Bay 12 Games Forum

Have the boundaries on z-levels changed in the new version? I have found references on the wiki to large changes in the number of pure rock levels available below the surface terrain, but whenever I actually generate a map and move my viewpoint to its boundary, it seems that there are roughly the same number as in 40d. Is there a setting somewhere in the init files to change this, or is it perhaps dependent on the discovery of the cavern systems?

I just discovered this game a couple days ago, and I've ignored all my other games because of it. 

Dwarf Fortress tends to do that.

So it's impossible to create a "last dwarves" world by any method that will still give nobles?

Tower caps can take upwards of a year to grow.

So  nobles actually need a working civ to come from?

Unless there's natural rock between the top z-level and the tile in question, it's above ground. So once you remove that cieling it's above ground. That said, unless you're on a biome that supports trees and bushes (not mountain) you won't get any spontaneously growing, so it's more for farming aboveground plants in a way that doesn't trigger cave adaptation.

Of course, if you find multiple soil layers and produce an underground-now-aboveground area that has a full wall of soil beneath it they'll grow, but they're already doing so on the surface so...

Whenever I embark someplace where something will want to eat my dwarves quickly, I find one of the little mini-mountains that normally sprout up in single tiles near big ones, and dig into that so I can use it as a pocket fort. The whole lower level is dug out after the longest three-tile entry corridor I can make; the back gets dug downward via ramps and curves around to form a nice long 120-tile entryway so I can use ballistae with impunity once all the necessary space is dug out to transfer everything from the pocket fort to the main one.

It's inefficient, but it keeps my main mountain from having abortive pocket forts everywhere.