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[Quietust]

However, constructed walls will not deconstruct if a cave-in drops onto them, so if you dug out the area underneath your trade depot and want to drop a cave-in onto the elves, you can just construct walls directly underneath the depot and they'll protect everything underneath them.

[Jude]

Scaffolding shouldn't be necessary for simply creating the building, or at least very little of it.

I'm building a large square keep right now. I have a central stairway shaft running most of the way up it, but that's not even necessary - it works the same way. So, what I do is build an up/down stairway, lay down the entire flooring for that story, wait till that's done, then place the corner walls, then once they're done place the rest of the walls. That floor is now more or less complete. Then I stick another up/down stairway on top and repeat until I get to the top floor.

To build the roof, no need to put scaffolding from the ground floor up. Just leave a wall unbuilt on the top floor, or remove one...that leaves a gap to the outside. Build an up staircase outside the gap, attached to the building on one side like so :

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====
...=
...=
....<
...=
...=

Then put a down staircase on top of the up staircase. Your dwarves now have roof access. Complete whatever fancy designs you're putting on the roof. Then remove the down staircase, then the up staircase, and then replace the final wall. Done!

Since the way I'm making my tower produces a bunch of empty floors, it has lots of potential for future development (I have way more floors in there than I know what to do with.) So when a noble comes up, or I want to add another room, I just deconstruct floors as needed and replace them with walls and doors, carving up the empty space into rooms.

The one thing I do use scaffolding for is when adding fancy things onto the outside of the tower, like a big protruding arch over the entrance. But not all that much is required, especially compare to if I surrounded the whole thing with scaffolding.

[yuhhaur]

My way:
1.

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.....
.>  .
.   .
.   .
.....
2.

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#...#
.>...
.....
.....
#...#
3.

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#####
#>..#
#...#
#...#
#####
LEGEND
. = floor (or wall 1 z-level below)
# = wall
>up/down stair

[DeathOfRats]

That's pretty much the way I did my *checks fortress* 113 z-level pump stack. Works like a charm, too, and you can be building three floors at a time in different stages.

[vooood]

Ok, so if I do scaffolding since I want to build a huge wall, what would be the fastest way to destroy them? I can't just let it "fall down" since it's all attached to the wall..

[Starver]

Ok, so if I do scaffolding since I want to build a huge wall, what would be the fastest way to destroy them? I can't just let it "fall down" since it's all attached to the wall..

[Edit: darn, didn't answer thisquestion, and went off on tangents.  Will make another reply, sorry.]



If you're building a wall, on top of another wall without wanting any flooring either side to stand on (or dedicating time to making a set of temporary bridges), then your big problem in designating the 'ontop' walls is that dwarfs don't like to stand on spots were other constructions are to occur and (if you let them, and don't keep an eye on directional preferences) they like to hem themselves in.  But with a little micromanagement you can get them to do it more logically.

Say you've started with a square enclosure that you want to operate on from the inside.  e.g.

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.......
.#####.
.#...#.
.#.>.#.
.#...#.
.#####.
.......
And you want to build on top of that for an arbitrary number of levels, depending on how many builders I wanted to apply to the task at a time, I'd take the upper level and designate the following wall-blocks on the next level up (with the given stairway accesses needing the lower level, of course).

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  1-2      <=4      <=8     12-20? (large enclosure version)
 O++++    O+++O    O+O+O    O++OO+++OO++O
 +X  +    +X  +    +X X+    +X    X    X+
 +   +    +   +    O   O    +           +
 +   +    +  X+    +X X+    O           O
 ++++O    O+++O    O+O+O    O           O
   v        v        v      +           +
 #++++    #++O#    #O#O#    +X         X+
 +X  +    +X  O    OX XO    +           +
 +   +    +   +    #   #    O           O
 +   O    O  X+    OX XO    O           O
 +++O#    #O++#    #O#O#    +           +
   v        v               +X         X+
 #++++    #+O##             O++OO+++OO++O
 +X  +    +X  #                   v
 +   O    O   O             #+O##O+O##O+#
 +   #    #  X+             +X    X    X+
 ++O##    ##O+#             O           O
   v        v               #    etc    #
 #++++    #O### <=
 +X  O    OX  #    TR and BL corners
 +   #    #   #    can now be started
 +   #    #  XO    on the level above
 +O###    ###O# <=
   v
  etc
   v
 #O###
 OX  #
 #   #    At this point you can start
 #   #    this corner off on the level
 ##### <= above (after the stairs opposing)

As you can see, the more simultaneous points you want to start at, the more stairwell scaffolds you need, but you can balance it so there's just the one (but only two dwarfs can work on it at the time) if you don't want to flood the site with scaffolding and (apart from doing the most inaccessible corners first, which is essential unless you want to fudge that by using external scaffolding later).

