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[woose1]

Hm... yes... forts... need... smooth walls... yes... and... DWARVES!
FEY MOOD!

Heres the general idea:
                                              O
OOI                                         O
_______________________________________________________________________
OO                                        OOO
OO                                     OOOOOO
OO                                OOOOOOOOOOO
OO                        OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OO                     OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOIOOOOOOOOOOIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OO                       OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OO                            OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OO                                    OOOOOOO
OO                                         OO
OO                                          O
OO                                          O
OO                                          O

This is where O= Fort and ___= water level, and I= airlock.

I am going to carve out a huge underground lake in the shape of the fort, call it a "Mould" if you will, and start building there.

I will also drain the nearby river in order to fill the Mould, after I have created the main entrance which will branch off of the tower, which is the only way into my fort.

The fort will include:
A barracks
A dining hall
A farm
A residential area
An obsodian factory (Provided I can find magma)
Windows on EVERY level (Provided I can find sand)

So, what do you think? I think this would make one kick-ass community fort.

[Duke 2.0]

 You require sand and a magma pipe for the pure fact that if this thing doesn't have 100 windows, it will not be a true underwater fortress. If you can't see the carp outside, then it isn't kickass enough.

[Mephansteras]

It would also work as a carved out structure from a cliffside near a lake. Although that might make it hard to get magma.

Of course, all you need is sand and fuel. You don't NEED magma for glass. It just makes it easier. Trees help, too, so you can get clear glass.

[Dareon Clearwater]

That's similar to my vector on the concept of Dwarven Rapture.  My plan was to find a map with more than 15 belowground z-levels and a river on the highest ground level (Accomplished decently by finding a waterfall), stop the flow, and begin building in the riverbed while hollowing out other towers amidst the cliffs.  Could even get farming going by dropping arable layers so the water would flood over them.

My first attempt was interrupted by carp, although I did get the giant solid brass lighthouse sketched out on paper.

My second attempt just petered out when I lost one of my starting seven to a cave-in that blew him off the cliff and into the riverbed.

My third attempt begins now!

[Moddington]

About the entrance, I've got some ideas of my own as for how it could work.

Code: [Select]

first level:
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
#+++#==================#+++#
#+++#==================#+++#
#+++#==================#+++#
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

second level:
O%%%O++++++++++++++++++O%%%O
O   O------------------O   O
O   O------------------O   O
O   O------------------O   O
O%%%O++++++++++++++++++O%%%O

O = wall
# = raising bridge (base)
= = raising bridge ('hanging' portion)
- = retractable bridge
+ = floor
% = pump
Using this setup, to close it, the bridges are raised/retracted, closing off the airlocks, dropping anyone midway across into the lake.  Then, when it's being opened again, the water rushes in, but the other bridges keep it from flooding into the fort.  The pumps are activated, and once the passage is empty again, the outer 'bridges' are lowered, letting people across.
Dunno how similar what you're planning is, just throwing this design out there.

I'd love to participate in this community fort, count me in!

[woose1]

About the entrance, I've got some ideas of my own as for how it could work.

Code: [Select]

first level:
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
#+++#==================#+++#
#+++#==================#+++#
#+++#==================#+++#
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

second level:
O%%%O++++++++++++++++++O%%%O
O   O------------------O   O
O   O------------------O   O
O   O------------------O   O
O%%%O++++++++++++++++++O%%%O

O = wall
# = raising bridge (base)
= = raising bridge ('hanging' portion)
- = retractable bridge
+ = floor
% = pump
Using this setup, to close it, the bridges are raised/retracted, closing off the airlocks, dropping anyone midway across into the lake.  Then, when it's being opened again, the water rushes in, but the other bridges keep it from flooding into the fort.  The pumps are activated, and once the passage is empty again, the outer 'bridges' are lowered, letting people across.

Whoa... that's great!
Aye, but for most of this to work/if it screwed up the whole fort didn't die, I would have to put certain "Safety Precautions" in place, AKA a huge drain that goes through the center bottom pillar.

Dunno how similar what you're planning is, just throwing this design out there.

