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Author Topic: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure  (Read 12664 times)

Leonidas

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!!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« on: February 20, 2018, 01:48:02 am »

I've developed an improvement to the double-slit method, focusing on safety, in-game speed, and minimizing cancellation spam. This procedure will cut through any depth of aquifer in a 5x5 tube, using only dwarf-power.

Embark
  • 1-2 proficient Carpenters
  • 1-2 proficient Masons
Your preference for carpenters vs masons depends on whether you plan on making the pumps with wood blocks or stone blocks. Stone blocks are cheaper; wood blocks are faster.
  • 1-2 proficient Miners
There's no reason to put points into Pump Operating. The total pumping time in any given phase is very short.
  • Extra wood and stone. The minimal, most economical embark purchase to cover a typical project with two soil aquifer layers is 20 stone for blocks and 24 wood for grates, pipes, and corkscrews, totalling 135 points.
    If your goal is in-game speed, then plan on your floors and pumps being made of 20 wood blocks. So your embark purchase for the aquifer would be 15 stone and 44 wood for 177 points.
These figures for wood and stone only cover the aquifer project. You'll need more wood and stone for beds, workshops, furniture, etc. And some materials may be available on site, depending on where you embark.
A seven-man expedition can break the aquifer fairly efficiently from the very beginning, but only if they aren't doing much of anything else. Farming, in particular, is a constant drain on your labor pool that you may want to avoid until the aquifer project is finished, or migrants arrive.

Materials
  • 4 Pipe Sections
  • 4 Enormous Corkscrews
  • 16 Grates
  • 80 Blocks for pumps (4), walls (60), and floors (16)
This assumes that your aquifer has no more than two soil layers, which seems to be common. If you want to be extra prepared, then add 20 blocks per additional soil layer that you anticipate. If your aquifer goes into stone layers, then those layers will give you enough stone to produce more blocks than you're consuming.

Examine the Aquifer
Have your game set to pause on discovering damp stone. Designate a 1x1 u/d staircase deep down into the ground. When your miners uncover the top layer of the aquifer, the game will cancel the dig into that layer and pause on a damp stone warning.

You've uncovered the aquifer's top layer. Now it's important to determine if the top layer is also the bottom layer, meaning that the aquifer is only one layer thick. So re-designate two adjacent u/d staircases in the top aquifer layer, while deleting the designation in the layer below.

As your miner digs out a square in the top aquifer layer, the game will pause on another damp stone warning. Leave the game paused and examine [k] the newly revealed square in the next layer down. If it's dry, then you're dealing with a simple one-layer aquifer and you can skip down to the bottom layer procedure. If it's damp, then prepare your camp and begin the top layer procedure.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Prepare Your Camp
Dig a 5x5 cross of down staircases two layers above the aquifer's top layer. Center the cross on the exploratory shaft that you just dug. Then dig a 5x5 square of u/d stairs one layer above the aquifer's top layer, as your first working area.

Arrange some stockpiles around the cross for your pipes, screws, grates, and blocks. Make sure that the stockpiles are big enough to always have excess space, so that loose parts in the pit will automatically get picked up.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Top Layer Procedure
The top layer of the aquifer is a little bit easier and safer than the middle layers, because you can dig and deepen each side drain one at a time.
1. Confirm Starting Position. Start with a working area: a 5x5 box of u/d stairs just above the top aquifer layer.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
2. Dig Central Drain. Dig a small cross of u/d stairs in the layer below your working area.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
3. Side-Center Stairs. Dig four u/d stairs in the middle of each side of the working area. Then extend those stairs down a level.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
4. Construct Floors. Construct 16 floors on the working space in the pattern shown. Use blocks; they're faster.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
5. Channel a Side Drain. Pick any side of the square and channel out that side, except for the center stairs.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
6. Build Grates. Build floor grates over the channeled holes. They will protect your dwarves without blocking the pumps.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
7. Build Pumps. Build four pumps that will pull water out of the side drain, through the grate, and into the working area.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
8. Run Pumps. Start all four pumps. Your pumpers should stay perfectly dry, and the side drain should be safe for your miners to enter.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
9. Ramps to Stairs. At the bottom of the side drain, turn the four ramps into four down stairs. Do not touch the center-side stairs.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
10. Deepen the Side Drain. Designate a 1x5 line of u/d stairs below the side drain, two layers below your working area.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
11. Test the Aquifer. Once per z-level, you need to peek at the layer three steps below your working area, to see if you've found the bottom of the aquifer.
When deepening a drain in step 10, add 1x5 u/d stairs adjacent to the 1x5 line, on tiles not yet known to be damp. This extra line of designations exists solely to pause the game at the right moment. The first tile dug in the side drain will cause a damp stone warning and pause the game, so that you can examine [k] the newly revealed tile on the unexplored layer.
If the new layer is dry, then make a note of it. You'll be done soon. Otherwise, keep grinding.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
12. Stop the Pumps.
13. Plug the Center-Side. Construct a wall in the center-side of the newly deepened drain.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
14. Remove the Pumps. Wait for all the pump parts to be carried up to their stockpiles. If you skip ahead, the pump parts can scatter out onto the grates, and then fall into the drain.
15. Replace the Grates with Walls. But do it carefully. This is the most dangerous step. Make sure that there's no water sloshing around. Never remove two adjacent grates at the same time.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
16. Loop. Go back to step 5 and do it all over again, until you've covered all four sides of the box.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
17. Deconstruct the Floor. This takes some time, because deconstruction is slow. At least you get your 16 blocks back.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
18. Dig out the New Layer. Dig u/d stairs in the rest of the 5x5 square below your work area.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
19. Decision Point. Now you must remember what you learned in step 11. If your aquifer is only two layers deep, then skip to the bottom layer procedure. Otherwise, go to the middle layer procedure.

