Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.34:Danger room

2013-11-16T00:57:57Z

Chessnuts: /* Loadout */

{{quality|Exceptional|23:14, 17 April 2011 (UTC)}}
{{projects}}{{av}}

"Danger room" is a term used to describe a place your dwarves go to be continually poked by [[Trap#Upright Spear/Spike|upright spikes]]. This serves two purposes: first, it trains your dwarves in [[Combat_skill#Equipment_skills|Armor User skill]], [[Combat_skill#Equipment_skills|Shield User]], [[Combat skill|Dodger]], [[Combat skill|Fighter]] and to some extent also [[Combat_skill#Weapon_skills|weapons skills]] (if they manage to block attacks with them). Second, it helps keep your [[doctor]]s' skills from rusting and your [[coffin]] makers busy (rarely).

Danger rooms are a useful feature and a great workaround for regular [[training]] being too slow and difficult for new players to figure out. Some people consider this an [[exploit]], because it requires next to no effort to build your dwarves combat skills to legendary.{{bug|3855}}

== Loadout ==
The first design challenge is to provide the proper level of lethality. Do '''not''' use actual spears. Do '''not''' use menacing spikes even if they are made of wood. Only use training spears. Up to ten spears may be placed in a single tile. If you want a lot of coverage and don't have much wood, one will suffice. The more spears are in a tile, the faster a danger room will work. Ten training spears will do just as much damage as one training spear, with the only difference being that bruised ears and broken thumbs might appear a little faster.

Additionally, it is *very* important to make sure that the dwarves you plan to train are indeed wearing armor and are holding a weapon. Dwarves that are not wearing armor are very likely to be skewered, fatally. (Conversely, dwarves with armor are extremely unlikely to suffer any health problems.) For the same reason, a corridor of tightly-closed doors before the danger room is encouraged to prevent unnecessary puppy killing.

== Access control ==
The second design challenge is access control. If you want your entire fortress to <strike>spank</strike> face these perils, then put the spikes in a major hallway. If you want only your military to be trained, put them in or behind a barracks, a patrol route, or some other place civilians are unlikely to go.

== Triggers ==
The third challenge is providing an appropriate triggering frequency. Some signal must be sent to raise and lower the spikes while the dwarves are on them. This can be accomplished by hooking the spikes to a [[lever]] or [[pressure plate]], or by using a [[repeater]]. If a lever is used, then it should be near the room, so you can keep track of what's happening in the room while still knowing where the control lever is.

== Results ==
The idea is that as dwarves stand on the trapped tiles, every time the spikes come out of the ground due to the trap being activated, they gain skills in whatever stops it - armor if their armor deflects it, weapon if they block it with their weapon, shield for shield, and dodging if they jump out of the way. Crossbow-armed dwarves gain skill as hammerdwarves, not marksdwarves, because they are using the crossbow as a melee weapon to block. As written here [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=85894.0], pick-armed dwarves get trained into ''legendary miners''.

== Specific Design Suggestions ==

Here are a few specific designs.

=== One Tile, extendable===

If you set the [[Door|door]] to locked, the soldiers will only have the spike tile as their barracks, for great efficiency. They will all stack on this one tile and train. Set the door to ''Internal'' to adjust the size of the barracks as needed. You might have to unlock the door for new squads so they can path to the armor stand once.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
═════╗ ^ Spikes
^+♫║ + Door
═════╝ ♫ Armor stand}}

=== Simple Minimal Manual Danger Room ===

Create a 1x4 room with each of the four tiles having upright spikes with training spears in them. A full room will of course require making 40 training spears. As always you can load each tile with less than 10 training spears if you need to, but the more you use the faster they train and considering that you have to use the room manually it makes sense to make the training as fast as possible. Place a door on the room and forbid pets, or pasture all the pets. (See [[#Caveats]] below.) Place a lever outside and link the lever to all four spike sets.

