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[Hokan]

I personally like to establish near ground level, but sometimes I like to strictly live in the caverns and seal off the outside world.

[King DZA]

In whatever habitat is appropriate for the brainchild I am attempting to raise at the time.

[NecroRebel]

I typically try to build my fort so that the layer stones across every z-level of the main living and work spaces are all the same color. It usually takes 5-7 z-levels to do this, so wherever I can get enough space is where I make the fort. This usually involves building near the surface; the only places I seem to get that much space in one color is where a sedimentary flux stone and marble meet. That's also a more convenient location for tapping the aquifer, so that works out too. My current fort is build between the last cavern and magma sea, however, with the top z-level poking into the cavern itself, because that's where I could get 7 z-levels of marble.

In this last fort, I've come to really like living near the caverns, too. They're so much safer than the surface, especially since I'm in an undead biome with Fortress Defense on. The surface has at times been crawling with undead, invaders, or undead invaders, while the caverns' worst problem has been blind cave ogres, which seem to be worse than FBs for some reason.

[Naryar]

Deserts and desert/mountain biomes, mostly. Untamed wilds. Hot. Might or might not have a volcano.

And i still don't get GDS aaargh

[FuzzyZergling]

Farms, stockpiles, and workshops all in the dirt layer if I can help it, but I usually can't because I hate putting more than one "function" on a z-level.

[Garath]

In the beginning I usually stay near the surface, but I tend to move further down after a while if I set up magma smelters. The only things near the surface by then are farms and trade goods stockpiles

[Sadrice]

Typically at the soil-stone interface, with the main floor and entrance in the first stone layer, and several up stairs linking things like kitchens and workshops to warehousing and farms in the soil above.


Lately I've been more interested in setting up in the depths, between the third cavern layer and magma, but I usually end up digging a near surface temporary outpost while the deep entrance and living areas get carved, which of course gets expanded ad hoc until I just have a messy and disorganized soil fort.

[EpsilonSigma]

I tend to embark on a site with:
- Deep Soil
- Shallow Metals
- Deep Metals

and other special metal/stone if possible.

To begin with I use a large part of the first dirt layer as storage, farming and workshops, and then mine down a few layers and start building bedrooms and a large dining/meeting hall in the 2nd stone layer or so, which usually results in plenty of mineral-bearing ores.

Generally I stick to the first dirt layer for storage (2nd if I get overloaded) and first stone layer for housing and dwarf needs, and then have a 2x2 mineshaft down to any cave I can find.

Since I'm currently at 82 dwarves and the biggest I've had is 104 which got wiped out in less than 10 minutes by a zombie invasion, I haven't really considered expansion that much.

[Blizzlord]

I tend to embark on a site with:
- Deep Soil
- Shallow Metals
- Deep Metals

and other special metal/stone if possible.

To begin with I use a large part of the first dirt layer as storage, farming and workshops, and then mine down a few layers and start building bedrooms and a large dining/meeting hall in the 2nd stone layer or so, which usually results in plenty of mineral-bearing ores.

Generally I stick to the first dirt layer for storage (2nd if I get overloaded) and first stone layer for housing and dwarf needs, and then have a 2x2 mineshaft down to any cave I can find.

Since I'm currently at 82 dwarves and the biggest I've had is 104 which got wiped out in less than 10 minutes by a zombie invasion, I haven't really considered expansion that much.

What about vegetation? Biomes?

[Jake]

Anywhere that has water, trees and shallow metal, preferably with flux stone and a cooler climate.

[BinaryBeast1010011010]

shallow metals, deep metals, preferably flux stone and of course an aquifer. I can live without those but I do prefer to have one. then I find a small hillock if possible, I remove the ramps, put fortified walls all around, then build a drawbridge for isolation with the outer world. My depot are behind 4 drawbridges and can be accessed from the inner fortress even during time of war

[Loud Whispers]

Criteria:

Aquifers: NOPE
River: Nice to have, not necessary. Used for hospital.
Temperature: Freezing/cold or hot/scorching preferred.
Metals: Don't care too much for metals.
Plants: Meh
Trees: I can live without
Elevation: Try to find a flat embark
Alignment: Overlapping one (or several) evil biomes is always a bonus
Savagery: As high as possible
Flux: I suppose I do enjoy making fortresses out of flux, so I'd give it an N/A

I tend to build above ground, with a quarry extending to the caverns so cavern critters still have access to my fort. Farms are both above ground and below, with an emphasis on pig tails and rope reeds.

[Uronym]

I'm currently building a fortress in the frozen tundra. It is totally flat, and all you can see is snow. No trees or vegetation at all, no thaw. I really like it. A little challenging, forces you to be self-sustaining and get your defenses up. Plus, I really like how flat the map is. Makes planning constructions much easier, as well as spotting wildlife/forbidden goblinite. I've tried glaciers, but I like them much less, because I really like the soil layers tundra gives, and ice is a little glitchy sometimes..