Elevation

[Zuffler]

hello hive mind, I thought I would finally give this game a go but as a n00b, I am really struggling to understand the elevation in this game. Is 'level 43' ground level? Is there any way of getting rid of all the unnecessary floors? i really don't care for levels/floors of endless sky.

Can I alter a config anywhere and just start and ground level and dig down? Just seems extraneous to have all this blank space I easily get lost in.

I assume the masses of sky levels do something later in the game?

[Fel]

It kind of depends on your embark for what it actually means.
You should have about 15 levels above the highest point the ground reaches as the upwards limit (by default at least, it is possible to increase it with dfhack for those that like building tall structures for example).
The empty sky z-levels would be for trees to grow, where flying creatures go and/or where you can build your above-ground structures, there is no set use for them "later" though.


The number really doesn't matter much, 0 just happens to be the default elevation from which things are calculated when generating the world, so if you embark at a higher altitude the ground level will be higher for example.
A ground level at 43 would mean that you are fairly high up (close to mountains probably).

The amount of levels you get below the surface depend on a lot of things (including randomness) and can get you much larger numbers in negative as well.


There is no way to remove the levels above the surface but there is a way to avoid scrolling too fast beyond the surface and end up seeing only the sky.
On the left of the minimap, right below the help and settings buttons, you will find a menu to configure shortcuts that will take you to those specific places.
By default, F1 is set to your wagon's location, allowing you to quickly get back there but you can configure as many as you want (although only the first 16 have a hotkey bound to them).

[LFA]

You'll get used to it.

Use the hotkeys (option button is on the left side of the minimap) to move the camera around to the specific places you want to keep track of, your ground level entrance, main hall, industrial district etc.

Assign them a key and you'll convieniently center right to them with the press of a button. Ain't nobody got time to scroll up and and down for 30 seconds everytime you want to see what's going on at the surface.

[matthew84.mg]

If I had to guess, you can think of level 0 as mean sea level, if you're starting out on level 40 you're probably on a hill or side of a small mountain. Gold and gems can be found at higher elevations but once you start going deep (like level -80 deep) you can find a lot of gold and gems and platinum.

[AlP]

Originally posted by Zuffler:

Can I alter a config anywhere and just start and ground level and dig down? Just seems extraneous to have all this blank space I easily get lost in.

Don't alter any configs until you have some experience with the game.

What you need is the recenter hotkeys to help you navigate. Press h. You can bind them to zoom to any location on your map.

[Zuffler]

Many thanks for all the replies people! most useful, i shall digest!