Equip your units with full armor, a shield, and ideally make them all wear a cloak to help protect the face. (The cloak will actually stop most of the hits to the body.) Manually order your unit(s) to move to the far tile of the room and lock the door once they're all in. (They won't all move to this tile, but they should move to within 3 tiles of it fitting them all into the room.) (It does not appear to matter if you have a multitude of dwarves packed into 4 tiles.) Add a (P)ull The Lever task to the lever and set it to (r)epeat. Leave the dwarves inside until they start to get unhappy from the long "patrol" then let them leave. This trains the Fighter and Shield skills very quickly. However, if you want to quickly train Weapon skills, make the dwarves unequip the shield before entering the room.

A larger than 1x4 room may work better for training dodging but this is unverified. You can easily enlarge your danger room without constructing excessive training spears and mechanisms by installing [[statue]]s along the walls. Dwarves will dodge into statue tiles, then step back out onto the spiked floor for more "training".

=== Simple Semi-Automated Danger Room ===

As above, but use [[Scheduling]] along with a [[Burrow]] to cycle trainees through the room. Define a burrow that covers the inside of the room, then schedule some number of dwarves per unit to "Defend The Burrow". Add a repeating pull the lever task to the lever. The dwarves will rotate through the danger room according to schedule. The constant lever pulling will of course require a dwarf.

=== Fully Automated Danger Room ===

Same as above, but use a [[Repeater]] to eliminate the need for a lever pulling dwarf. The advantage is that you no longer need a dwarf to pull the lever repeatedly, but a repeater is somewhat complex to set up and is slower than a repeating lever pull task.

=== Semi or Fully Automated Fort-Wide Danger Room ===

Instead of placing the training spear "spikes" in a room, place them in a high traffic area of the fort and use one of the methods above to set up repeating extension/retraction of the spikes. Over time this will expose most or all of your dwarves to the spear attacks, but it is advisable to make sure that all of the dwarves are at the very minimum wearing a cloak to protect them from injury, and ideally wearing full armor.

Doing this will probably kill all of your animals eventually unless they're confined to a [[Pasture]] or otherwise confined, and will eventually kill all infants (and possibly children) unless child-carrying females and children somehow forbidden from the area using a [[Burrow]].

=== Coinstar Room ===

As a complement to a standard danger room, a '''coinstar''' or '''popcorn''' room trains [[armor user]] skills via repeated (unblockable/undodgeable) impacts of small objects such as [[coin]]s. The safest training material is currently thought to be coins ([[DF2012:Exploit#Infinite_Adamantine_.2F_Metals|split]] into stacks of 15 or smaller), though [[seed]]s, [[sock]]s, [[leaves]], and other small, light objects will work. To construct a coinstar room, first dig a small 1x2 trench, then build two 1x1 '''retracting''' bridges on the '''floor''' of the trench (shown in green), and connect them to a [[lever]], [[pressure plate]], or [[repeater]] (not shown).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
z-1 ║ z
╔═╗ ║ +++
║[#0D0]╬║ ║ +▼+
║[#0D0]╬║ ║ +▼+
╚═╝ ║ +++
}}

Please note that, although the bridges cover the up ramps they are still usable; adding another way out is not necessary. Do, however, remove any loose stones or other large objects in the trench. You should also avoid constructing any extraneous tunnels within 3 tiles on the bridge level, or your dwarves may stand there instead of in the coinstar room when you issue them a station order.

To fill your coinstar room, designate a [[dump]] zone on the top level immediately adjacent to the trench. After making sure that all other dump zones are disabled (and all other refuse is *not* marked for dumping), dump 100-1000 small objects into the pit (more objects = faster training). Once filled, disable the dump zone and verify that your dwarves didn't dump any platinum bars or loose stone into the pit.

To activate the coinstar room, station a dwarf in the chamber, then have another dwarf {{k|P}}ull the Lever/R, trigger the pressure plate, or engage the repeater. The objects will be flung about in the chamber, hitting your dwarf repeatedly and providing 9 armor-user xp per impact and increase in all "military" stats. When training is complete, remove your trained dwarf with a station order (canceling the original station order will cause your trainee to drop any worn out clothes, which might prove deadly to future occupants).

