==
=====Hatches=====
[[Hatch]]es can be placed over [[channel]]s, [[stair]]s, [[ramp]]s etc to prevent [[water]] moving vertically but still allow the tile to be used, even as a water source (and possibly still for fishing too).
=====Pumps=====
When water is passed through [[pump]]s it loses all of its pressure. Of course, there is a downside - you still have to run the pumps and due to the source water's pressure the pump must be [[power]]ed instead of [[pump operator|run by a dwarf]] (the tile the dwarf needs to stand on is filled by water). Furthermore the power cannot be transmitted by a [[gear]] placed next to the pump, because the water will simply flow down the passage the gear comes from!

Your vertical [[axle]]s or gear assemblies need to be placed above the unwalkable tile of the pump, and there must not be a channel over the walkable pump tile. (Water can only flow straight upward, not up and to the side at the same time)

Side view

Power Water Key
↓ ↓↓↓↓↓ # = Normal wall
######║####≈≈≈≈≈ # = Wall that pressurised water would flow into if it were to be dug out
######║#####≈≈≈≈ ≈ = Regular water
_ ___#║#######≈≈ ≈ = Pressurised water
#≈≈≈≈≈%%≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ %% = Pump
########≈####### ║ = Axle
################ _ = Floor

== Theory ==

What follows here are several rules which specify how water pressure affects water's behavior. These were written to fit experimentally observed behavior as best as possible. (There used to be two models here, but the second one couldn't be reconciled with the observed results of the water-overpressure-in-river experiment, though the first also had to be extensively rewritten. The chief problem with the second one was that it was essentially "water pressure in a 7/7 water tile is determined by the difference in z-level between it and the highest 7/7 water tile it's connected to," and that pressure wasn't something to be transmitted between tiles. This would mean an entire river overpressurized should overflow along the entire river length simultaneously. It didn't.)

===Current best pressure model===

Note: this may not be correct. See [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3549/interview_the_making_of_dwarf_.php?page=9] and [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3549/interview_the_making_of_dwarf_.php?page=10] for info from Toady.

# Water normally has 0 pressure.
# If a water source (including pumps) attempts to create water in its output tile but cannot due to it being full already, it will pressurize the output tile (it remains pressure 0, but this allows it to pressurize the tile below it and give it pressure 1).
# Water sources attempt to generate water in tiles adjacent to pressurized tiles. They will not generate water in tiles above pressurized tiles unless the water source has '''nowhere''' else to generate '''any''' water, and they will never generate water above the water source's z-level.
# The amount of water generated per tick does NOT appear to increase as the radius of the water blob increases. Water being generated on two z-levels at once has been observed to generate faster on the lower level, but it is unclear if this actually means that lower levels have more water generated, or if some other factor was at work.
# For water sources, seemingly random valid pressurized tiles are chosen to generate water at each tick. However, tiles closer to the source are preferred (This may or may not be due to how pressurization spreads?).
# The pressurization state spreads from a tile to adjacent, above, or below tiles only if both are 7/7, and only if the pressurized tile has no tiles adjacent, above, or below itself which it could generate water in.
# Pressure which is transmitted downward is increased by 1. 7/7 water which falls and remains 7/7 also increases in pressure {{verify}}.
# Pressure which is transmitted upward is decreased by 1.
# Tiles with 0 pressure can be considered 'pressurized' for the purpose of generating water (they have no speed bonus).
# Pumps do not transmit pressure. Water which comes out of pumps has 0 pressure. (Note that you must ensure that output water does not contact input water, or pressure WILL be transmitted through the connection)
# Water tiles which drop below 7/7 density become 0 pressure and unpressurized.
# Pressure makes water moves faster, with each level of pressure seemingly providing greater speed.
# Falling water which falls onto 7/7 water acts as a 'source' (but is destroyed when its water is re-created elsewhere).

