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[pixl97]

I already posted that I like flat maps, but I think I just found something better... It's still a pretty much flat map at the top level, but it has a major river that's carved a 10 z-level deep canyon with straight up and down walls. There is also a stream that drops in to a waterfall.

[muzzz]

I prefer flat plains because I like to be able to see the whole surface area in a single view.  Makes it easier to follow combat, and I like the idea of erecting a castle in the middle of nowhere.

This is one of the main reasons why I like to embark on relatively flat terrain. Even when I'm doing an inside-only fort, I usually aim for at most 5 z-levels above ground.

I'm also not a big fan of the constraints imposed by terrain with steep cliffs. I've tried it as a challenge a few times. But as such forts expanded, I invariably found myself regretting one thing or another.

I have experience penetrating aquifers, so I can pretty much embark wherever I want.

For anyone having trouble with aquifers, I'd highly recommend reading the thread linked in Hans' sig.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Sweet. Save or seed, please?

[Clover Magic]

Depends on where I end up embarking.  I usually don't look at elevation and such in my embarks unless I'm working on a specific idea, so I work with whatever my chosen site ends up being.

[Captain Willy]

I make Umbrella corp structures.  On the top is a small, walled off structure (generally a house for my trade depot and broker).  Below that is a massive storage facility with air-locking train (mine cart) and staircase straight to the bottom.  Each floor is independent of all others based upon use.  Dwarves are selected to floor based upon skill with only soldiers allowed between floors.  Part-time soldiers perform all inter-floor hauling.  Full-time soldiers patrol the walls on the outside and the caverns.

edited for grammar

Nice that is awesome, you need to slip a necromancer and a zombie down there.

[Scruffy]

Border between a completely flat biome and a mountain/higher terrain. Gives me a flat and nice area to guard and a nice cliff to build my defences in.

[Eoganachta]

I prefer a mountain-side or a peak where I tunnel in ~ 20-30 Urists before digging a massive stairwell down. I then base each area off this stairwell or connecting stairwells leading to a vertical fortress with some horizontal areas, which I consider to be efficent without making my head hurt keeping track of everything. (I love hotkeys!)
I've made the transition from horizontal to vertical over the 2 years that I've played both for efficenty and because I don't need to see EVERYTHING happening on one level to understand what is happening. I like being able to see what is going on, hence my entrances tend to span 1 Z level (it makes it easier to keep up with the combat and track enemies). I have made flat fortresses before, all of them having a massive castle structure on the top, most turn into a mega project or an architectural fetish.

[Sutremaine]

I like flat areas so I can see what's going on on the surface, and I like to dig a ramp from the edge down to where the fort will start. I had one fairly deep map with the cavern being sort of n-shaped and starting at about twenty levels down, and I used reveal to place the ramp so that it went straight from its starting point to the middle of the map where the top of the n was. The neat thing about ramps is that they're just as quick to traverse as a purely vertical or horizontal path, so you can effectively shave a couple of dozen levels off the embark by having your direct wagon path ending deep within the earth.

Ramp entrances are also really easy to defend with retracting bridges. As with a raising bridge, it either plugs the path or leaves it open, but it can't ever crush anything (due to being a retracting bridge) or get jammed by a large creature (due to nothing ever standing on the downward ramp tiles on which the bridge is built).