(For a little background, check out this thread (insert shameless self-promotion):
http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=41811.0. Lots of epic, and a TON of tl;dr.)
Following Ineth's Rampage, there was a council of the remaining races- Humans, Dwarves, and the remaining Elves. As a hedge against the extinction of any of their peoples, great construction projects would be undertaken. These projects would come to be known as the Mother Fortresses- floating, self-sufficient ...well, motherships. At least one for each race. The following passages regard the design of one of the Dwarves' ships.
I'll admit, this was inspired by the Dwarven Death Star thread- however, I wanted to stay more with the "fantasy" feel.
Basic Design, Dominant Features, and Primary Concerns:
-After a couple rough sketches, I settled on an inverted pyramid design for the fort. The uppermost levels would contain food and tower-cap farms, and the highest ceiling would be made of glass for a greenhouse. Any levels below that would have to be built around a coaxial magma/water cistern.
-I know it's rather unwise design, but all levers are going to be in the bottom level, which will be made of glass and serve as a control room.
-The magma cistern runs the entire length of the pyramid, and thusly can be used as a bombardment weapon.
-The water cistern is wrapped around the magma reserve, and a level will be reserved for obsidian farming.
-I've drawn up some plans on graph paper, and I've found that 84 or so dwarves can have comfortable housing aboard the pyramid. More can be given a bed if comfort is reduced in importance.
-Regarding the site: sourced water, an underground pool or river, and a magma pipe will be crucial. I'm actually performing 2 projects simultaneously: the mothership, and a dock for it to "refuel" with magma and water. The necessity of sourced water and a magma pipe are not negotiable. The underground water will be needed for full self-sufficiency in the form of tower-cap spores.
-Cliffiness. My plans currently call for the pyramid to be at lest 20 z-levels tall. I worry about an area lacking the z-levels needed to hold my crazy contraption.
-Oh, every 2 z-levels the pyramid narrows by 2 tiles.
Secondary Concerns:
-Sand, flux, surface wood, and HFS. The implications of these 4 features should be self-explanatory. Question: can I use an external utility like Dwarf Companion to change a constructed tile into sand?
-Wind. Designs for the docking apparatus call for a large pump stack to carry water and magma up to the moored mothership. I know wind cannot be checked directly, but a nice windy area would make running the stack a bit simpler.
-Metal ores. Allow me to reiterate that the idea behind a flying, self-sufficient fort is the total denial of invaders. Thus, in a perfect world, the completed mothership would have no use for traders. But we don't live in a perfect world- a random kobold may sneak in, or (Armok forbid) a gobbo ambush. Thus, some form of military will be needed. Further thus, they will need metal equipment, ideally starting with iron. I don't anticipate storage space being a major issue.
Some Statistics:
-Estimated total bars/blocks needed: somewhere around
16,000 10,000.
-Individual, fully-furnished rooms: 84
-Maximum per-batch capacity of Dwafonuclear reactor: 72 stones per run
-Total width (in tiles) at top level: 30
-Kickassery: Maximal!
Final Remarks:
-I've been planning this for a while, but STILL won't have time to start it for a few days.
-I may be persuaded to upload my designs and sketches if people want them.
Edit: Estimation re-do.
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Topic: The Dwarven Mothership (Read 1535 times)