Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Mephansteras]

Wow...yeah, the grotto is awesome!

[SkyRender]

Undergrotto is indeed inspirational.  It's so rare to see someone take the other approach to a megaconstruction, ie. dig it out instead of build it up.  It had to have taken a lot of planning to get it to look right, though...

[Retro]

It had to have taken a lot of planning to get it to look right, though...

Oh boy, did it ever. To plot out a 3D shape (like, let's say one of the hanging winiding paths) I had to draw the entire path on ever z-level it passed through, then on the bottom one mark off where the ramps were and apply each chunk to each carved-out level. Not to mention trying to have the grotto slowly taper to a mostly flat ceiling. My god, designating the second half of the cavern was even worse than the first; it probably took 24 hours total over three days. If there was one thing I could dream of DF including, it'd be optional translucency between layers.

[Andir]

It had to have taken a lot of planning to get it to look right, though...

Oh boy, did it ever. To plot out a 3D shape (like, let's say one of the hanging winiding paths) I had to draw the entire path on ever z-level it passed through, then on the bottom one mark off where the ramps were and apply each chunk to each carved-out level. Not to mention trying to have the grotto slowly taper to a mostly flat ceiling. My god, designating the second half of the cavern was even worse than the first; it probably took 24 hours total over three days. If there was one thing I could dream of DF including, it'd be optional translucency between layers.

I learned that lesson when I tried to make a large room full of columns... having to designate the digging projects around the columns with arches was a major headache.

[Nome]

I can't quite match that grotto (which is amazing, by the way), but I wanted to share my current fortress anyway:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bentice!  The central pyramid is built on top of a natural stone tower.  All the layers surrounding the tower were dug out, then collapsed to create the pit.  Magma fills the bottom of the pit and bridges extend from the tower for various purposes (entrance, mining access, water/magma piping).  The structure on the right is the main entrance and the small building in the upper right is the "siege entrance", through which goblins, orcs, lizardmen, and ogres enter, only to fall to their deaths via bridges on a repeater.  To top it all off, I had to punch through an aquifer to build this.  Um, that pyramid is made from olivine, though you wouldn't know it with all the snow...


Another view from the southeast:

[Lord Shonus]

What dies it look like without the snow?

[Nome]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I embarked on tundra with a magma vent, but I managed to get sedimentary layers as well, hence the change in soil texture on the soil.  The edge of the pit is two layers of basalt ramps.  The entrance building is basalt as well.

[Quantum Toast]

Undergrotto's not really done yet, but I might as well post some screenies here. I have to say, if there was one thing I'd really like VF to do, it'd be to allow light to shine through when an area is sliced down to have exposed sky. Getting enough light to define the stalactites was a huge pain.

Spoiler: Warning, a lot of images (click to show/hide)

A view of part of the cavern from eye-level, shot from the entrance alcove.


A shot showing the northeastern part of the cavern from midway up. You can see the bottom tip of a few stalactites there.


The cavern from high above. Stalactites are visible here.


A shot from a higher plateau, showing the ceiling. The winding ramp up to the stalactites (which contains dwarven housing) is visible too.


The park, lake, trade depot post, and the very plain shrine to Armok.


The magma caldera that houses the DM's dungeon. Also visible is the plateau from earlier with the start of the winding path. The random patch of land in the lake is a drydock for a future boat project.


Another plateau with an overhanging cliff. This used to be the highest point in the grotto until I carved out the rest of the ceiling. The jail will be built up there.


Part of the entrance passage. Once you've gone over the moat, up the ramp through Mountaingate, across the bridge, and through the tunnel, you end up in this cavern... and then, crossing the path, you end up in the real cavern.


Engineering and the aquarium office. Looks less impressive without the waterwheels and other assorted machinery.


The graveyard (and undertaker's shack). Occupied mounds get a statue for a tombstone.


Mountaingate, the hollow mountain. Currently working on a grand arch there, which is why there are two random blocks cube things. Serves as the entrance to the fort, although there's still an extremely long entrance path to actually get in the grotto.


Finally, a bird's-eye view of the cavern. The stalactite's aren't visible here, but you can see where the winding path ends. This screenshot's a bit older, but I don't think I changed the bottom half of the grotto at all recently so it shouldn't be noticeable.


Probably could've taken more, but they'd feel like rehashes. It's still not done, anyhow, so sooner or later I'll be back.

Oh sweet booze of Armok.

[Syntic]

Any word on how to get this to work in 40d17?

[Retro]

Any word on how to get this to work in 40d17?

Copy the save to an earlier version and view it from that. The creator's absent, so it's unlikely he'll be continuing to provide updates.

[Sphalerite]

A few shots of Pagedslipped, my green glass pyramid megaconstruct.  It's monotonously green and nowhere near as artistically interesting as a lot of other megaprojects, but it is certainly pointlessly large.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ground-level entrance shot.  This is the spot where caravans are forced to enter the map.  The 90 tile long copper bridge leading into the fortress is linked to a repeater for siege defense, and flanked by deep pits with retracting-bridge conveyor belt mechanisms that carry invader gear into the fortress.  Enclosed courtyards on either side contained production facilities and stockpiles in the early days of the fortress, but most of that has since been moved inside.  The small tower to the right was the remnants of a physics experiment I did a while ago.

The top level of the fortress is currently 34 Z-levels above ground level.  Target height is 43 Z-levels.  The upper 10 levels of the pyramid will be made from clear glass and steel, and are proceeding far slower than the rest of the construction.



Standing inside, looking up.  You can see access ramps leading up the inside walls, and the floor of the steel and clear glass capstone.  At the moment most of the pyramid is hollow.  This will change.  There are already multiple large structures in the lower levels (including the dining hall which you can see part of in the lower right) and I have plans to have several large buildings hanging suspended from the inner walls.

[EvilTwin]

You're getting an A for Awesome! by the way, the red outline in the pictures can magically disappear if you, before cutting he pictures from the screen, got to options and untick the lowest box, under the colour-stuff

[peterix]

Any word on how to get this to work in 40d17?

Copy the save to an earlier version and view it from that. The creator's absent, so it's unlikely he'll be continuing to provide updates.

Visual Fortress uses the same format for the offset file as DFHack, so you can just get the newest one from here.

I had to dumb down the actual file for visfort to pick it up ~_~

[Draco18s]

You're getting an A for Awesome! by the way, the red outline in the pictures can magically disappear if you, before cutting he pictures from the screen, got to options and untick the lowest box, under the colour-stuff

I thought that was a stupid Vista thing, as on Windows 7 that's unchecked by default.  Never occurred to me to check the options (of course, I only use Vista at work where I tend not to need the snip tool).

[Gazz]

Heres a rather fun screenshot of the results of underestimating the pressure in my pipes. I wanted to fill the little pond near my entrance, as I had it designated as a pond to be fileld for years, and it never got filled. Unfortunately, 2 steps after the water got to the pond, it was full. And it just kept coming... Up and up and up. And it seems the dwarf who originally pulled the level has decided to go grab a drink. And my resevoir still is over 3/4 full. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm just starting to dabble in dwarvish construction but... would it be possible to...
- intentionally create such a geysir
- let it push up through a grate (placed maybe 2/3 on the way up)
- put floor tiles/walls around the grate to channel the water... elsewhere.

That would be a single column reversed waterfall, falling... up.
After all, gravity is only a technical issue. =)