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[Beeskee]

My third spiral design. #2 was too big, lead to degradation in FPS after a while.  Rotate 90 degrees clockwise each level down.  The large areas are rounded workshop rooms, hopefully the smaller size will help keep pathfinding costs lower.

Other than FPS, the primary advantages of this layout are that, depending on the rotation and state of designation or digging, you can imagine it as a heart, a smiley face, a pair of breasts, a pair of testes, or the International Space Station. Your own personal preferences may come into play too, for example, I see the ISS with a pair of breasts, but maybe that's TMI.

The "solar panels" are bedrooms or small workshop rooms, and the "breasts" are large workshop and stockpile areas. You could make each level a burrow with a small food and drink stockpile if you wanted, too. As you can see, I've made this level a cloth-related level. The stockpile is actually one big stockpile, then with notches cut out for the empty area, and small notches cut out around the dyer's shop for a dye stockpile. The bedrooms on this level haven't been decorated yet.

As you can see, I have a strange mood going on here. Let's hope it turns out well, and produces an actual good artifact, this fort has had precious few of those so far.  Edit: Got a pig tail left glove... Worth 25k.

[katyrnyn]

I see an annoyingly indecipherable graphics set with wagon wheels and tits. 

Seriously, though, I've been experimenting with similar fortress structures, and have moved on to a "Double Helix" style to account for the wasted space on the backside of the "spiral." (Between your two workshop wings.)  The two helices in my format are connected at the base, where I locate all of the meeting-area type rooms (water feeds down through the central column) and my critical levers.  That gives me ~19 levels worth of a spiral fort for the space of 10.

Having the ramps work around the center column really helps FPS/pathfinding.

Edit: Nice layout, BTW.

[neil_v]

I love the bedrooms/smaller rooms. I never thought of putting angles at the back of the rooms... Makes it look really slick.
I dislike the larger workshop area... I think workshops areas should be square or something pleasing to the eye. Your diamond shaped (octagon I guess) work area wastes too much valuable space. ....
Actually when I think about it, I could like massive octagons 12 spaces wide per side.
I might try to make a beehive concept fortress next , thanks for the cool ideas! 

[Beeskee]

I tried square rooms before, in fact I ended up noticing I was using pretty much all square designs, so I thought I would try something different. When I first started on this layout, I had the large rooms as diamond-shaped, but realized if a workshop had blocking tiles on the side that went against the edge, that a dwarf might get stuck in the corner after building the workshop. So that's why those rooms look a bit odd.

I was hoping the split design and rounded rooms would reduce pathfinding costs. Feel free to experiment though and let me know if you have good results with different room shapes.


Katyrnyn, I'd love to see a screenshot of your layout.

[katyrnyn]

Katyrnyn, I'd love to see a screenshot of your layout.

I won't be back on my Windows box for a spell, but give me a day or two and I'll see what I can cook up.  (Where are folks hosting images these days, anyway?)

[slink]

I could claim to see two testes, but then the rest of the layout would be an anatomical wonder, both parts of which were wearing some kind of ribbed rubber ...   

My spiral ramp is smaller, only one three-tile-wide.  The corridors on the levels are five tiles wide, and the rooms are 11x11 which is divided into four 5x5s for living quarters.  There are some 10x11 storage spaces down the centerline in both directions that even things out.  I never thought of making a double helix with my ramp.  I need to try that. 

[Hyndis]

I use a huge vertical chasm, essentially just a very large area that has been mined out completely from top to bottom, so its completely open. Yes, you can fall down 30 Z levels or however tall it is.

Then there are ramps every 90 degrees along the inner walls of the artificial chasm. Dwarves can move up and down the spiral ramp structure easily enough.

Sort of looks like this:
http://www.wowwiki.com/File:Engine_of_the_Makers.jpg

Its very similar except the middle part is empty. The ramps are carved into the sides of the walls. Entrance to the fort is at the top of the spiral, but the main gate of the fortress is at the bottom of the ramps.

[einstein9073]

Spoiler: picture (click to show/hide)

My third spiral design. #2 was too big, lead to degradation in FPS after a while.  Rotate 90 degrees clockwise each level down.  The large areas are rounded workshop rooms, hopefully the smaller size will help keep pathfinding costs lower.

Other than FPS, the primary advantages of this layout are that, depending on the rotation and state of designation or digging, you can imagine it as a heart, a smiley face, a pair of breasts, a pair of testes, or the International Space Station. Your own personal preferences may come into play too, for example, I see the ISS with a pair of breasts, but maybe that's TMI.
...
As you can see, I have a strange mood going on here. Let's hope it turns out well, and produces an actual good artifact, this fort has had precious few of those so far.  Edit: Got a pig tail left glove... Worth 25k.

Do you have the quickfort for this?

[Beeskee]

Do you have the quickfort for this?

Unfortunately not, I've been designating it by hand. I haven't actually used any of the macros or anything before...

It looks complicated but it's 5 shift-squares, 3 of them overlapping, with some bits cut off.

I'll see about making a macro thingy for it.

Edit: Okay, how do I make macros?   Edit2: Oops thought you meant the internal recording thing. I see Quickfort uses CSV's, those are easy enough.

[existent]

I like this.... might become my new Dwarven Standard.

Seriously, though, I've been experimenting with similar fortress structures, and have moved on to a "Double Helix" style to account for the wasted space on the backside of the "spiral." (Between your two workshop wings.)  The two helices in my format are connected at the base, where I locate all of the meeting-area type rooms (water feeds down through the central column) and my critical levers.  That gives me ~19 levels worth of a spiral fort for the space of 10.

Could you post a screen or two? I can't really visualize DF layouts... it's a curse.

[UmbrageOfSnow]

I like this, I've been working on something similar to your burrow idea:

I have 10 z-level cylinders with workshops, dining room, bedrooms, and a shitload of stockpiles (including food/booze), each designated as a burrow.  10 or so dwarves to a 'module', where 8 of them are confined there forever, and have workshops and whatnot, and 2 as haulers to carry goods out, materials and food in, etc.

I then stack the cylinders on top of each other, planing to go all the way down to dip the lowest module in magma for magma forges.  I have a double helix ramp structure, with to ramps spiraling around the outside of the modules, entrances and exits every 5 floors, which I make sure to be stockpiles.

Spiral forts just look neat though.  I like your ISS with breasts.

[Reese]

that's really neat

but, I can't help noticing your ramps lead up to a wall... I thought that you couldn't leave a ramp top tile in the direction opposite a lone supporting wall.

[UmbrageOfSnow]

His up ramps are next to a wall that is open space on the next level, because the whole design rotates 90 degrees.  So it all works out.

[Reese]

His up ramps are next to a wall that is open space on the next level, because the whole design rotates 90 degrees.  So it all works out.

oh, I see, it rotates around the point where the two ramp sets meet- I'd gotten it in to my head it rotated around the point where those two short hallways would intersect.