40d Talk:Chasm

I've had a chasm in a mountainous area near a volcano which was in fact cylindrical, not shaped like a river at all. It was basically a bore of empty space all the way to the bottom-most level, which consisted of the # chasm squares. In that respect, it looked much like a volcano bore but generally a bit smaller. There were variations in width on different levels of it as well. This led to open cave floor around it on some levels where troglodytes, iron men, giant cave swallows, and caveswallowmen frolicked about. --Janus 08:25, 1 November 2007 (EDT)

Huh, how about that. They're certainly more interesting than they used to be.--Draco18s 14:54, 1 November 2007 (EDT)

Interesting. Sounds like a magma vent minus the magma. I have a game going in a grassland a few region squares away from a volcano. When I first started the game, I got a message that part of the cavern had collapsed and it zoomed to the magma vent. The vent itself was as you describe--a roughly cylindrical sinkhole of varying widths that went all the way to the bottom. Only in my case, it was full of magma up to the surface, and at lower depths, fire imps, magma men and fire snakes could be seen (Apparently, magma is transparent.) Maybe the game treats magma vents as localized chasms full of magma? --RedKing 16:43, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

That's probably how it was formed, using the same algorithm as a magma vent, but it does appear to be intentional. Perhaps it is indeed meant to be a dead magma vent. That same map has the main volcano magma vent a short distance away. The magma vent was of course shown on the local map when choosing the map location, but the circular chasm was not.

As for the collapse message when starting on a map with a magma vent, that appears to be due to a bug where a body of water is generated in the middle of it. This water instantly creates a solid block of obsidian with no support, which then collapses. Magma is semi-liquid, and fireproof monsters like those you mention will swim freely through it. --Janus 17:06, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

Actually there are two variants of the chasm, a chasm vent/pit and a chasm/river star like chasm (encountered this one twice, and it really fucked up the level). Perhaps we should works this into the article. Perhaps we should ad screenshots. I sadly have no save with the star river like chasm anymore (abandoned those). --Soyweiser 18:45, 7 November 2007 (EST)

I'm playing a fortress right now with the same type of "pit" chasm. I'll see if I can get a shot of it to add to the page. --Sk128234 19:08, 7 November 2007 (EST)

Are the surface chasms visible from the map when selecting the site? It would be great to get a screenshot of that for the page to look similarly to the volcano page. --JPolito 02:26, 18 November 2007 (EST)

They're not visible until you actually embark. Same thing for kobold caves. However, if they reach the surface at all, you can see every single tile they contain right away.--Maximus 15:05, 19 November 2007 (EST)

I don't think that chasms are the only things that can produce 20+ cliffs. I have a fortress now that is right on the edge of a massive cliff.--Zonhin 19:39, 18 December 2007 (EST)

I have a pretty oddly shaped chasm, or at least i think i do. It starts from the corner of the map in a river like shape, then it splits off into 5 smaller 'fingers.' I've mined alot of the rock around it; it has a wide assortment of metals, gems, and stone i havent seen anywhere else on the map.--Hiho216 00:58, 23 January 2008 (EST)