This was in the general line of my thinking, yeah. I just wasn't sure how to get the whole "Airlock/Flooding Chamber" down pat.

I'd love to participate in this community fort, count me in!

Hold on there, tiger... I still have to find the embark area.

[Duke 2.0]

 Clearly the central shaft of your fortress will either require a bottomless pit or the teeth-like maw of several drawbridges constantly chomping on whatever is unlucky enough to drop into it's pit.

[Mephansteras]

Safety suggestion: Intricate plumbing network that uses floodgates to help seal off a breached area. All plumbing channels lead to a center column of the fortress, which is a giant water tower that can be pumped dry through the top of the fortress. That way if things go wrong you can seal off the doomed areas, then seal off the plumbing for unaffected areas, open the plumbing for the flooded area, and pump all the water out. At worst, you'll have a few permanently flooded areas. But at least the entire fortress won't flood.

To do this right, you probably want a plumbing layer in between each usable layer of the fortress.

[woose1]

Safety suggestion: Intricate plumbing network that uses floodgates to help seal off a breached area. All plumbing channels lead to a center column of the fortress, which is a giant water tower that can be pumped dry through the top of the fortress. That way if things go wrong you can seal off the doomed areas, then seal off the plumbing for unaffected areas, open the plumbing for the flooded area, and pump all the water out. At worst, you'll have a few permanently flooded areas. But at least the entire fortress won't flood.

To do this right, you probably want a plumbing layer in between each usable layer of the fortress.

Hm.
I't be like Boatmurdered, but with water and carp instead of magma and legendary engravers.

[LegoLord]

I'd recommend just carving the whole thing out of dirt and stone so you can still get underground farming.  Make sure there's pillars between every ten or so windows just to make sure nothing collapses, putting a hole through every floor and flooding the fort from water pressure.

[Moddington]

If we really need underground farming, we can hack the tiles we want to have the subterranean status again, if we can agree to cheat a tiny bit.
It would be really cool to have a full drainage system in place, and one big control room with possibly hundreds of levers. (thank goodness for notes )

A little extra design to minimize hauling traffic into and out of the fort:

Code: [Select]

on surface:
+++++++
+-----+
+-----+
+-----+
+-----+
+-----+
+++++++

many z-levels down, underwater:
++++++++
+-----++
+-----++
+-----++
+-----++
+-----++
++++++++

one more level down:
OOOOOOOO
O     %%
O     O+
O     O+
O     O+
O     %%
OOOOOOOO

another level down:
OOOOOOO
O+++++OO
O+++++#+
O+++++#+ --> to rest of fort
O+++++#+
O+++++OO
OOOOOOO

+ = floor
- = retractable bridge
# = raising bridge (base)
%% = pump
O = wall
  = open space
Items (such as wood) from the surface are placed on the retracting bridge on the surface.  Once enough have piled up, the retracting bridge underwater is opened after the area below it is cleared of creatures, and the raising bridge is raised to seal the area.  Then, the bridge on the surface is retracted, dropping the items on it right through the opening to the floor below.  Both bridges are extended again, and the room is pumped out, while items can be piled up on the surface again.  Once the room is pumped out, the seal is lowered, and the items are hauled the rest of the way into the fort.
I didn't check stockpiles, but zones can be placed on bridges, so we can just put a dump zone on the bridge, and dump items we want shipped in.  This could make for a much faster trip for new merchandise into the fort, and maybe even support an external trade depot.  I guess the main point is to minimize traffic through the airlock tunnel, so it can be closed sooner.
Heh, we could possibly even modify the plans a little to support dropping dwarves down into the fort in an emergency.  Anyone know how fast dwarves fall through water?

[LegoLord]

Of course, it would be dwarfier to be able to say that you carved out the whole thing.

[tsen]

I have an embark site with a river, plenty of room, and lava. Center of the map is a ridge that could be dug into, so the map has 15 z-levels at or below river level, and 11 solid levels above river level before the top right corner turns into temparate woodland... you could just pump water up into a subterranean lake... How dwarfy would that be?