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Dwarf Fortress => DF General Discussion => Topic started by: hedgerow on July 24, 2023, 10:30:12 am

Title: Floor plans for above ground structures.
Post by: hedgerow on July 24, 2023, 10:30:12 am
Considering a lack of district planning in the wilderness, I've come to realize the floor plan for larger rooms comes from below and not from above.  I notably stopped including everything on a branch dig and realized that it's coming from below, so: what are the factors in floor planning above ground structures?

Edit: for instance, how do your floorplans change as you use constructions?  And how do they route and traffic in the end?
Title: Re: Floor plans for above ground structures.
Post by: Telgin on July 24, 2023, 12:27:59 pm
I'm pretty boring when it comes to above ground constructions.  I tend to start on the most flat terrain I can find and then level it to make space for apartment blocks and other buildings.  I tend to build in a small grid pattern, with 3x3 bedrooms arrayed in 2x5 rows in a single building that's usually 2 levels tall.  Sometimes I build paved roads between buildings.  I'll build a curtain wall around it all eventually, but early on that usually means that I have to deal with snatchers in open ground, which really sucks.

Ultimately that ends up meaning that it doesn't look so different from underground forts, though it's certainly possible to build flowing neighborhoods that follow the terrain.  Above ground constructions take long enough to do as it is, so I just take the simplest approach instead of doing that.  It would be really nice if we had better building planning tools, but that's something that we probably shouldn't wait for.
Title: Re: Floor plans for above ground structures.
Post by: hedgerow on July 24, 2023, 01:21:23 pm
Quote from: Telgin on July 24, 2023, 12:27:59 pm
I'm pretty boring when it comes to above ground constructions.  I tend to start on the most flat terrain I can find and then level it to make space for apartment blocks and other buildings.  I tend to build in a small grid pattern, with 3x3 bedrooms arrayed in 2x5 rows in a single building that's usually 2 levels tall.  Sometimes I build paved roads between buildings.  I'll build a curtain wall around it all eventually, but early on that usually means that I have to deal with snatchers in open ground, which really sucks.

Ultimately that ends up meaning that it doesn't look so different from underground forts, though it's certainly possible to build flowing neighborhoods that follow the terrain.  Above ground constructions take long enough to do as it is, so I just take the simplest approach instead of doing that.  It would be really nice if we had better building planning tools, but that's something that we probably shouldn't wait for.

It's the pathing and traffic.  I was training my militia for year 2 and noticed they're averse to the mines.  All of the dwarves avoid the little holes to the deep.

Quite above ground.  Flirted with the spirit a while; told me masons moved their blocks around quite often, what with the standard construction effort of stone outfits going on for decades.
Title: Re: Floor plans for above ground structures.
Post by: mikekchar on July 24, 2023, 10:50:38 pm
In my latest fort, I wasn't going for a long run fort at all.  I wanted to see how fast (in real time) I could get the starting 7 up to full automation for food, drink, clothes, etc.  I had above ground crops because I set my population cap way below the siege threshold... And then I got sieged by the undead...  I turtled for a bit and then found myself liking the fortress.

I ended up building a very small keep on the top with walls to enclose my garden.  My underground fortress was going in to the side of the mountain and I decided I wanted some more space above ground.  I excavated out a nice plateau and surrounded that with walls.  So that meant that I'm now on 2 levels above ground.   I kept getting sieged by the undead and just kept building and expanding when I could.

I put another level on and more walls and then thought I should put fortifications all along the walls -- hoping the Toady fixes the ammo bugs before I finish the fortress :-).  I built out a large open area and put a floor in and then turned it into a barracks.  When I'm sieged, they can go practice out in the yard with the undead milling around outside the walls!  But, of course, rain....  So I built up some pillars and built out a roof, similar in style to a Japanese castle.  And then, my hopefully-able-to-shoot-one-day crossbow dwarfs need a walkway all around the perimeter and a roof overhanging so they don't jump over the battlements (or get rained on).

Basically, at every level, I'm building out walkways, open spaces, roofs and connecting them all up.  I've build out a pasture for the animals behind the castle and I'm thinking of building a big out door temple with a pagoda.

The interesting thing about this fortress is that none of it is planned.  I just had a garden that was inaccessible to me and wanted to wall it in.  Then I wanted more space, so I walled that in.  Then I wanted more levels, so I walled that in.  Then I wanted a place to train, so I built that up. Then I wanted access to the walls.  Then I wanted roofs.  Then I wanted a pasture.  And now I want a temple.  And each time, I'm building out as safely as I can, extending my walls, enclosing spaces and turtling from the enemy.  And... it looks like a real castle -- probably because that's how real castles were build :-)
Title: Re: Floor plans for above ground structures.
Post by: hedgerow on July 24, 2023, 11:02:37 pm
I notice that above grounds fort struggling on hunger and lockdown seem to do well with mead barrels.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So I usually place two or three temples of the biggest sects and let them schism to different areas, and find quite a few stay below ground.

They never go thirsty, and there's always a group nearby, so accounting becomes easier, and I haven't struggled with many ghosts.

Title: Re: Floor plans for above ground structures.
Post by: Chief10 on August 25, 2023, 06:00:06 pm
I prefer building on hillsides. So basically each floor of a house has 1 or 2 walls that are defined by the natural shape of the hill. Then the other 2 or 3 walls are rock constructions.

I usually try to ensure that each floor has 2-5 rooms. There is always an entry/dining/sitting/stair room and then 1 or more bedrooms.