Bay 12 Games Forum

Trees need unmined soil in the layer below. Shrubs might take a while to show up. How long has it been?

Actually, I don't think they do need unmined soil. I have some trees that popped up at ground level over my temporary fort after I had cut them all down. I have some old rooms down there 1 z level below ground.

Ok, I'm trying to make a penthouse garden on top of an obsidian tower. If you build a construction on the natural obsidian and remove it, you get the base layer, which in this case is sandy clay soil. Grass is growing all over it, but not shrubs and trees. Does anyone know how I might get trees and shrubs growing on soil as well?

One thing I noticed is that it rains on the main level of the map, but way up on top of my tower I see no evidence of rain even when it's clearly raining near the ground level. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

You could also rinse them with water to increase their swimming skill. Set the mist generator above your meeting spot so it drops water on them and then whisks it away.

Sure, you get lots of cancellation messages. But they'll become good swimmers.

I once had an issue with dwarfs passing through an artificial river I made, and the mother dwarfs kept dropping their babies in the river. The babies would be carried by the current to an area that wasn't so deep, and by the time they became children they could just swim out.

I would probably file a bug report as well if it isn't already in there.

I don't actually think it's a bug. If you think about it, it's a solution to the problem of water landing on top of the ocean. Without a special rule for sea level, you could flood your map eventually by dumping water into the ocean, which would be undesireable. The ocean probably should be a place where you can dump water, and this is how it is handled.

Quote from: zecro on October 02, 2009, 06:12:40 am

IIRC there are U-bend bugs that create infinite water.

Not any more; only in old versions.

Cephalo, you might want to compare with this: http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=42571.0
Could that be what's happening on your map?
It would be helpful if you posted a save.

Yes this could be the problem. My fort is jutting out into the ocean a bit, and the bottom of the loop is at sea level. I bet it's the same issue. I don't wanna post a save because this is my most epic fort ever, and I don't want anyone to see it before it's finished. 

Ok, for a new experiment, I cleared the fountain side pipe of stairs, and I still get no water climbing up the spout. Next I'll try clearing all the stairs, and if that doesn't work I'll be very confused.
PPj 
  X      -> Fountain exit
  X     _
  X     _
  u______
PP = pump
j = down stair
u = up stair
X = up down stair
_= regular plain corridor

Ok, I will have to make a vertical diagram

PPj
  X      -> Fountain exit
  X     X
  X     X
  u_____u
PP = pump
j = down stair
u = up stair
X = up down stair
_= regular plain corridor

I just learned accidently that water will flow downstairs, but not upstairs. You can fill an open space with water from above, and the pressure will cause the level to rise up to the water source. But, if there are only stairs in the hole you intend to fill, it will never fill up. I guess you can use that property to drain a large body of water into... nothing! I wonder if I can drain the ocean?