===Anomalies===
* If you drop a fixed amount of water several levels down a shaft into another room, you can end up with more water than you started with. {{version|0.27.169.33g}}
* Pumps can turn into seemingly infinite water generators (though they can be stopped by blocking their input with a hatch, or by disconnecting their power).{{version|0.27.169.33g}} The above model currently appears to match this behavior if pumps are considered water sources. Perhaps pumps are not removing water from their input if they are unable to put water in the output, but they still generate water elsewhere as a source? {{verify}}
* A "u-bend bug" has been reported, which generates infinite amounts of water due to the source of the pressure not being properly drained. {{version|0.27.176.38a}}

===Movies of pressure experiments===
* [http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-284-firstwaterpressureexperimentreproduced] - Showing that pressure is not transmitted through non-7/7 tiles.
* [http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-283-grandwaterpressureexperiment] - Showing that pumps output 0-pressure water even from a high-pressure source, that water will not flow up and to the side at the same time (has to flow straight up), and a few other things
* [http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-285-waterpressureinriverexperiment] - Pump turned into infinite water generator, but still provided useful information on how overpressure causes upward flooding.
* [http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-288-waterpressureexperiment4] - Uses three pumps connected to different tunnel layouts to test a few of these rules: One tunnel has three accessible z-levels. The second tunnel has one accessible z level and periodic shafts up. The third has only one accessible z level with no shafts. The bottom level of all three filled first, and the shafts did not fill until the bottom was filled. The second level of the three-high tunnel did not begin filling until the first was full. They did not all fill the bottom at once, but this is believed to be due to the order in which their pumps are placed on the river.

===Possible future experiments===
* Have a pump pumping water into a 3-wide tunnel with a 1-wide tunnel below it. Have another pump pumping water into a 1-wide tunnel with a 3-wide tunnel below it. Observe whether the bottom tunnel's water spreads faster in both cases or just in the smaller tunnel.
* From a pump, fill a cistern which is several levels lower. Shut off the pump and the higher level tiles with hatches once the whole thing is 7/7. Open other hatches above the cistern, combine water with unpressurized water, and see what happens.

{{Water FAQ}}

[[Category:Physics]]

40d:Wood

2008-12-05T01:06:52Z

Griphin: Fixed minor grammatical error - an becomes a

'''Wood''' is produced by {{Key|d}}[[designation|esignating]] {{Key|t}}[[tree|rees]] to be chopped down. Any [[dwarf]] with the [[wood cutting]] [[labor]] enabled and access to a [[battle axe]] will cut down the trees (which will turn them into '''logs''', the raw form of wood).

Wood (and wooden goods, such as [[barrel]]s) are often available from the [[elf|elven]], [[dwarf|dwarven]] and [[human]] [[caravan]]s. Wood can also be purchased before embarking. Wood is quite inexpensive, costing only 3☼ per log, and you may wish to bring a large number of logs when embarking in order to jump-start your [[wood industry]]. The [[wagon]] you start the game with can also be dismantled for three tower-cap logs.

[[Tree]]s start their lives as saplings. Saplings cannot be cut down until they mature into full-grown trees, which takes three years. Saplings will randomly appear in appropriate outdoors [[soil]] to provide a slow (but steady) supply of wood. If you have [[revealed tile|discovered]] a [[underground pool|cave pool]] or [[cave river]], muddy, [[smoothing|unsmoothed]] areas underground will spawn [[tower-cap]] mushrooms, which can also be harvested for wood. Fully-grown trees will impede units' movement, so be sure to clear them out of active corridors.

Every different type of log (chestnut, ash, maple, etc.) is functionally the same except for their weights. Wood has a default [SOLID_DENSITY] of 500, making it about three times lighter than most stone and fifteen times lighter than iron. Feather tree wood is extremely light, with a density of 100, and glumprong wood is the heaviest, with a density of 1200.

== Biomes ==
*[[Temperate]] forest 
*[[Tropical forest]] 
*[[Taiga]] 
*[[Flatland]] 
*[[Swamp]] 
*[[Desert]] 

{{Wood FAQ}}

[[Category:Materials]]

40d:Magma

2008-12-04T10:40:21Z

Griphin:

'''Magma''' is red-hot molten rock present in [[volcano]]es (it is called '''lava''' after it is erupted), as well as magma pools and magma pipes. It serves as an energy source, powering [[magma forge]]s, [[magma glass furnace]]s and [[magma smelter]]s. It is extremely dangerous.