Training a single dwarf at a time is recommended because only the "top" unit in a stack will be hit by flying objects. This method does not train weapons, shield use, or dodging, but it quickly trains Armor User and, more importantly, increases vital stats. There are some advantages to using slightly larger objects such as cats (injuries train [[DF2012:Attribute#Willpower|willpower]] and [[hospital]] staff), however [[DF2012:Health_care#Infection|infection]]s from broken ears can prove quite deadly. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=117154.msg3659504#msg3659504 this thread] for more useful information (such as how to split coins from stack of 1000 to 1000 stacks of 1, passsive training method and dangers of it.

===Pool 'o' Fun===

It's possible to simultaneously train [[Swimmer|swimming]] by arranging a means of flooding your danger room and locking your military within. (Depths less than 7/7 are recommended.)

== Caveats ==
Note that pets will attempt to follow soldiers into the danger room, getting perforated in the process, and leaving corpses and causing [[thought|unhappy thoughts]]; if there is a refuse stockpile or tomb that the pet can go to, a flood of job cancellation messages may result until the spikes cease their triggering. The same applies if a soldier who is carrying an infant enters the danger room.

Pets (even non-grazers) can be put in a [[pasture]] for their safety. Alternately, having the door to the room set to "Keep tightly closed" prevents ''most'' pet deaths, but one may occasionally slip through.

To deal with the babies, you can either avoid recruiting (married) females into your military, or you can create male-only squads which you send into the danger room. Once you have dwarves who are very experienced in dodging and shield use, they will be able to train other dwarves much faster than if you simply have beginners training with each other. You can disband your male-only squads when the males are experienced enough, and mix them into all of your squads so that they can help train the rest of the soldiers.

Some players consider children a waste of resources. Letting them get speared does provide extra practice for your medical dwarves, but you'll also need extra tombs, and to make sure there's enough alcohol on hand so the parents can quickly drown their sorrows - legendary fighters cause [[Fun|legendary tantrum spirals]].

==Mod exploitation of danger rooms==
If you are not averse to cheating-by-modding, change the required skill for a weapon in the weapon raw text. Dwarves will gain that skill while in a danger room at the same prodigious rate. In this way it is possible to train legendary marksdwarves or even teachers using training axes.

==Note==
Keep in mind that after using the danger room(for long period of time),your dwarves will sooner or later grow attached on a item. Particularly not good when all of your military dwarves are wearing civilian clothing unless it is an utmost emergency...

{{Military}}

v0.34:Soap

2013-01-05T02:13:32Z

Chessnuts: /* Bugs */ cancels clean self, area inaccessable

{{quality|Exceptional|01:35, 24 May 2012 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{Buggy}}

'''Soap''' is a particularly useful type of [[bar]] used for [[clean self|personal cleaning]], which increases happiness ("recently took a soapy bath") and lowers the chances of an [[infection]] in case they are [[wound]]ed, and for cleaning [[wound]]s in [[hospital]]s, preventing infections from developing. It is thus a vital commodity in dwarven [[health care]], and one not traded in [[caravan]]s: you're going to have to make some soap yourself.

Soap is made of two components, [[lye]] and either [[tallow]] or [[rock nut oil]], and occupies a dedicated workshop, the [[soap maker's workshop]]. It thus has a somewhat complicated production process; lye must be processed at an [[ashery]] from [[ash]], which in turn must be burned at a [[wood furnace]] from [[wood]] logs that must first be [[woodcutting|cut down]]. [[Tallow]] is rendered from [[fat]] from butchered [[creature|animal]]s at a [[kitchen]], requiring either [[livestock]] or [[hunting]] activities, while rock nut oil must be [[pressing|pressed]] from rock nuts at a [[screw press]], which first requires [[plant gathering|gathering]] up or [[farming|growing]] [[quarry bush]]es and then processing them into bags. One unit of tallow or oil plus one of lye creates a single bar of finished soap.

