*edit:friggen code tags make the window too wide
Oh there are lots of restrictions to it i just forgot to write them down. I left home in a hurry 
So to deal with this there are a bunch of options:
a. You can have dwarves pass material to each other, this moves material up the scaffolding but requires more manpower. 2 dwarves for every object or one dwarf on every level. This is the only method that will work in most cases.
It would take a lot of scripting but it would help if dwarves moved material in bulk whenever it was needed. What that means exactly, is if i was building a wall on top of a scaffold and the job needed 8 stone blocks. Instead of me hauling the blocks up one by one with a helper, the available haulers would form one or more "bucket chains" to move the material for me while i was working.
A simpler way which is not as efficient is to use stockpiles. Since the scaffolding is temporary flooring you can designate stockpiles on it and dwarves will move the materials up as quick as they can. This way you can store materials close to the worksite.
b. You CAN build temporary stairs that are a part of the scaffolding and they are taken down the same way. But the stairs take up space and that might make them impossible to use. For one you need 2 squares free at the base of the stairs, one square in front so you can get on and one square for the stairs. One level higher you need a clear space to get off of the stairs and of course the floor above the stairs can not be used.
Because of the size this makes the stairs only usable in scaffolds with enough room. But remember, these are temporary and easily taken down! you can build the stairs, use them to move materials up, and convert the space back to normal scaffolding so you can stand on it again. This is how it looks in-game:
code:
This is the smallest enclosed space that can support
a double staircase and still be completetly functional.
The entire building is filled with scaffolding.
####### ####### ####### +++++++
#%%%%%# #%%%%%# #%%%%%# +++++++
#%%>%%# #%%>%%# #%%%%%# +++++++
#%%%%%# #%%<%%# #%%<%%# +++++++
#%%%%%# #%%%%%# #%%%%%# +++++++
####### ####### ####### +++++++
lvl1 lvl2 lvl3 roof
If the staircase can not fit indoors, you can build a staircase "tower" 2X3 wide and as tall as you want and attach it to existing scaffolding. As the scaffolding and the walls rise you leave a gap in the walls so that material can reach the upper level via the stairs. Once that level is done you fill in the walls to make them complete. You then extend the scaffolding and the stairs one level and begin again. The wall you just completed one floor down bridges the scaffolding inside the building and the extended staircase.Make sense? if not i have to draw it again.
c. The last option you have and the most efficient is to use mechanical help. A pulley assembly requires a lot of rope but can be used to quickly and efficiently move material upwards. A platform and a counterweight can move materials in bulk, but is much more complicated, same with a crane.
The holy grail of this sort of thing is an elevator assembly. Afaik they really did have this sort of thing in medieval times. Instead of a motor people would stand in a hampster cage sort of thing and turn it in order to lift objects.
2. Because it is an empty frame, moving on the scaffold is dangerous. Movement in any direction will be slowed someone if dwarves are beside an edge without a wall. Additionally dwarves forced to use scaffolding as stairs will get unhappy thoughs from it unless they have a job to do on the other side, nobles and children will refuse to get on it at all.
3. Depending on what you make it out of, scaffolding can only support so much weight. In the beginning you will be using wood beams and fittings. Later on you will want to replace the fittings with stronger metal ones. For exceptionally tall scaffolding you would have to construct it out of solid steel. Weight will not become an issue for a long time. Since there are 15 Z levels up and down the highest scaffolding you could possibly make would be 30 levels.
All-wood scaffolding can be built up to 5 levels high before it needs support of some sort. This means if you are in the middle of nowhere and decide to make a scaffold tower, 5 levels is as high as you can make it before it becomes unstable. To go higher than 5 levels with wood alone the scaffolding must be supported by a wall or more scaffolding.
The way the system works is sort of like the cave in mechanics, Example:
code:
The scaffolding tower in the middle of
nowhere would look like this for 5 levels.
+++
+%+
+++
Now since it is built entirely out of wood
it must be supported in 2 directions.
A wood scaffolding tower that goes
up to 10 levels would look like this:
+++ +++
+%% +%+
+%+ +++
lvl 1-5 lvl5-10
At 15 levels the base would look like this,
and the the rest of the scaffolding would taper accordingly:
++++
+%%%
+%%+
+%++
Make sense? The higher you go, the wider the base and so on. When you start to use stronger materials it allows you to go higher with thinner scaffolds.[ September 02, 2007: Message edited by: Tamren ]
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Topic: Future of the Fortress (Read 158086 times)