# Z-levels and water levels

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106>\
**Category:** The Drawing Board\
**Created:** [July 6, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106 "2020-07-06T12:37:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MutaMan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/mutaman/32/7000_2.png) [@MutaMan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/MutaMan)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106/1 "2020-07-06T12:37:07Z")

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So I’ve been thinking now that bridges have ramps to go up a z level over water… Should the majority of ground be a z-level above the water level where most river banks/beaches would have a ramp that goes up or down to to the water level?

It would make sense if it were in my opinion. Rarely is flowing or large amounts of still water exactly as high as the earth surrounding it due to errosion and such.

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**Author:** ![mr\_sep](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/mr_sep/32/3049_2.png) [@mr\_sep](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/mr_sep)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106/2 "2020-07-06T14:45:52Z")

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If the elevation difference is negligible, and you’re not planning features like cliffs then IMHO you don’t even need it in general. Depth on the other hand would be crucial for features like sunken ships, cars etc.

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**Author:** ![Dialo.Malison](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/dialo.malison/32/7220_2.png) [@Dialo.Malison](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Dialo.Malison)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106/3 "2020-07-06T15:32:16Z")

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A z level is the equivalent of one story, about 10 feet or so. If a body of water was only a few feet lower than the surrounding land it would still count as being on the same z level.

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**Author:** ![pleegwat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@pleegwat](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/pleegwat)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106/4 "2020-07-06T15:56:58Z")

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Generally, if there is a large (to the tune of 10ft) difference between the river level and the top of the bank, this is because the river level actually varies over the course of the year, with the highest water level generally occurring in spring as snow melts. Whether this applies to rivers in New England, I have no idea.

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**Author:** ![MutaMan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/mutaman/32/7000_2.png) [@MutaMan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/MutaMan)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106/5 "2020-07-06T15:57:58Z")

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Fair enough. I’d still like a river bank tile or something that counts as lower than normal ground and is low enough for you to duck under and possibly hide yourself.

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**Author:** ![Dialo.Malison](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/dialo.malison/32/7220_2.png) [@Dialo.Malison](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Dialo.Malison)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/z-levels-and-water-levels/24106/6 "2020-07-07T05:02:24Z")

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Yeah, iirc river banks are a separate tile in mapgen so that they can spawn appropriate vegetation. Perhaps a cover value could be assigned so that it would work similar to crouching behind furniture.