Dwarves do not require soap to clean [[contaminant]]s such as mud and blood from themselves - if necessary, they will use murky pools, artificial pools of water, brooks, or a [[well]]. However, using soap will often generate the happy [[thought]] "recently took a soapy bath". It is possible to construct bath-houses (rooms containing pools of water, a soap stockpile, and perhaps a few nice statues) so dwarves living deep underground need not venture to dangerous cave pools or surface brooks to clean off a little mud or bloodstain. For cleaning wounds and preventing infection after [[surgery]], however, [[hospital]]s should be kept stocked with a small amount of soap. Soap will get used up as dwarves wash themselves; the current rate seems to be 1/10 a bar per washing, so each bar lasts quite a while.

Dwarves have an internal "dirtiness" level, which gets lowered when they have a bath, lowered further when they have a soapy bath and slowly builds up over time. This "dirtiness" value is connected to the chance of getting an infection if the dwarf is injured, making soap useful as a preventative as well as treatment.

A convenient way to keep an emergency stockpile of soap is to use it as a building material for workshops or constructions such as walls. When/if you need more soap, you can deconstruct and get the soap bars back. Since soap in a hospital is reserved for hospital use, this is especially useful in case you start to produce soap before setting up a hospital.

== Bugs ==
* If you have a [[stack]] of lye (bought via [[embark]] or from a [[caravan]]) then the entire stack will be used up to make a single bar of soap. {{Bug|2117}}

* Dwarves attempting to clean self often generate the job cancellation message "area inaccessible" when trying to clean a missing part of their body. This is solved by forbidding soap from the stocks menu or by increasing the maximum limit for soap from the hospital, which prohibits it for common use.
{{Industry}}
{{Category|Healthcare}}
{{Category|Materials}}

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-09-09T00:29:15Z

Chessnuts: /* Sloped Walls */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

A notable difference in the current version is that up/down stairs can be constructed much more freely — even downward into an open space — so the bottom-up building techniques of older versions can be made more efficient.

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "successful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This often happens if you designate an entire rectangle of walls all at once. If your masons happen to build the non-corners first, they will have no route to the corners! This is shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probably not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is a wall you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, your dwarves can build the unconstructed corner walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

You can also prevent this situation from arising in the first place by designating the rectangle in pieces. For example, if you designate only the north and south walls first, the corners will all be constructed; then you can designate the east and west walls.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

Another cause for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block their exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In these situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would prefer not to deconstruct the wall(s), although that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there....

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there because of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarf, X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blocky, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for aesthetic purposes, unless you have built this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in your pyramid.

Three trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requiring only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy simply walks onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level. The biggest disadvantage of stonefall traps is that once triggered, they have to be manually reset by a dwarf. This leads civilian dwarfs right to a wounded enemy.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stands upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or maybe something even more fun! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians built. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR}}

Of course, you will also want to repeat this process on the higher floors.

===Tombs===

The actual purpose of a pyramid is, after all, the burying of nobles. To place a [[tomb]] in the pyramid, use the keys {{k|b}} and {{k|n}}. Choose where you want it, and assign it to a noble or a well-respected dwarf in your fortress.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-06T23:25:33Z

Chessnuts:

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for asthetic purposes, unless you have build this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in our pyramid.

Four trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requireing only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy would simply walk onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stnads upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or mabye something even funner! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians did. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR}}

===Tombs===

The actual purpose of a pyramid is after all, the burying of nobles. To place a [[tomb]] in the pyramid, use the keys {{k|b}} and {{k|n}}. Choose where you want it, and designate it to a noble or other well respected dwarf in your kingdom.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

User:Chessnuts

2010-06-06T23:10:51Z

Chessnuts:

