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Author Topic: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain  (Read 1834 times)

DoubleG

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AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« on: December 05, 2019, 01:19:06 pm »

I have a really good site, split biome. with evil and a volcano. Unfortunately it has an aquifer over all of it. It seems to be on multiple different levels, high up in the hill biome but much lower in the jungle. Fortunately it seems to cut out around the volcano (otherwise you'd have water pouring into it from the get go). I have a brook for unlimited water and the biome doesn't freeze, ever, so my question is:

Is there any particular benefit to having a aquifer? Especially one so widely spread? I could the DFHack command "Drain aquifer", but that seems very permanent and all consuming. Should I just drain it all away? Or can I put it to some use?
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anewaname

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Re: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2019, 02:33:06 pm »

I would say there is no value to keeping it, since you have a non-freezing brook, unless you expect to need greater water flow for power generation.
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doublestrafe

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Re: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2019, 10:53:23 pm »

If you're gonna dfhack it anyway, just use tiletypes to de-aquifer any place you're going to dig. Then it's still around if you want it.
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PatrikLundell

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Re: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2019, 04:33:25 am »

The reasons I like aquifers are:
- Access to unlimited amounts of clean water (remains to be seen what next DF version does) without the risk of:
  - freezing
  - entering critters
- Easy power (induced flow in the aquifer to power water wheels). Again, without the risks associated with the surface.

Volcanoes have an obsidian sheath that protect the volcano pipe from water (and spilling out into caverns), but I don't know if there's also something keeping the aquifer away from the 16 *16 in-game tile area the volcano sits in (there are things associated with that area, but I don't know if those affect aquifers).
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DoubleG

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Re: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2019, 08:36:13 am »

The Aquifer on the hill side is higher than the obsidian pipe, and it cuts off in a suspiciously straight line just short of the volcano. I think there is something that prevents aquifers from spawning too close to the pipe to prevent blockages.

As to the painting tile types, I never really got the hang of that. I know simple DFHack commands, but tile type painting is something I've never experimented with. I could probably use that to paint soil as well.....
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PatrikLundell

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Re: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2019, 08:47:02 am »

If the aquifer is missing throughout the 16 * 16 tile block the volcano pipe is in you have all the benefits from an aquifer, i.e. you can just dig down and have your piercing of the aquifer Z levels in that area. That way you'd have the benefits of an aquifer without the drawbacks (well, the aquifer levels themselves are obviously effectively off limits, as is the level immediately underneath (as aquifers leak down to that level from the ceiling).

The drawback to an entrance close to the volcano is that a volcano with a magma level level with the surface allows magma critters to climb out, which causes all sorts of problems (but they'd cause problems even if the fortress entrance was further away).
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DoubleG

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Re: AQUIFER - To drain or not to drain
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2019, 09:06:26 am »

I fully intend to do my usual MEGAFORT!!! With associated obsidian cast dining hall and everything, so I'll probably just drain it. AS it's split biome the aquifer is in different places and levels on different biomes, so it would be possible to work around it easily, even if I didn't intend to drain the swamp. :P Thanks for all the answers though :)
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