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[Foxbyte]

So I was futzing around with a world I generated a while ago, and found out if I move a tile north, and a tile west I can get a 3x6 map that has a bottomless pit, magma pipe, underground river, surface brook with tributary, a bit of soil, a bit of trees, red sand, 'other' features, and the entire map is coated in Obsidian.

The center of the map has the brook, nestled in a valley, with the sand and other features to the east, and the underground river, pipe, and bottomless pit on the west side.

Now I can't decide where to build the main bulk of the fortress.    The east provides a very nice and easy game, what with no irrigation needed [And indeed, I have already set up a temporary fort in the soft sands and the glistening obsidian there], but putting a fortress there would require large plumbing projects when I build a magma manufactory.

The west side provides a more interesting location, with the majority of the good features right nearby; I could build my sewer system, and a cistern, then should emergency arise the bottomless pit offers an excellent way of disposing of any excess water, magma, or FPS that I should have lying around.

I could always build in the center; but the last time I build a fortress directly under a source of infinite water one of my plans went awry and I ended up with naught but a single dwarf left alive, a child, sleeping soundly as the rumbling of the water caressed his dreaming, insane mind.

Where would you build?

[Eduren]

Hmm... I'd probably turn the temporary fort into farmland/logging industries(in a few years). Then have a small supply pipeline leading to your main fort which is carved into the Obsididan.

[Ellie]

 A temporary fortress would be built in the easy location, and by the end of the first year have the dwarves digging out the real fortress in the middle of the interesting features. Of course, thanks to our OCD problems we cannot just let that temporary fortress just sit there abandoned. So I would make it modular in a way that it could be a prison or nobility homes or something later yet still be a functional temporary fortress.

 Of course, such planing is where I would bottleneck and never embark in the first place XP.

[Foxbyte]

A temporary fortress would be built in the easy location, and by the end of the first year have the dwarves digging out the real fortress in the middle of the interesting features. Of course, thanks to our OCD problems we cannot just let that temporary fortress just sit there abandoned. So I would make it modular in a way that it could be a prison or nobility homes or something later yet still be a functional temporary fortress.

 Of course, such planing is where I would bottleneck and never embark in the first place XP.

The eastern side has a hill that is about a screen away from the edge of the map; all forest and sand. The hill itself is about 2 z-levels tall, and if it were fully hollowed out I bet I could make a decent little temporary fortress in there. Though it would be very open and cramped at the same time.

Yeah, I've been bottlenecked for hours on starting position. It's just like writing; that first paragraph is always the hardest.

There's a matter of FPS too. I'll have to raise a small army to clear out the pipe, the pit, and the river so they don't lag me down. Damming up the tributary/starting spot of the brook will help FPS, some tiles are listed as 'river source'... Never seen that before.

Hmm... I'd probably turn the temporary fort into farmland/logging industries(in a few years). Then have a small supply pipeline leading to your main fort which is carved into the Obsididan.

Sounds like a good idea! Though, later when I collapse the temporary fort would there be a way to also collapse the supply road?

[Martin]

Keep in mind that if you're on a 3x6 map, enemies will spawn within the 3x3 center area. Anything out on the sides risks having gobbos and dragons and such spawning *inside* the fortress.

Plan according to your fun threshold.

[Ubiq]

You could always just build a massive wall and moat around the area you intend to put the main fortress in and connect it to the temporary fortress, which will then serve as a gatehouse, armory, and barracks for the fortress itself.

[Foxbyte]

Keep in mind that if you're on a 3x6 map, enemies will spawn within the 3x3 center area. Anything out on the sides risks having gobbos and dragons and such spawning *inside* the fortress.

Plan according to your fun threshold.

So they spawn at the edge of the largest square? Oh boy, this does sound like Fun.

[ein]

Post the worldgen parameters please.
And a screenshot showing the location.

[Martin]

So they spawn at the edge of the largest square? Oh boy, this does sound like Fun.

Yes. That's exactly what they do.

[Foxbyte]

Post the worldgen parameters please.
And a screenshot showing the location.

[WORLD_GEN]
   [TITLE:MEDIUM]
   [SEED:785630800]
   [HISTORY_SEED:785630800]
   [NAME_SEED:785630800]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There you are. And note if you go one tile east and one tile south you can find a nice 5x6 embark with everything this one has but the 'other features'. And if you stretch it there you can grab one as well. I don't know if the history seed matters much, but my elven neighbours actually send me a trade liason; and you can buy Giant Desert Scorpions, and Giant Jaguars and Giant Leopards.

Also if you pick the Dwarven civ called the Fortress of Calling, they can supply you with Bauxite. That is, if the history seed preserves what happened in my generation.

Edit: Maybe you'll get a better randomly generated name for your fort. Welcome to Goldenshowers.

[Jeff Carr]

What I did on a map similar to this was to put the main fortress on one side of the brook, connected by a bridge a couple of z-levels off the ground to a second fortress.

The first fortress contained all of my civilians, enclosed above ground farming, workshops, ect, and was completely closed off from the outside, except by the bridge leading over to the other fortress.  The trade depot was a in a tower in the center of the civilian fortress one z level below the bridge, and directly over my main staircase for easy access. The bridge dropped down a z-level just after entering the fortress allowing the level of the tower at the same height as the bridge to have 3 balista that could fire the entire length of the bridge between the two fortresses.

The second fortress was entirely military except for my hunter/woodcutter's quarters.  All the wood, armor, clothing, food, and the like would get deposited on a grate in the military fortress and then dumped down into a spike lined tunnel several (about 12 z levels lower that led across to my wood burning, carpentry, and smelting workshops. 

The enemy would have to fight through the traps & detection dogs into my first fortress, which was split in half by a chasm so the barracks were inaccessible, be attacked my my marksdwarves who were shooting across the chasm as they bypassed my first fortress on the way across the bridge to the second, where they'd be fired on by balista.  Part way across, I'd drop the bridge to the barracks, and my dwarves would rush out attacking the rear of the enemy.  Then I'd drop the barricade blocking entry into my main fortress, and the enemy would rush back across the bridge (being hit by balista) and into the teeth of my barely warmed up dwarves.

This way your hunting/woodcutting is being done in prime areas for that, and your workshops are near the magma.

Oh, another nice thing about it is that since I normally kept the bridge connecting my barracks to the outside closed off (except for occasionally massive resupply runs) the civilians and the military dwarves barely even knew each others names.  I could have my entire military decimated and my civilian dwarves would hardly have a bad thought.

[Rowanas]

So I would make it modular in a way that it could be a prison or nobility homes or something later yet still be a functional temporary fortress.

So I would make it modular in a way that it could be a prison AND nobility homes or something later yet still be a functional temporary fortress.

Fixed.