{{Dwarfpage
|Title=Chessnuts, "Chessnuts The Elder", Mayor
|Thoughts=Chessnuts has been [[cv:Thought|quite content]] lately. He admired his own finely crafted dwarf fortress article lately. He was disgusted by a dwarf fortress crash recently. He was bothered by the sun lately. He has been annoyed by vermin. He was awoken by noise while sleeping lately. He talked with 3 friends lately. He is gladdened by a recent kill.
|Worship=He is a faithful worshipper of [[God]] the creator of everthing.
|Citizen=He is a citizen of the [http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Rocky Mountians]. He is a member of the fortress TombRoof. He is the [[mayor]] of The TombRoof Fortress.
|Age=He is of unknown age. His ears are impared. His lower back is slightly bruised.
|Appearance=He is tall and thin. His piercing blue-grey eyes are bloodshot. His hair is brown.
|PhysicalPositive=He has a large amount of unexpected strength,
|PhysicalNegative=but he is serverly lacking in endurence.
|Preferences=Chessnuts likes dwarf fortress, board games, [[cv:silver|silver]], the [[cv:color|color]] blue, and [[cv:bat|bats]] for their haunting cries. When possible, he prefers to consume [[cv:cow milk|cow milk]] and [[cv:wild strawberry|wild strawberries]]. He absolutley detests [[cv:rat|rats]].
|MentalPositive=He has a very mathimatical brain and an incredible longterm memory,
|MentalNegative=but he would be unable to remember what he did yesterday.
|Character=He lives at a relaxed pace. He is slightly cautious to risk and excitement. He is slow to anger. He does not have a great artistic sensitivity. He is slightly assertive. He is usually happy but rarely enthusiastic. He is entranced by riddles and puzzles and loves to debate issues and ideas. He delights in chaos and disorder. He is slightly impulsive.
|Description=A medium-sized [[cv:dwarf|dwarf]] prone to great ambition.
}}

A diary of the fortress TombRoof

12th Moonstone, year 205

After an unplanned comment to the king, I found myself being "appointed" the mayor of a third rate colony, worringly named TombRoof. I came there to replace the former mayor, after he was convicted of insurgency. The former mayor was found guilty of conspiring with the humans, about the takeover of this outpost. Most horribly, he was even planning the city to be occupied by them! Everything, and I do mean everything was built above ground! Even so, there were allready 80 or so dwarves there, making the transition back to the underground infeasible as there was already to much time invested in the aboveground construction.

14th Moonstone, year 205

I found myself walking along, outdoors (shudder- I have no idea how the current occupants got used to this), and I am beginging to actually respect this palce. Despite all of it's obvious flaws, it may actually be an interesting fortress to run.

25th Moonstone, year 205

I designated a massive mining operation on the lowest level lmy dwarves would dare to go. Also, the military took out a small cavern of skeletal antmen today without any trouble. I've decided that no animals beside our pets should be allowed to exist in my city.

21st Granite, year 206

It's been a fairly uneventful winter. To make things more interesting, I've siezed everything from the elven carrivan.

User:Chessnuts

2010-06-05T21:11:59Z

Chessnuts:

{{Dwarfpage
|Title=Chessnuts, "Chessnuts The Elder", Mayor
|Thoughts=Chessnuts has been [[cv:Thought|quite content]] lately. He admired his own finely crafted dwarf fortress article lately. He was disgusted by a dwarf fortress crash recently. He was bothered by the sun lately. He has been annoyed by vermin. He was awoken by noise while sleeping lately. He talked with 3 friends lately. He is gladdened by a recent kill.
|Worship=He is a faithful worshipper of [[God]] the creator of everthing.
|Citizen=He is a citizen of the [http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Rocky Mountians]. He is a member of the fortress TombRoof. He is the [[mayor]] of The TombRoof Fortress.
|Age=He is of unknown age. His ears are impared. His lower back is slightly bruised.
|Appearance=He is tall and thin. His piercing blue-grey eyes are bloodshot. His hair is brown.
|PhysicalPositive=He has a large amount of unexpected strength,
|PhysicalNegative=but he is serverly lacking in endurence.
|Preferences=Chessnuts likes dwarf fortress, board games, [[cv:silver|silver]], the [[cv:color|color]] blue, and [[cv:bat|bats]] for their haunting cries. When possible, he prefers to consume [[cv:cow milk|cow milk]] and [[cv:wild strawberry|wild strawberries]]. He absolutley detests [[cv:rat|rats]].
|MentalPositive=He has a very mathimatical brain and an incredible longterm memory,
|MentalNegative=but he would be unable to remember what he did yesterday.
|Character=He lives at a relaxed pace. He is slightly cautious to risk and excitement. He is slow to anger. He does not have a great artistic sensitivity. He is slightly assertive. He is usually happy but rarely enthusiastic. He is entranced by riddles and puzzles and loves to debate issues and ideas. He delights in chaos and disorder. He is slightly impulsive.
|Description=A medium-sized [[cv:dwarf|dwarf]] prone to great ambition.
}}

