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[Leonidas]

I've been using animals chained in my entryways to warn me of ambushers and the like.  And I've been wondering if there's a better way using windows.  If so, has anyone discovered it?  It seems like there ought to be some way to use the animal's reaction through a window to alert me to an intruder's presence, without killing the animal.

[Elvang]

I personally haven't gotten around to using windows yet, but for an animal to detect enemies in ambush mode, the two have to touch. If there's a window between them then they can't touch, so I don't think its possible.

[Goinstadi]

The don't have to touch.  Animals detect hidden creatures within 2 (possibly 3) tiles of where they are at.  So if you can guarantee that an ambush will have 1 member pass right next to the window, you're golden for detection.

[Sphalerite]

I can confirm this, just having had a war dog spot a kobold thief through a fortification.

[Leonidas]

So what happens once the animal sees the ambusher?  Normally you only get the notification once the animal dies.  I'm trying to think of some other way for the animal to attract attention.

[Sphalerite]

In my experience the alarm comes as soon as the animal 'sees' the hidden ambusher, not when it dies.  Which can happen while the ambusher is still a few squares away.  What determines if an ambusher is seen or not I don't know.

[DaJonkel]

Cage traps work to detect thiefs and such as well, just build a row of those at your entrance and you'll detect everything without having to chain up a new animal everytime it dies.

[Foehamster]

Cage traps work to detect thiefs and such as well, just build a row of those at your entrance and you'll detect everything without having to chain up a new animal everytime it dies.

Everything but Kobolds and other trap-avoid creatures.

[Leonidas]

Cage traps work to detect thiefs and such as well, just build a row of those at your entrance and you'll detect everything without having to chain up a new animal everytime it dies.

All the creatures I'm worried about are TrapAvoid.

[KenboCalrissian]

My current fortress has the following alarm system:

Code: [Select]

XXXX
X§g^
XXXX

Small tunnel only 3 tiles deep, restrain an animal (I use groundhogs because they produce very little meat and thus aren't very useful for butchery) and put a cage trap in front of it.  Ambushers will often attempt to attack the nearest creature friendly to you, including tamed animals, so a tame animal out in the middle of nowhere looks like easy picking for them.  They spring the cage trap, alerting me of their presence moments before they kill the animal and gaining me a prisoner for later use for whatever diabolical means I deem necessary.

You could easily upgrade this simply by adding a stockpile for some kind of craft good right next to the animal restraint (in fact, now that I've thought of this I'm going to do it myself).  The stray item should attract thieves, and the item is guaranteed to always be next to your animal if you put it right up against the restraint, meaning the animal should always detect the thief.  Best case scenario, the thief flees your map or your animal kills it.  Worst case, it kills your animal, then flees the map.