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[Birdy Bot]

Hey there all,

I'm a long-time reader of the forums, but a first-time poster. I've got a question here for the pros:


I'm currently embarked on a Volcano. My grand plan is to place my fortress smack-dab right beside the volcano, so that one side of the walls is actually natural unhewn rock. Knowing the intricacies of building designation, how should I go about creating my dream-fort?

Should I carve the mountain side, so that it's got steep, deadly cliffs (echoing the look of walls), or just wall up that side of the mountain? (The caldera-spout of the volcano extends about 12 z-levels, and actually ceases to connect with the other side of it's spout as it ascends).

Of course, as it stands now, I'm in spring of the first year, and I'm starting to sweat, because not only am I going to be receiving angry mobs from the goblin fortress nearby, but gluttonous elves have been at war with my civ since the dawn of time (I checked the Legends, and the last Army General our civ had was 'devoured' by the opposing elven leader, YUCK.)

What would you suggest, O forum dwarves?

[Alluvian_Est-Endrati]

Depending on how many z-levels you have to work with, carve the side of the mountain to resemble a giant skull.

Edit: Forgot to list the color key to indicate what the block colors mean in the diagram.
Red squares represent a block on the current build level.
Black squares represent a block on the lower (1z down) build level.
Dark red squares represent blocks on the current build level that are on top of a block on the previous (lower) build level.
White squares are air.

Here's an image for a layout to help a bit. Reads left to right, bottom to top. Needs 61 z-levels.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Birdy Bot]

Hahahaha! That is some dwarven beauty right there, Alluvian!

Okay, so if I were to carve this into the mountain-side, would I start by removing ramps from the very top of the volcano? When carving a mountain-side, 'mining' in the d-menu only gets rid of the soil/rock in the middle of the layer, and doesn't remove the 'floor' of the layer. So, how do I remove the floor of that layer to really get down to carving this skull?

[JmzLost]

Channel from the top down.  Less risk of a cave-in that way, and any dwarfs who fall only drop 1 z-level.

JMZ

[Birdy Bot]

Ah, ok....


So, hypothetically, if I channel on z level 1, and then channel the block beneath on z level 0, will those blocks be gone?

[Alluvian_Est-Endrati]

Oops, forgot to mention what the color of the blocks in the diagram mean. Updated previous post with the info. Technically all you really need to do is carve out the front 1/2 of the skull to give the mountain a shape, such as via channeling away the outer layers. You would (presumably) not want it actually totally hollow inside, as your dwarves could live inside the thing once done.

[JmzLost]

Ah, ok....


So, hypothetically, if I channel on z level 1, and then channel the block beneath on z level 0, will those blocks be gone?

Yes.  Just make sure you only designate the top layer you want channeled, and that you channel any floors without support under them first.  I lost 2 miners removing a small hill on top of a volcano because there were loose floors hanging over the edge of the volcano.

JMZ

[Alluvian_Est-Endrati]

So, hypothetically, if I channel on z level 1, and then channel the block beneath on z level 0, will those blocks be gone?

Yup. Channeling gets rid of whatever is on the current Z-level (floor, wall, etc.) as well as clearing the tile beneath it. The effect on the lower z-level tile is the same effect as having mined the section out. A lot of Fun can thus be had with channeling if you are not careful.

Tempted to make an alteration to that image to make it more suitable for DF. The original plan was one that got tossed together for building a giant skull in Minecraft actually. In any event a project like this can be a little tricky and dangerous. Even being careful one can expect to loose a dwarf every now and then with major construction projects.

Heh. I have been tempted to build something like this myself, with some magma pumps so I can make the skull weep lava onto any approaching enemies.

[Birdy Bot]

Thanks guys! You really helped me out! I always thought that to carve, you'd need to 'd' - Remove ramps, and then dig it all away. I guess I should think of channeling like creating a hole through layers, like a carving a downward staircase (of course, without building a downward stair).

Alluvian! You totally should! I chuckled at the idea of scorching magma tears dropping on baddies!

Darn, I should have joined the forum long before this. You guys really helped a girl out!


Birdy Bot

[Hyndis]

Install a magma hammer!