==Magma sources==

While in previous versions of Dwarf Fortress, every map was guaranteed to have magma, since v0.27.169.32a magma is now a feature of terrain and may or may not be present.

Magma occurs in three different features; Magma pools, Magma Pipes, and [[Volcano|Volcanoes]].

* A '''Magma Pool''' is a reservoir of magma that occupies only a few Z-Levels in the mountain, without reaching the surface. Magma Pools can be very small, and may have few suitable locations for buildings that rely on magma. Magma in these pools is limited, and pools will not refill with magma once emptied.

* A '''Magma Pipe''' starts at the lowest z-level of the map from a magma (or lava) flow and extend in a pipe shape upwards, sometimes reaching the surface but often not. Magma Pipes gradually refill with magma.

* A [[Volcano]] is similar to a magma pipe, but it has the advantage of being a geographical feature that is visible on the [[location]] screen. This means that it is a lot easier to find. However, it IS actually possible for a volcano that shows up on the "local" and region screen in the starting location chooser to be entirely underground - Although you could see it in the starting location chooser, it would not be visible from the surface once your dwarves have arrived at the fort's site.

== Finding magma ==

Volcanoes are visible on the "local" screen in the starting location chooser. It is represented as a red ≈ mark (a double tilde) - essentially it looks like red water. Note that red ≈ marks in the "region" screen mean something different entirely (e.g. red sand).
If you are using a certain [[utility]], you can also see magma pools and magma pipes on the local screen in the embark menu.
After you have embarked for a place that has a volcano, and once your dwarves have arrived at their target destination, you should see a large red pool of lava on your map. If you don't, you should expect your volcano to be somewhere underground. You then have to use [[exploratory mining]] to find it.

While picking a starting location, the easiest place to look for magma is on or near a [[volcano]] (a red ^ mark in the "region" screen). There are often volcanic islands (easy to find, since they are the sole land in the middle of oceans), but since sea travel is not yet implemented, trade with other races may not be possible on such islands. Instead, find a volcano on land, and (optionally) start looking for a vent in nearby squares. "Nearby squares" can mean anything from literally on top of the volcano, to adjacent, to quite a long distance away indeed. The placement of magma seems to be related to the distance from volcanoes, but is still essentially random.

Magma vents occur exclusively in world map tiles that are primarily igneous extrusive. That is to say, if you select an entire tile on the embarkation screen and press F1 to highlight the most common terrain, the tile will only have magma if the top stone is dark gray, signifying igneous extrusive rock. Magma does not necessarily form in this geological zone/biome, rather anywhere in the tile. Even if magma is not evident on the surface, it's almost certain to be underground somewhere, though the chances of finding it without reveal.exe are still slim.

Much harder than simply finding a magma vent is finding a magma vent that is also near suitable terrain for building. Depending on your requirements - you may be looking for a source of running [[water]], or a [[mountain]] for minerals, or a healthy [[tree]] population, a layer of [[flux]] for [[steel]] production or even all four - suitable building sites can be extremely scarce.

Since volcanoes show up on the region finder, and magma vents do not, you may find it easier to simply check all volcanoes on a map for suitability, and generate a new world if none are suitable, rather than scouring tile after tile for magma vents.

If you're willing to search exhaustively, you might want to consider finding magma vents that are not near volcanoes at all. Very occasionally, magma will be visible in the middle of forests, plains, or other terrain nowhere near a volcano or even mountains. There is no way to spot these on the region map, so you have to review the local maps. This can be done from DF, but since it involves a lot of scrolling and is very tedious, you can try exporting the local map of the world which can be much more quickly searched for the distinctive red ≈ symbol.

