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[MLP]

Describe or post a screen capture of the entrance to your fort. From the outside through and down to the main actual start of your fort. Do you dig down to the stone? do you channel or use stairs? Do you have an outer entrance and an inner entrance?

I'd like to know

[muldrake]

Describe or post a screen capture of the entrance to your fort. From the outside through and down to the main actual start of your fort. Do you dig down to the stone? do you channel or use stairs? Do you have an outer entrance and an inner entrance?

I'd like to know

I'm on a cliffside embark.  I have an entrance at the top of the mountain, or what is now the top after I got rid of the actual top.  I also have an entrance at the bottom to the trade depot, unconnected to the rest of the fort, with space for a drawbridge to close it off.  I also have another entrance next to the trade depot, but I have left walls keeping it closed off for now.

Eventually, I will close off the top entrance and put fortifications there, and build a mini-tower over it to turn into an entrance I can open and close.

Then, I will turn the trade depot into a sort of airlock, so I can open it to caravans while keeping the rest of the fortress closed, and when the caravan goes, close it off again and open the depot to the fort, so I can move any important items inside.  Similarly, I will have another airlock for the alternate entrance, which will mostly remain closed.

In the instance of invasion, I will close the bottom entrances and open the inconvenient, nearly useless tower "entrance" to cause invaders to try to path in that way, where they will be showered with arrows through fortifications both from the fortress itself and the mini-tower.

This is what it looks like now, though.



The security is absolutely terrible, with human visitors and bards and the like wandering in and mingling with citizens right in our main barracks.

And here's the trade depot "entrance" and the parallel entrance. 



The parallel entrance is going to be closed off entirely, although it may be replaced with a maze of death traps instead.  Probably closed off, then I'll get around to the traps later.

[MLP]

So you go for the open plan full exposure top floor method at first then fix it all up at a later date? Interesting.

I'll post mine later but essentially I like to channel down about five layers before having an open underground secondary entrance to the main fort. Then later on turn the entrance channels in to death chambers.

[muldrake]

So you go for the open plan full exposure top floor method at first then fix it all up at a later date? Interesting.

I'm not actually recommending it, I've just been whacking at this fort in a kind of disorganized manner, getting distracted, etc.  I hope I get around to executing my actually good ideas before disaster strikes.

[Thorfinn]

Last few have been really basic. One twisty, narrow pathable entrance that I can lock after all the bad guys are inside and melee guys drop down on them from hatches above (an archer can't get a line on anyone more than 3 tiles away, and hopefully, one of my melee guys is in his face anyway). A few 3-wide tunnels from the trade depot to wherever the caravans tend to show up with each entrance wagon-only. (Probably admits fliers, too -- don't know for sure yet, as that's not a pathable route to the soft creamy dwarves.) And a plethora of 2-wide s-trap exits (surface hatch to stop most cold, slow down destroyers, then non-destroyable (different Z) hatch to stop them) so gatherers, hunters and woodies can safely get to distant points on the surface and have a nice, close bolt-hole in case of emergency.

If you need screenshots, I'll make them, but I'd guess that's mostly pretty standard stuff.

[SkeleBret]

My entrances are always just 2x2 down-stairs in the dirt. I'm not creative at all and it's efficient.

[MLP]

My entrances are always just 2x2 down-stairs in the dirt. I'm not creative at all and it's efficient.

But what about your trade depot?! 😱

[Crashmaster]

I don't like my main entrance(s) to pass through soil. I like obsidian and planning out significant fortress features before ever digging into sub-surface rock.

The dwarves had to live and work predominantly out under the weather behind and on top of ugly silty clay walls sleeping (and being entombed) in increasingly cramped quarters constantly building stress and walls.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ten years later the fruit of their (max 60 pop.) labor was a smoothed obsidian monolith with four entrances once again welcoming all migrants (pictured from a later date with equipment used to wage the arboreal war)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Each tower is intended to house a different death trap. The only 'completed' one makes magma mist. Bridges direct traffic from each of the four drawbridge entrances through the trap(s) or down towards the fort. Access to the courtyard is from deep within the fort.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A few levels below the four entrances converge where more bridges can re-direct invader flow back into the traps if needed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

From the center of the circle ramps lead a few more levels down to the welcome center. The bridges are over an 11-z drop but are more for re-locating corpse parts and death items out of the traders' sight and closer to their disposal zones then inflicting enemy damage.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A few more levels down the entrance passes through the main barracks which is sandwiched by the library and the tavern where foreigners are permitted.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The expense of the rough adamantine bridges is to mitigate the possible damage done by Fortress Defense Mod's hellfire imps' hellfire breath vaporizing bridges while the military is fighting on them.
Once the arboreal war has been won a ring of animal watch towers is planned.

