Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[kefkakrazy]

I'm working on a new fort design to combat the possibility of extreme traffic on staircases that my normal forts have. It's MUCH more organic, laid out in almost a haphazard way. Stone/wood/gem industry, for example, has its own wing of the fort, accessed from a separate staircase from the main entryway from everything else, but it has secondary stairwells that interconnect it with all of the other industry and with the living/dining quarters. Right now it looks like a craaaaaaazy alignment of stairs and corridors at random, but it seems to be working well, and it's probably more secure than my normal designs (since back then, an enemy succeeding at capturing the central stairwell essentially had the entire fortress).

EDIT: I have a map up on the Archive. http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-4882-attackhammer
It's missing a lot of the empty space, but it should still give a bit of an idea. One of the MAJOR design elements is that EVERYTHING starts up two z-levels below surface, so I can play with collapsity goodness without worrying about crushing things. I'm also going to start incorporating tunnels that go out from the fortress to other sections of the map-the half-complete tiny shack to the right of the walls is going to be the secure exit for one such tunnel, which will be used to complete a minor superproject without worry about safety. Security is a BIG concern for this one-I've already been assaulted by beak dogs and harpies, and this version has orcs modded in so I'm sure it won't be long before I see those smelly bastids.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

That's generally how my forts end up, but it's really more laziness and incredibly poor planning on my part.

[kefkakrazy]

I planned it this way. Essentially the goal is to ensure that the most common paths don't all go through one common stairwell-if a mason needs a drink, for example, the booze stockpile is something like 20 steps from the mason's workshop.

I should enclose my trade depot, though, and set it up with a tunnel entrance and a closeable access tunnel for dwarfies.

[GetAssista]

Essentially the goal is to ensure that the most common paths don't all go through one common stairwell

I use stairway grid for this.
Nothing beats vertical designs in terms of efficiency, except possibly noise issues

[Martin]

Nothing beats vertical designs in terms of efficiency, except possibly noise issues

Agreed. Put your bedrooms in a vertical stack along one side of the fortress and put a storage zone between the rooms and workshops - barrels, bins, bags, etc. appropriate for the production on that level. Put nobles on the bottom because who cares how long it takes for them to get to their bed.

[betamax]

Best planning tip you will ever receive (not so good for "organic" forts):
Every room, corridor, construction, etc., should be an odd number of tiles wide. This allows for symmetry in the fortress, as furniture takes up only 1 tile, everything can be centred perfectly. 3-tile wide corridors are sufficient for most purposes, 5-tile ones can be used in ultra-high traffic areas. 11x11 blocks (designated quickly just by pressing shift and a diagonal direction) are extremely versatile - they can be a perfect-sized dining room, a group of 6 walled workshops and a corridor between them, a block of 16 2x2 rooms with stair access at the four inner corners, a block of 4 5x5 rooms suitable as a noble's house. Unfortunately I lost my fortress to an orc invasion and am currently generating a new world, however when I have a fortress running, I shall show you the power of 11x11!

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

My plan is to not actually care what I build and where.

[kefkakrazy]

Part of the reasoning for the organic design is so that I can have it all interconnected, making it easier to flood. My normal design is so compartmentalized that A: EVERY DWARF has to go through the stairwell, and I don't know if stairwells work like open space does for traffic, and B:it's damn hard to flood. I'm having trouble with blood gnats irritating my dwarves and my stockpile, so I'm probably going to add hatch covers on the main entrance and doors to the food stockpile, but aside from that I want it to be set up so that one lever could flood the whole place.

Why?

Good question.

[Jurph]

Best planning tip you will ever receive (not so good for "organic" forts):
Every room, corridor, construction, etc., should be an odd number of tiles wide. This allows for symmetry in the fortress, as furniture takes up only 1 tile, everything can be centred perfectly. 3-tile wide corridors are sufficient for most purposes, 5-tile ones can be used in ultra-high traffic areas. 11x11 blocks (designated quickly just by pressing shift and a diagonal direction) are extremely versatile - they can be a perfect-sized dining room, a group of 6 walled workshops and a corridor between them, a block of 16 2x2 rooms with stair access at the four inner corners, a block of 4 5x5 rooms suitable as a noble's house. Unfortunately I lost my fortress to an orc invasion and am currently generating a new world, however when I have a fortress running, I shall show you the power of 11x11!

One of the best things about 11x11 is that you can easily use it as a feeder storeroom (or output storage) for several 5x5 workshops, like so:

Code: [Select]

  ww
 wEEw
 wEEw
hhhhhh
or

Code: [Select]

hhhhhh
EEwEEw
EEwEEw
wwwwww

Where "w" is a 5x5 workshop, "E" is part of an 11x11 room, "h" is a major hallway, and all rooms are separated by a single wall thickness.  5x5 is great because you can center any 3x3 workshop in it and know that it will be accessible; you can use the 16 tiles around the workshop for storing whatever that workshop produces, and the 11x11 room in the middle for holding input items. So you could use an 11x11 room for storing wood and then surround it with a bowyer's shop, a carpenter's shop, some craftsdwarf shops, or whatever you like.

An 11x11 stockpile limited to sweet pod storage could be surrounded with a farmer's workshop, a 5x5 barrel storage, a 5x5 bag storage, a kitchen, a room with a quern, and a still.  Use the "output" stockpiles to hold Dwarven Syrup, Dwarven Sugar, Dwarven Rum, and any meals... and then tell another food stockpile near your Dining Hall to take from all of the intermediate piles.

An 11x11 for pig tails, rope reeds, and any of the dye plants could have a Farmer's Workshop, a Loom, a Clothier, a Dyer, and some 5x5 finished goods stockpiles... or you could invert the process and make the 11x11 hold finished goods.  Then the floor space near the FW could hold pig tails and rope reeds; the floor space near the loom would hold thread; the floor space near the dyer would hold dye; and the floor space near the clothier would hold cloth.  With enough barrels and bins, and dedicated dwarves, you could minimize the hauling distance for related jobs, while keeping your fort well organized.

You can see me starting to take advantage of tiled 11x11 rooms in this fort and to a lesser extent in this one (although if you look closely you'll notice the food layout is based on tiled 5x5 plots).