5 IDEAS FOR LIGHT AQUIFERS - Dwarf Fortress Tutorial Guide

[@sistermonster]

Definitely adding a boot washer at my cavern entrance!

[@happytraveler6933]

The boot washer idea is brilliant fyi

[@Ic0nGaming]

Honestly it was the one thing 80% of the creative work of this video went into :D I wanted something less obvious - glad you like it =)

[@cmpoliver3499]

Yea, great idea and prob a need in the biomes that rain blood too. But the Military dwarves in particular I plan to provide the trench on the was into the Fortress post missions. Better that them washing in the medical area.

[@solmateusbraga]

light aquifers are great, except when you can't find it on the map, or when it's literally everywhere, two common encounters I have

[@Ic0nGaming]

Or to summarize differently: Light Aquifers are great. It's just mine that regularly behave like douches :D Personally I hate the ones that go 15+ Z-Levels deep the most.

[@DarrenCorley]

​@@Ic0nGaming I've encountered this myself but I later realized that it wasn't that the aquifer was that large it was that the aquifer layer was draining down the stairs creating the illusion that it was that deep much like the staircase examples given in this video of bringing aquifer water down layers to use elsewhere.

[@jackwagon4626]

If you dig a checker pattern out in the aquifer layer from below using the ramp up command I've found that they seem to produce water faster (as well as not cancelling the dig orders), good for applications that need lots of water like your trap or a drowning pit. I made a pretty cool one set up below a retractable drawbridge that was rigged to a pressure plate that could drown a whole invasion force.... if my cats would stay in their damn pasture.

[@gogudelagaze1585]

I think I tested this some time ago, and there was no difference between using a checkerboard pattern or a 2 wide corridor with the same number of dug out tiles.

[@jackwagon4626]

@@gogudelagaze1585 It's possible it just looked that way for me.

[@GreenScrapBot]

Yes! This works because aquifers can "spawn" water on each side of a tile. If you dig out a checker pattern or even just small tunnels, the increased "surface area" allows more water to appear than just having the sides of a room exposed.

[@mattmorgan2525]

Next time try tying the cats in place (build a restraint from a chain/rope).

[@Ic0nGaming]

@GreenSprapBot That's only true if the layer above is no aquifer. Cause if above is aquifer, the water comes from above. Aquifers spread water in 6 directions, not only 4. Up and Below are 2 directions they also drop water on. So in short: The checkerboard should be better if there's no aquifer above, otherwise it should be the same. Haven't tried it out yet myself admittedly.

[@Ascaron1337]

Together with a minecart track you can use water to teach your dwarf swimming, as well, if I am informed correctly. By having them drive through it, they gain swimming lvls. 😀

[@Ic0nGaming]

Wow! xD The marvels of dwarven Science! :D

[@Zaerki]

You could always just make a dwarven swimming pool instead.

[@jonduke4472]

I think this helps explain the deaths in my last fortress. I had started draining some of the flooded levels into the caverns. Had a 20level shaft and put my well on top. I had so many dwarves fall into the caverns lake a drown before I got wise. Now I think they were after washing and/or the mist and getting washed away.

[@Miss_Distress]

I just started playing with aquifers. This is SO helpful 😀 thanks!

[@gogudelagaze1585]

Aquifer mist generator looks great. I could never come up with a nice layout for it, though..

[@expressionamidstcacophony390]

Oh yeah, that was years ago, but I remember that now. Forgotten beast whose dust dissolved skin. I don't know if dirty boots made a difference or not, but that fortress was SUPER boned. Whole military bled out and caused a tantrum spiral. Would not be surprised if they tracked that stuff everywhere too.

[@JaimeEatsMusic]

Are stairs necessary or could I replace them with a channel and grate? I tried this before and I am not sure if the grate was the issue or a lack of floor around it. Got no mist, just mud on the lower level.

