Dwarf fortress water pressure

Dwarf Fortress features some pretty complex behavior in an attempt to simulate fluid mechanics.

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Dwarf fortress water pressure

There are several mechanisms at work that try to simulate water pressure in game. While on the whole amazingly accurate, there are several unexpected quirks concerning speed and displacement. Never think you are on the safe side, especially when trying to trick the game. A technical explanation by Kanddak from the Bay12 Forum outlines in detail what is known of the in-game fluid mechanics from player testing. Dwarf Fortress attempts to replicate hydrostatic water pressure. This is probably one of the most prominent components, as Toady discussed it at length in an interview with gamasutra. In layman's terms, if you have a body of water that is higher than an open space below it such as a tall tower full of water and a hose from it, or a lake over a mine , and an open route between them, then the water at the lowest z-level will be 'pressed' by the weight of the water above it. As a simple model, think of a pipe shaped like a "J". If you pour water in the taller end of the pipe, it will come "up" out of the lower end until the water levels on both sides are equal. If you put your thumb over the lower end and fill the taller end, then release your thumb, the water will move with remarkable speed, and water will continue to come "up" out that lower end until all the water in the taller part is at the same level as the lower part. This is one part of Dwarf Fortress "water pressure" - that if the source is higher, water can come up stairs , up ramps , and over channel , and will continue flowing until it runs out of space or runs out of water above it. Note that DF water pressure does not exactly match natural hydrostatic water pressure - it fills to a z-level one level lower than the source. This is for reasons of CPU time-saving, as stated by Toady ; the game stops not when all ends of the system are on the same level, but when the far levels are one-lower than the source. The above behaviour does only apply to finite water sources like murky pools, artificially created reservoirs and any body of water connected to an infinite water source only diagonally.

If you wish to maintain the rate of flow after de-pressurizing, it's recommended that you have more diagonals than water tiles - that is, if the source is 3-tiles wide, you may wish 4 or more diagonal passages.

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Dwarf fortress water pressure

Dwarf Fortress features some pretty complex behavior in an attempt to simulate fluid mechanics. One aspect of this behavior is seen in the form of pressure. The basic idea here is quite simple - certain forms of fluids movement exert pressure , causing them to potentially move upwards into other areas. In Dwarf Fortress , contrary to what many people may believe, pressure is not a property of a body of liquid. When a liquid is moved or created with pressure, it attempts to locate the nearest tile on the same Z-level as its destination tile for falling water, this is 1 Z-level beneath its original location by moving north, south, east, west, down, or up. As it tries to locate an appropriate destination, the liquid will first only try to move sideways and downward - only when this fails will it attempt to move upward. Pressure will not propagate through diagonal gaps. A U-Bend is a channel that digs down, and curves back up.

Pokimaneass

Here is a example we can see how to generate 9Z level pressure, 1Z greater pressure than our input pressure. In this case, the river is free to flow off the edge of the map, so the only pressure comes from the water tile on the top of the u-bend's left side highlighted in green falling downward into the tile highlighted in red , so the water on the right side stops one level below the river itself, because even though the source tile is at river level, the destination tile in red , whose height the water will reach because of pressure, is one z-level below the source tile. As can be expected, if water is continuously pushed into a room, either by an unlimited water source like a river or by means of a pump , the water will not stop when the room is filled, but search for an outlet, even on higher z-levels. More to the point, it applies always, but is in many cases not the final mechanism causing equilibrium. Pressure will cause the water level to go as high as the tile upon which pressure is being exerted, but no higher. The final example Diagram C , demonstrates how a screw pump exerts pressure - in this case, the water fills up to the same level as the pump's output tile highlighted in red. When drawing water from a waterfall it is important to understand that, since the water is falling on top of the river's surface, the pressure exerted when it falls down into the river will permit it to pass through U-bends that would normally not be filled when using a flat undammed river - if you tap into a river below a waterfall just as you would above it, you could very easily flood your fortress. One of the more simple examples is using an active control system and mechanical cycling. Using the information above, you can devise a number of ways to get the water where you want it to be. Can be used to provide each level with a pool. I found this video answered a lot of my water questions.

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In the first example Diagram A , we have water taken directly from a flat river used to fill a u-bend. Dwarf Fortress attempts to replicate hydrostatic water pressure. While on the whole amazingly accurate, there are several unexpected quirks concerning speed and displacement. This is one part of Dwarf Fortress "water pressure" - that if the source is higher, water can come up stairs , up ramps , and over channel , and will continue flowing until it runs out of space or runs out of water above it. Beware that operating pumps obey the same pressure rules as infinite water sources, capable of pushing both water and magma down through tunnels and back up to the original Z-level of the pump's output tile. Magma does not exert pressure when it falls downward. Multiple adjacent pumps will also transfer power between themselves automatically. From Dwarf Fortress Wiki. When the left door is open, the pressurized water fills a reservoir. It's possible for dwarf-built pumps to pick liquid up and lift it higher, possibly back to the source and thus creating a closed cycle. With these three simple examples, you should be ready to go build your enormous plumbing masterpiece, and be relatively safe from any unanticipated flooding. Note that the construction of a hatch over the input tile of a Screw pump prevents water from being pumped.