12th Moonstone, year 205

After an unplanned comment to the king, I found myself being "appointed" the mayor of a third rate colony, worringly named TombRoof. I came there to replace the former mayor, after he was convicted of insurgency. The former mayor was found guilty of conspiring with the humans, about the takeover of this outpost. Most horribly, he was even planning the city to be occupied by them! Everything, and I do mean everything was built above ground! Even so, there were allready 80 or so dwarves there, making the transition back to the underground infeasible as there was already to much time invested in the aboveground construction.

14th Moonstone, year 205

I found myself walking along, outdoors (shudder- I have no idea how the current occupants got used to this), and I am beginging to actually respect this palce. Despite all of it's obvious flaws, it may actually be an interesting fortress to run.

25th Moonstone, year 205

I designated a massive mining operation on the lowest leve lmy dwarves would dare to go. Also, the military took out a small cavern of skeletal antmen today without any trouble. I've decided that no animals beside our pets should be allowed to exist in my city.

User:Chessnuts

2010-06-05T21:10:53Z

Chessnuts:

{{Dwarfpage
|Title=Rhenaya Libashsedil, "Rhenaya The Axe-Angel", Axelady
|Thoughts=Chessnuts has been [[cv:Thought|quite content]] lately. He admired his own finely crafted dwarf fortress article lately. He was disgusted by a dwarf fortress crash recently. He was bothered by the sun lately. He has been annoyed by vermin. He was awoken by noise while sleeping lately. He talked with 3 friends lately. He is gladdened by a recent kill.
|Worship=He is a faithful worshipper of [[God]] the creator of everthing.
|Citizen=He is a citizen of the [http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Rocky Mountians]. He is a member of the fortress TombRoof. He is the [[mayor]] of The TombRoof Fortress.
|Age=He is of unknown age. His ears are impared. His lower back is slightly bruised.
|Appearance=He is tall and thin. His piercing blue-grey eyes are bloodshot. His hair is brown.
|PhysicalPositive=He has a large amount of unexpected strength,
|PhysicalNegative=but he is serverly lacking in endurence.
|Preferences=Chessnuts likes dwarf fortress, board games, [[cv:silver|silver]], the [[cv:color|color]] blue, and [[cv:bat|bats]] for their haunting cries. When possible, he prefers to consume [[cv:cow milk|cow milk]] and [[cv:wild strawberry|wild strawberries]]. He absolutley detests [[cv:rat|rats]].
|MentalPositive=He has a very mathimatical brain and an incredible longterm memory,
|MentalNegative=but he would be unable to remember what he did yesterday.
|Character=He lives at a relaxed pace. He is slightly cautious to risk and excitement. He is slow to anger. He does not have a great artistic sensitivity. He is slightly assertive. He is usually happy but rarely enthusiastic. He is entranced by riddles and puzzles and loves to debate issues and ideas. He delights in chaos and disorder. He is slightly impulsive.
|Description=A medium-sized [[cv:dwarf|dwarf]] prone to great ambition.
}}

12th Moonstone, year 205

After an unplanned comment to the king, I found myself being "appointed" the mayor of a third rate colony, worringly named TombRoof. I came there to replace the former mayor, after he was convicted of insurgency. The former mayor was found guilty of conspiring with the humans, about the takeover of this outpost. Most horribly, he was even planning the city to be occupied by them! Everything, and I do mean everything was built above ground! Even so, there were allready 80 or so dwarves there, making the transition back to the underground infeasible as there was already to much time invested in the aboveground construction.

14th Moonstone, year 205

I found myself walking along, outdoors (shudder- I have no idea how the current occupants got used to this), and I am beginging to actually respect this palce. Despite all of it's obvious flaws, it may actually be an interesting fortress to run.

