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Author Topic: Fortress Mode and Climbing  (Read 1748 times)

pisskop

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Fortress Mode and Climbing
« on: May 15, 2020, 06:45:16 pm »

What are the circumstances in which a dwarve (or wild beast, or invader) will climb?

For instance, will a monster climb a wall to get into a whole in a cavern wall?  Will a dwarf climb out of said hole to chase down a web?

I channeled out a farm area, with the intention of marking the farmland as a pool area to wet it.  The dwarves didnt climb out of the pit when I sent them in to remove the ramps....

Will monsters climb diagonally?  For instance, if I wall off a hole, but such as a flier could path though it by moving up 1 and over 1 tile, could a climber get in, and would an interested ai do so via climbing?

What about pit traps or dry moats?  Will mons be able to climb out of a pit trap or dry moat if the bridge retracts instead of pulls upward?
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anewaname

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2020, 09:34:51 pm »

Hostile creatures (invaders, not wildlife) will only switch to climbing mode if they see a target that cannot be walked to. Military dwarfs that are on-duty will also do this. Interested mega-beasts do not need line-of-sight and will find any path (but I suspect some cannot climb).

Citizens who are trapped will climb when they have a life-threatening need (starving or dehydrating, drowning), and maybe for some other reasons. Since about 43.nn, they have been good at climbing out of most death traps, but sometimes it seems some dwarfs are quicker to climb than others.

Will monsters climb diagonally?  For instance, if I wall off a hole, but such as a flier could path though it by moving up 1 and over 1 tile, could a climber get in, and would an interested ai do so via climbing?
I think the ai would be use this path for invaders with line-of-sight on a victem, and for mega-beasts who are interested in getting into your fort.

Not sure about the bridge. It might matter if they are an invader that can see a target.
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HungThir

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2020, 11:28:26 pm »

i think livestock will climb when fleeing -- i'm always finding sheep and such stuck in trees when i build surface/forest forts.  not sure if this also applies to wildlife, because i don't tend to notice them "missing" and so i don't go looking for them

some creatures, like giant cave spiders, you would assume climb by default.  i'm not sure if they do, because i haven't watched, but if you're building in caverns i would simply assume anything climbable will be open to spiders and other crawly-things, and plan accordingly
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Bumber

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2020, 11:49:39 pm »

some creatures, like giant cave spiders, you would assume climb by default.  i'm not sure if they do, because i haven't watched, but if you're building in caverns i would simply assume anything climbable will be open to spiders and other crawly-things, and plan accordingly

They probably climb around randomly without a target, like cats do.
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2020, 03:46:13 am »

Yes, there are some critters that climb about the caverns naturally, like troglodytes, crundles, and GCS.

As HungThir assumed, creatures tend to climb when fleeing as well as attacking, although they're often not very smart about it: climbing a tree to get away from a Kea isn't particularly useful.

It's said smoothed natural rock is impossible to climb, but I've also seen a claim of a zombie managing to get out of a smoothed moat after repeatedly trying for many years.

I would expect a critter to be able to climb out of a hole with an open bridge above, but not out of one with a closed bridge, but haven't got any proof.
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TheyreAllGullyDorfs

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2020, 10:08:20 am »

I think anything climbing will climb diagonally.  My source is messing around in adventure mode.
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Dishmab

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2020, 11:30:39 am »

i used to try to get dwarves to mill around in my burrows by not designating a meeting area. they would climb all over the place, usually getting stuck on roof tops.
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pisskop

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2020, 11:39:32 am »

Id love to get a climbing course set up.  Anyone gotten their darves to climb reliably?

Swimming can be done by dropping dwarves into a pool with a mix of 3-4 depth water that they can path out of.
Dodging and blocking and armor user can be done with a trap room.

Even puppy boxes and colossi/undead archery exists.  Climbing seems like a natural thing to dorf out.
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2020, 12:17:11 pm »

Dropping dorf down one Z level ought to get them to climb out, with little risk of getting hurt, since the fix that should get them to climb if they have to (it certainly works for miners at times, and should work for dorfs stuck in trees, although I've gotten a feeling getting stuck in a tree because it reconfigured itself (i.e. grew) seems to result in a "cannot find path" message and the dorfs not climbing (the step ladder still stands below them), but maybe I haven't waited long enough (I teleport them to the side and let them drop down).

Note the caveats: I haven't tried to construct a dropper.
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Bumber

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2020, 02:12:56 am »

Swimming can be done by dropping dwarves into a pool with a mix of 3-4 depth water that they can path out of.

I think having them ride a minecart through water also works.
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A wizard has turned you into a wagon. This was inevitable (Y/y)?

DrCyano

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Re: Fortress Mode and Climbing
« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2020, 08:22:36 pm »

My experience has been that Dorfs only climb when it's the only way you get themselves killed in creative ways (like climbing your outer wall to club a zombie hoard with a crossbow).

As for swimming, I discovered that Dorfs will dive into a pool a few z levels down if it represents a shortcut. For example, you can train your lumberjacks to swim  by opening a pool to the sky that is closer to your wood stockpile than the stairs.
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A documented Dwarf Fortress v0.47.xx game combining Fort Mode and Adventure Mode.