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[Mdort Goblinsmiter]

I've found that no more then 2x2 or 1x3 is necessary.   Larger rooms necessarily adds a bunch of extra distance to pathing, so I tend to avoid it. 

Here are the setups I used in my last few forts:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The patterns and symmetry appeal to me.  However, I will be adjusting them... I want to move to spreading out the housing a bit and including dining halls/smaller food stores.   I am thinking about a floor design that included 1x3, 2x2, 2x3 and 3x3 in a blend, so better accommodate the economy when it kicks in.

[Rowanas]

My dwarves have THE GRAND CHAMBER OF WOODEN THINGS UPON WHICH ONE MAY REST IF FATIGUED. Important dwarves that require items to function get my luxurious 7x11 chambers, which will hold everything they will ever need, no matter how uppity they get. Unnecessary nobles get grand dining-room-sized chambers with items made of obsidian and platinum. And a lever. They stay in a state of happiness and general bliss until they mandate something awkward, and then the lever is pulled, the magma flows and all of the items in their room remain unharmed, ready for their successor to come. The rooms are so large to ensure that even if it takes time to reach the emergency shutoff lever, the magma will be able to spread and thus evaporate.

So, in summary, I don't build small. I build large.

[nordak]

I am playing DF for only 2 and half month now, but I've seen many bedroom designs in various threads here on this forums and on wiki. And one thing I could never understand, is why all this bedrooms always so small. I'm playing on 5x5 embark map, and could easily place 160 5x6 bedrooms  on one z-level, and still have enough place for huge dining rooms. 3x3 embark will limit this to 57 bedrooms per z-level, but only 4 z-level will be enough to place more dwarf you ever need. And even 2x2 embark zone should have enough place for 25 5x6 bedrooms per z-level, 100 bedrooms for 4 z-levels, and I doubt many people have bigger population with so small embark size. So, seriously, what's your reason? Do you make small overpopulated 2x2 fortress with more than 200 dwarfs? Or do you raise pop cap and make fortress with 500[RIP FPS] dwarfs in it ? Or is it just old habit from times when DF had only one z-level? Or do you have some other reason I'm not aware of?

And here some more questions I wanted too ask, which don't deserve separate threads:

• What does different colors on (u)nit screen mean?
• How long deceased animals are displayed in (u)nits screen?
• I want to make Central Water Supply System in my current fortress, and, as part of it, place well in every living room. How bad is this idea?
  
  • How often will dwarfs fall in the well if it will be in the corner of the room?
  • How many levels of swimming should dwarf have to climb up from well after he fall?
  Water is directly below well.

Efficiency, Don't want dwarves running all over the map to get to rooms.

1. Already answered

2. Already answered

3. I think that a central tank is the best way to do it, just do all the plumbing before filling.  Dwarves only seem to fall in after it is deconstructed, having a way to drain it shouldn't be necessary as few dwarves fall in now days. 

As for getting out, 2 lvls of swimming if escape is possible, further testing required.

Note: it seems that the well acts as a statue and doesn't allow pathing over it.  I put a well in a 1x hallway to test.  Though I haven't put one in a corner and attempted to smooth the stone behind it.  I also haven't done a dodge to fall test.

[Dutchling]

Why I make small rooms? I don't make small rooms at all.. I have OCD (like everyone here) so my rooms MUST be square. 1x1 is too small and 2x2 is impossible (MUST BE SYMMETRIC! AAARGH! THERE IS NO CENTRE IN A 2 LONG WALL FOR MY DOOoooooor)

[Rowanas]

Why I make small rooms? I don't make small rooms at all.. I have OCD (like everyone here) so my rooms MUST be square. 1x1 is too small and 2x2 is impossible (MUST BE SYMMETRIC! AAARGH! THERE IS NO CENTRE IN A 2 LONG WALL FOR MY DOOoooooor)

I hate asymmetry, but I also hate dwarves falling over to let people get past, so I put two doors in, since doors don't have to be supported on both sides.

[Hyndis]

Why build small? This is dwarf fortress!

Everything is excessive. Even the menacing spikes menace with excessive additional spikes!

[twilightdusk]

Why build small? This is dwarf fortress!

Everything is excessive. Even the menacing spikes menace with excessive additional spikes!

This is an obsidian spike. It menaces with spikes of obsidian and tigeriron. The spikes of obsidian menace with spikes of star ruby and tigeriron. The spikes of tigeriron menace with spikes of star ruby and sapphire. The spikes of star ruby menace with spikes of sapphire. The spikes of sapphire menace with spikes of sapphire.

