v50 Steam/Premium information for editors
- v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
- Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
This notice may be cached—the current version can be found here.
Editing Flow
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Warning: You are not logged in.
Your IP address will be recorded in this page's edit history.
If you are creating a redirect to the current version's page, do not use any namespace. For example: use #REDIRECT [[Cat]], not #REDIRECT [[Main:Cat]] or #REDIRECT [[cv:Cat]]. See DF:Versions for more information.
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
+ | {{Migrated_article}} | ||
{{av}} | {{av}} | ||
− | {{ | + | {{quality|unrated}} |
− | + | :''The term '''flow''' can be used to refer to several completely different things in Dwarf Fortress: things like [[miasma]] and [[smoke]], and the mechanism by which [[water]] and [[magma]] move. This article describes the latter.'' | |
− | '''Flow''' is a game mechanic used to simulate the motion of '''fluids'''. The two fluids that exist in | + | {{Material properties}} |
− | *Note: In the current release | + | '''Flow''' is a game mechanic used to simulate the motion of '''fluids'''. The two fluids that exist in dwarf fortress currently are '''[[water]]''' and '''[[magma]]'''. You can identify fluids that are flowing by looking for a tile that is blinking between {{Tile|≈|1:0:1}} and {{Tile|~|1:0:1}} tiles. If you have turned on [[Technical_tricks#Tiles|SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS]] you will see the fluid '''depth''' indicator of {{Tile|1|1:0:1}} through {{Tile|7|1:0:1}} instead and will not be able to easily tell if the game considers a tile to be flowing or not. Flow is typically present any time a fluid is in motion, but there are some exceptions which confuse things a bit. |
+ | *Note: In the current release flow does not seem to appear in magma. Magma follows the same rules of fluid motion and flow, it simply doesn't have flow in the sense that would allow it to power a water wheel. | ||
==Basic Fluid Motion== | ==Basic Fluid Motion== | ||
− | '''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both move in much the same way | + | '''[[Water]]''' and '''[[magma]]''' both move in much the same way following a fairly simple set of rules. The only difference between the motion of [[magma]] and water is that magma behaves differently with regards to [[pressure]]. |
Fluids move mostly as one might expect: they will fall straight down if they can, or else they will spread out to the sides. Fluids can flow diagonally on the same z-level, but will never move sideways and down at the same time. Under basic fluid motion, fluid never moves back up, but it can appear to do so if pressure is involved. | Fluids move mostly as one might expect: they will fall straight down if they can, or else they will spread out to the sides. Fluids can flow diagonally on the same z-level, but will never move sideways and down at the same time. Under basic fluid motion, fluid never moves back up, but it can appear to do so if pressure is involved. | ||
− | Here is a quick example of how fluids can move to adjacent tiles. Also | + | Here is a quick example of how fluids can move to adjacent tiles. Also as water moves to an adjacent tile flow is generated in both tiles. This flow will remain for a short time before reverting to being non-flowing water. Falling water does ''not'' generate flow, so only the 3rd example will result in flow (in both tiles). |
'''Before (side view)''' | '''Before (side view)''' | ||
Line 55: | Line 57: | ||
:''(see also '''[[magma piston]])''''' | :''(see also '''[[magma piston]])''''' | ||
− | There's one way to push a fluid higher than its starting level, but it might be considered a bug | + | There's one way to push a fluid higher than its starting level, but it might be considered a bug on the flow mechanics and probably will be changed in following versions since allows for what could be considered exploits. |
A ''natural'' wall of any material '''[[cave-in|falling]]''' onto either water ''or'' '''[[magma]]''' will teleport each tile of displaced fluid to open space directly above it, leaving 1 additional tile of open space directly above the wall itself: | A ''natural'' wall of any material '''[[cave-in|falling]]''' onto either water ''or'' '''[[magma]]''' will teleport each tile of displaced fluid to open space directly above it, leaving 1 additional tile of open space directly above the wall itself: | ||
Line 67: | Line 69: | ||
▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒ | ▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒ | ||
</diagram> | </diagram> | ||
− | When done in | + | When done in an u-bend example the pushing above original fluid level can be easily appreciated, although it breaks the laws of regular fluid physics: |
<diagram> | <diagram> | ||
Start Step 1 Step 2 | Start Step 1 Step 2 | ||
Line 80: | Line 82: | ||
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ | ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ | ||
</diagram> | </diagram> | ||
− | This is the basic principle that the '''[[magma piston]]''' | + | This is the basic principle that the '''[[magma piston]]''' exploit, if you want to anticipate a future fix or simply want to simulate regular physics fluid behaviour, you can do something like this: |
<diagram> | <diagram> | ||
z-level Start Step 1 Step 2 | z-level Start Step 1 Step 2 | ||
Line 106: | Line 108: | ||
Many water sources such as [[river]]s and [[brook]]s are constantly flowing with '''natural flow'''. This is different from other flow effects in that it is always considered to be flowing water. This remains true even when the water flows into a complete dead end channel or even when blocked off with a floodgate. Any channels that link up to a naturally flowing source will soon become naturally flowing water as long as they remain on the same z-level. Diagonal steps have no effect on natural flow although they can be used to change [[pressure]]. | Many water sources such as [[river]]s and [[brook]]s are constantly flowing with '''natural flow'''. This is different from other flow effects in that it is always considered to be flowing water. This remains true even when the water flows into a complete dead end channel or even when blocked off with a floodgate. Any channels that link up to a naturally flowing source will soon become naturally flowing water as long as they remain on the same z-level. Diagonal steps have no effect on natural flow although they can be used to change [[pressure]]. | ||
− | Trying to move natural flow up or down to a different z-level may have unpredictable results | + | Trying to move natural flow up or down to a different z-level may have unpredictable results but in most cases this will break the natural flow effect resulting in still water that can only be made to flow by artificial means. |
Naturally flowing water, depending on its environment, flows in a specific direction - when SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is disabled, water which flows directly into a wall will flash white while other water remains blue. This flow direction is important to note, since it affects the operation of [[water wheel]]s: water which flows directly north or south will not power an east/west-aligned water wheel, and the opposite is also true. Diagonally flowing water, however, works for everything. | Naturally flowing water, depending on its environment, flows in a specific direction - when SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS is disabled, water which flows directly into a wall will flash white while other water remains blue. This flow direction is important to note, since it affects the operation of [[water wheel]]s: water which flows directly north or south will not power an east/west-aligned water wheel, and the opposite is also true. Diagonally flowing water, however, works for everything. | ||
Line 121: | Line 123: | ||
==Bugs== | ==Bugs== | ||
+ | *Items pushed by flowing water may disappear {{Bug|895}} | ||
*Flowing water seems to cause contaminants to multiply {{Bug|296}} | *Flowing water seems to cause contaminants to multiply {{Bug|296}} | ||
{{Category|Physics}} | {{Category|Physics}} |