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[lordkrike]

So my latest fortress has a cavern system below it.  At z-level -5.  With two levels of soil and two of stone above it.

So I'm contemplating building a flying fortress through the air above the cavern floor.  What dangers would I need to compensate for were I to do so?  I'd like to have open platforms with no walls, so flying nasties would obviously nix that idea, as would anything that can climb walls (can GCSes do this?).

Basically, would I be safe so long as there was no ground-level access to the cavern floor?

[KillerClowns]

So my latest fortress has a cavern system below it.  At z-level -5.  With two levels of soil and two of stone above it.

So I'm contemplating building a flying fortress through the air above the cavern floor.  What dangers would I need to compensate for were I to do so?  I'd like to have open platforms with no walls, so flying nasties would obviously nix that idea, as would anything that can climb walls (can GCSes do this?).

Basically, would I be safe so long as there was no ground-level access to the cavern floor?

Nope.  I thought walls would save me, and died horribly when a flying Forgotten Beast showed up.  Nothing can climb walls, but flying foes are a rare, but very real threat.

[lordkrike]

*sigh*

Well then, I guess I'll just have to seal the outside with stone.

It'll have to be a giant underground chalk block tower.

[kalida99]

That should work quite nicely, but you'll likely have occasional job cancels from the denizens of the cavern systems, but so long as you have a either no pathway to the floor, or an airlock type construct the denizens should prove no trouble (no GCS can't climb walls). I have yet to encounter a flying denizen, but i would recommend at least having some sort of blocking device (windows, fortifications)

I'm currently going about the caverns quite differently, I'm working on blocking off most of the access points, I'll then build a small area with fortifications to contain them (use them as archer training  ).

Ye also might want to add a [spoiler] in the thread name, since it does have information that could ruin the surprise to new players, or those without this version.

[lordkrike]

Related question:  Is there such a thing as a flying building destroyer?  I know they can't destroy constructions, but it could affect my design...

[sneakey pete]

As far as i'm aware, building destroyers will destroy things like pumps, grates, iron bars etc, but not constructed walls, floors, and fortifications.

[Scruga]

Related question:  Is there such a thing as a flying building destroyer?  I know they can't destroy constructions, but it could affect my design...

Yes there is, I had a one-eyed flying worm with poisonous blood and building destroyer attack me :O instant death.

[Chronas]

also beware that

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

intangible/gaseous FBs can move through grates and fortifications like water

[Bakawolf]

Bah, i killed 3 forgotten beasts with no scratch on my 5 axedwarves. ...However, my pet's feet are all melting off due to the blood, and the dwarves are starting to rot a bit

[catapult_fodder]

I just had a gaseous steam cloud show up at my fort, but fortunately it spawned outside my walls.

I've been working on a hard metalbashing strategy in which the first step is to dig down to a cavern, find an open spot in the cavern, seal it up with walls from top to bottom, then dig down to a magma ocean and build my magma smelters and forge on top of the magma ocean.  Farming takes place on the muddied cavern floor, and in the process of digging down to the magma ocean a lot of ore is exposed. All my worlds have higher volcanism, so I don't know to what extent this affects the magma and cavern layout.

So far it's worked twice and failed 3 or 4 times.  It turns out that you have to be very quick to seal up your fort once you've breached the cavern, as cave denizens thoroughly enjoy dwarven flesh.  Troglodytes and blind cave ogres can potentially be dealt with if you have a military dwarf or two, but the sheer numbers and the occasional giant olm have spelled certain doom for several expeditions.

To speed up the process I basically have 2 miner dwarfs and then have the rest work masonry until the cavern is sealed.  I previously made do with 1 or 2 masonry dwarfs, but they weren't quick enough...

Also, I'll point out that I've had 3 flying forgotten beasts spawn, and so far they've all been in the caverns outside my fortress.  The thing that worries me the most is a beast spawning directly in my farming area - I don't think the dwarves would survive long.

[Erk]

Related question:  Is there such a thing as a flying building destroyer?  I know they can't destroy constructions, but it could affect my design...

My first beast was a flying winged thing that smashed through my doors to the underground and killed a war dog before my novice wrestler pulled its torso off. It did unleash the batmen that then killed that fort, so I suppose it was nontrivial...

I wouldn't worry about building your fort around forgotten beasts. It's way fun to have them come in and give you grief than to make an impenetrable base.

[lordkrike]

Holy carp, guys.

All of my forts rely on the nonexistence of flying building destroyers for security.  Seriously a game changer, since before it wasn't terribly difficult to make an actually impenetrable fortress.

Well, I'll just have to think of some new tricks to keep them out of my hair.  And seal everything off until I'm ready to deal with them.  I don't want this fortress to have that much Fun yet, since at the moment I rather like the design.