v0.34:Semi-molten rock

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Semi-Molten Rock (SMR), represented by the tile ░, is generally found at the bottommost edges of Great magma seas. Anywhere that magma is found rests on layer after layer of semi-molten rock, with no normal material to be found beneath it. There is also a layer near the bottom of the map composed almost entirely of semi-molten rock even where magma does not overlie it. Freestanding formations are possible, though less common. Though its name suggests the rock is hot, it is not dangerous to nearby dwarves. SMR acts as a barrier, and cannot be mined through, nor smoothed. Unlike magma, SMR does not react with water, producing no steam or obsidian.

The floor under a magma reservoir, above the semi-molten rock, is described as a magma flow, appearing in blue text when examined, and appearing as a dark red fluid indistinguishable from blood or magma as seen from open space above. The floor of the layer above the SMR at the bottom of the map is not a magma flow when stone is dug into, but appears as the same type of rock as the tile dug into. However, if a channel is dug down into the SMR from this tile, a magma flow floor is revealed; under this intact floor a ramp will appear, if and only if the tile of SMR was previously unrevealed. Otherwise it will be unchanged. (As a result no two of these ramps can adjoin) A magma flow also cannot be dug into, nor smoothed. However, constructions can be built on top of it, and these convert the magma flow into some other kind of stone or soil, which is sometimes useful sand or clay, appearing when the construction is removed. Curiously, water dumped onto a magma flow with magma on top of it will not turn it into obsidian; rather the magma is simply removed. At the bottom of a magma reservoir with only small amounts of water falling in, such a tile can change from 7/7 to 0/7 and back in a few single step increments with the "." key. A construction (such as a stairway up) can be designated atop the magma flow when it is momentarily is free of magma due to water falling from above. Strangest of all, once designated, a dwarf can build this construction unhindered, without any job cancellations. Once the construction is present, magma and water can react in the square, destroying the construction and converting the square into unmined obsidian.

These odd exceptions to the normal rules means that dwarves on a level partially filled with water can (with much effort) completely wall off the region surrounding some special point of interest, eventually removing all the magma from a large area despite the failure of the usual magma-water interaction.

Behavior:

If the stone floor which replaces a magma ramp under a built and removed construction is channeled into a second time, the ramp below becomes visible from above. Unfortunately, for some reason dwarves still cannot descend into this square with the ramp, nor can they ascend out of it should they find themselves somehow there. A dwarf dumped into the space, say, by a remote controlled hatch "accident", cannot construct anything because the adjacent squares remain semi-molten rock, and won't turn to ramps if channelled from above. Therefore an up/down stairway cannot be constructed in this space, even if it is beneath another up/down stairway. (Perhaps with some magma and water you might dig one out...) A dwarf in this space also refuses to remove the ramp or to dig in any other way... except to channel downward, which can reach hidden fun stuff by a non canonical route. Suffice it to say that the denizens of the space below seem to have trouble believing that dwarves could make it through semi-molten rock.

Tunnelling through multiple layers of solid SMR:

Original Thread

1. Dig a channel over the unrevealed SMR. This will reveal the layer underneath with an unusable upward ramp and create a magma flow floor tile where the channel designation was.

2. Collapse a regular constructed floor into the shaft to flatten the shaft to the bottom. This moves the magma flow tile down one level where the unusuable ramp was. Use a magma NON-safe stone or wood for this step.

3. Pour a small amount of magma into the shaft. Just use enough to fill the bottom Z-layer with magma, If too much goes in, you'll just have to perform a few extra steps of turning it into obsidian one layer at a time and mining it out with up/down stairs. Remember to move the obsidian stones out of the shaft before proceeding with step 5. The magma is used to melt and destroy all items present. Don't proceed with step 4 until all items at the bottom have melted and dispersed. The only thing on the tile when you loo(k) should be Magma flow and Magma 7/7. Any molten magma globs (differs from Magma Liquid) will suspend constructions for the next step.

4. Use a pond designation to pour a single bucket of water to remove the 7/7 magma at the bottom. Since it is on a magma flow tile, it doesn't create obsidian. If it did, This whole process would be much faster.

5. The bottom of the shaft should be clear of all items, with no magma or water water should be in there. construct a staircase down if you don't already have mined obsidian stairs one layer at a time. At the bottom, build a upstair. Then use a miner to remove the staircase from top to bottom. When the bottom upstair construction is removed, the magma flow tile will be temporarily converted into a normal stone/soil floor. This is a suicide mission, choose an expendable dwarf for this task. Make sure he is not carrying anything which won't melt in magma. (No iron or steel picks)

6. Go to Step 1st for the next layer down to channel the floor.

If you get really unlucky and your final floor collapse breaks through and lands in an Eerie pit instead of the slade cavern floor, your fps will be ruined. Make sure you have a backup save before starting this procedure. What happens is that the Magma Flow tile gets stuck in the middle of the Eerie pit, but unsupported by any walls or floor and will perpetually collapse every single tick. this took my framerate from a stable 43 FPS to 3 FPS

Semi-molten rock is not synonymous with warm stone, although any given tile of SMR may in fact be warm if it adjoins magma. If you're looking for magma and you find SMR rather than warm stone, your best bet is to do some exploratory mining several Z levels up.

In places where there is a single layer of semi-molten rock on the map, it can be safely dug through by designating a ramp in an unrevealed SMR tile one level down and one tile across from an access square.

You can also dig up into semi-molten rock just fine (by designating an up/down staircase accessible from below). This also works only if the tile is still unrevealed. But often (but not always) you can't get down there without encountering hidden fun stuff first.

Digging a ramp into unrevealed SMR may open it into an Eerie Glowing Pit.