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[Demetrious]

How do I shot web?

.... it had to be done.

[Martin]

How the bloody hell do you even CHAIN a untamed GCS?!? I can't even do that with an alligator.

Luck. I've done it, but even with a legendary animal trainer (if it even matters) it fails far more often than it succeeds.

Chaining it really doesn't help things very much since it usually won't shoot webs if it can't path to the target, or unless the target wanders into range. The only reason the room works is because of the pet pathing though tightly closed door bug. The other problem with the chain is that without something like a drawbridge it gets frightfully hard to collect the web because the dwarves get scared off.

[chaos985]

just out of curisoity, is there any reason why you woulndnt just throw stripped goblins in there, and let it kill them, Recatch it, then collect the silk?

[Martin]

Because that's a LOT more work than just pulling a lever. Really, with my design that's all that's required to get the GCS to produce silk and then to safely collect it.

[Dorten]

This http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/map-4569-pagebend

The 'GCS Silk factory' POI

top two doors are not locked, but not pet passable.
lower door - locked completely.

Very much silk in a very short time.

[martinuzz]

Thanks Martin, for sharing your design. It works splendidly.
I'll be enjoying GCS silk for the remainder of my fortress life. I've modded GCS to live up to 210 years. 

[Sheb]

Who need GSC silk? The gobbos keep bringing shitload of the stuff....

[martinuzz]

quality modifier of home-woven cloth + quality modifier of home-dyed thread + quality modifier of legendary clothier = PROFIT

[AxisofLint]

Wouldn't an open room with a tamed GCS chained to one side and a hostile gobbo chained to the other work just as well? I've not tried to setup a silk farm before so ~shrug~

[Quietust]

I used a variant of Martin's design, except with a tame spider and a (disarmed) chained goblin crossbowman. This one had the added bonus of allowing me to surround the entire spider+goblin chamber with walls so that nothing could ever get in or out. The setup produced ludicrous amounts of webs for about 10 years, at which point the spider died of old age.

See it here. The 4 dark doors are all unlocked but pet impassable, and only the goblin is chained (with said chain linked to the red lever on the other end of the room, which I used at the end so I could "release" it into one of the 2 cage traps) - the spider was chained inside, then unchained, and then finally the chain itself was deconstructed and removed without the spider leaving the chamber. The Cobaltite lever outside was hooked up to the clear glass bridge in front (originally tried using doors, but found that the webs would hold them open) and 4 floodgates for the entrance. Note that I later replaced the 2 (locked) red doors with constructed walls, just to make sure the setup was completely secure.

[martinuzz]

I suppose that (EDIT:@ AxisofLint, ninja'd) would work. Be careful with tame specimens that were named (tasted blood).. They have a habit of biting, even when tame.
To prevent the risks involved with pitting or chaining, I just hooked up the cage to a lever, and forbid the mechanism and cage when I let out the spider.
Cage traps at both exits make it easy to recapture if the need arises.

Lots of other fun stuff to do with a GCS (I have a similarish setup at my entrance for webbing siegers. When I get a siege, I quickly move my GCS from the farm to the webbing alcove. Web invaders.. set door to allow GCS, recapture GCS in cage while military rushes the webbed invaders. Quite fun to watch).
You do not need to tame a GCS for it to attack goblins and other scum by the way.

[Quatch]

Whats the general advice on catching a roaming GCS?

[martinuzz]

Save....Scum...Rinse...Repeat..

Best bet is to build some chains, making a trail of bait animals that leads through a narrow corridor with cage trap. Use a Perfectly agile dwarf to lure the spider to the first bait animal. (draft a civilian, station near GCS, undraft the moment the GCS sight him and hope he runs in the right direction.

Again.. Save..Scum..

Or, with some nefarious use of Dwarf Companion, you could teleport either the spider or the bait.

[Yuck]

I used almost the same pattern as somebody else {sorry cant remember who} using a tamed GCS with a goblin prisoner chained up as bait
my only variant as far as i remember is something i havent seen mentioned in these threads
and is very good at eliminating the cancellation spam
on either side of my goblin prisoner i had pressure plates linked to a retracting bridge over a deep hole where the web will be shot
as we know, when silk is shot out over open space it kind of floats there, however the action of the bridge retracting somehow magically drops it and then slides back under the next batch and drops it again as the goblin is pacing back and forth on the plates because well... hes an idiot
anyway have the silk fall about 4 or so levels and collect it there
no collection spam
once you set the deal up, silk will be on fully automatic nonstop production and youll  have more than you know what to do with.
if this has already been mentioned somewhere.. sorry   i missed it