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[Axetibe]

Hi guys

So I've been doing a lot of outside forts lately, and what I really enjoyed doing was to have a fabulous idea of my forts by seeing them with tool such as Armok Vision/Stonesense.

But now, I'm going back to a more "dwarfy" point of view, and I'd like to build a gigantic and glorious fort inside the mountains.

So far, it hasn't been so difficult to do something acceptable with architecture, and maybe even something beautiful.

But my problem is that, no matter which type of architecture I'm using (a giant hole, z-levels separated by stairs, z-levels separated by channels/ramps...) I can't have satisfaction by seeing the result with Armok Vision/Stonesense.

I'd like to have your tips. Have you guys ever tried to build something viable and pretty inside? Inside's megaprojects?

Thank you.

[Kneenibble]

I'm about to start a big architecture project that I have had in mind for a while.  The idea is a central meeting hall several z-levels deep, surrounded by bedrooms with windows looking down into it.  I'm not sure whether I want the whole thing to be smoothed & engraved natural stone, or made of marble.

The open-ended beauty of design is a large part of the game's appeal for me.

[madmario]

Massive, multilevel pillars, all engraved up and down with the stories of your people,  are cool. Generally, I think it's valuable to plan open spaces across z levels.  That's how you give shape.   Make cathedral ceilings, tops and bottoms to the columns, and so on.

[NullForceOmega]

A lot of the game is visualization, but there are some things you can do to make thing 'look good' in game.  First: use multiple z levels, cut a room, smoth the walls, channel the floor, remove the ramps, and smooth that.  It has no impact on the actual value, but it does look impressive.  Second, use curves instead of straight lines, it breaks up the monotony of purely linear architecture.  Third, use ramps instead of stairs, it takes much more space, but it looks a lot better.  I'm sure that others can suggest many more things, but these should help.

[taptap]

Pretty is not necessarily gigantic. You could just build around caverns - you have open spaces and some landscape to work with. Most dwarfy for me are functioning complex systems, they are often large by necessity, but they work as well. (If you build a working regenerating magma piston or ice trap or clock or sauna ... you will likely enjoy it more than smoothing an oversized, empty multi-z-level room.)

[TheCoolSideofthePIllow]

Personally, I actually make rooms for everything. I see a lot of people's workshop areas and they are just kinda open areas with the workshops and stock piles; but no walls separating each one or anything. I try to build in a way that makes sense for the perceived scale of the objects in the game itself so that, if I use something like Stonesense or Armok Vision, it will look realistic to the game's universe, if that makes sense.

Using fortifications for ramparts, supports as pillars even though structural integrity is not really that important (yet), to even setting the bar and kitchen shops down in a way that makes it look like the bar and kitchen at a diner/tavern.

Though, I could probably stand to cut the roofs a bit higher. I haven't actually used Armok Vision yet, but Stonesense always makes my stuff look pretty short and squat. But that could still make sense since Dwarves are also short and squat.