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[Konis]

Caught my first GCS (in an artifact cage; quite fitting) and I'm trying to figure out the proper way to build out my farm.

I'd like:

To be able to hide the GCS from both the target (chained kitty, etc) and from the collecting dwarves (job cancellations are annoying).
To not get anyone eaten.

I think I have the second part down.

However, I have been reading a number of the other posts.  I've set up 3 different test farms with different setups.  I've figured out the thing about using the pet-passable doors so that the spider can path to the target, but not actually get there.  The problem is, though, whenever I have it set up so that the spider can see through fortifications to the target, it never fires.  It'll sit there blinking orange, next to the door, which it can't go through.

Can anyone confirm that their GCS will 'see' the target through fortifications and shoot?  I've got the webs to pass through fortifications just fine, but the GCS won't target through them.

[Martin]

You need to make sure that the targets are close enough and are friendly if the GCS is untamed, or hostile if it's tamed. I've found that 8 tiles is about the maximum reliable distance, so if I chain an animal down I do it about 6 tiles away (since they'll run 1 tile further).

[Byakugan01]

I thought that tamed GCS DIDN'T produce silk-is that incorrect? Last time the topic was brought up I remember someone mentioning that.

[Albedo]

Read the above post - it's a misconception.  If tamed, it doesn't attack dwarves, you have to use goblins or such as targets.

[Venturi]

Here is how I was able to farm a GCS with minimum casulties

                      XXXXXXXXXXXXX
      enter ->     D                    X        legend:
                     XXX               XXX           x = wall
                     X  D               D  X            f = fortification
                     X  X               X  X           D = Door (set to non-pet passible)
                     X  X               X  X            t = cage trap (for when things go south)
                     Xt Xa            aXtX            a = chained animal (I had best luck with dogs, larger animals seemed to block the web)   
                     X  XfffffffffffffffX  X                                       
                     X  D    GCS      D  X
                      XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

offset the cage to one side or the other, so the GCS will head towards one of the doors.  once it sees the dog it keeps shooting web.
3. profit

note: This was done with a untamed cave spider, and sometimes web was behind the fortifications. (fun times!)
The reason I had 2 enterances to the GCS, is so I could restrict the path closest to the GCS. The dwarves would take the longer route to any silk that was behind the fortifications (and maybe even escape from being eaten)

Your mileage may vary

edit: I had the best luck with having the bait animal chained up against the fortification. When you get a working GCS farm, mind posting the layout? I'm always curious to see what/how others are building

[Martin]

Here's my setup:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I posted this before somewhere (can't seem to find it now), but it works very well. For added safety, put the doors on a lever as well and lock the doors when the bridge is down, and open them only when the bridge is up. That way the GCS will never get out. I seem to have problem with children running into the open door.

[Alkey]

I have tried this and lost a few dwarves and bait animals.  The spider does not shoot webbing unless I unforbid the doors, at which point it jumps the tables and kills anything that enters the room.  is there some way maybe to use pressure plates?  Have one door open, it shoots and runs in for the kill, steps on a plate that closes one door and opens another on the other side, with another plate in the path to it?  Sort of like juggling in desktop tower defense.  I don't have any experience with pressure plates so I don't know if they will react fast enough. 

[Martin]

You want the door to be unlocked but not passable for pets. In that state the GCS can't get out of the room its in.

The door should read 'Passable' but not 'Passable, Pet-passable'. In the latter state it'll bound out and eat you.

The problem with pressure plates is that they are slow to fire, so you need a pretty long path between the plate and door for it to work.

[Alkey]

ok the GCS did eventually shoot webbing with that setup.  didn't think about forbiding the cage and so a dwarf ran into the room and opened the door for the GCS to get out.  Also I can see how this isn't so safe because eventually if some webbing gets inside the room some dwarf will walk into it.  Maybe if the room was shaped differently...

[Martin]

ok the GCS did eventually shoot webbing with that setup.  didn't think about forbiding the cage and so a dwarf ran into the room and opened the door for the GCS to get out.  Also I can see how this isn't so safe because eventually if some webbing gets inside the room some dwarf will walk into it.  Maybe if the room was shaped differently...

If you look at my setup, there's a drawbridge between the GCS and the chained animal. Before anyone goes in to harvest, you pull up the drawbridge preventing anyone from doing that. Actually, come to think of it, you could hook the lever to the doors and when the drawbridge closes, the doors would open, and when the drawbridge is down, the doors would be locked preventing entrance. That'd make things perfectly safe.

[Shakma]

Just add a draw bridge and channel behind the animal so the GCS has access to the animal but not the area behind it.  Webs shoot pretty far so you can still collect without risk of interaction besides a marksdwarf shooting the GCS.

[jplur]

I win:

http://mkv25.net/dfma/poi-11397-thisishowyoufarmgcssilk

The only micromanaging is forbidding the silk around the GCS-on-a-chain to prevent job cancellation spam.

[Byakugan01]

How the bloody hell do you even CHAIN a untamed GCS?!? I can't even do that with an alligator.

[varkarrus]

Tame it, chain it, then use a third party program to un-tame it.

[Byakugan01]

Eh, I'll just put an elf in there...tied not three tiles away from a tame GCS...soldiers and the like are easier to drag, just have a legendary dwarf do the job.