[SkeleBret]

But what about your trade depot?! 😱

Built above-ground, directly next to the stairs, and walled/bridged off. I hardly ever trade though, so I wouldn't miss it too much

[Urist McVoyager]

I tend to embark on flat, level terrain. Initially it's just a 2x2 or 3x3 stairwell straight down seven levels. It gets surrounded by walls and a drawbridge and roofed over while walls get built to create a fifty by fifty courtyard. After that, I might expand the initial keep into a proper ten by ten building. The defensive walls themselves are three tiles thick and three tiles high to maximize height without losing archer range. The entrance itself is the usual castle affair: A bridged over pit with bars on the front and back as a portcullis. There's a bridge up a level as well, with an access point for dwarves to "dump" rocks on that bridge to load the murder hole. If enemies come, they get trapped between the bars, dropped into an oubliette, and then hit with rocks from above. 

[Bumber]

http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-12682-motavalstrangelove
Right under the embark wagon.

[Crashmaster]

Some pics are dead but enough remain to show a couple ways to repeatedly drop minecarts in magma pools for mist.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=115875.msg3578723#msg3578723

[Pirate Santa]

It's hard to define where the entrance of Tometowers is precisely, since its predominantly separate surface buildings spread all the way up a mountain.

Spoiler: Overview (click to show/hide)

Trade Plaza is a mess right now as I'm tearing it up to replace the rock salt with microcline so it all matches. I guess the true entrance would be Central Plaza, since that's where you leave the switchback road and enter the residential district, the warehouses, Hall of Industry, and the bastion. As well as eventually a dining hall, and the temples and library. Also no foreigners (outside of diplomats) will ever have reason to go beyond the tavern at the bottom of the slope.

Spoiler: Undergound peek (click to show/hide)

The Hall of Industry to the left, the entrance to the kitchens below it, and to the right the entrance to the warehouses and the emergency bunker beneath.

Spoiler: Bottom of the slope (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Bottom of the slope (click to show/hide)

View of the road, trade plaza, tavern, guest houses and tower. Upper floors of the tower are rooms for Hammerer and Captain of the Guard, several levels underground are the cells. Trade Depot is black bronze if I remember right. Guest houses have new doors after the wildfire of 8 destroyed the old ones.

Spoiler: Switchback road (click to show/hide)

A scenic climb up the mountain, with the memorial shrine to Zasit, greatest Axe Lord of his time in the foreground.

Spoiler: Residential District (click to show/hide)

The first of the apartments is going up now, soon the non-noteworthy population will have their own rooms too.
One of our honored founders perished fighting a forgotten beast, his house (and tomb) has been sealed, and will remain exactly as he left it. It's the one with gold statues of him out front.

[BlackBronze]

Idk how to save an image of my fort without taking a massive screen-shot of my entire desktop so I'll just describe it to the best ability I can.

Mine was a volcano embark. In terms of being unique, I'd say it's alright. The main and sole reason for that particular location was because I wanted to ensure the safety of my dwarves, and a massive pit of boiling lava seemed to do just that perfectly. The volcano is also a great way to get rid of corpses quickly (This is important as you'll see later). The fort itself is not IN the volcano, but rather to the side, utilizing it more as a safely guarded entry way, complete with bridges spanning its length and archery towers carved into the sides of the volcano on either side of the bridge. On the far side of the volcano is a ballista staring down the length of the bridge for extra protection. At a moments notice, the bridge can be retracted, leaving only a 1-square wide path of obsidian, restricting enemy movement and forcing them to have to stare down the eye of the ballista "barrel". If the threat is too much, a secondary bridge can retract, cutting off access to the fortress completely. In the chance of possible starvation the gate to the volcano entryway can close simultaneously with the secondary bridge collapsing, trapping all enemies in the volcano, while my secondary entrance (normally reserved for traders stuck during a siege) can open to allow access to the outside world.
The reason for all the safety measures is because I lost my last fortress to a wave of zombies, and I wanted to get even. Currently, I'm racking up my economy and training as many dwarves in hammers and maces as I can. The next time a necromancer dares to show his face, he'll get slaughtered where he stands and his cursed books will be cast in obsidian for all of eternity.

[Bumber]

Idk how to save an image of my fort without taking a massive screen-shot of my entire desktop so I'll just describe it to the best ability I can.

For Windows, alt+print_screen. It may still be desirable to resize in Paint, depending how big your DF window is.