Bay 12 Games Forum

Many years ago, I made a rather very insane defensive fort/castle called Rimslaughters:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=66201.msg1570071#msg1570071

Check it out.

I like this one:

There's only a few levels on the map archive, and I'm exactly sure what you're planning to use the lava for.  But here's what I do.

First, you have to breach the pipe safely.  The easiest way to do this is to stand in a safe location - usually, dig a hole leading right up to the wall, then go one level above and channel out the last piece of wall.  It's tricky here because the pipe is a uniform size, but you could go up to the top of the pipe and do it from there.  Or you can just dig right into the pipe and have your miner run like the wind / take one for the team.

Second, you want to get the magma safely.  This means filtering out the magma men and such.  The best way to do this is to slightly modify the advice above - stop one extra unit early, and carve fortifications into the wall (has to be smoothed by an engraver first [d -> s], then carved [d -> a]).  If you are going right into the pipe, you can engrave a fortification right against the pipe wall, but this time, your engraver better be ready to run.

Third, you need to route the magma to somewhere useful.  It moves slowly, and if your opening is only 1 unit wide, it won't be able to fill a huge open space, because it will "evaporate" before it fills the room.  That means a 1 or 2 wide hallway, and then a reasonably-sized room to fill with magma.  You can do a snaking hallway to avoid this problem.  The key is that you don't let it spread out everywhere.   The room near the magma on level 65 of your map is too large - it probably won't fill.  You can fix this with some constructed walls.  Pretend like you are routing invaders through a maze of traps, and you'll have the idea.

Fourth, you place the forges and furnaces directly above the magma, and channel out holes.  If you're looking at the keypad on your computer, magma forges need the "4" and "6" holes channeled out.  The other magma buildings need the "8" key channeled out (keep this in mind when designing your magma "maze").  Once the magma reaches a depth of 4/7 (I think) they will start to work.

Fifth, save some of that magma!  You will want to play with it for other purposes.  I would recommend using two sets of magma-safe drawbridges, doors, or floodgates.  One will go at the entrance to the magma forge area, because you will want to keep it at depth after it's full (i.e. you don't want to draw magma from there).  The other should go in that same hallway leading up to the magma forge area, so that when you decide what you need magma for, you don't have to breach the magma pipe again - you've already got a resealable opening.  Remember that both the door/bridge/floodgate and the mechanism on the door/bridge/floodgate needs to be made out of magma safe stone or metal.  The wiki has a list of magma-safe materials here.

I don't know if this has been said or not, but your fort comes close to Undergrotto in scope.

Thanks guys, the feedback is always encouraging.  Undergrotto is a personal inspiration of mine.

Just had to post to say that this is amazing and that it should definatly be in the hall of legends.

Well... *cough*... they do say it's tacky to submit your own fort...

OK, enough with the niceties, here's a story!
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The two dwarves were standing at the entrance to the front of the fort when the Liaison from the Mountainhome arrived.

"Ah, Duchess Sigun, so nice to see you again," the Liaison said, bowing.  "And you must be the young new Mayor I've heard so much about."  He shook Tekkud's hand heartily.  "I trust all has been well since I saw you last?"

The two dwarves exchanged a glance.  "Umm, yes, no problems at all," Tekkud stammered.  "Really, nothing out of the ordinary, definitely didn't backstab any hu- oof!"

"What young Tekkud means to say is that we really have been doing well," the duchess said smoothly, surreptitiously removing her elbow from Tekkud's stomach.  "And how were your travels?  No trouble with goblins, I hope?"  She grabbed the Liaison's arm and started leading him into the fort.

The Liaison, well-trained at keeping a straight face, hardly twitched a facial muscle at the Mayor's odd remark.  "No trouble."  With the Duchess leading the way into the massive fort, he politely discussed the hardships of the journey and other small talk.  Soon, they were passing massive stockpiles of goods, filled to the brim with the dwarves' handiwork.

Then, something caught the Liaison's eye.

"Pardon me," he said delicately, "but... is that a human skull?"

Sitting in the middle of a side corridor was definitely a human skull.

--------

Later that day, the three dwarves gathered in the Duchess's chambers for a meeting.

"The humans were coming right for us," the Duchess explained.  "It was a do-or-die situation.  We had no choice."

