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[Sutremaine]

I built a few training spears next to some water, put a meeting zone at the end of the spear run, and connected the spears to a lever set to repeat. The setup was... adequate. I forgot to put an air layer above the swimming corridor, which might have something to do with the lack of enthusiasm. But some dwarfs would path through anyway.


And the preferences screen, just in case it's one of those things controlled by preferences:


Special mention goes to one dwarf who tried to get through the corridor while the water was at 7/7, despite being only a Novice swimmer and therefore rendered stunned and drowning by the fall into the water. Luckily, there are water-smashing bridges installed for safety. As you can see from the first pic, most dwarves are content to stand there stupidly until I lower the water level and let them out.

Why the heck are some of them going through the corridor and can I make them all do this?

[shlorf]

Does the water level ever drop below 4?

[Sutremaine]

Not in this case.

Update: the water has been reset to 7/7 on all tiles to allow dwarves to climb straight out again, but some dwarves are still pathing through the corridor, drowning the whole time but still successfully navigating the twenty tiles to safety.

WHY
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS
WHY ARE THEY SO STUPID

[maxs]

I'm not sure what you're going for here but can't you just restrict the area to get them to path around?

[Sutremaine]

They're already taking the long route, so I don't know if restricting the corridor will do anything (will try it though). Where those three dwarves are standing in the first picture is where there's access to the level above so long as the water is at 7/7 so they can climb out.

The original plan was to knock them into the water and force them to take the long route through the corridor and up the ramp (not visible in the first pic). It didn't work so well as an automatic trainer because most of them would just stand in the water and get thirsty instead of trying to get to the ramp.

[Hans Lemurson]

You trying to give your dwarves swimming skills?

[Hivemind]

You trying to give your dwarves swimming skills?

Pretty sure he's dumping them in the end of a danger room set-up, and filling the entryway with water to prevent them going around.

And they're just backtracking through the water, rather than using the danger room.

[Sutremaine]

Here's the setup.

Upper layer:


There's a 1x1 meeting area on top of the uppermost spike, and the lever is set to be pulled on repeat. Dwarves block more than they dodge, but eventually they dodge right and fall into the water. They should run round the corridor and up the ramp, reappearing on the tile below the lever so they can do it all again. But they don't.

When dwarves were at Novice or lower skill:
The water level was set to train swimming, but not to cause drowning. Dwarves would dodge into the water and most would stay there instead of walking through the corridor and up the ramp.

When dwarves are at Adequate or better skill:
The water level was set to 7/7 because it's fed from a 7/7 source. Dwarves will dodge into the water and mostly climb right back out onto the tiles with the spikes on them, which is fine. There's no real need to train beyond Adequate, but it gives idlers something to do. Some dwarves, however, will not climb out, choosing instead to swim through the corridor. It's a longer route. It has no air. It is full of very deep water, which fortress creatures are notoriously bad at handling even if given every swim-aiding tag the raws have to offer. There is no reason for them to take this path, but they do so anyway. It is insanity.

[Demicus]

Maybe the dwarves think the water is better than spikes constantly stabbing at them