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[Warlord255]

Looking at the latest dev update, underground lakes are nothing short of amazing.

While I hate to dictate prioritization, perhaps this might be a good time to revamp swimming and introduce canoes?

ON BEHALF OF VATTIC: A solution for the canoe problem has been introduced.

A "Pier" building could be constructed, which would have three commands; Build Canoe, Set Destination and Active/Not Active toggle. You build two Piers, build a Canoe, and set the other pier as the destination. A dwarf with the Ferrydwarf labor enabled mans the pier, and when a dwarf needs to cross the body of water (read: there is no other viable path), they will come to the pier and the Ferrydwarf will take them across.

The only problem with this, granted, is the pathfinding strain, but that shouldn't be insurmountable; say you have Goal Object on an island. The dwarf cannot path to it. However, the dwarf can path to a pier, which has a pier on the island set as its destination, and said second pier can path to the Object; so the dwarf goes to the pier, takes the ferry, and continues.

As for initially constructing another pier (say, on the island), the pier could exist as a destination as soon as it is ordered to be constructed.

Sketchy, yes, but it works. Thanks again to Vattic.

Please do read the rest of the discussion.

[dood_]

The boats are on the menu as is, but what do you mean by re-vamp swimming? Works pretty well as is. Maybe have then tire easier?

[Foa]

The boats are on the menu as is, but what do you mean by re-vamp swimming? Works pretty well as is. Maybe have then tire easier?

Erg, the dwarves don't swim, even when I made ramps 5 squares away.

[Warlord255]

The boats are on the menu as is, but what do you mean by re-vamp swimming? Works pretty well as is. Maybe have then tire easier?

Erg, the dwarves don't swim, even when I made ramps 5 squares away.

This is what I meant. Fortress mode dwarves are utterly incapable when it comes to water, and I imagine that underwater lakes will prove to be only more troublesome.

[Vattic]

Having a method to fairly reliably train your dwarves to swim seems like a nice solution to me. I'm hoping to fill those underground lakes with bridges and walkways but dread dwarves falling in .

[Footkerchief]

I just noticed that those underground lakes have sloped sides in some places.  As in ramps.  As in not quite so many senseless drowning deaths.  Fuck yes.

[sonerohi]

The boats are on the menu as is, but what do you mean by re-vamp swimming? Works pretty well as is. Maybe have then tire easier?

Erg, the dwarves don't swim, even when I made ramps 5 squares away.

This is what I meant. Fortress mode dwarves are utterly incapable when it comes to water, and I imagine that underwater lakes will prove to be only more troublesome.

Not to be a dick, but I think you mean underground, correct? Unless if it was a lake inside an active valcano inside a fortress inside the ocean.

On Topic: Those look really nice. I do worry about the feasibility of draining those, what with how large they are, but I am to understand that size is adjustable, just like the new caves?

[Warlord255]

Having a method to fairly reliably train your dwarves to swim seems like a nice solution to me. I'm hoping to fill those underground lakes with bridges and walkways but dread dwarves falling in .

Walkways are the most apparent solution, short of mining around the edges.

That said, while the slopes help for preventative drowning, it doesn't address getting your dwarves across in the first place.

[sonerohi]

b-C-f

or the alternative

b-g-uuuuuuuuu/kkkkkkkkk.

[GlyphGryph]

Yeah, it would be really nice if Dwarf Mode dwarves weren't idiots when it comes to water.

I had more written, but that is basically what it meant.

[Vattic]

Walkways are the most apparent solution, short of mining around the edges.

That said, while the slopes help for preventative drowning, it doesn't address getting your dwarves across in the first place.

Indeed, hence your suggestion about boats, I'd love to set up a ferry system, you'd designate pier A and peir B and give a dwarf the job of ferrydwarf, he'd wait for a dwarves and ferry them across. I'd build him a home down there and get food and booze delivered.

Oh and I'd also have a ferry system to my tombs and name the ferrydwarf Charon of course.

[Footkerchief]

I'd suggest coracles rather than canoes as the ideal way to bring boats into DF.  They lend themselves to a one-tile representation.

[Vattic]

True, Coracles do work quite well, then again small single tile boats with space for a ferrydwarf and a single passenger (plus what they are carrying) fits well in my opinion, and it solves the problem of having all your boats stuck on one side of the river as there is always someone to ferry them back and forward. The problem with boats only gets major when you think of larger vessels with lots of dwarves and possible multiple tiles.

[Warlord255]

Walkways are the most apparent solution, short of mining around the edges.

That said, while the slopes help for preventative drowning, it doesn't address getting your dwarves across in the first place.

Indeed, hence your suggestion about boats, I'd love to set up a ferry system, you'd designate pier A and peir B and give a dwarf the job of ferrydwarf, he'd wait for a dwarves and ferry them across. I'd build him a home down there and get food and booze delivered.

Oh and I'd also have a ferry system to my tombs and name the ferrydwarf Charon of course.

HOLY HELLGHASTS ON A HUNGARIAN HELICOPTER.

This is... genius. Wow.

I'm putting this in the top post now because it works THAT WELL.

Granted, it's still something that may or may not be exceptionally difficult to code for Toady (as it involves pathfinding, which is already a tangled mess) but as far as solutions go, this is perfect.

I can see the tragic stories already; Urist McBastard takes the last spot on the ferry, leaving Sibrek McMother and her child to be slaughtered by goblins.

[Impaler[WrG]]

Coracles sound like an excellent idea, they could be carried and placed in stockpiles like furniture and should require no docks, they are just placed in the water adjacent to the shore and then boarded.  If we want to have control of ware dwarfs start/stop journey over water perhaps a 'boat landing' zone could be created for that purpose and it would interact with the Pathing Algorithms to facilitate travel across water.  Larger vessels like Canoes and boats might have more complex systems but these Coracles would be the simplest and easiest to implement.