The Liaison sighed.  The humans had been a valuable ally against the goblins.  The last thing they needed was to lose their support.  "I see," he said.  "How exactly were they attacking?"

"They dressed up like traders!"  Tekkud exclaimed.  "We almost fell for it."

"Traders?"  The Liaison raised an eyebrow quizzically.  "And how do you know they weren't just regular traders?"

The young Mayor thought for a moment.  "They had weapons on their pack animals.  And a bunch of fighters with them.  Vicious camels, too."

"Were the weapons... for trade?" The Liaison asked.  "It's not unusual to bring bodyguards when traveling with expensive goods."

"Oh no, definitely not,"  Tekkud said.  "I mean, they were in the big bundles with everything else, but if they had untied the bundles, and then taken the weapons out of their scabbards, and then put on the armor... we would really have been in trouble!"

The Duchess rolled her eyes.

"So, what you're telling me is that you jumped a bunch of human traders and took their stuff?"  The Liaison asked angrily.

"No," Tekkud said earnestly, "the magma got most of the stuff."

"The MAGMA?!"  The Liaison exclaimed.  "How did you defend yourself with magma?"

"Oh, we just dumped it right on their heads," Tekkud said. 


"Turns out camels can't live in magma after all."


The Liaison slumped over in his chair and buried his head in his hands.

"I know, weird, right?  But we found out some other stuff too!"

The Liaison glanced up at the Mayor.

"Did you know that Human's can't fly AT ALL?  They just fall right down."



The Liaison buried his head back in his hands.  The Duchess rolled her eyes again.

"And it turned out you can just bash them with a war hammer all day long, and they won't even fight back.  Takes a sword to do any real damage!"


The Liaison grunted incoherently.

"We learned all of that!"  Tekkud exclaimed.

"One more thing, actually."  Sigun smiled wickedly.  "Our siege operators have terrible aim."


The Liaison jumped to his feet.  "The Siege operators?!  Why would you let this happen?" he shrieked at the Duchess.

She shrugged.  "We were bored."

Tarn seems like the standard "mad scientist" personality type, the Myers-Briggs INTP.  I have a friend who seems just like him - brilliant, a mathematical wizard, but even though he pulls down six figures in finance, he has basically no furniture in his apartment.  Like, a desk for his computer, an old ratty couch, and a mattress on the floor.  Like Tarn, apparently, he really has no use for the money he makes.  He just does his job because he likes solving problems.

For people that were very surprised at the meth use:  Meth is synonymous with "speed," and from my understanding it's basically like an incredibly enormous hit of Ritalin.  The aforementioned friend and others used it during undergrad because it gave them the ridiculous focus and drive to complete impossible math problems.  Plus, you don't have to sleep!  It's often lurking in the background of the hardcore engineering/math schools.

That said, it's highly addictive.  Stay away from it.

Finally, I've donated twice but always refused the reward.  But now that I've seen them, I'm totally getting a crayon art next time.

(oh, and for those asking about the login - the basic NYTimes.com account is free)

Update: I've been channeling down the stairs I carved out, because it turns out you can't drop the ceiling on them like you can with merely dug-out areas.  It's been slow going - channeling is brutal on FPS, and DF has crashed a few times after I've made substantial progress, which is irritating.

However, I've found a way to remedy my lack of a self-destruct switch.  I'm currently in the process of replacing the diamond moat with a massive chandelier made of ice, filled with magma, suspended directly over the workshops (and dining room below that).  One guess as to whether it will be held up by lever-activated supports.

What methods have you employed to defend against the most lethal kind of fortress attack?
(Tantrum spirals)

Masterwork/artifact furniture everywhere, mist generator, legendary cooks and brewers, and of course, I give each dwarf plenty of "personal time" to reflect on their thoughts, visit with friends, or otherwise lead happy and fulfilling lives.

Just kidding!  I work them like dogs.  I'm not satisfied unless it reads IDLERS: 0.

In a parallel universe, long ago, Fifteen Elvish Ways to Die burned itself into my brain.  It is a quaint and curious mirror image of the tale you have spun here...

That's interesting.  I wish I could do this one:  "A night out on the town. Within a leafy grove, Qwhuimkoln seeks to feed the swans, never seeing the school of piranha until too late."

Just realized one problem: my graphics pack doesn't use the background highlights.  See:



Obviously I could always change graphics packs, but just an FYI.