If you are embarking on the side of a volcano you can drain the level of the volcano down to the level of the ground around the mountainside. Then dig into it. Construct a walkway across the middle of the now drained volcano, so all invaders must walk through the core of the volcano.

Above the walkway install a drip irrigation system. Drip water a few tiles away from the walkway.

The falling water, even 1/7 water from a bucket, will cause the magma to harden into obsidian. Do not have the water fall next to the walkway, have it fall onto a tile with no supporting tiles. The obsidian chunk will then instantly cave-in, falling into the magma ocean. It will also explode, and the explosion will outright kill anything nearby and/or drag them into the magma ocean too.

[Birdy Bot]

Oh! Hyndis! Now THAT is Volcanic Defense! I never realized you could weaponize obsidian like that!

I had planned on having the entrance on my fort break through the wall of the volcano, with a 3-tile bridge spanning across the magma-vent, and opening into a grand plaza/statue garden area once it got into the other side of the volcano caldera. If I just planned it out properly, I could incorporate Alluvian's skull, so that the magma-spanning bridge is actually the tongue of the skull, oh boy!

I wonder if I'll have dwarves slipping and tumbling into the magma if they ever have to fight on the mamga bridge.... Maybe I should line it with statues to prevent combat accidents.

[csebal]

I find that the best way for restructuring the landscape is to use ramps. If you channel, then miners have the tendency to channel the tiles from under eachother. If you dig ramps, then they all work on the same level and have no such issues. (well, less )  As channels remove the floor and the rock below, ramps remove the rock being dug and the floor above.

While i find them to be a lot more convenient and safe than channels, ramps also have a few pitfalls:
1) Trees - when digging ramps under a tree, the floor tile the tree rests on cannot be removed. When you ramp below and around such a tree, the floor tile will cave in, potentially causing massive injuries. Always clear the area of trees and make sure none grow on the work site while you are digging.
2) Lack of support: Ramps provide no support for adjacent tiles. Since you relying on the ramps to remove the ceiling above, in cases where there is nothing to dig (say a previously dug tunnel) the floor tiles above will not be removed. You have to remove these orphaned floor tiles BEFORE you ramp around them or they will fall. It is rather easy to overlook and miss them, especially if you are working on large and complex constructions.

[Birdy Bot]

Hmm, csebal, that's an interesting way to do it. Thanks for the detailed advice. I might just practice with both channelling and removing ramps, and save-scum until I've got it down-pat.

[Hyndis]

Oh! Hyndis! Now THAT is Volcanic Defense! I never realized you could weaponize obsidian like that!

I had planned on having the entrance on my fort break through the wall of the volcano, with a 3-tile bridge spanning across the magma-vent, and opening into a grand plaza/statue garden area once it got into the other side of the volcano caldera. If I just planned it out properly, I could incorporate Alluvian's skull, so that the magma-spanning bridge is actually the tongue of the skull, oh boy!

I wonder if I'll have dwarves slipping and tumbling into the magma if they ever have to fight on the mamga bridge.... Maybe I should line it with statues to prevent combat accidents.

The magma hammer is merciless. It will slaughter everything, including any dwarves who are nearby when it goes off. Trap immune doesn't mean anything, they will still be slaughtered.

You will probably need to change the announcements file so that it doesn't pause and recenter on cave-in's however, or it will get really annoying really fast.

Basically, its this:

Code: [Select]

...WWW...WWW...
...WWW.X.WWW...
...WWW...WWW...
...WWW.X.WWW...
...WWW...WWW...
...WWW.X.WWW...
...WWW...WWW...
...WWWWWWWWW...
...WWWWWWWWW...
...WWWWWWWWW...
...............

. = magma surface
W = walkway
X = target tile for water from above

Don't do any fighting on the magma bridge. Fighting on bridge over the magma is extremely hazardous. Dwarves and goblins will all be falling into the volcano and then vanish into the magma ocean forever.

[Birdy Bot]

Haha, genius!

I was just thinking of an epic last-stand sort of fight, where I've got one dwarf left fighting against hundreds of flesh-hungry elves. A do-or-die sort of situation.

I'm going to copy down that diagram, and implement it into my fort! Thanks for the creative solution!