You can also occasionally find magma that does not extend all the way to the surface, and therefore is not visible on the local map. These are in fact much more numerous than surface-visible magma vents; however, they are almost impossible to find without cheating via one of the [[utilities]] like "reveal.exe", since unlike proper magma vents these smaller deposits must be almost literally mined into to see (you will get a warning about "warm stone" before you actually breach the deposit). These smaller magma deposits appear in the same places as normal magma vents - near volcanoes, or, failing that, near other known magma.

The newly-added "Site Finder" feature neatly sidesteps all of this legwork, allowing you to search for a site with a magma pool or pipe without having to manually check each tile on the world map. Note that unless you edit the .init file so that magma features are shown on the local map, you won't know exactly ''where'' the lava is prior to embarking- just that it exists. Depending on whether or not you like a little mystery, this can be turned on or off at will.

== Using magma ==

On a map with a magma vent, the magma will be clearly visible from every level ground and below, unless the map is in a Freezing area. In Freezing areas, the top few levels of the vent will have cooled to form an [[obsidian]] "cap". This should still be readily recognizable however, as it will comprise a circular area. The minerals directly adjacent to the magma vent will also be immediately visible, even at the lowest level of the map, which can give some hints about where to prospect for ores.

The vent has a similar, circular shape on each level. However, it is not identical from one level to the next; some levels will have a larger or somewhat misshapen circle of magma.

The primary use for magma is to power [[magma smelter]]s, [[magma glass furnace]]s and [[magma forge]]s. (There are other uses, including defense, [[obsidian]] production, and possibly even garbage disposal.) To build forges, etc. on magma, at least one of the external eight squares must be above a square of magma.

This can be done most easily by simply building on ground level. The magma is visible from ground level but is actually contained one level below ground level, just like any ground-level water source.

To build underground, you will need to dig at least one tile of a [[channel]] above the location you wish to build the smelter or forge. Underneath this channel there must be magma, either directly from the vent or channeled from the vent. You can simply build a tunnel straight into the magma, or use channels to tap into the magma on the level below safely - this latter is easier if there is more magma on the lower level than the level on which you wish to build. Tapping into magma directly is usually safe (see Pressure note below,) provided that you are prepared for it. Magma is much slower than water, and can be stopped by a simple [[bauxite]] [[floodgate]]. Take care however if you are using a [[screwpump]] to pump magma into a tunnel/funnel with a cistern below. The pump will make the magma overflow like it would with water.

Volcanoes and magma tubes slowly replenish their supply of magma.

==Magma flow==

[[Image:Safemagma.png|thumb|188px|Magma safely diverted underground (cross section)]]

Magma is a chunky liquid and as such will not be forced upwards by pressure under normal circumstances.

Thus it can be safely passed through tunnels to be used at a lower point in the fortress.

A frequent mistake, however, is to assume that a channel is sufficient to cause magma to fall. While magma will not rise out of a channel, it can flow over the top once the channel fills up.

[[Image:Unsafemagma.png|thumb|188px|Danger: This will overflow (cross section)]]

(v0.28.181.40d:) Also note that screw pumps can cause magma to behave oddly. Magma that is emerging pumped from a screwpump will behave as if pressurized, and be forced upwards to the same level as the pump. However, this only occurs while the pump is actively pumping magma into a tile that is already full. It seems likely that this behavior is a result of code in the pump ignoring what type of fluid is being pumped, causing the pumped fluid to be passed to a connected tile as if pressurized. It may not be desired behavior, and thus may change in subsequent versions.

[[Image:Pumpedmagma.png|thumb|154px|Pumps will cause magma to rise to the level of the pump (cross section)]]

==Magma compared to water==

Magma is a chunky liquid. As such, it acts like water in certain circumstances, but acts differently in others.

===Similarities===

*Magma fills a tile and has seven possible depths.

*Magma flows outward and downward to expand into clear space.

*Screw pumps work in magma.

*Floodgates and [[pressure plate]]s work in magma.

*Constructed [[wall]]s of all kinds safely contain magma.

*Objects thrown into magma sink to the bottom.

