Hello all,
I've been playing now for the better part of a month (I think; I haven't gone outside recently, I keep track of time by how often my fiancee asks me how my fort is doing), and I've gotten a pretty good hang of things. I want to ask people's opinions on three matters.
1) Most importantly, I always end up getting inspired for better way to layout my fortress around the time my second year comes around. So, I quit that fortress and start a new one (usually in a new world). Rinse, wash, repeat. I've yet to actually watch a fortress lose, as my perfectionist nature just keeps on egging me to try something else from scratch. Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep my attention focused on one fortress? The longest I ran a fortress was my first desert fortress, which happened to have a volcano and *very* tall waterfall (something like 30 z levels), and I finally got attacked by a megabeast fairly early (probably helped that my dwarves kept on going nuts producing artifacts), but i dispatched him with ease (rather, my flood chamber/entrance did; the only challenge was waiting for it to drain; didn't realize how long that would take). However, I didn't like how I laid out my entrance way, and caravans started to actually supply me enough wood, so the aesthetics and the challenge kinda dissipated.
2) I've come up with a fairly routine format for my fortresses, and I'm curious what others think about it. Basically, Its all centered around carving out hallways of 5x5 squares, with 3 tile wide connections (useful for bulkheads for gates made out of bridges when I want to seal off parts of the fortress, plus I like how it looks once the stones are smoothed; the idea of having regular pillars flanking my hallways appeals to me), that surround 11x11 rooms. I prefer for my fortresses to be fairly vertical (ever since I learned I could designate orders across different z levels), as it allows me to save space. I'll take two 11x11 rooms, stacked vertically, for any particular industry. So, I'll have 4 mason workshops in one room, with their particular output stockpile above (or below, whatever's closer to the trade depot/main level), and the supply stockpile surrounding them (I've never needed a large enough stockpile. I used to do 2x2 bedrooms, in a greek-cross fashion, but I've grown fond of 3x3 bedrooms, as it matches the layout of the rest of the fortress better (I can fit 8 of them per 11x11 section). The nobility get 11x11 rooms (inclusive of their offices and personal dining rooms), segmented as I see fit. Once things get slightly large-ish, I take the time to designate all my main hallways as high traffic, and the workshops, stockpiles, and bedrooms, as low traffic. Overall, what do people think of this general layout? I know its not the most space-efficient, but I like giving my dwarfs lots of room to maneuver around each other, and its still easy to create choke-points for defense.
3) For trade purposes, what do people think the best way to get ride of excess stone is? I'm torn between mechanisms, craft goods, and cabochons. Mechanisms are nice and valuable, but relatively heavy; I don't really focus on a craft industry much usually (other than to give my crazy dwarves someplace to go while they go nuts), and cabochon's are my preferred way of training jewelers, but, for the most part, not too valuable. Thoughts?
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Topic: New-ish player, (very) minor issue, and looking for opinions on my layouts (Read 589 times)