40d Talk:Waterfall

"You can engineer an indoor waterfall to take advantage of the happiness it causes. You need three z-levels to do this. On the bottom is the reservoir of water. The middle layer is the screw pump and the meeting hall where your dwarves will gather to enjoy the mist. On top is a narrow corridor that connects the pump chamber to the hole though the ceiling of the meeting hall. Under this hole is a grate that connects to the reservoir."
Wouldn't you need two screw pumps? --Gairabad 19:54, 28 November 2008 (EST)

You do. Since there are a whole lot more ways to engineer an indoor waterfall, and since this wiki generally tries to avoid telling players what exactly to build, I'll rewrite that. --Savok 20:39, 28 November 2008 (EST)

Put the guide to making waterfalls back in, many people including myself are absolutely clueless and need something to work with.

Engineering Methods

I think this article is doing a disservice. The wiki certainly does mention engineering methods and tips in many places (such as the excellent screwpump article.) It might be warranted noting things like what causes the happiness, for example - do you need to engineer it so that they merely see it, or must they walk through the mist? If the latter, is there a risk of flooding your fortress by building rooms exposed to the interior of an outdoor waterfall, and so on. The article as written is a bit barren. Lastofthelight 04:12, 11 January 2009 (EST)

I wondered the same thing, so I set one up. Dwarfs seeing a waterfall has no effect. They have to go through a tile with mist on it.--Kwieland 17:01, 16 February 2009 (EST)

water splashing/spreading

I just opened a floodgate to a river that drops the water through the ceiling of my dining hall and into a 1 z-level deep channel in the middle of the room, which then goes into a tunnel then a channel outside. the channel was 1x3 with ramps around it, but the water still appeared to splash out...I have 1/7 water over half the dining hall. Is the assertion about water falling straight down correct in the article? the channel is not full--I'm pretty sure it didn't hit 7/7 at all. The water is flowing very fast, so is it possible the water plummeting through my dining hall is spreading out because it is briefly 3/7 or something in mid air? --Freshyq314 23:29, 4 February 2009 (EST)

Also, my "divert an infinite water source through my dining hall" really sounds like fun... I still don't know a good way for my channel to get the water off the map. I'd like to not flood the entire lowlands, where all my trees are. Right now my channel goes to within a square of the map edge, but can't dig out that last bit, and I can't put constructions nearer than ~10 squares to the edge, so no pumping it out. Any thoughts? --Freshyq314 23:29, 4 February 2009 (EST)

Tunnel out to the last tile, then smooth and carve fortifications in the last, I think. Decius 15:14, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I have observed the same as of 40d. Water falling 3 z levels can "land" over a 9x9 square. Nice to know after the fact when you've started flooding your fortress, eh!

lead the water to the river tiles on the map's edge where its water disappears - these are magic tiles that let water disappear - if you dont feed in too much water it will work --Birthright 23:08, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

If the top of your waterfall consists of a floor grate completely surrounded by walls, then the only direction the water can go is down. I did this with my own fort's waterfall, and I haven't had a single tile of mud (though I use a 3x3 #+#/+#+/#+# grate/floor pattern over each nozzle and a 3x3 drainage shaft beneath it). Search for "Towerclouted" on DFMA for an example (hopefully the mist won't have obstructed too much). --Quietust 02:23, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

What you describe is true, sorta, but beside the point. It's still a perfect example of the (new?) water splashing: fanning out smth like 1 tile per level, so a one level drop can spill a 3x3 area, 2 lvl 5x5 and so on. This is not visible in your example because grates don't get muddy. @Freshyq314: To reduce water speed, pressure and thus flooding in your hall, make sure it runs through a "diagonal corner" (see Water pressure) --Birthright 21:59, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

quality

Do waterfalls have quality levels like wells? --Höhlenschreck 18:46, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

A waterfall is sort of a meta-construction. It isn't a single constructed object like a well. The individual parts of the waterfall can have quality levels (like the floor grates the water falls through.) I do not imagine that those quality levels impact the happiness imparted by the mist, but dwarves could certainly admire the nice grates as they walk by. --Masennus 23:12, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking of smth like the height water drops before it causes mist improves quality, like supposedly applies to well shafts.. --Höhlenschreck 19:33, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure there's just a single generic happy thought for being under a waterfall; ergo, no quality (see Thought). --3 19:45, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Waterfalls cannot Desalt saltwater

Perhaps I'm just doing it wrong, but it seems that it is not possible to draw saltwater from an artificial waterfall and use that water to create purified water. See my map Here to see what I mean.

.40D waterfalls

Note: This example might not work any more due to water spilling being different in the
newest version.v0.28.181.40d

the example image DOES work still in 40d. I have the video to prove it @DFMAKenji 03 11:03, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

But that is exactly the point - you get a mess, well more to the point, flooding - a huge problem inside, where most waterfalls will be built, and it does not work without a constant water supply which is just the thing this example did not use to need. --Koltom 21:00, 31 July 2009 (UTC)