[Corona688]

I am playing DF for only 2 and half month now, but I've seen many bedroom designs in various threads here on this forums and on wiki. And one thing I could never understand, is why all this bedrooms always so small.

Various reasons.

[list=1]

• Less work.  More rooms dug in less time.  Many players don't give a damn about the bedrooms and just build crammed hives and warrens.
• Less mess.  Keeps the amount of loose stone down.
• If they're good enough rooms, dwarves will be happy with them despite the size.
• Efficiency.  Bigger rooms means more walking distance.
• If they're too nice, almost nobody could afford them when the economy kicks in.
  
• Might really not care.  Why build them nice rooms when all you want to do with the game is play with caving in rivers or something?

[Dorf3000]

I've stopped digging small bedrooms ever since the new version, which has (had?) the bug where dwarves sleep anywhere, even with their own rooms.  Now everybody gets to sleep in the dormitory, and favored dwarves have a bed in an alcove somewhere (with possibly a coffer/cabinet if they seem to have a lot of clothes dumped in their 'room').  I really don't miss the 'bedroom level' which was usually a nightmare of designating and building and more designating and more building and shuffling around dorfs so the children didn't claim the 5x5 noble rooms at the ends of the halls.

[iEpinephrine]

Why I make small rooms? I don't make small rooms at all.. I have OCD (like everyone here) so my rooms MUST be square. 1x1 is too small and 2x2 is impossible (MUST BE SYMMETRIC! AAARGH! THERE IS NO CENTRE IN A 2 LONG WALL FOR MY DOOoooooor)

Soooooo true.

I'm amazed at the number of people who are saying "it's too much work" isn't that the a major feature of this game, to maximise resource use, so despite building an absurdely grand fortress, you still have a ready army trained to use the steel equipment you have prepared for them by the first autumn...?

That said, I make small, nasty, unpolished rooms amongst my polished, spacious, statue-lined, mist-filled hallways, because I still design for the day we get the economy back.  Minting ridiculous numbers of coins and trying to manage an overwhelming homelessness problem was the greatest reward for a successful fortress!

[Pilsu]

I carve out spacious underground cities with individual buildings and paved roads. If zones weren't numbered, I'd probably muddy some tiles to produce shrubs around too.

[celem]

A central water system is a great idea, though it takes forethought to plan it into your fortress.  Its easiest I find with an aquifer.  Punch your way through and gravity feed water into holding tanks before sending it into the plumbing.  Remember to depressurise it in some fashion

[Ashery]

Why I make small rooms? I don't make small rooms at all.. I have OCD (like everyone here) so my rooms MUST be square. 1x1 is too small and 2x2 is impossible (MUST BE SYMMETRIC! AAARGH! THERE IS NO CENTRE IN A 2 LONG WALL FOR MY DOOoooooor)

I have the exact opposite problem: The more, for the lack of a better word, cookie cutter the layout of a fort is, the less appealing I find it. This doesn't mean that a fort should be a complete clusterfuck as far as the layout is concerned, there definitely should be some method to the madness, but there needs to be some creativity with the design used.

Why do people build large rooms simply for the sake of building large rooms? If you want to build something grand, go for waterfalls, unique layouts, or something to a similar effect. Simply building a large 9x9 room for a noble comes off looking worse to me than the 2x2 rooms used for your everyday dwarf as there's so much more you can do with a 9x9 canvas than a 2x2.

Regarding plumbing: Paved roads are a legitimate way to keep plants from growing, but if you don't mind exploiting a bit, a quicker way is to simply put a stockpile on the tiles (Haven't tried it myself to confirm, but my experience lends me to believe it).

[CapnUrist]

I've found that no more then 2x2 or 1x3 is necessary.   Larger rooms necessarily adds a bunch of extra distance to pathing, so I tend to avoid it. 

Here are the setups I used in my last few forts:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The patterns and symmetry appeal to me.  However, I will be adjusting them... I want to move to spreading out the housing a bit and including dining halls/smaller food stores.   I am thinking about a floor design that included 1x3, 2x2, 2x3 and 3x3 in a blend, so better accommodate the economy when it kicks in.

Totally stealing that first layout. My thanks.

[Mdort Goblinsmiter]

Totally stealing that first layout. My thanks.

Enjoy!  I like it because you can deploy it in phases... one ring of rooms at a time, and it doesn't ruin the symmetry.