Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[guitarxe]

I don't know why, but I have this feeling like it's possible to collect magma with buckets and then dump it? But while reading the wiki there is no mention of this method.
Is it possible?

I need some magma on the surface to power workshops, but pump stacks take too long to build, and using a minecart requires a steel minecart or it will melt (can you embark with steel minecarts?)

[Trif]

It's not possible. In theory, a nethercap bucket would be able to hold magma, but the dwarfs won't fill molten rock in buckets because it is quite silly.

[AndreaReina]

Iron is magma-safe, costs 24 embark points for one iron ore.

[GreatWyrmGold]

You can take magma in buckets in Minecraft, if its wiki was correct.
In Dwarf Fortress? The dwarf's hand would probably melt.

[Hans Lemurson]

I think it would be possible if you could get the lava into the bucket in the first place and have the dwarf be able to dump it properly.

I'd imagine it would work like filling a pond...but with magma.

[Sutremaine]

Steel minecarts are a legal option for embark, but they cost 1500 points. Iron minecarts are cheaper, but you'll still be spending most of your points on one. So, as said, get the ore. It's usually the better option for all metals, especially if you have coal available for purchase.

If you're using power to send carts up to the surface, use the design shown here. Corner ramps have some odd properties that make them more efficient when used with rollers, making straight ramps much more power-hungry than a tight spiral combined with a section of flat track. Even if straight ramp tiles and corner ramp tiles demanded the same amount of power, a spiral ramp would still be better because of its more efficient power train.

You might also want to set up a macro that designates a 2x2 circle of track to be carved and then moves the cursor either up or down a level. Carving those corners manually is annoying, and if anything is carved wrong you can't troubleshoot it visually. Another good thing to do to increase in-game construction speed is to enable Mechanics and Engraving on as many dwarves as possible. Each dwarf will only be placing a couple of axles or carving a couple of tiles, so the time they take to do the job isn't significant compared to the time they take to walk to it.

[Michael]

You can take magma in buckets in Minecraft, if its wiki was correct.

It is.  Most Minecraft players carry one or more magma buckets with them, "just in case".  Dwarfs may talk the talk about magma solving anything, but they timidly only apply it using machines.  Minecraft players will casually pour lava on an insufficiently attentive opponent in personal combat.

See here the climax of the Mindcrack UHC 7 multiplayer match (7 teams of two players each):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QWTisDRTds&feature=player_detailpage&list=PL5E685410FE05BAE7#t=2274s
(obviously this spoils who won it.)

[GoombaGeek]

What about nickel? I know it's magma-safe.

You probably can't make anything out of it, though...

[UrbanGiraffe]

Dwarfs may talk the talk about magma solving anything, but they timidly only apply it using machines.

Made my day.

[nanomage]

Can the dwarves just haul some magma in a minecart, as they do with ordinary stuff when the path is disrupted?

[praptak]

Can the dwarves just haul some magma in a minecart, as they do with ordinary stuff when the path is disrupted?

Yes, they can. I think that you cannot pour the lava out without a track stop though.

[Hurkyl]

What about nickel? I know it's magma-safe.

You probably can't make anything out of it, though...

You can make stuff out of nickel. I recall one embark where I intended to go for minecart magma early... and it turned out that my only reasonable option was to bring a couple stones of Garnierite.

[guitarxe]

Can the dwarves just haul some magma in a minecart, as they do with ordinary stuff when the path is disrupted?

Yes, they can. I think that you cannot pour the lava out without a track stop though.

Wait, so I can make a short track going into magma and out to fill a minecart. Then have a dwarf haul the minecart full of magma up to the surface rather than carving a long-arse winding ramp track to the surface? Then just make another track with a stop to dump the magma where I want it?

[praptak]

Can the dwarves just haul some magma in a minecart, as they do with ordinary stuff when the path is disrupted?

Yes, they can. I think that you cannot pour the lava out without a track stop though.

Wait, so I can make a short track going into magma and out to fill a minecart. Then have a dwarf haul the minecart full of magma up to the surface rather than carving a long-arse winding ramp track to the surface? Then just make another track with a stop to dump the magma where I want it?

Yes, I have just tested this. Nevertheless a magma-filled cart is heavy, so the hauling takes forever (edit: maybe it's possible to use wheelbarrows for that?) The investment in tracks probably repays itself very quickly.

[nanomage]

Can the dwarves just haul some magma in a minecart, as they do with ordinary stuff when the path is disrupted?

Yes, they can. I think that you cannot pour the lava out without a track stop though.

Wait, so I can make a short track going into magma and out to fill a minecart. Then have a dwarf haul the minecart full of magma up to the surface rather than carving a long-arse winding ramp track to the surface? Then just make another track with a stop to dump the magma where I want it?

Yes, I have just tested this. Nevertheless a magma-filled cart is heavy, so the hauling takes forever (edit: maybe it's possible to use wheelbarrows for that?) The investment in tracks probably repays itself very quickly.

You only have to haul 2 minecarts to fuel a workshop, 3 to be safe. If you declare 2 or 3 routes then they'll be hauled simulteniously. That's pretty much free magma workshops.