*Magma that is only 1 deep "evaporates" over time.

*A magma-fall generates magma mist, just as a waterfall generates normal mist.

===Differences===

*Magma is extremely hot, and capable of melting objects and constructions made of most materials (see [[Magma#Magma vs. Built Objects|Magma vs. Built Objects]]) and thus destroying them.

*Magma is not normally pressurized, it seeps out of holes slower than water and slow enough for any [[dwarves]] to outrun, unless they are the ones digging into it.

*Magma flows up from a direct vertical line from the bottom of a [[Magma#Magma sources|Volcano or Magma Pipe]] only. Otherwise, its level may rise only by dripping more magma from above, and new magma may only distribute itself by moving down or to the sides, but never up.

*Magma reacts violently with water, releasing steam and, depending on the amount of magma, leaving behind tiles of solid obsidian which can be mined, smoothed or engraved like any natural tile.

*Magma is not a water source. Dwarves can't drink it or supply it to their wounded.

*Magma mist, unlike regular mist, will burn whatever it touches.

== Magma vs. built objects ==

Some objects that come in contact with magma will function fine, no matter what their material. Others will melt or cease to work properly unless they're made of [[magma-safe materials]].

* [[Workshop]]s that are powered by magma need not be built of magma-safe materials to function.

* Constructed [[wall]]s of any material, even those that are not "Magma-safe", will hold magma in without issues.

* Like walls, [[door]]s can also be built out of any material and still hold back lava as long as it's in the "closed" position. It may be wise to make sure hallways/rooms close to an engineering project involving magma have plenty of doors, just in case you have a little too much [[fun]] when you forget to build that last [[floodgate]].

* [[Bridge]]s that are built over magma may be constructed of any material. However, bridges that are submerged in magma must be constructed of a magma-safe material.

* Most machines must be made of [[magma-safe materials]] to function for more than a few minutes in magma. This includes [[floodgate]]s. Unsafe materials will function for a while, but then burn away. Screw pumps will not melt, but will burn. Stone [[block]]s and [[copper]] [[pipe]]s/[[enormous corkscrew|corkscrews]] will not melt.

* Stone [[mechanism]]s attached to a construction will melt in magma unless made of bauxite or [[raw adamantine]], even if the construction itself is made of [[steel]]. In addition, if the mechanisms melt off of a floodgate, the floodgate will cease to be "constructed" and become an unplaced item again.{{version|0.27.176.38c}} At this point, the magma will flow over it freely.

== Magma creatures ==
[[Fire imp]]s, [[fire man|firemen]], [[magma man|magma men]], and [[fire snake]]s inhabit Magma. Fire snakes are a type of [[vermin]] that can set your fortress on [[fire]] with little to no warning. Like all other vermin, they may spawn a short distance outside their native environment, meaning they can appear in any region near a magma pipe, even if the region and magma have no physical connection.

== Temperature settings ==

Magma is almost harmless if temperature is disabled in the Dwarf Fortress init file. It can still trap and suffocate or simply starve your dwarves in some situations. It will not melt bridges, etc. constructed of non-[[magma-proof]] materials.

== Magma reactions ==

*Water: If magma happens to contact water it produces some steam and [[obsidian]]. This means there is no longer any chance of using a prolonged contact between the two to create a steam trap, though steam is also likely now not harmful. For those of you who aren't veteran dwarves, in the old 2D version, steam was deadly.
*[[Brook]]s: If magma comes in contact with a brook, it will not produce steam, but will turn the water tile below the brook to obsidian, and give the brook tile the appearance of a dried-up brook.
*Rocks: [[stone|Rock]]s left over from mining will melt if magma covers them.
*Trees: [[Tree]]s will not (yet) burn or be destroyed by magma.
*Speed: Magma moves relatively slowly. While it is nearly impossible to try to seal off water let loose, magma is slow enough for your dwarves to build a floodgate or door, or even wall off the flooding area, if you happen to let magma loose by mistake.
*Pressure: Magma does not transmit [[water pressure|pressure]].
*In a volcano or a magma pipe, magma will occasionally appear in small columns above its surface [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=26201.msg311730#msg311730] if it is below its original level. It will not be created above floors. It will be created in 7s, and will probably spread around in few seconds. This may be deadly to unlucky dwarves standing around. Therefore, to be sure to avoid casualties, do not build workshops except at the highest level of magma.

