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[gawwy]

just wondering how people achive maximum efficency with traffic across z - levels. i tend to use 3*3 stairwells with 4 up and 4 down stairs in each and i use the center tile for somthing else that usually means removing it.

but i have found that ramps tend to be quicker for some reason but i think i can only get two ramps into the same space (still removing center tile).

what about everone else

(ps sorry if this is in the wrong place)

[lanceleoghauni]

I have nothing very constructive to add, as I've not done much maximization, but that venter shaft idea is interesting, a good way to route power I'd think.

[gawwy]

sometimes i put grates at every level and run a waterfall through it for hapiness while walking. although i want to make it so i can flow magma through it to melt invaders with "magma mist"

[Cephas]

Is there any real problem with stacked up-down stairs? I heard that altering the traffic designation calculation fixes any issue associated with it but the proof was lacking.

[lanceleoghauni]

my problem with spamming up/down is defensibility. or rather, the lack thereof.

[Kanddak]

I do 3x3 columns of up/down stairs and have never had a problem with them.
They're very defensible: Don't allow invaders to penetrate the fort far enough to get into the stair column.

[gawwy]

the problem with up down stairs is that they have to take two steps per level

eg one down stair
    one across to next down stair

wheres as ramps are one step and the dorf lands on the next down ramp as its well... a ramp. thus only half the amounts of steps per level

as for defense. just defend the top really well and then have a mecanism to destroy all on stairs (magma fall)

[existent]

as for defense. just defend the top really well and then have a mecanism to destroy all on stairs (magma fall)

This gives me an idea- have each "wing" (industry, food production, housing, whatever) of your fortress seal-able with the pull of a single lever in a bunker somewhere, and now, with the invading griblies trapped wherever, have another lever that floods just that/those section/s with water/magma. Sure, any worker ants trapped in there will die horrible deaths, but we all know that dwarves are hive-minded, so who cares?

[lanceleoghauni]

That's actually rather interesting.

Perhaps several vertical spirals, connected on only one level, to some large central food store.

[existent]

That's actually rather interesting.

Perhaps several vertical spirals, connected on only one level, to some large central food store.

I was thinking more along the lines of a central staircase, with a short hallway branching off on every level that could be sealed with drawbridges, and then a large water reservoir on top with multiple floodgates leading to channels to each sector. Just make sure you keep trap of which lever floods which rooms.

Or don't.

[lanceleoghauni]

hmm, I was thinking more of a true anthill style fort 

they're actually very fascinating.

[Ricky]

who are you gonna make your queen to produce ~1,000,000 dwarf babies a day?

[lanceleoghauni]

you could

I'd have no idea how to do that though.

I'll just stick with architecture, and leave modding to people who know what they're doing.

[gawwy]

why do i read anthill fort and think boiling water... could just be me

[Aspgren]

I like doing things like this.

xx=xx
x # x
x o#=
x   x
xxxxx

x = wall
= = door
0 = up/down stairs
# = grate

While this example is inefficient since it only has a 1x1 staircase, the point of the construction is that the bottom looks like this:

ground floor - bottom floor

xxx=xxx  xxxxxxx
x.v#v.x  xxU.Uxx
=.#o#.=  x..s..x
x.v#v.x  xxU.Uxx
xxx=xxx  xxxxxxx

v = downwards ramp
U = upwards ramp
s = support
. = floor

(EDIT: edited it so the bottom ramps actually lead somewhere. -keep in mind its just an example though-)

The purpose of this is because the entire stair structure now rests upon that one support. I like to build complicated things and it adds fun because beasts can knock the support out and hurt for my fortress, and I can hook a lever up to it and effectively shut all floors off from eachother. It's a sort of ... emergency response if my fortress would become overrun by something, whoever gets stranded on a floor with enemies will have to fend for themselves best they can - and those who are fortunate enough to seal themselves off will have to lock the doors and pray that there's food or atleast a pick nearby.

(sorry about the long post, I inserted spoiler tags but it caused the teletype to shrink to a ridiculous size)