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[bamorrow]

Have you ever used windows strategically in your fortress defenses?  How did that work out?

[gtmattz]

From the limited testing I have done, windows are not actually see-through and act pretty much the same as a wall.

[Sphalerite]

You can definitely see through windows in adventure mode, and from what I've heard they'll act like open space for determining line of sight.  I don't know yet just how to put that to use in any functional way, and am just using them for decoration so far.

[Loyal]

Windows can be seen through.

Ideally you could put them in barracks so that any military dwarves will go after invaders when they see 'em, on duty or not, but I mostly just put them in my (constructed, outside) nobles rooms to spook them when they see the goblins coming. :3

[Stargrasper]

I wouldn't use them for actual defense unless you're looking forward to lots and lots of Fun^tm.  The problem is building destroyers and their tendency to...well...destroy buildings.  Putting that crystal glass window in your exterior constructed above ground meeting hall just because it makes the dwarves happy is reasonably suicidal.  My point is, it creates one heck of a chink in your main defenses against the most powerful enemies that you'll face.

[bamorrow]

Oh, hadn't considered building destroyers, thanks for that reminder.

Basically, I want to test to see if the line of sight through the window would allow citizens just a little extra time to start running, and soldiers in the barracks to go after the enemies when they arrive.

Since I'm using this for the goblins (no HFS in my map) and only to allow visual from my barracks to the outside, I think it could be a feasible improvement.

I'll test and report.

[Vattic]

I've heard of people using them to stop dwarves doing the entrance dance.


     ^ Entrance / Exit
####+++#
####+++#
####+++###
####++++++
#gWX++++++ > into the fort
####++++++
##########

+ floor
# wall
X floodgate/door
W window
g goblin


Then if you don't want your dwarves to entrance dance when you set them to stay inside you just open the floodgate with a lever forcing all dwarves to gaze upon the goblin on their way out.

I don't know if it would work or if dwarves might get trapped between the entrance and the goblin after trying to flee outside. It will likely give dwarves a bad thought too.

[Azkanan]

I dig out underground waterfalls that cycle, right next to the bedrooms, then have windows in those bedrooms = ++Happy thoughts.


...I miss Dwarf Fortress =[. I can't play it, or the new version, till I get £500 for a new PC... (Mine recently went *pop) The one i'm on now is a minitower from the early 2000s, with no graphic Card or Sound Card slots, both built into the pc itself at terrible consequences, whereas DF runs at 1-4fps - on the intro movie + menus!
How unfair =[[[

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Do walls constructed of glass blocks act like walls for these kinds of line of sight issues, or like windows? Can you see through them in adventure mode or?

[Quietust]

Glass block walls are just as opaque as stone - you can't see through them.

[G-Flex]

I dig out underground waterfalls that cycle, right next to the bedrooms, then have windows in those bedrooms = ++Happy thoughts.

Can you confirm that they actually get happy thoughts just from SEEING the waterfall, not from actually touching the mist?

[Heliomance]

Glass block walls are just as opaque as stone - you can't see through them.

Part of th reason I'm building bits of my fort out of glass are because I wanted those bits to be transparent. Aesthetic reasons only, but still.I like the idea of walking though my clear glass entry tunnel and looking down at the river underneath.

[Greiger]

I vaguely remember waterfall mist passing through glass windows, but the memory is fuzzy. I have glass on my map, some spare windows around and a mist generator, I'll make an experiment of it. And post the result in an edit.

Oh and while glass blocks aren't actually see through in-game, I think the Visual Fortress Visualizer renders them transparent.  Might have been an old version though.

EDIT: Nope glass windows seem to block the mist.  The generator is in the middle of the meeting hall so I couldn't really place the window to block an area, but when placed right next to the mist generator the mist would not enter the window tile and only go around.  Could be possible the dwarf was encountering the mist elsewhere.  The mist does go through fortifications though, and I know I often use them as windows.

[Dorf3000]

Glass block walls are just as opaque as stone - you can't see through them.

Part of th reason I'm building bits of my fort out of glass are because I wanted those bits to be transparent. Aesthetic reasons only, but still.I like the idea of walking though my clear glass entry tunnel and looking down at the river underneath.

You'd have to make windows and glass grates for the floors if you want your dwarves to see through them.  Or you could use your imagination

[Azkanan]

They get it from mist? I've always thought it was a in-sight thing... I've never checked if they get happy thoughts through windows... Nethertheless, it gives me happy thoughts seeing it like that.

I reckoned if they get happy thoughts from being flooded then soon-later drowned, about waterfalls... ...