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[Lidku]

Making an aboveground fort takes alot of resources. Also I'm so used to making underground settlements that I have no idea how to make surface ones at all. How the heck does NPC fortresses make that giant box-like entrance I always see? Any suggestions on how I'd go about making this place?

[LoSboccacc]

you get 4 blocks for each stone you cut they move in bin and you can stack them near buildings to speed up construction

[Sver]

The most important thing about above ground building is to do everything in steps.
Floors are a luxury - don't build them until you're done with all the necessities: a dorm with beds for everyone (needs a roof, a much better way to spend the same amount of time and material), a not-too-big dining room (again, roof) and an office for manager/bookkeeper (just a ramp, a pillar and two floors for the roof are enough to place a functioning office). I'm gonna highlight it: no walls or floors are necessary for these makeshift tents - just one pillar (four, if more roleplaying), one ramp to go up and a floor for a roof. Stockpiles, workshops and the Trade depot can be safely placed out in the open. Everything better be close together, because the next step is to build a defensive wall all around it: even 1-z-level is enough to ward off wild animals (and those are hell for an above ground fort). You can save some space and time by digging small, single-level dugout houses (which later can be converted into cellars for the actual houses above).

Above ground building requires patience, because otherwise you risk your fort getting overwhelmed with migrants and events that it cannot yet handle. What you need to do is to expand your fort gradually. First of all, I strongly recommend to control the size of your population using the caps in d_init.txt. Something like 20 adult dwarves is enough for the start without taking too much space. The goal is to accomodate them with individual housing, then you can raise the cap a little more and have about 30-40 adults - a fairly large working population to start on the serious building.

Although it is a slow process, there is an upside to the fact that every room in an above ground fort is constructed piece by piece: they can be tracelessly repurposed and rebuilt whenever you want. So, the next step would be to sit back and think what should your fort of 30-40 working adults look like. Personally, I go with either a couple of farmsteads or a small village (~15 simple wooden houses with workshops nearby, a small tavern and a temple), but another good reference is a colonial fort (large, separate buildings for bedrooms, workshops, dining and stockpiles). But, really, it's up to your imagination, just don't to rush to anything too big. Improving the defenses and keeping up with the populace's needs are in priority.

Some tips for early building:
* Have 3 or 4 carpenters producing wooden blocks in waves of 100-200. Whenever you notice you have less than 100 blocks for building, issue a new order.
* Clean up the map of trees, when possible. Trees regrow fast, and the yields are great. Also, live trees are bad for your defenses.
* One building at a time. Move the block stockpile close to the desired location, wait for it to be filled. Designate the first-level walls and a ramp/stair (closer to the stockpile) to proceed upwards. Designate the second-level floor (remember that walls cannot be built over it, so make sure to account for any internal walls you plan for), wait. Designate the second-level walls, wait. And so on.
* If your buildings are not very wide, it may be good to have haulers and builders separate, because each floor will be constructed faster. With a larger population this starts to apply to all buildings.

From here on you can turn your fort into pretty much anything. A fancy castle to accommodate a future baron? A large farming village? A tightly built town? A tower to the sky? A postmodernist monstrocity? Anything you want.
Just remember: advancing in small steps, repurposing what you've already built, keeping up with needs and always having the defenses ready.

[anewaname]

If you want a large box fortress, something that encloses several fruits trees and keeps out the keas, you can build the multi-z walls by building up/down stairs as scaffolding, like this.
WWWWWWWWWW
WXXXXXXXXW
WX      XW
WX      XW
WX      XW
WXXXXXXXXW
WWWWWWWWWW
After the roof is sealed, you can do 'd' 'n' to remove the uppermost stairs, then work downwards. This is just one of the ways to do it.

[Lidku]

Ah I just figured out the great technique of using X as a scaffolding device. I was wasting my time with > and < stairs the whole time. Is it more cost effective to use bridges as roofs or do I double down with flooring as roofs? I took Sver's advice and made it so I focus on walling and roofing first, before flooring..Only to realize that flooring also counts as a roof. Also how do you use pillars if not used underground? I thought the only use for them was for cave-collapsing and mining.

[Sver]

By "a pillar" I meant a single tile wall.

Regarding the roofs: it depends on whether your plan is to deconstruct this bulding in the near future or to expand it. A drawbridge consumes less material, yes, but you cannot place anything on it or selectively remove parts of it. On the other hand, bulding a bridge can take more time (for the smaller roofs), because it requires a single architect to bring all the material item by item first, and then it needs to be constructed by a mason/carpenter.

[LoSboccacc]

If you want a large box fortress, something that encloses several fruits trees and keeps out the keas, you can build the multi-z walls by building up/down stairs as scaffolding, like this.
WWWWWWWWWW
WXXXXXXXXW
WX      XW
WX      XW
WX      XW
WXXXXXXXXW
WWWWWWWWWW
After the roof is sealed, you can do 'd' 'n' to remove the uppermost stairs, then work downwards. This is just one of the ways to do it.

remove cross stairs asap as they will kill pathfinding. or at least designate a couple corner pathways as high traffic

[anewaname]

When using up/down stairs as scaffolding, you do need to be very careful with the deconstruction of them. Deconstructing on multiple z's can lead to materials falling, and wood block or log that falls 2 z's can kill or maim a dwarf. In the example, I would start with the top z of stairs and 'd' 'n' that entire set, wait until everyone of them was desconstructed, then repeat for the z below, until you get to the bottom. And, do not start deconstructing them until the walls are completely built. For the "big box" method, your end goal will include a removal of all those up/down stairs you used for scaffolding, except for the one set that you need to access the roof for roofing, then you deconstruct that also. Once you have all the inner stairs removed, the roof completed, and the box is sealed, then add a stairs up on the outside so your dwarfs can access the roof to remove caravan-scaring goblin teeth.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Blocks are very useful. You might want to engage in pit-mining and open quarrying. If you're in a heavily forested area, don't be afraid to deforest it, damn the Elves.

[Sver]

I wouldn't recommend open quarrying. Channeling above ground tiles seriously messes with pathfinding - it's one of the most destructive things for fps.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

I wouldn't recommend open quarrying. Channeling above ground tiles seriously messes with pathfinding - it's one of the most destructive things for fps.

I call bogus--I've constructed my whole fortress on channeling above ground tiles and my FPS is great.

[Sver]

I've seen multiple discussions regarding the effects of above ground channelling on fps. The general consensus was that pathfinding suffers heavily from the surface channeling, but, obviously, only if the AI tries to path somewhere around those channels (usually, during the sieges). Also, if a fort was abandoned and reclaimed, the pathing accounts for the channels as if they were natural terrain and no longer impacts fps.

It is a fair warning. It's not guaranteed to cause issues, but it very possibly can. And the benefits of having an open quarry are quite insignificant anyway, aside from the aesthetics indeed.

[Dragonborn]

Is there any reason to use wooden blocks over just logs?

Wood is pretty light as it is.  Is the weight savings on using blocks instead of logs really that much better?

[Urist McScoopbeard]

It's not the weight savings, it's the fact that you get four blocks per one log/rock--you can effectively quadruple your construction materials if you can construct blocks fast enough.

[anewaname]

Logs only produce one block... The advantage of blocks verse stone/logs is quicker construction. That quicker construction time pays off with stone blocks, not with wood blocks, unless you are using those wood blocks because you have no stone yet and need to dig through an aquifer first.