User talk:GhostDwemer

Impassable tiles, or edge tiles?

Howdy, and thanks for your contribution to my evolving understanding of this game.

On the question of impassable vs edge, please read magma forge carefully. My understanding is that, while you can operate a magma forge (for example) if any of the edge tiles are over an opening to magma below, by choosing to place it so that one of the two impassable tiles is over the opening, you prevent falling accidents. My assumption is that a healthy dwarf will never fall into an open magma hole, just like they don't fall down stairs or off ledges. But combat or poor health status sometimes causes dwarves to move in other unintentional and potentially dangerous ways -- falling off ledges, into pits, down stairs, etc.

Also note there are similar warnings about stairs, e.g,. Falling creatures ignore stairs and may get seriously hurt if the real ground is several z-levels below them. Which has led me to change my stair building practices (avoiding the 50 levels up/down stair stack...)-- Maunder 17:53, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

• Ah! Yes, I see the reason for doing so now! It reminds me of the time I put barracks next to a magma pool 'because it looked cool.' How long do you think it took for someone to knock the darn militia captain into the magma? Yeah, not long at all. I guess even dorfs have heard of fragging.GhostDwemer 18:01, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

I forgot to mention the other benefit, I think: covering the magma hole prevents creatures from coming up from below, even if they could otherwise "fly" through. I've never yet encountered them, but there must be such creatures. I have no idea if a Forgotten beast et al, who are building destroyers, can destroy a forge from below through that open hole -- presumably yes, since it's not in the described category of impervious things built with the b-C construction menu. -- Maunder 04:55, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

• I have another solution, gleaned from the tutorials listed on the forums. Dig Fortifications into your magma intake. Magma goes through, critters do not. And nothing destroys Fortifications. Unfortunately, I forgot to do this for my latest fortress. However, the volcano goes 24 z-levels above the valley floor, and the intake tube then goes down that far again. Something would have to really want to get in that way, and the tutorial makes it seem as thought the biggest risk is simply getting a magma critter in the lava under your workshops, which will render them unusable due to constant job cancellations. If that happens, I guess I'll have to dig out another magma complex. For some reason Dorfs don't like to work right above fire snakes. I've not seen a FB that could survive in magma yet. In fact, I killed one by dumping magma on it once. It had gotten itself stuck behind a tower cap tree in a cavern, haha. I Encased it in Carboni.. er, Obsidian, by dumping magma then water on it. That was... satisfying. Oddly, the magma pooled up behind the tower cap without igniting it.GhostDwemer 19:43, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I installed a fortification before letting the magma flow down the hall under my shops. But there's always a chance a nasty magma man or something might spawn in the tunnel you dug. It's not a lot of volume, but presumably possible... -- Maunder 08:12, 2 November 2010 (UTC)