Aquifers...Everywhere?

[Cannon Fodder]

ALL of the worlds I generate have aquifers everywhere, heavy and light. It's nearly impossible to find an embarkable area without one while every beginners guide says "Start without a place with an aquifer" but i can't seem to find a place to do that.

[LaChouette]

Did you use the search feature to find a place with no aquifer?

[Tarithel]

i am seeing them a lot more common in mountains which does not seem to be what I remember in vanilla

[zarat.us]

Light aquifers are manageable: Dig some space around the stairs then build walls to protect the stairs from flooding. You'll have to ask to dig the same rock more than once (dwarves cancel digging the first time they notice the rock is wet) but it's doable.

[Teemo]

Use the search function, or just don't get scared off by the light ones, they are rather simple to deal with. I would say the light aquifer benefits actually outweigh the trouble. Heavy though can be rough for novices.

[Snake Bit]

Dwarven water park!

[Theta tau tau]

Ligths aquivers are actually a good thing because it make irrigation and wells easier to make and it's not an issue digging throught it (just build walls around your stairways).

[Cannon Fodder]

Originally posted by LaChouette:

Did you use the search feature to find a place with no aquifer?

sumbish i didnt know this was a thing...

Originally posted by Theta tau tau:

Ligths aquivers are actually a good thing because it make irrigation and wells easier to make and it's not an issue digging throught it (just build walls around your stairways).

last one I tried with a light Aquifer I ended up penned in and could barely get 5 or 6 levels down, it was a nightmare.

[Excellion]

Originally posted by Cannon Fodder:

last one I tried with a light Aquifer I ended up penned in and could barely get 5 or 6 levels down, it was a nightmare.

An aquifer layer will generate water from any tiles exposed to an open space, with light aquifers doing so much more slowly than heavy aquifers.

The simplest method to deal with them is simply by building a wall around the exposed tiles. Just do something like this:

WWW
WSW
WWW

Eg: Dig out a 3x3 space with a staircase in the centre, and then build a wall on the outer edges. You may want to build the wall before digging further down to prevent water from seeping into the narrow way down.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Aquifiers are very easy to deal with, i've never understood why people appear to be afraid of them. Just pump it out.

[The Former]

There are places. My world has a whole lot of aquifers too, but look long enough and you'll find some spots without.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Originally posted by Higgs Bonbon:

Originally posted by zarat.us:

Light aquifers are manageable: Dig some space around the stairs then build walls to protect the stairs from flooding. You'll have to ask to dig the same rock more than once (dwarves cancel digging the first time they notice the rock is wet) but it's doable.

Heavy aquifers are far from unmanageable too. You just need to build a plug. If it's 2 layers thick a 5x5 plug will get you 1 tile of stairway in the center so plan accordingly.

You need to do neither. Just smooth the walls and the floor.
The aquifer is a godsend for when you remove the training wheels and don't start next to a river.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

Use this mod, and then generate a new world:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897791846

[Dirty_Curty]

If you don't want aquifers in worldgen there's a mod on the workshop for it. I haven't tried it yet as I just search for locations without aquifers. Makes choosing a site easier as I'll have limited options.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Originally posted by Higgs Bonbon:

I wasn't aware they could be smoothed from above? Cause uh, good luck getting a dwarf adjacent to a heavy aquifer tile while it's flowing.

Swim training, good sir.
Besides, they don't flow that fast even on heavy flow.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

Originally posted by Higgs Bonbon:

Originally posted by Ra-Ra-Rasputin:

You need to do neither. Just smooth the walls and the floor.
The aquifer is a godsend for when you remove the training wheels and don't start next to a river.

I wasn't aware they could be smoothed from above? Cause uh, good luck getting a dwarf adjacent to a heavy aquifer tile while it's flowing.

lol, true. The method works fine for light aquifers though.