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[Malarauko]

My fort always has three things.
1. The mayors office, noble offices and quarters are always their own seperate district distinct from the other accomodation. In my new for this means the housing district has a walled off area accesible only by going through a checkpoint thats guarded by a militia barracks.
2. The entrance (and usually the caverns) has a border and customs office. This is a barracks with windows to allow the guards to see who's coming in and out of the fort. Where possible I have one post for the Trade Depot area and then another for the Fort itself.
3. Just for ease of use I always build a three room food production area. Its Farm - Food Storage - Kitchens in a row. I set this up for a full sized fort even when the fort is still small.

[hjd_uk]

Square Rooms, a fixed ground-plan (at least for all main areas), a Zoo.

[Shook]

MAGMAAAAAAAAAA

Otherwise, a gatehouse similar to this:



It's actually pretty useful with them air lock-esque qualities, since i can let soldiers out without exposing the rest of my fort. And i can seal off eventual traders.

[mdqp]

Since I started the thread, it seems only fair that I state what I can't do without in any fortress I create:

Entrance two or three tiles wide, long, with a bridge at the beginning and one at the end (both with a moat). In the middle of the corridor, branching to the left and to the right, a room for the trade depot and a room for the barracks. The inner bridge is retractable, while the outer bridge can be raised to seal the fortress. At the end of the  corridor, you find the stairs to reach the main fortress, and fortifications that allow some ballistae to take down any invasors that get through the traps I lay down in the first part of the corridor. Towers for my "snipers" here and there, to control the territory and deal with enemies I can't kill until my military is ready (I don't use danger rooms, so it can take a while...).

That's it! I can change anything else, but this is too simple and effective to give up, in my opinion.

[ASCIt]

I always build a circular central tower extending at least 20 z-levels between above and below ground floors. Generally, it looks like this:

Code: [Select]

   [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]        [ ] = wall
[ ][ ][↕][↕][↕][↕][↕][ ][ ]     [↕] = up/down stair
[ ][ ][↕][ ][ ][ ][↕][ ][ ]     [█] = open space
[ ][ ][↕][ ][█][ ][↕][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][↕][ ][ ][ ][↕][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][↕][↕][↕][↕][↕][ ][ ]
   [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Where the center hole is an execution drop and the walls around that are glass, clear if I can afford the attention.

[Kestrel]

I used to make a Hall of Heroes: coffins designated for my starting seven.  Now I make masterwork iron-laden rooms for my best militia dorfs and metal workers.

Typically the scrubs and newcomers live in the levels closer to the surface while the most skilled and accomplished craftsdorfs live below.

I also typically armor up some newbies and send them out on a "camping trip" in the caves for a while.  Whoever makes it back gets to not die in the caves!

[miauw62]

A legendary dining room.

[Loud Whispers]

Large corridors that are impossible to defend, the digging must be minimal...

And of course, eyeball removal when applicable.

Always applicable.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

If I haven't built any pressure plates, I'm not having fun yet.

[Muffindog]

A very, very big room with engravings that my whole population gets to draw at one point. It's actually nice when a lot of amateurs draw what they like, and not professional dull history of some troll wandering through the hills.

[Archereon]

Massive underground cities hewn from the stone underground.

[MoonLightBird]

I always have a 20z level tower I throw things off of. In DF2012 I now have to always build vampires in to walls.

[ASCIt]

I always have a 20z level tower I throw things off of. In DF2012 I now have to always build vampires in to walls.

That just gave me an excellent thought: keeping vampires in the space between walls makes a useful defense mechanism, particularly when they're releasable.

[saltmummy626]

the corridor of traps over a 3 zlevel deep moat. it is an easy and entertaining way to deal with foes, especially goblins. sometimes I put weapon traps down in the moat itself, turning the moat into a pool of gore fed by the survivors that get thrown in when a traps bounced them off the walkway.

[-Firestar-]

I can't stand not having a mausoleum.
First I make dining hall, then I make food stores. Then storage, crafting area, living area, then endless endless coffins. <3

Everyone will work on the mausoleum and drag their own coffin from storage and place it. No exceptions.

Made out of Kaolinite if possible- walls, floors all red. Delicious delicious red.
The coffins are made of wood (or stones if someone whines to have a better tomb)
Here's some different fortresses. Sadly I can't find the first one I ever made. It was out of pure gold.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here I found my love for kaolinite. I breached the caverns too early so I abandoned this fortress because there were offensive plants growing in my masoleum.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Expanding on that, I went back to marble for commoners, kaolinite for the soldiers, discovered a new love for kimberlite and microcline coffins, got bored waiting for a mayor and started constructing other grand tombs.... like the one made out of gold and the one made out of gold/steel just to prove to myself that I had the resources to blow of such a thing as steel flooring.
When I got bored again I made the one made out of adamantite despite still having just a mayor.