[@Pok-qq9lt]

i like the idea to create underwater seas and build caverns around it... you can dig out a whole area multiple z levels and flush it from time to time with water... then from the mud can grow a new cavern. (open cavern layer first) also, if you are in a freezing area you can channel it out to make this layer above ground, then the aquifier will create ice. you can use the ice then to build above-ground towers... but its onyl an idea... dont know if that works. but i had a fortress where the generated water turned into ice and i build an Bridge of ice ...

[@Ic0nGaming]

I keep being surprised about all the different ideas I wouldn't have come up with myself ^^ This game is really special

[@Parker-us4ci]

Alright I admit, the boot cleaner is pretty damn clever

[@understated1908]

in the irrigation example you have a large hallway dugout on the aquifer level so how is the level underneath not leaking water as a result? did you also build a floor on each aquifer level tile?

[@DarkWolper]

06:40 make the warter 4 deep, in an area where your dwarfes will walk a lot. My dwarfes have no choice but go throu that multiple times per day. I checked a few older dwarfes in my 10 year fortress, and they are all Legendary swimmer now

[@head0fmob]

thanks for the tips man! so for washing boots, we must put the water on high traffic area? Can we just put it paralel to high traffic area and the dwarf is smart enough to stopby and wash their shoe once in awhile?

[@Ic0nGaming]

They are smart-ish with water "around" their main path. I did notice them cleaning their stuff sometimes, but for reliably results you gotta path them somehow over those puddles. Otherwise the Dwarf-AI is a bit too erratic for my tastes.

[@vonsch9793]

I'm too OCD about mud to use internal waterfalls. Mist generators done properly don't spread mud! If you make the washing trench a bit deeper (but not too deep! 3, I think) the dwarves will both wash and get swimming skill, which will prevent a lot of drowning deaths. I keep meaning to do this, but don't often get around to it before I get some other bright idea and start a new fort.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Oh, I was considering using ramps for the washing trench but tossed the idea out cause I didn't see a particular benefit. Your comment changes my point of view, thanks =)

[@gogudelagaze1585]

You can avoid mud by placing roads :)

[@vonsch9793]

@@gogudelagaze1585 But you can't build on roads.

[@HansLemurson]

Do we know what pattern of digging into an aquifer maximizes the drip-rate?

[@Zaerki]

1 aquifer tile with every other cardinal direction open. Aquifer tiles generate water into each of the cardinal directions and down 1z level, if possible.

[@estherc3618]

Awesome tips.

[@ClanHawkins]

About water cleaning trench. Does the water need to be flowing to effectively clean the dwarves? How deep is deep enough?

[@Ic0nGaming]

1/7 is already enough as far as I've observed.

[@Ascaron1337]

Question for you df veterans: Is there a way to change the setting of dwarfs stopping to dig when they encounter light aquifer tiles? I have a map, which I really want to use, but the aquifer is 6 z lvls deep and unfortunately exactly on the levels I want to build in. The map is just too nice looking to abandon it, yet the digging is unbearable. Dwarfs stopping every single tile is just not doable for me.

[@Ic0nGaming]

I think I have read something about DFHack enabling you to ignore that safety setting. But that's the only method I'm aware of. Definitely would love to have a setting to disable that safeguard in vanilla cause I ran into similar scenarios.

[@Zaerki]

You can channel from 1z level above the aquifer, if you don't mind that area also being dug out. Can always replace with walls or something later. Note that not properly accounting for aquifer tiles can cause a bit of FUN.

[@jonathanscher]

With DFHack you can drain the aquifer, or reveal the map. There's probably a script somewhere to do what you want exactly but I coundn't find it.

[@neoteraflare]

I wonder if a light aquafier can produce enough water for a waterwheel to work.

[@Cyhawkx]

It can if you cycle it with a nuclear reactor. Some can produce enough current for it to work naturally, most do not. Theyre essentially static sources of water.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Generally it's hard with Light Aquifers. You need 3 to 4 levels of water to make the wheel produce energy so it's not impossible. But I'd rather go for different sources.

