Hello! I have a report from our industrious dwarven architects with a layout for underground fortresses. It has been termed the Sloped Grid layout. It is designed to make good use of three-dimensional space and fill a cubic area with high density but easily expandable workshops. It also eliminates the need for staircases so less chance for dwarves to tumble down them. The efficiency of the pathing still needs to be better tested.
To visualize the layout, start with a standard grid of hallways running north/south and east/west, and junctions where hallways meet. Then take all the north/south (or east/west) hallways and tilt them on an angle. Each tilted hallway is split into two, with one half leading down where the other half leads up. This will give each junction six directions to travel from. If we tilted the north/south hallways, then from each central junction you could travel east, west, north-up, north-down, south-up, or south-down. Edge junctions will naturally have fewer directions.
The degree of slope and number of levels between junctions can be modified to suit an individual fortress. I've found 3 levels works well. For an image of this layout. I've included an image that shows the top layer and five layers below it.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/sfftukkd9hny5rd/sloped_grid_layout.jpg/file
The design is easily expandable to any size desired. It works best in a solid expanse and can break down near a sloping surface.
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Topic: New Fortress layout, sloped grid (Read 821 times)