Middle Layer Procedure
1. Confirm Starting Position.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
2. Dig Central Drain. Dig a small cross of five u/d stairs in the center of the box, just below the working layer.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
3. Construct Floors. Construct 16 floors on the working space in the pattern shown. Use blocks; they're faster.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
4. Channel Side Drains. Channel out 16 tiles along the sides of the square. Do not channel the u/d stairs in the side-center. For safety, do not channel adjacent tiles at the same time.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
5. Build Grates. Safety first! Cover all those dangerous gaping holes with your 16 floor grates, before the water starts flowing.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
6. Build Pumps. Build four pumps along one side of the square, skipping the side-center. Orient them to pump through the grates.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
7. Run Pumps. Wait until all four pumps are active. The water should not reach the pumpers.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
8. Deepen the Side Drain. Designate a 1x5 line of u/d stairs below the side drain, two layers below your working area.
Your miners may experience some job cancellation, especially on the first deepened drain of each z-level. The other drains on that level will be easier, because some of the water will already be draining away.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
9. Test the Aquifer. Once per z-level, you need to peek at the layer three steps below your working area, to see if you've found the bottom of the aquifer.
When deepening a drain in step 8, add 1x5 u/d stairs adjacent to the 1x5 line, on tiles not yet known to be damp. This extra line of designations exists solely to pause the game at the right moment. The first tile dug in the side drain will cause a damp stone warning and pause the game, so that you can examine [k] the newly revealed tile on the unexplored layer.
If the new layer is dry, then make a note of it. You'll be done soon. Otherwise, keep grinding.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
10. Stop the Pumps.
11. Plug the Center-Side. Construct a wall in the center-side of the newly deepened drain.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
12. Remove the Pumps. Wait for all the pump parts to be carried up to their stockpiles. If you skip ahead, the pump parts can scatter out onto the grates, and then fall into the drain.
13. Replace the Grates with Walls. But do it carefully. This is the most dangerous step. Make sure that there's no water sloshing around. Never remove two adjacent grates at the same time. Some mist may billow up after you remove a grate; that's normal.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
14. Loop. Go back to step 6 and do it all over again, until you've covered all four sides of the box. The drain-deepening step will get easier with each loop as the sides start to drain from each other.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
15. Deconstruct the Floor. This is the slowest step in the cycle, especially if you only have seven dwarves. At least you get your 16 blocks back.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
16. Dig out the New Layer. Dig u/d stairs in the rest of the 5x5 square below your work area. This step generates some excess water sloshing around.
If you're digging into a stone layer and there's stone sitting on top of the side drains, then that stone will become pathable as the miners start digging. Hauling dwarves may walk into the turbulent water trying to retrieve the stone. If you want to be extra-cautious, forbid those stones before the miners start digging.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
17. Decision Point. Now you must remember what you learned in step 9. If your new working area is the bottom layer of the aquifer, then go to the bottom layer procedure. If the layer below your new working area is more aquifer, then repeat the middle layer procedure.

Bottom Layer Procedure
After all that work, the finale is quite simple. But stay on guard. One false move here could ruin the whole project.
1. Confirm Starting Position. Your working area should be one z-level above the bottom aquifer layer.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
2. Dig Center Tile. Just below the working level, dig an u/d staircase in the one tile in the center of the 5x5 square. That tile will be your exit.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
3. Channel a Diamond. Channel the four tiles that orthogonally touch the center tile.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
4. Construct Floors. Build them in a spiral pattern around the center, as shown.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
5. Build Pumps. The pumps should drain from the center, dumping into the sides.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
6. Operate Pumps. They should dump directly into the side drains, with no mess on the working level.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
7. Construct Walls. Seal off the center tile by constructing walls on four sides of it. You might get cancellation messages and need to un-suspend the construction a few times.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
8. Leave the Aquifer. Dig u/d stairs down two z-levels from the center tile. Don't dig sideways on the first dry layer, or it'll flood from above. Dig down to the second dry layer, and then you can expand.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
9. Expand. Aquifers are easy once you get below them. Find the first cavern, build a drain, and dig up into the aquifer however you want.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 04:33:49 am by Leonidas »
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Colonel Sanders Lite

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2018, 02:38:34 am »

Seems very clear and well thought out to me.  Will have to give it a try.
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Spriggans

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2018, 05:39:35 am »

Well documented. Thank you ! ;D
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gchristopher

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2018, 10:19:59 pm »

Nice writeup! I think you'll find that you can do aquifer piercings of any shape using sequences like the ones you describe, and you're detailing a procedure people can use to move up from 2-slit piercings to larger ones. Once they follow your 5x5 instructions, they might feel safer trying their own, different, large shape. I usually do a slightly larger shape with 1x3 added to the middle of each side, so it looks sorta circular.

