finding the circus

[cdaugustin]

I have been trying really hard to find the clowns... yet they elude me... where are they ???
(tried different settings in world gen Magma Layer both Y/N)(my understanding is that it needs to be Y)(different embark sites 6x6)...

Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns

[Holyvision]

To avoid spoilers to all the new players here, I would recommend you start with google and maybe a good video.

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Underworld

You'll never has as much fun if you don't enjoy tripping over this stuff on your own though, so new players (imo) should avoid the urge to find them without just having fun.

[cdaugustin]

Hi Holyvision,
thanks for the response (ive been googling and reading pretty much everything I could find, including the article you pointed at); Interestingly the max -z i can get to is roughly -100. I have even dabbled in the dark arts of dhhack reveal on two different worlds (and embark points) just to see that candy exists... yet no luck.
is it perhaps that only few particular spots might have a spire? (ie near goblin fortresses or areas perhaps?)

[Onyx Wake]

Find the magma area
Dig down as far as you can all over the map revealing the magma sea areas
Z scroll up and down looking for continuous black pockets
Explore each pocket by digging a big square going down
Find the pockets with water drops AND **warm** magma walls. I have found 2 of these areas on a map once. Stay away from the hot magma.
Save game
Experiment using the water to quench the magma
Have your army close by to take out the evil things you uncover
Wait for the magma to go away or be 1 deep then dig down aiming your stairs. The sweet spot is a couple stairs wide. It takes a lot of trial and error.
Repeat until you find the adamantine spire to hell

[nrusselluk]

Accidentally clipping the hollow candy tube still scares me! :O

Generally the circus is found in the Slade (undiggable) caves below magma, and accessed through the candy tubes. It's likely both are on embark, but it's not guaranteed.

It is possible to find clowns all the way up on the surface, if caves have linked down through the caverns.

Edit: dhhack doesn't reveal candy, that section will be still be a black square still.

[Jeza]

if you are not opposed to using DFHack there is an option in the reveal command. The normal reveal will keep the circus and spires that lead to it hidden. Not just the candy tubes that open to the circus but the whole spires that can be as big as 20 z levels and roughly 20x20 squares of surface on each of those z levels.
if you use reveal hell then you'll see everything. The game will be paused and you will not be able to unpause until you type unreveal.
Be very careful tough if you quit and save by mistake while hell is revealed then when you load your save you won't be protected anymore (paused) and will not be able to unreveal anymore and this will probably break your game. It did for me, luckily I had a backup.

Otherwise you should be able to spot part of at least one of the spires either in the magma sea or even in the third cavern, you should look for a gem encrusted obsidian wall that's huge, not just a 3x3 like you sometimes find in the caves. alternatively if you spot the top of the spire you'll see a big obsidian floor in a cavern.

it's easier to poke at it from the top if you can manage it, poke holes by channeling into it. If at all possible find a place where there is an obvious pocket of water or even magma and dig away from the border try to dig well inside the pocket. it's a good way to try and avoid stumbling into FUN stuff and gives some visibility.
Once you have a rough idea of the circumference of the spire and what's inside you can start by making a perimeter around and then going inwards carefully, I would recommend having a good ranged squad and poking holes int eh walls by using carved fortifications so that you can hopefully reveal the clowns without freeing them.

Good luck to you !

[cdaugustin]

thank you for all the replies,
I will try to find fun again today :D hopefully with a bit more luck; at this point I just want to see it with my own eyes :D then il try to conquer it :)

[cdaugustin]

hi everyone,
I have tried again (two different embarks, using dfhack and mining/looking to -111z and on the othe embark to only -29z which seemed to be the max). multiple caverns, lava etc, a few gem clusters with tresure but no candy or fun. one of the embark was glued to a goblin spot (some articles suggested that thats where fun is) but still nothing... can someone share a seed for a map or maybe guess whats wrong on my end... while the above comentaries are well intended the issue I have is finding anything related to fun (slade)(found SLATE with a t) (diamantine, or anything else)(reveal hell shows nothing interesting explored all z levels in text mode)... help for dwarven science ...

[Pok]

if you embark at 4x4 there is nealry a garantee for candy... but it you embark with 3x3 its NOT garanteed ... there is a possibility to get no candy if you lower the embark size.

but its not often the case.

try harder

[cdaugustin]

Hi Pok,
thanks for the reply, both my latest embarks were 6x6...

ty