Building stairs up on already mined area

[Hurtta]

So I mined room empty (single z level) and now I try to build stairs up. In classic DF I would just build stairs on that level and then dig stairs upwards, but this version I've have to build on at least stairs on 2 z-levels. But level above is hidden so I cannot do that.

So now I cannot build stairs up because I cannot mine above and I cannot mine because I cannot reach up because I can't build stairs.

This "stairs must extent to 2 z-levels" makes it easier to build since you don't have to juggle around with up, down and up/down stairs but going upwards from 1-level room is impossible.

[Philtre]

It's possible, just a pain. You can dig stairs going up in a section of intact rock/dirt, dig out the space over wherever you want your final stairs to be, add the stairs, then fill in your temporary stairs (if you want).

[Reiska]

OP indicates that there *is* no intact rock/dirt to dig stairs going up in, as they strip-mined the entire z-level.

[Hellrazor]

autostairs is dumb

[certain]

I think I'm having a similar problem. I have two mined out levels with an intact floor between them. I'd like to put stairs between the levels, but I don't seem to be able to dig out the floor from the upper level (when I try to channel, it won't let me select that square), I can't dig out stairs because the wall in the lower level is missing, and I can't construct stairs because the floor between is still intact. Is there any way to do it, or am i just out of luck?

[Thunder]

I ran into this the other day (also new here...): Got a good answer from Barbiz: basically, if you want stairs in an already dug area, you have to 'force' it (not just select dig stairs). So go to construction/stairs and select what you want and it will require stone to do the job.
This works for the cases of going up from an already mined area or going down to an already mined area. (Hellrazor is also right: auto-stairs is dumb, so you have to force it)

[Eihort]

Think of it like this.

If you use the Mine option to create stairs, the dwarves are literally approaching the solid rock and carving stairs out of them as they go, and they can go up or down, into the solid rock.

What you have done is completely remove the rock altogether and now have empty space. You have to build (Construct) stairs there for them to climb to get to the ceiling proper before they can start hacking away at the stone again.

So in this case don't use the Mine menu, use the Constructions menu to build the stairs in the empty space first, then you should be able to go up from there, because that will allow them to reach the ceiling.

[Hurtta]

Originally posted by Eihort:

Think of it like this.

If you use the Mine option to create stairs, the dwarves are literally approaching the solid rock and carving stairs out of them as they go, and they can go up or down, into the solid rock.

What you have done is completely remove the rock altogether and now have empty space. You have to build (Construct) stairs there for them to climb to get to the ceiling proper before they can start hacking away at the stone again.

So in this case don't use the Mine menu, use the Constructions menu to build the stairs in the empty space first, then you should be able to go up from there, because that will allow them to reach the ceiling.

Except I cannot build single layer high stairs because game does not allow it and I cannot build two layer high stairs because I haven't mined room to layer on top of current layer because I cannot reach it because I cannot build stairs to begin with.

[The Commissar]

Originally posted by Hurtta:

Originally posted by Eihort:

Think of it like this.

If you use the Mine option to create stairs, the dwarves are literally approaching the solid rock and carving stairs out of them as they go, and they can go up or down, into the solid rock.

What you have done is completely remove the rock altogether and now have empty space. You have to build (Construct) stairs there for them to climb to get to the ceiling proper before they can start hacking away at the stone again.

So in this case don't use the Mine menu, use the Constructions menu to build the stairs in the empty space first, then you should be able to go up from there, because that will allow them to reach the ceiling.

Except I cannot build single layer high stairs because game does not allow it and I cannot build two layer high stairs because I haven't mined room to layer on top of current layer because I cannot reach it because I cannot build stairs to begin with.

Trust me, there is no way to do it currently. Best bet is to plan out another stairway somewhere else that hits that z-level.

[certain]

Originally posted by Eihort:

Think of it like this.

If you use the Mine option to create stairs, the dwarves are literally approaching the solid rock and carving stairs out of them as they go, and they can go up or down, into the solid rock.

What you have done is completely remove the rock altogether and now have empty space. You have to build (Construct) stairs there for them to climb to get to the ceiling proper before they can start hacking away at the stone again.

So in this case don't use the Mine menu, use the Constructions menu to build the stairs in the empty space first, then you should be able to go up from there, because that will allow them to reach the ceiling.

I have the stairs going up from the level below. How do I convince the dwarves to break through the ceiling to get to the floor above?

[Dru]

Have not tried it but maybe build a ramp and then mine stairs up will work?

[Eqqsquizitine Buble-Schwinslow]

Yeah, this is a known issue that has been present since release.

Eventually they'll have to fix it, because people keep having a bad time because of it.

Me, I just forced myself to unlearn what I knew about stairs and exclusively plan my staircases around the limitations of the new system.

Sucks, but that's really all anyone can do for the time being.

[ARRATHON]

Originally posted by Hurtta:

So I mined room empty (single z level) and now I try to build stairs up. In classic DF I would just build stairs on that level and then dig stairs upwards, but this version I've have to build on at least stairs on 2 z-levels. But level above is hidden so I cannot do that.

So now I cannot build stairs up because I cannot mine above and I cannot mine because I cannot reach up because I can't build stairs.

This "stairs must extent to 2 z-levels" makes it easier to build since you don't have to juggle around with up, down and up/down stairs but going upwards from 1-level room is impossible.

You can try this

Build a single wall block with a ramp on each side.

1 Open Area
R = ramp
W = wall
- R
R W R
- R

Now in the Z level above (the level you want to breach). Designate with priority 1, a 1x2 Channel, so that one is over the wall and the other is over a ramp. Then designate a 1x1 DIG stair down to the side of the one over the ramp, BUT just scroll ONE down to the open level and click you will see an error message but if you look in the layer above, a down stair will be marked

2 Z level above

Ch = channel
Sd = Dig stair down

Ch Ch
Sd

The miners wont dig up at this point.


Now in the open level, at the corner of the wall block, directly below the Sd mark, Dig a stair down, The miners will start to dig the stair they also start on the channel in the level above. AND the dig stair down. Dig out around the down stair (in the level you have just breached). You can now connect the two with a build stair, Start the Build Stair designation on the Down stair and Finnish in the open level below, the stairs will now connect.
It's the only way that I can find to breach from below.

It is only really useful if you only want to go up 1 level, or breech an aquifer. If you want to keep going rinse and repeat.

If it's an aquifer your working on it may be best to try it out on a save first.

Once i got it down it worked every time.
edit spacing doesn't seem to work on an empty line.

[Catagris]

Solved it with quickfort from dfhack. Made a blueprint from building an up stair and one for up/down stairs. Place these two csv files in /Dwarf Fortress/dfhack-config/blueprints

Up Stairs.csv:

#build label(construct)
Cu
#build label(build) hidden()
/build

Up-Down Stairs.csv:

#build label(construct)
Cx
#build label(build) hidden()
/build

To use just run gui/quickfort from the quick menu when you click the DFHack icon in game. Then choose the stairs you want to build.