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[Adultratedhydra]

Recently while i was passing time before i opened at my work place (An EB games store. ive pointed quite afew customers to Dwarf Fortress =P) and i had an idea forming in my head, i decided to grab some graph paper and spent the rest of the day plotting out a big megaproject idea. i finished one page before the scope of the project hit me and then wondered if anyone else has had a similiar moment.

The idea was to Carve out Ironforge from WoW =D Magma lake and all. i had the entry area and bottom half of the forge chamber before i ran out of room.

since then ive actually been using the paper to plan out afew things, giving at a glance reference for above ground buildings and such.

[LordSlowpoke]

How do I plan megaprojects? Hmm...
The Dwarven way. Ten liters of random booze and three days of work.
Then I have a hangover, realize my cat shouldn't be in that cage, and start cleaning up the vomit stains that are all over the place.

[TigerPlushie]

Planning is working time wasted!
I just start with whatever I intend to do and see how it works out.

...I've never really achieved anything

[Adultratedhydra]

Usually i just do the *start* "hey that seems like a good idea" but the planning came mainly because it was about 2 hours before opening and i was sitting there and had already done anything i could possibly do.

[Zaranthan]

Now, what did that apostrophe ever do to you, hmm?

If I ever took on a replica project like Ironforge or Moria, then yes, I'd have to plan it out. Otherwise, my ideas take shape as the work proceeds. I usually have a rough idea of what I want the final product to look like.

For example, my standard fortress entrance develops into roughly the form of a European castle with the earth struck under the keep and massive fortification-lined walls surrounding a large field containing my refuse pile, water supply, depot, and surface farms. I don't decide where these things are going to be, I just drop them as I need them and then build the walls around the area in some aesthetically pleasing shape.

[Owlbread]

I do wish there was a better way to plan fortresses and megaprojects, as I usually have to start a test fortress and designate the areas underground as a mock-up or to test various techniques. I've got rather a lot of ideas, but they'll take time. Lots of time.

[EliDupree]

I design mine in a simple text editor. It works.

Underground, less-major projects, I just plan with designations.

[Matthew117]

I scribble my fort designs in a notebook during classes. A much more valuable use of my time than taking notes.

[LemonFrosted]

I draw rough sketches in my sketchbook as a way of making sure I'm getting the spatials sorted out for things like z-layer allocation. I've got a stick-it-note on my monitor reminding my to leave every second layer empty for plumbing but I never listen to myself.

[Chronas]

i use photoshop, zoomed in to pixel widths with a grid to coordinate and layers for z-levels. it's painstaking but highly effective

[Zaerosz]

I plan only vaguely. For example, in my current megaproject, the entrance hall/mausoleum is a five-wide gold hallway lined with sarcophagi of fallen dwarves and statues of them. General bedrooms are on the next floor, bedrooms for legendaries up one more, nobles up one more, kitchen up one from that. And...that's all I've got.

[Talith]

I guess I am the only one who is wondering what the hell he was doing arriving 2 hours early for work.

[Rakonas]

My plans are always interrupted by the type of stone that exists somewhere, so I generally just stopped planning a while back. If I can get an area with several layers of marble and no microcline I can get some nice designs in .