[[Category:Physics]]
{{Magma FAQ}}

40d:Chasm

2008-12-03T11:54:36Z

Griphin:

'''Chasms''' are a feature that appear infrequently in [[mountain]]ous [[biome]]s. They are a [[cave]] system identified by not having a [[floor]] on the lowest level (which is instead marked <tt>#</tt> and described as "Chasm" when loo{{k|k}}ed at).

Chasms come in two forms: standard chasms, which look something like a river system (a bottomless "Grand Canyon"), and "bottomless pits", which are like a [[magma pipe]] without the magma. Chasms are much more common on named mountains and [[volcano]]es, along with other special features such as [[cave river]]s. Chasms may either be open to the sky, or fully [[underground]] and not visible until breached by a miner (at which point, the entire chasm is revealed).

Chasms are not visible on the Region/World maps or the Local maps by default, but can be turned visible by setting SHOW_EMBARK_CHASM (for tributaries) and SHOW_EMBARK_PIT (for pits) to ALWAYS in init.txt. They must also be set to be shown during [[advanced world generation|world generation]]. On the local map, standard chasms will show up as gray #s and bottomless pits as gray Os.

The presence of Extreme [[Cliff]]s (20+) on the Local Map is sometimes indicative of a chasm. (Is this just coincidental?){{verify}}

==Forms==
===Standard===
The beginning of a standard chasm appears similar to the fringed tributary section of a brook sometimes seen in mountain areas, and the rest looks pretty much like the watercourse of a brook or river (though with small caves in the walls). Appears as {{tile|#|#777}} on the embark map if enabled.

[[Image:Tributary chasm.JPG|Standard chasm showing lowermost level descending to the depths]]

===Bottomless pit===
A bottomless pit, also called a vent chasm, has a similar appearance to a magma pipe, except it does not contain magma. Appears as {{tile|○|#777}} on the embark map if enabled.

[[Image:chasm.PNG]]
==Uses==
=== Garbage dump ===
'''Chasming''' [[refuse]] refers to disposing of items marked for dumping into the chasm.
This is still possible: designate a [[activity zone#Garbage Dump|garbage dump activity zone]] over the chasm and an adjacent walkable tile. To dump an item, examine it with {{key|k}} and mark it for {{key|d}}umping. [[Standing orders]] can be used to automatically dump particular types of refuse. [[Dwarves]] may cancel the dump task due to [[creatures]] they can see across the chasm, even if those creatures can't reach them {{version|0.27.176.38c}}

'''Historical note''': In the 2D version, the chasm could spawn monsters, and dumping things into the chasm would provoke attacks. Dumping a sufficient amount magma in the chasm would exterminate them. This no longer occurs in the current version.

=== Platform-chasming ===
A technique of dumping by building a platform over the chasm, and then severing the platform from the [[wall]], to permanently dispose of garbage, excess [[stone]] or [[unfortunate accident#Walk the plank|nobles]] set on top. The severed platform will disappear into the darkness below, never to be seen again.

===Resources===
Often [[cave spider]]s are present near chasms, creating spider [[silk]] webs that can be collected. As the chasm exposes every layer to view they provide access to easily identified resources such as [[ore]] deposits.

== Hazards ==

[[Dwarves]] fighting near the edges of cliffs have a propensity to dodge right off the precipice, falling to their deaths.

The chasm is also home to many types of hostile creatures, including [[iron man|iron men]], [[troglodyte]]s, [[giant cave swallow]]s, [[antman|antmen]], [[giant cave spider]]s, [[ratman|ratmen]], [[batman|batmen]], [[troll]]s and [[gremlin]]s.

{{World}}

[[Category:World]]