One thing you might consider adding is some paragraphs explaining WHY it works for just about any shape. (i.e. big side drains for middle layers, where water appears and instantly and harmlessly falls?, don't open the bottom layer completely right away or it can't be drained, etc)

If I'm reading the diagrams right, two suggested next steps would be:

- how to go back and seal the bottom layer up completely so it's a large walled in area with no water draining action, and you can build a nice big internal staircase.

or maybe,

- how to expand the entire shape sideways for gigantic aquifer piercings by digging the side-drains out farther from the bottom up?

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Leonidas

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2018, 12:03:27 am »

Nice writeup! I think you'll find that you can do aquifer piercings of any shape using sequences like the ones you describe, and you're detailing a procedure people can use to move up from 2-slit piercings to larger ones.

Thanks! I was aiming for the most challenging aquifer scenario: no trees, deep soil, very deep aquifer, seven dwarves. So it's a significant building project, but with very limited resources.

I've played a lot of DF and succeeded in all sorts of crazy projects, but I was always intimidated by the possibility of a deep aquifer, such as by the ocean. I didn't want to risk investing a lot of time and enthusiasm setting up a fortress, only to discover that it was all hopeless because I didn't have enough labor or materials to break through.

So yes, you could certainly do this sort of thing on a larger scale. But that would require more labor and more materials. The point of the 5x5 is that it's neat, organized, and (relatively) safe - and you can still do it to any aquifer with only starting resources.
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vvAve

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2018, 04:31:10 pm »

Water isn't draining down. Did I do something wrong? I  can keep it ~1 deep while pumping, but as soon as I stop it fills up to 7.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Fleeting Frames

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2018, 05:13:13 pm »

Your z-114 isn't aquifer (clay?)

PS: In the OP, one could use upstairs to dig out aquifer walls in the central block (making them stop generating water) then remove stairs to convert it to floor, then once done pumping dig downstairs into floors (to dig upstairs into next level). This avoids the slow deconstruction of floors part.

vvAve

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2018, 05:18:24 pm »

Both aquifer, only 2 levels.
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Fleeting Frames

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2018, 05:22:33 pm »

Can't be - 2z of aquifer stairs like that will always have upper one completely dry: Ex, here, only ramps, tiles next to them and wall-enclosed upstairs have water:

||

Shift to bottom layer procedure and punch a drain below; this won't even slow you down much after that.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 05:24:51 pm by Fleeting Frames »
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Leonidas

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2018, 08:57:41 pm »

In the OP, one could use upstairs to dig out aquifer walls in the central block (making them stop generating water) then remove stairs to convert it to floor, then once done pumping dig downstairs into floors (to dig upstairs into next level). This avoids the slow deconstruction of floors part.
I would be glad to edit the OP. Which step(s) do you think should be changed?
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Fleeting Frames

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2018, 09:24:36 pm »

The ones about digging updown stairs into /(de)constructing the 4x (2x2) floor sections).

To list; affects all the images with the 5x5 stair block as well as everywhere where being up/downstairs in said block would reveal extra tiles, as well as the instructions in steps 1,4, 17, 18 in top layer; 3, 15, 16 in middle layers, and 4. in bottom layer.


Not really something you can edit into images in two minutes, though.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 09:26:58 pm by Fleeting Frames »
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vvAve

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2018, 08:25:47 am »

Can't be - 2z of aquifer stairs like that will always have upper one completely dry
I am at loss. Here is my save file at step 8, if anyone can tell what is wrong I'll be thankful.
http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=13943
« Last Edit: August 05, 2018, 08:49:38 am by vvAve »
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Fleeting Frames

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2018, 10:32:03 am »

Now that I can loo'k', I can tell you Z-114 is Damp Silty Clay Wall (just as predicted). Check your soils, you know it to be not aquifer.

vvAve

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2018, 11:28:40 am »

So it is only 1z level? That explains a lot. I revealed map with dfhack and two layers were blinking as damp, so I assumed both had aquifer. Thanks!
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PatrikLundell

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Re: !!Science!! of Aquifer Piercing: Leo's 5x5 Procedure
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2018, 04:47:55 pm »

The layer beneath an aquifer is damp, and you shouldn't dig there unless you're actually after water (or piercing the aquifer, of course).
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