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[GrizzlyAdamz]

...is giving me a headache.

Trying to think of them as being 1 dorf unit tall, (~5ft I figure), and my fortress is a little hobbit hole in the side of a small, rolling hill.
Trying to think of them as being a somewhat tall ceiling, (10ft), and my fortress is a small outpost in the side of a small hill.
Trying to think of them as being able to accommodate a full-grown dragon, and my fort has decent fortifications, my 5-unit wide entrance is a grand hall, and I've built into the side of a small mountain.

I'm not even going to mention quantum piles.


Might I ask, what is the intended z-level proportion? or x or y for that matter.

[friendguy13]

We don't know Toady One hasn't decided yet.

[Sprin]

One Urist

[StLeibowitz]

I think the scale is highly based on the lengths you want to go to in order to justify things like Bronze Collosi wandering into the front door that you dug in less than a day. So, a z-level could plausibly be anywhere from a single dwarf height to several floors high.

It'll probably make more sense if Toady gets the time to implement multi-z-level tall creatures and trees, though.

[Deus Asmoth]

I assume every z-level is infinitely high, but every creature is infinitely tall. Lying down makes them infinity minus one in height, allowing an infinite number of lying down creatures to occupy a space two standing ones could not.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

I'm getting the feeling I'm living in a hobbit hole with comical defenses...damn.

I think I understand why people build on flat plains now.


Deus, while technically correct, that definition is why visualization gives me a headache.

[Drazinononda]

I assume every z-level is infinitely high, but every creature is infinitely tall. Lying down makes them infinity minus one in height, allowing an infinite number of lying down creatures to occupy a space two standing ones could not.

"Infinity mins one" is a meaningless concept. You should imagine larger and smaller infinities instead, it's much simpler.

[Telgin]

We don't know Toady One hasn't decided yet.

Actually, he decided they were 3m tall when he was working on the minecart physics: post from Toady

This doesn't make things like bronze colossi in your fort any more sensible, but the physics make some sense anyway.

[They Got Leader]

A square is a quantum anomaly, changing depending on what you want. I think that's the magic of it.

If you have nothing in it, the square is a simple 3x3x3 meter square. But once that square is defined, it becomes a quantum anomaly: being able to hold a near infinite pile of objects, creatures, and things. It all depends on how you visualize it. Same concept for fire imps not being able to burn wood cages or colossi not being able to break out of glass terrariums.

[dominusnovus]

Its obvious that the supposedly larger creatures are simply incredibly dense, but not larger.  Like Melmacians, they don't grow larger, they grow denser.  Problem solved.

[Joben]

I think it's worth pointing out here that all creatures in Dwarf Fortress are basically Spherical Cows.

[Hyndis]

~10 feet or thereabouts is a good approximation for a single level in a building. As far as how wide a tile is, I think ~5 feet is a good approximation. This means a doorway is ~5 feet wide, including door frame and part of the attaching wall. This is also a big enough space where you can put a piece of furniture there without completely blocking off walking through that area. And standard workshop is 15x15 feet, which seems like a decent sized workshop, with enough space for tools and space to work in.

I use ~10 feet as my ballpark figure for how tall each level is. This also includes overhead space, and space for ceiling decorations such as engravings.

For important rooms, such as throne rooms or great halls the ceiling may be 40-50 feet in the air. These can be huge, very open and very spacious rooms with pillars made of either engraved natural stone, or of precious metals. Nothing quite says bling as having a throne room full of massive solid gold pillars.



As far as huge creatures, such as a dragon or bronze colossus fitting in a single tile, well, just try not to think about it too hard.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

We don't know Toady One hasn't decided yet.

Actually, he decided they were 3m tall when he was working on the minecart physics: post from Toady

This doesn't make things like bronze colossi in your fort any more sensible, but the physics make some sense anyway.

Well I'll be damned, that answers my original question quite well. My thanks kind sir.

still living in a hillock though..

Its obvious that the supposedly larger creatures are simply incredibly dense, but not larger.  Like Melmacians, they don't grow larger, they grow denser.  Problem solved.

In a universe with magic and dragons, that does solve it, doesn't it?

[doublestrafe]

We don't know Toady One hasn't decided yet.

Actually, he decided they were 3m tall when he was working on the minecart physics: post from Toady

This doesn't make things like bronze colossi in your fort any more sensible, but the physics make some sense anyway.

Sure it does. Your dwarves are dwarves. If a bronze colossus is 9m tall to fit into your door, it's still three times your height. Colossal!

[i2amroy]

Its obvious that the supposedly larger creatures are simply incredibly dense, but not larger.  Like Melmacians, they don't grow larger, they grow denser.  Problem solved.

The only problem I have with this is that the DF raws specifically define creatures by volume (cubic centimeters, to be exact). This of course, does make it an absolute pain when trying to implement a real creature and all of your size references are in weight instead.