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[Skid]

Here's the theory: I find a map with a giant cave spider somewhere on it and trap the GCS in a room system with two or more chambers in it.  There are lever operated doors/drawbridges separating the two rooms and a hole in the roof of each room.  To work the system I drop a few puppies or kittens in through one of the holes so the spider will web and kill them.  I then drop some more into the other room, wait for the spider to run over there, and then close the door.  Send in a few dwarves to collect the webs and butchered corpses from the safe side, then evacuate and repeat the process.

This should give me a fairly unlimited supply of valuable silk and something fun to do with GCS now that just killing them isn't much of a challenge.

Anyone see any fatal flaws in my reasoning before I go and try to build this thing?

[Sadrice]

I can't think of any specific flaws, though it seems likely that you'll accidentally set the spider loose in the middle of your fortress eventually. 

How are you planning on getting it into the room?  Cage it maybe?

Also, do you know if they will make new large webs, or is that produced when the map is generated?  If they do, you might have trouble with your dwarves getting stuck, but you'll also have a lot more silk.

[Skid]

Probably just cage it or have an expendable cheese maker dig out the only tunnel leading directly from its bottomless pit level into the containment unit with some kittens as bait.

I have no idea if they'll create a new big web, it would be extremely useful.

The only problem I see so far is the relatively short lifespan of 30 years, but then again, I've never had a fort last that long.

[Overdose]

a Fortification is your FRIEND for CGS silk harvesting. Place something else in a wall before it though, so you can open the barrier, let it shoot at something you have on the other side, then close the barrier again to harvest the silk.

[i2amroy]

As far as I know it will never again create a huge web, though that would be a cool tag to have added, a large web tag.

[Asehujiko]

Code: [Select]

#####
#C+Xc
#####Chain the cat in place, rig the cage, build it stuck with fortifications and build a floodgate infront of it. Open the cage and the floodgate and wait untill the cat gets shot. Close the floodgate and collect your bounty. AFAIK hostiles don't age so you can do this indefinetly.

[Alabaster]

I say do it anyways.

If it works, great, if it fails, you'll get a good story out of it.

[Duke 2.0]

 OP: Grand idea. Be sure to only have one hallway leading to that place, and have that hallway filled with cage traps. Alternate option that might not work: Tame it and drop gobbos into the pit. In theory the spider should be indifferent to your dwarves and web/kill the gobbos. Then again, tamed creatures tend to run away from threats.

 Everybody Else: Spiders won't shoot web at something they can't reach. Even if a fortification is available.

[Tormy]

Yeah easily doable, Ive done this a couple of times already, with a similar method. Hmm in fact there were a few threads about this in the past even. Good luck, it will be fun. 

[Pickerel]

The idea works.  You don't even need to sac puppies and kittens.  I just have the GCS on a platform in the middle of the room with a bunch of floodgates on the other side of a channel.  The channel separates the platform from everything else.  The platform has stairs that go from the channel up to itself.  So if GCS ever falls in, it can only go back up to the platform.  A switch lowers and raises the floodgates.  You place any creature (I use military dwarves without ranged weapons) into the surounding area, lower floodgates, and let web fly.  Then close up the floodgates, collect all available web, and repeat.

[Porpoisepower]

Better yet have nobles stand on a retractable bridge over the GCS pit, and pull a lever

[Neoskel]

Be careful to never let a marksdwarf wander by the open holes in the roof, or he might kill the spider.

[Drunken]

Tame it and drop gobbos into the pit. In theory the spider should be indifferent to your dwarves and web/kill the gobbos. Then again, tamed creatures tend to run away from threats.

you could mod the [trAINABLE] tag, and maybe even get a few and breed them into an army of cave spider warriors. after each battle you would have a plentiful harvest of silk. War Spiders, that sounds so awsome I'm tempted to start a new fort and try it myself.

I did this with gorrillas once, I love this game so much for the little things :-)
Like the fact that a gorilla can literally rip off a goblins arms and beat him to death with them.

[arghy]

I really dont see why everything in the game cant be turned into a war animal- seriously WAR COW! WAR MONKEYS! [TAME WAR CARP]. Dun go 'ere da mo't! ishous f'sh be fill'n it! I could just see the gobbos breaking down the gates thinking of the slaughter to come only to be faced with hordes of war cats and war donkeys and trying to ambush hunters only to face a fearsome HUNTING BULL! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! I DONT KNOW BUT ITS JAWS ARE LOCKED APON MY LEG!

[Duke 2.0]

I really dont see why everything in the game cant be turned into a war animal- seriously WAR COW! WAR MONKEYS! [TAME WAR CARP]. Dun go 'ere da mo't! ishous f'sh be fill'n it! I could just see the gobbos breaking down the gates thinking of the slaughter to come only to be faced with hordes of war cats and war donkeys and trying to ambush hunters only to face a fearsome HUNTING BULL! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! I DONT KNOW BUT ITS JAWS ARE LOCKED APON MY LEG HORN IS UP MY ARSE!

 Fixed. Also, once while working with humans I forgot to remove the tag that allows them to buy non-domestic creatures upon embark.

 After buying some Giant Eagles, I modded in War Eagles. Most awesome fortress ever.