The "start the level above" hints are only useful if you have extra workers available, but you weren't keen on so many stairwells.  But beware of the Last in First Out nature of construction, because one or two workers (in the first column) may build the BR corner on the level above before attempting the two final ones adjacent to the TL corner, and then you're tempted to assign the next two in line adjacent to the BR corner on Z+1, but you still need to make sure you put the TL standalone in on Z+1 before you forget, so need the standing space afforded by the TL-adjacents.  IYSWIM.

Obviously the above is scalable, and you'll need to adjust.  I see you mention building a cylinder, in which case you need to ensure the walls are

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###   over-       and on the level above will ##O    before ###
  ### lapping      need to do something like:   +++  you do   O++


I see some people mention putting in temporary floors to access the corners.  While you aren't doing it, this is something I find I often need to do when I'm building overhanging bits (e.g. minimal footprint walled-off 'stairwell shaft' punching through ground level, but wanting to use far more elevated real-estate).

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         OOOO   wait  ##OO  before  ##OO  now  ##OO
x+++     ++++  until  ++++     you   +++  you  O+++
 +++  -> O+++     ->  O+++      ->  O+++   ->  O+++
 ++X     O++X     at  O++X  remove  O++X  can  O++X
 +++     O+++  least  O+++    this  O+++  add  O+++

But once you have the overhang, you can build on the level above as per above "on top of walls" instructions.  Or if you're flooring off every level, then just need to worry about all the corners.  One of my favourite 'tower' designs has the following type of floorplan (to differing scales... with differing room sizes and stairwell areas produces different skews, to interesting aesthetic effects.  I've got it down to a fine art)...

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            #######
            #+++++#
      #######+++++#
      #+++++#+++++#
      #+++++#+++++#
      #+++++#+++++#
      #+++++###+#########
      #+++++#+++++#+++++#
#########+###+++++#+++++#
#+++++#+++++#+++++++++++#
#+++++#+++++#+++++#+++++#
#+++++++++++#+++++#+++++#
#+++++#+++++#+#############
#+++++#++++++X++++++#+++++#
#############+#+++++#+++++#
  #+++++#+++++#+++++++++++#
  #+++++#+++++#+++++#+++++#
  #+++++++++++#+++++#+++++#
  #+++++#+++++###+#########
  #+++++#+++++#+++++#
  #########+###+++++#
        #+++++#+++++#
        #+++++#+++++#
        #+++++#+++++#
        #+++++#######
        #+++++#
        #######
In the above, I have to worry not only about 12 external corners needing a temporary floor to access, but 4 "middle of a cross" wall sections that need helping out (at each "inner angle" of the three-room 'suite' layout).  But once I've gotten the first overhanging level sorted out, access to Z+1 and any flooring out from the stairwell that's needed to access the wall-tops, then I generally assign to be built all the room floors then (to take priority) all the 'junction' walls (internal and external corners, plus where there are 'T's in the walls), then (to take absolute priority) the floors in the 'doorway' squares above the gaps in the floor below(although I needn't technically do that, if I'm careful about not blocking anyone in on top of the wall-spurs later on).  Then I can start designating the non-corner walls to be built as soon as the floors reach them.

If I'm planning on gaps in the external walls for windows (or other things like inter-tower walkways) then I will of course have to contend with those design issues as well.

This does not seem to apply to the OP's question, but I thought I'd share.

[Starver]

Ok, so if I do scaffolding since I want to build a huge wall, what would be the fastest way to destroy them? I can't just let it "fall down" since it's all attached to the wall..

When you do build scaffolding, then it depends what your scaffolding is.
If it's floors, then as long as you designate it to be removed in a sensible order (take a look at my "wall-on-top-of-wall building order" and reverse it, give or take the issue with corners, given external ones need to be taken off ASAP before both all adjacent supports are removed) then no dwarf will find themselves trapped and will have access to whatever stairwells you provide.  Remember that dwarfs can walk across diagonals, so taking a corner out (internal or external) will not stop a dwarf from routing via the two floorways that the corner piece was orthagonal to, but take into account that a dwarf would then want to remove those remaining floors from the orthagonal continuations away from that corner, not across that gap, IYSWIM.

If you're using multiple stairwells and retreating back to ground level, then you should just be able to deconstruct the top-most of each stack that is no longer needed to reach anywhere on that level or above.  (Deconstructing while retreating up stairwells is a different kettle of fish.)

You can treat ramps like floors and/or stairwells, depending on what other structure you're removing/keeping that was involved in the use of the ramps (e.g. on the basic structure of a pyramid).

If you're using bridges as scaffolding, and actually removing them (rather than hiding them away) then look to the floor-tile example.  Always make sure you're not allowing the deconstruction team to strand themselves somewhere.  (If necessary, designate-and-suspend a wall on a spot that they might stand on, but that you intend to keep as an inaccessible platform.  When there's no access, just cancel the job.)

Above all:

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