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[Driverman]

So I've played this game and lurked the forums for a while, and built a bunch of different types of fortresses. Tried a few semi-mega projects, didn't work out. But one thing that I can never seem to decide on is whether I want to build above the ground or below the ground. On one hand, building above is more fun to me because I'm not just carving my fort out of rock, I'm actually creating something that rises up above the ground. On the other, laying walls/floors is a huge pain in my butt and I hate it. I've tried doing combinations but it always ends up where my fort is heavily biased in one direction, either above or below ground. So how do you all handle this? And yeah yeah, I know it's more dwarf-y or whatever to dig, but that doesn't concern me.

[Cheddarius]

I dig. It's just easier.

[Karik]

I do both, I make a square wall above ground, dig down, use the stone I mine out to build up to create above ground massive barracks tower with training grounds and the like, and below ground is my civilian life.

[andrea]

I try to build big castles aboveground. the link in my signature is only my second try however.
I think aboveground buildings show more effort, don't have to deal with the annoying microcline/orthoclase turning the fortress into a rainbow and , mostly, can be seen using 3Dwarf or Visual fortress ( Visual fortress shows some furniture too and is generally better in my opinion).
The problem with aboveground is that at the beginning getting homes and workshops ready will be slow and stockpiles may be a pain too since some things decay aboveground. So you may want to try a mixed fortress. personally, I put stockpiles in the soil layer.


Edit: don't take my fort as an example if you care about efficiency. Because as far as efficiency goes, my fortress is hell. Really.

[RedWick]

I find interesting land formations and try to work my fortress in and around them.  I usually find that I maintain a pretty good balance between above-ground constructions and below-ground mining.  One thing to keep in mind might be to sort of alternate between above and below ground levels.  The stones that you're extracting out of the ground should be the ones that you're using to build above it. 

[Hyndis]

I do one or the other.

Either a huge above ground citadel, or proper dwarven fortress within a mountain.

In both cases there will be underground catacombs and other utility storage, including plumbing and so forth. I don't think dwarves would be too upset at living above ground so long as its behind thick walls of carved stone blocks with magma pumped up from the depths to power a bustling metal working industry, with ore and stone dug out from the deep mines.

[Safe-Keeper]

I find above-ground more fun, simply because I've done so much work below-ground.

Biggest hassle in my eyes is the lack of ladders and scaffolding, and the fact that the game won't let you build on floors.

[LordBucket]

Above or below ground?

I do both. The majority of the fortress proper usually sits a level or two below the deepest soil layer so everything is nicely smoothed stone. But I tend to build a level or two of deathtrap + military training above ground, so when I select "military can go outside" my workers stay where it's nice and safe but my military can still fight orcs aboveground.

I've tried doing combinations but it always ends up where
my fort is heavily biased in one direction

Why? Try digging stright down a few levels for your fort, but smooth out the surface and build a castle on top.

building above is more fun to me

Oh. Well then do that.

laying walls/floors is a huge pain in my butt and I hate it

Well, it's not the most efficient design, but I have seen succesfull forts in which the vast majority of the available space was all on a single level.

building above is more fun to me because I'm not just carving my fort out of rock

Possible compromise: Dig below ground, but simply tunnel out a HUGE empty area on each level, and then build back the walls. That way you don't have to manually build floors, but it's more or less the same as building above ground.

[Tirin]

I do both. Civilian areas underground, so they are protected and they get the benefits of all the engraving and smoothing. Fortress aboveground, where my military can work. One passage between the two, so enemies have to go through the whole keep, one specific path.

[sproingie]

I dig through the soil layers to get my fortress built in rock, then I eventually build proper stone flooring and walls over the soil levels.  I also do the "dig a huge area then build walls back" but only at the first rock level when I'm starting out and need to get underground fast (especially in dangerous areas).   The rest I try to carve out with no constructed walls.  For the first year I don't even bother with walls, I just have everything going on in one big room, with the exception of farming going on upstairs and a small stockade fence around the entrance. 

