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[Asutri]

It's really late/early so I'll keep this short.  I'm looking for tips on how to lure goblin ambushers into my prepared death tunnels.  I've made a twisty bunch of tunnels from the surface down into my fort directly behind my trade depot.  The idea is to seal off the main entrance to my depot whenever a caravan isn't moving through, and force the goblins through the twisty tunnels.  When I finally opened the tunnels for business the goblins didn't move.  The tunnels are open all the way into my fort, but the caravan was trying to leave along with some unruly cats the moment I opened the gate.

• Are the goblins waiting outside for the approaching caravan + cats instead of moving inside to intercept?
• Do goblins not like to walk in one tile width tunnels or are the tunnels too twisty?
• Do downward and upward slopes in the tunnels have anything to do with this problem?
• If a pressure plate is linked to hatches will stepping on it again close the hatches?

Thanks for the help.  I can post more info after I get a bit of sleep.

[Z1000000m]

1 i believe they start pathing inside your meeting zone , or sometimes they wait some time before doing that
i dont know if they switch targets if a caravan  appears
2 i believe that doesnt matter, every creature in df is one tile big (except for wagons in 40d)
they will however path using the way thats the shortest, so building complex trap corridor and placing a door next to it kinda misses the point.
3 i dont think so
4 i think yes, but pressure plates should have a cooldown , like levers, but don't quote me on that

[Asutri]

Ah, I probably should mention I'm playing 0.31.04.  I remember this one time before completing my trap tunnels.  The only path inside was the main entrance with a caravan in the depot but closed.  The goblins, two ambush groups, formed a tight group near the entrance and waited.  I opened the outer gate and the goblins started heading for the tunnel almost immediately.

Do you think goblins will completely ignore an open long entrance in favor of a closed short entrance?  If that's the case I'll appreciate fortress entrance examples from more experienced folks.  This particular fortress has been a pain from the start.  Food/drink trouble, few trees, constant possessions, and berserkers.  The previous one, lost that save, seemed to work almost too easy until an ambush crippled me.  Maybe I'll work on the military from the start next time if these trap ideas don't work out.

[LordSlowpoke]

Here's a tip for you - make sure the end of the trap tunnel has a connection to fortress proper, and by extension, to your meeting zone. If it dosen't work in such a way, they'll ignore it.

[Patchy]

You could also try placing some bait in the tunnels, like chained up dogs or something. They do like to kill pets, and I have seen them path through a long twisty dead end tunnel to a chained up dog before, or rather attempt to. A metric crap-ton of traps loaded with sharp pointy implements basically said "None shall pass!"

[Baron Of Hell]

Pressure plates will keep the hatch open until something steps off of it. After a certain amount of time goes by the hatch will close again.

[dakenho]

1.  goblins will have trouble initially pathing to your fort

heres how it works goblins get reviled than start pathing to anything out side that you own, dogs, cows, dwarfs and kill it

now if they chase anything out side they will regroup and wait for the others to cheach up and than after a moment they will proceed to a target

as stated in the previous posts you need a target like a chained up war dog, or a chained up dragon (just to make things interesting)

there are a few posts in the wiki about trap design and def design, all of which are a bit cheap for my liking but hey might work for you.

[Asutri]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments.  It seems my problem was just the caravan exiting when I opened the trap room.  I've started a new game with a redesigned trap room, now with constructed traps, and it seems to work well.  I've had one test run with it so far, but only one goblin died.  Hopefully my new 10-piece copper disc traps will prove more effective than the falling stones.

[BlackRogue]

I think falling stone traps have been nerfed to the point of useless in .31

[bongotastic]

Here's a tip for you - make sure the end of the trap tunnel has a connection to fortress proper, and by extension, to your meeting zone. If it dosen't work in such a way, they'll ignore it.

Mmm, so a meeting area could be setup at the end of the tunnel then? Finding a way for the dwarves to ignore this area can be tricky, or maybe there is no need since the tunnel leading to it is a deathtrap anyway.

[LordSlowpoke]

Here's a tip for you - make sure the end of the trap tunnel has a connection to fortress proper, and by extension, to your meeting zone. If it dosen't work in such a way, they'll ignore it.

Mmm, so a meeting area could be setup at the end of the tunnel then? Finding a way for the dwarves to ignore this area can be tricky, or maybe there is no need since the tunnel leading to it is a deathtrap anyway.

Yes, since all (normal) invaders try to pathfind their way into your closest meetng zone. All you have to do is make the entire deathtrap a restricted traffic zone, if it still exists in the new version - didn't try that to be honest - and you'll be safe. The more Fun ones will pathfind to the closest dwarf, so beware.

[bongotastic]

Yes, since all (normal) invaders try to pathfind their way into your closest meetng zone. All you have to do is make the entire deathtrap a restricted traffic zone, if it still exists in the new version - didn't try that to be honest - and you'll be safe. The more Fun ones will pathfind to the closest dwarf, so beware.

Thanks. BTW, Traffic areas are still in 0.31.0X