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[schlake]

I'm thinking of trying to make my central staircase go through my cistern.  If I want my dwarves to see it, then do I need to surround it with walls made of clear glass bricks or can I simply put up glass windows?

[Rose]

I'd use Windows. I don't think two meters of any glass will be easy to see through.

Plus the windows look great in stonesense.

[Inevitability]

Windows are prone to building destruction. If you want a non-flooded fort that might be something to keep in mind.
Dwarves can't see through walls, material doesn't matter.
Why would you want them to see into the cistern anyway? Is it just fluff, you know, some sort of gigantic aquarium or do you want to be able to locate dead bodies in there?
If it's the second thing, dwarves will go "missing" after some time after they die lonely and unloved and show in the deceased units list.
You can also engrave slabs to them if they go missing.

Plus the windows look great in stonesense.

That is true, however.

[schlake]

Well, the cistern is going to be open to the surface, where the river pours in, and I know my dwarves will be too busy throwing a party at the limestone statue to pull a lever, so windows are probably a bad idea.

Unless!  What if put up glass walls, carve them into fortifications, then erect windows inside the fortifications?

[Loud Whispers]

You have to keep in mind that fortifications don't work so well in keeping things out when fully submerged in water. Only use windows to keep out water when you have the water body secured, or you don't particularly care about flooding whatever's below.

[schlake]

You have to keep in mind that fortifications don't work so well in keeping things out when fully submerged in water. Only use windows to keep out water when you have the water body secured, or you don't particularly care about flooding whatever's below.

In the long run, my fortress is certain to fail no matter what I do.  Maybe the glass cistern viewing staircase can be it's planned downfall?

[BoredVirulence]

Fortifications can be swam through when fully submersed in water. I think the line is actually 5/7 or 6/7, but needless to say, building destroyers can swim through to the windows and knock loudly.

That being said, do windows. It will be more fun! You might be able to put the windows sufficiently far underwater that they are outside of the building destoyer's "destructible building extra-vision arc". I don't remember how many tiles until they could "see" you buildings though, and it might require a very deep cistern to successfully abuse it. I'm guessing that 20 tiles is more than enough though.

[Loud Whispers]

You have to keep in mind that fortifications don't work so well in keeping things out when fully submerged in water. Only use windows to keep out water when you have the water body secured, or you don't particularly care about flooding whatever's below.

In the long run, my fortress is certain to fail no matter what I do.  Maybe the glass cistern viewing staircase can be it's planned downfall?

You could also have long corridors with glass windows and water-activated pressure plates, which spring airlocks to seal off the flood (irregardless of any poor critters stuck on the wrong side of the airlock)

[Pearofclubs]

You have to keep in mind that fortifications don't work so well in keeping things out when fully submerged in water. Only use windows to keep out water when you have the water body secured, or you don't particularly care about flooding whatever's below.

In the long run, my fortress is certain to fail no matter what I do.  Maybe the glass cistern viewing staircase can be it's planned downfall?

What a very !!fun!! Attitude you have :p

That being said, if you wanted it to be safer, you could secure the cistern by building a bridge to block access from the outside, sealing the cistern from the outside world once it's full. This way, you could have your dorfs pull the lever long before any trouble arrives. I too have learned that in the heat of the moment, dwarves are thoroughly unreliable.

This is, of course, provided that your plan isn't actually to build a second fortress later on with a gigantic, suspiciously fortress shaped cistern full of funny tasting water.

[NW_Kohaku]

Where is the cistern? 

I mean, if it's just aquifer, go for it.  Pond turtles aren't knocking down any windows. 

Also, personally, I always go for green glass instead of clear unless I'm trying to annoy elves.  I like to think that my green glass aquariums are actually shaped like a beer or wine bottle so dwarves can think it's a giant bottle of rum that's pickling a shark or something.

[Akura]

I like to think that my green glass aquariums are actually shaped like a beer or wine bottle so dwarves can think it's a giant bottle of rum that's pickling a shark or something.

Spoiler: Urist: "Well, that giant bottle of sharkbooze sure looks inviting after a long day of work, so maybe I'll just... (click to show/hide)

Urist Mcdwarf has been struck down.

[schlake]

Where is the cistern? 

I started out next to a hill.  So I dug into the hill and set up a TP, farm, and some workshops.  Meanwhile, for the real fort, I dug down to about 15 levels deep I think.  At the bottom of the stairs I set up real defenses (my hill fort has a drawbridge, but I foolishly built the farm to the north, where it developed tree-holes, instead of to the south were the hill got higher) which consist of a long hallway flanked by smoothed ditches with carved fortifications on both sides and barracks on the far sides of the fortifications.  Then I dug a tunnel back up to beneath the river where the soil was deeper in the hopes I'd have a lungfish farm inside my protected mushroom farm (there appear to be no lungfish on my map though, so none are spawning inside my fort).  I don't want to visit the caverns, as I'm working on something else, so I need a cistern.  The plan was put it below the fort, so the staging area for the water would go above the fort.  But then I realized how cool it would be if the dwarves climb up through a glass tube to get to their safe farm.  But since this is the first tank, it could possibly contain monsters, so the stairs up need to survive long enough to drain it and send the military in if I catch a monster in it.

[NW_Kohaku]

Farms can pretty easily be abandoned if need be.  Just wall it off if it's a security risk.

Also, climbers seem not to be much of a problem for me... maybe it's just because I'm not getting sieges, but my outer ring (which I am totally prepared to abandon, and mostly consists of roadblocks and cage traps to catch the random critters I might want to tame) doesn't seem to get much trouble with climbers.  I think they only climb once all other options are exhausted, so a tree laughing at your 2z-high walls isn't a problem if you have a hallway filled with weapon traps just open and inviting all the gobbos in. 

For the caverns, my simplest method is to just punch a hole in the ceiling, then pave a floor over it.  No fuss no muss.

Want a cave critter trap?

Spoiler: lazy critter vacuum (click to show/hide)

The path is a "shortcut" through some mazey sections of the caverns, making it attractive to wanderers.  It has a wooden door and a tame guineacock to attract predators and building destroyers.  The ramps have retracted 1-tile bridges over them, and the cavern is sealed from my fort via drawbridge.  I just check in every now and then to see what I've caught.  (GCS rushing into my trap in this image.)

Whole thing takes a couple dwarves a month to complete at most, and that's mostly time waiting for bridges and levers to be built/connected.

Anyway, you should likely be capable of monster-proofing your cistern if you take a bit of time to do so.  Presuming you're pulling this water from a brook or something, since you're not talking aquifer or caverns, then all you need to do is have a "U-bend" that lets water come up from below via hydrostatic pressure, and put a grate on the tile that the water springs up through.  Put any pressure cutter (diagonal path) before the U-bend.  That stops any building destroyers, isn't too laborious, and lets you put up windows to your heart's content.  (Bonus if your cistern is near a natural river, so you get vermin fish to spawn there.)

Remember to build roads or floors in your plumbing to stop tower-cap growth!

[Koremu]

I like to think that my green glass aquariums are actually shaped like a beer or wine bottle so dwarves can think it's a giant bottle of rum that's pickling a shark or something.

That probably explains why so many dorfs are eager to drown themselves.

[Dunamisdeos]

I like to think that my green glass aquariums are actually shaped like a beer or wine bottle so dwarves can think it's a giant bottle of rum that's pickling a shark or something.

That probably explains why so many dorfs are eager to drown themselves.

If it's not booze, they why is it a liquid? Someone goofed.