My throne room is at the next-to-bottom floor, and the crypts at the very bottom.  Obviously I'm going to have to change this for the next version now that we've got caves riddling the place like swiss cheese. 

I do like keeping my barracks on the same z-level as the outside entrance because a) I don't risk cave-adapting my military and b) it's easier to see threats coming.  I don't usually build upward much because constructions are a PITA.

[Itnetlolor]

I had a plan to hybrid-build when I was working on an island map (until I learned the disturbing truth an aquifer takes up the whole map, so no stone; worse, it's salt water.).

Basically, I had plans to use a modular town setup as a side-project. It would possess a town, low-town and high-town. Think similar to Rabanastre from FFXII (though it has only town and low-town. Another example would be Midgar from FFVII with a town and high-town. You see where I'm getting at with this right?

Anyway, I had an idea to incorporate these ideas together, but on an island. But yeah, with aquifers in the way? Fat chance.

As for blueprints, I would follow this pattern to plan the low-town from. It's more of a grid derived from Shift+(Up, Down, Left, Right) Using a plus sign to signify the center of each usable space. Now that's infrastructure. An excellent way to plan really complex cities, and still keep travel nice and simple; hightown would use highways of course.

Low-Town Blueprint Base (which can be used to map out Town and High-Town (other setups will be condensed).
. . .

. + .

. . .

And simple identifiers defining different uses

Path
▲▼ = Ramps
-/\() = paths
</>/X = Stairway
 
Central columns
+ = 3x3 +-Shape
o = 4x4 circle
O = 5x5 circle
# = 3x3 box
() = (if stated) Large 7x7 or 9x9 circles (enough to fit in each Shift+Direction


Town Center UG (Underground):
\ ▲ /
 /|\
▲-o-▲
 \|/
/ ▲ \

Mine (base) (ramps are actually upward near the column, and in each storage room, there's a series of downward ramps)
Above ground is pathways or gem shops and storage:
/-|-\
|▲|▲|
--#--
|▲|▲|
\-|-/

Farms (UG base, AG is open (IE- No highways or high-towns); the circles contain each crop:
\-▲-/
()|()
▲-+-▲
()|()
/-▲-\

Still haven't put it into full practice yet.

[Lemunde]

I do both.  It's easy enough for me because I realize certain things are better off left above ground.  The trade depot, for example.  Of course both the entrance and the depot need to be protected so I have to build walls around them.  And those traps in front of the entrance may not work 100 percent so I also have to build a tower for some marksdwarves.  Well my refuse pile is filling up so it's a good idea to put another one above ground.  That pile will need a wall around it.  And all this stone is taking too long for my masons to get from underground so I put a stone stockpile up top and put another wall around it.  Then I start noticing a few dwarves puking when they step outside.  CAVE ADAPTION!  Well I better build a statue garden or something so they can hang out outside.

Eventually I end up with something like this: http://mkv25.net/dfma/poi-21414-entrance

[Untelligent]

Mostly aboveground. About 30 z-levels of my main tower (the basement) are entirely dug into the mountain, and the other 70 consist of constructions and bits of mountain I carved out and excavated the rock around. Then there's a bunch of crap I built on top of the plateau.

[darthbob88]

I use both; certain industries, like butchering/tanning, farming, and woodworking go outside, along with a refuse stockpile, while civilian living quarters and most workshops go underground. All of this is behind a healthy-sized curtain wall, with heavily trapped corridors running in and out. Above ground constructions are almost entirely given over to stockpiles and fortifications, with the occasional megaconstruction. I plan out most of the work on the above-ground courtyard ahead of time, because it's hard to expand through a moat.

[Tel_Janin]

I build above-ground towns, with warrens of streets. Incredibly inefficient, but I like the look of it. It's cool to watch the town grow, with walkways linking the roofs of some houses making room for more constructions until some streets end up underground.