[@Zaerki]

It definitely can, you just funnel the light aquifer tiles into one drain tile. They take a bit of engineering to get the right flow though. Way easier to just build water reactors.

[@lumas7544]

I almost do this on everymap to get my mill working. The easiest way is to dig out a 11x11 room below the aquifer so every tile drips then dig a stair well down to where you want the waterwheel and millstone. then dig a 1x1 tunnel to the edge of the map and smooth and fortify the wall so the water can exit the map.

[@Ic0nGaming]

@@lumas7544 Thanks for providing data! That's really a cool way to utilize Aquifers too =)

[@ObeseMcDese]

Makes me want to re embark on a light aquifer. Does anyone know if a 3x3 staircase with a waterfall in the center tile requires a certain amount of water to produce mist? IE would 1 depth flowing down work as well as 5 depth?

[@Ic0nGaming]

Mist is generated even if water only drops one z-level.

[@ObeseMcDese]

@@Ic0nGaming Apologies to impose but the wiki states "Floor grates or bars on every tile adjacent to the water flow should be used as part of the drainage system." However I see people mentioned 3x3 staircases with a waterfall in the center. Can grates support stairs? Wiki states they dont support floor tiles. Id like to avoid slippery stairs if possible so am I missing something or is that just a trade off for the mist? Thank you for all the wonderful tutorials btw they are hard carrying me through the learning phase.

[@JaimeEatsMusic]

@@ObeseMcDese You channel the center and add a grate, so the area of the staircase is 3x3 but technically there are only 8 stairs per z-level rather than 9.

[@hadracks]

Anyone know if you can you fish out of water produced by light aquifer? I have seen a couple people saying yes but no confirmation. Lots of good ideas. I will see if I can do a combination mister/ boot washer.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Yes it's possible, had it tested by my Discord community - the pond just needs to be large enough. Don't have data on minimum size though sadly.

[@hadracks]

@@Ic0nGaming Thanks for the quick reply! Subscribed.

[@jonathanscher]

@@Ic0nGaming That is fantastic and could be an update to the video on its own ! ! !

[@SSR2902]

regarding the well with a constructed floor, i did those and the flor was still muddy .My first well was provisioned from a river. It was a 5/6/3 well and it was entierly sealed off with siltstone bricks from flor to walles. But i still had mud at the bottom. And now i have a mist generator that stopped for a second and my rock salt brick flor got muddy. So i dont know if you can have perfertly clean water

[@Ic0nGaming]

Huh, that's interesting, thanks! I was so sure that a flooring would avoid that - digging deeper always helps though

[@evankimori]

Sometimes what causes muddy water is when the water is completely still and does not come from any sort of a source block or can recirculate.

[@psychotropican666]

What is the detriment to having muddy well-water?

[@evankimori]

I think dwarves get sick from it over time.

[@Zaerki]

Mud always forms where water is present. The only solution if you're trying to make a well is to make the cistern 2 levels deep or greater - the well will draw water from the top z level first and all the mud will be retained on the bottom z level, so as long as you have water on the top z level it will be clean.

[@TrombonePirate]

Can you describe what you mean by smoothened and then fortifications built to let it drain? Because I tried to do this and it just flooded and the water never left the map. I dug as far over as I could and then placed fortifications as far over as I could

[@Ic0nGaming]

You dig first until the very end of the map (make sure it's a stone level which has walls that can be smoothed). Then you smooth the tile which you cannot mine anymore. And then, in the same menu where you smoothed the wall, there is also an option to carve a fortification into the wall. Use this on the tile which you smoothed and you have created a drain, cause liquids can pass through fortifications and you created an exit from your map with that. Hope this helps!

[@HunterMayer]

Does smoothing replace the need for a floor to keep muddie floors minimized?