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[Kiwanja]

Just wondering how others design their main shaft connecting the entire fortress.

I usually go for a stylish one, derived from the one in here: http://mkv25.net/dfma/poi-6677-primaryshaft

[Myroc]

I usually just put a 2x2 or 3x3 up/down staircase in the middle of the fortress. I've started experimenting with some other designs, though.

[Jurph]

I also do 3x3 stairwells, but I have alternating up-and-down dedicated stairways.  This greatly reduces the incidence of a dwarf stumbling at the top of the shaft, falling deep deep down into my fort with a SPLAT, and then creating a miasma that fills the stairwell, all because I didn't notice his death in time to un-forbid his corpse.  Any of the forts in my sig should have examples of the up/down checkerboard stairs, which are just as effective as the 3x3 all-up-all-down, but less perilous.

I also try to have several main stairwells run through my fort so that we don't end up with a 3x3 pinch point.

[Musluk]

Code: [Select]

<<<
>>>
<<< alternating through.

[LegacyCWAL]

The basic architectural unit I prefer at the moment is a pair of 2x5 up/down shafts that are connected by 21x5 (two shift-arrows) hallways on each z-level.  I'll base the fort around two or three "sectors" that are each based around their own such unit.

For an illustration, see my current fort.  The Dining Room and Quarters POI is situated in the sort of "sector" I'm talking about.

This greatly reduces the incidence of a dwarf stumbling at the top of the shaft

Are you sure that falling down stairs is still in the game?  I've never seen it, and I've made a lot of seriously long-ass stairways.  Plus, there's even been some testing reported on the wiki's stairs talk page strongly implying that it is in fact out.

That's not to say it's necessarily a bad idea to make fall-resistant stairs, even if for no other reason than to keep in the habit for when/if it's ever put back in.  I'm just wondering if I should start worrying about it (and put it back in the wiki page ).

[Chandrasekhar]

A work in progress, but I might as well post what I have so far here.  The current fortress is just a temporary affair while I finish up the main shaft.

[Walliard]

Z-0:


Z-16:


Z+1:

(linked to lever at Z-0)








So it's possible in theory, if only in a highly contrived situation. But I highly doubt it's a legitimate concern.

[Reasonableman]

I usually base my fort designs on a repeating series of 4x4 blocks of 10x10 squares, where at the upper-right block there's a complex up-down stair and ramp system. Makes for an easily maneuvered through, if difficult to defend, fort. It's a bit difficult to get the individual blocks to tessellate properly, but it satisfies my obsessive symmetry compulsion.

[Tiler]

I usually try to make the entrance suitably epic. I'm pretty bad at it overall, though, and it usually falls apart when I accidentally carve a room right in the way of what I'm trying to accomplish.

One of my neater ideas was a sort of spiriling ramp going downwards, with the middle all carved out, with a waterfall going through it.

Unfortunately, my computer was hit by a virus that did all sorts of unpleasant things, so I reformat and stupidly lost it all when I forgot to back up my DF stuff. :<

[Vicomt]

This greatly reduces the incidence of a dwarf stumbling at the top of the shaft

Are you sure that falling down stairs is still in the game?  I've never seen it, and I've made a lot of seriously long-ass stairways.  Plus, there's even been some testing reported on the wiki's stairs talk page strongly implying that it is in fact out.

That's not to say it's necessarily a bad idea to make fall-resistant stairs, even if for no other reason than to keep in the habit for when/if it's ever put back in.  I'm just wondering if I should start worrying about it (and put it back in the wiki page ).

I actually had one of my miners fall down the stairs last night, I'd used (designated, not built) up/down stairs (3x3) and gone too far up my main shaft, I removed the up part of the stars at the top level via "remove up stairs/ramps", then decided to remove the remaining down stairs at the top level.... via channelling.... with nowhere to stand that wasn't being channelled.... queue one miner falling from the top of the shaft to about halfway down.

so yes, its possible, but you have to be really silly like I was.

[Heron TSG]

I just got an Idea! (in capitalized form!)

Two huge snakes on either side of the main gate, one spitting water from a massive cistern in the cliff behind, and one spitting magma.

[Wahad]

I just got an Idea! (in capitalized form!)

Two huge snakes on either side of the main gate, one spitting water from a massive cistern in the cliff behind, and one spitting magma.

First one to succesfully pull this off gets a cookie.

[Martin]

It's funny you mentioned snakes. Just last night I started planning a snake trade entrance on this map:

http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=32682.0

The fortress is in the pit and I was going to drain the magma pipe and build a giant snake head facing east at the east edge of the magma pipe with the body snaking down and west through the magma pipe emerging maybe 10 z levels down in the fortress in the pit where the trade depot would be, then letting the magma pipe refill so the snake body appeared to be rising out of the magma. Right below the entrance in the head would be a smoke generator as we've previously discussed here with a pressure plate set to start the smoke when non-dwarves walk through.

[Katsuun]

I usually put my fortresses dump in the mains stairwell, like so:

XXX
X_X
XXX

X=Stair,_=Channel

Its an exploit, but I dont care.

[Jim Groovester]

Three by three stairwells, or five by five. Sometimes I leave the center undug as decoration.

Next fortress, I'll have the central stairwell, but around it will be a slowly ascending ramp, with bridges connecting the two. I can imagine that when dwarves look up, they see the open sky and a giant column of stairwells piercing it.