Print

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

[Gus Smedstad]

In an effort to do something different, I've been exploring the idea of a completely constructed above ground fort.  Initially, I decided I'd try a game where I used the underground as a rock and ore source only, and constructed all my buildings from quarried rock.

I think I'm spoiled by the ease of tunneling out an underground fortress.  While there's always a little challenge to getting the farming and distillation set up early, security is trivial.  After things are stable, seal up the original quick entrance, and build a hallway of doom.  There's only the one entrance, and flying creatures are only a threat to your surface farms - and you can wall and roof those for complete safety.

I took a couple of stabs at it by inverting my usual sub-surface approach, building stuff up rather than down, but still going through the same steps.  The result was really, really slow to build and messy, and felt completely indefensible.  While the surface entrance was secure, there were a million open spots above ground as I built new hallways.  Leaving aside flying attackers, I imagine the first wave of goblin archers would be a disaster.  The answer would seem to be a surrounding wall, but given how slow the basics have been to build, I just can't see how I'd spare the labor, particularly since it'd have to be a pretty tall wall.

How do you go about it?  Forget the "I just build underground" answer, I've done that, I'm curious if this is just too much of a handicap.

 - Gus

[dogstile]

Get up a couple quick buildings and hope for the best? I tend to start off small and wall off a small section, then when i need more space i just build the wall outside and then knock down the wall in the middle. For this task I have a task force of labourers who I don't mind losing.

The result is a sectioned city. Rather awesome.

[Gus Smedstad]

What about flying threats?  Do you just ignore those, or do you roof over your entire space?  And do you build up?  I've gotten in the habit of thinking very vertically for underground forts, since staircase travel is very rapid, and a spreading my fort over 6-7 levels (entrance, farms, workshops, multiple storage and housing levels) makes for relatively easy access to all parts of the fort.

 - Gus

[hjd_uk]

I've started becoming fond of wall-building : safe open-air farms, ponds and refuse areas. Flying threats are still a problem ofc' but that's the trade-off. Plus it gets rid of waste rock.

[Zebra2]

I'm a fan of above-ground forts. They're more fun and challenging than the underground equivalent to me. One thing that's fairly major is that you almost certainly won't be able to expand fast enough to compensate for all your migrants, room-building being the biggest problem.

[Foehamster]

I just build progressively large curtain walls. A keep over the mine entrance is always fun (and can be built first.)

I've never had much problem with flying surface threats. Which include both batmen and giant eagles. I figure marksdwarves in the keep or patrolling your finished walls should be sufficient.

[Blackdutchie]

couldn't you have the best of both worlds by embarking on a mountain (volcano?) and only using the upper bit?
you could build a huge fortress up against the side of it!
imagine the grandeur!
imagine the awesome screen shots from virtualfortress or stonesense!

[Gus Smedstad]

You've gotten your marksdwarves to shoot at things?  I've given up on them on 31.03 / 31.04, they never pick up ammunition, even if it's assigned by the arsenal dwarf.  I'm paranoid about flying surface threats after I got a flying Titan.

 - Gus

[twwolfe]

I just dig a temporary burrow, then make a big quarry and build a giant 2z level wall. first levevl is solid, second one is Fortifications.

then i build a meeting hall near the center of the back wall, and build what i need from there.

often i end up building huge houses inside the main wall, and then building a bigger, 1z wall to house the slums, where all the un-important dwarves live

[Dwarf]

Aboveground is fun.

Posting for watch.

[Ivar360]

Cheat.
Set your dwarf speed to about 200 and see the buildings go up

[Heron]

I know this probably isn't what you had in mind, but there's always the option of starting with a mountain, and basically demolishing the top to make something like an open crater fort. You'd get all your rock to start with, so you could not have *anything* underground, and you'd get your surrounding wall for free.

[SheepishOne]

You could get a plot on a lake or oceanside and build out over the water. Could still create a semi-defensible chokepoint, and by using bridges you can section off the city even further. It's the tenochtitlan build plan. Just be careful that you don't completely disconnect a building while it's floating over the water..unless of course you're into that sort of thing

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Hyndis]

At the moment I would avoid doing it due to the fluids tracking bug.

After your first failed mood or ambush your fortress will forever be coated in blood. Everyone will spend all of their time trying to clean up at the well, only to never, ever get clean.

[Scarpa]

You can always start with a large channel around your future castle site.

Follow up with a curtain wall as time allows and you have a ready made moat.