25th Moonstone, year 205

I designated a massive mining operation on the lowest leve lmy dwarves would dare to go. Also, the military took out a small cavern of skeletal antmen today without any trouble. I've decided that no animals beside our pets should be allowed to exist in my city.

User:Chessnuts

2010-06-05T20:48:14Z

Chessnuts:

User:Chessnuts

2010-06-05T20:46:27Z

Chessnuts:

User:Chessnuts

2010-06-05T20:45:58Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-05T20:21:41Z

Chessnuts: /* Tombs */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for asthetic purposes, unless you have build this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in our pyramid.

Four trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requireing only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy would simply walk onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stnads upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or mabye something even funner! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians did. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR}}

===Tombs===

The actual purpose of a pyramid is after all, the burying of nobles. To place a [[tomb]] in the pyramid, use the keys {{k|b}} and {{k|n}}. Choose where you want it, and designate it to a noble or other well respected dwarf in your kingdom.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-05T20:21:16Z

Chessnuts: /* Tombs */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for asthetic purposes, unless you have build this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in our pyramid.

Four trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requireing only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy would simply walk onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stnads upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or mabye something even funner! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians did. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR}}

===Tombs===

The actual purpose of a pyramid is after all, the burying of nobles. To place a tomb in the pyramid, use the keys {{k|b}} and {{k|n}}. Choose where you want it, and designate it to a noble or other well respected dwarf in your kingdom.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-05T20:20:38Z

Chessnuts: /* Sloped Walls */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for asthetic purposes, unless you have build this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in our pyramid.

Four trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requireing only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy would simply walk onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stnads upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or mabye something even funner! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians did. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR}}

===Tombs===

The actual purpose of a pyramid is after all, the burying of nobles. To place a tomb in the pyramid, use the keys ((k|b)) and ((k|n)). Choose where you want it, and designate it to a noble or other well respected dwarf in your kingdom.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31 Talk:Mega construction

2010-06-04T21:18:00Z

Chessnuts: /* Pyramid construct? */

I've taken the liberty of editing this page to make it look a little more like the rest of the wiki, and have sorted out some formatting issues, added some little notes, cleaned up the spelling and grammar and added more internal links. --[[User:DrMelon|DrMelon]] 15:01, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

No problem- Thanks, I'm the one who origenaly created this page, and I'm glad for your help. [[User:Chessnuts|Chessnuts]] 20:27, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Still need to add how to build a pyramid, but I have no time. Either someone else will finish it, or I shall tommorow.[[User:Chessnuts|Chessnuts]] 22:22, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to the person who added the diagrams- they were needed.[[User:Chessnuts|Chessnuts]] 19:58, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

==Pyramid construct?==

The pyramid design that is currently recommended (and given instructions for) seems to focus primarily on making a blocky pyramid.

However, I was able to improve upon the design, which culminated in the construction of this:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg

Should we update the pyramid mega construct instructions to reflect how slopes can alter the final image to be more like a pyramid? -- [[User:Canuhearmenow|Canuhearmenow]]

Sure- I think I'll go back and thell everyone how to make the pyramid awesome, like that. Great job by the way- You make that?[[User:Chessnuts|Chessnuts]] 20:40, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

I will go back and finish the "putting the "mega" in mega construction" part tommorow, or mabye the day after. As soon as possible. Any ideas?[[User:Chessnuts|Chessnuts]] 21:18, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T21:10:14Z

Chessnuts: /* Sloped Walls */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for asthetic purposes, unless you have build this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in our pyramid.

Four trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requireing only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy would simply walk onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stnads upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or mabye something even funner! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians did. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR}}

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T21:09:46Z

Chessnuts: /* Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction with all sorts of traps, and other enjoyable components. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].

===Traps===
[[Traps]] are built with a [[mechanism]] and other materials including [[stones]], [[weapons]] or [[cages]]. In a pyramid, traps are solely for asthetic purposes, unless you have build this pyramid large enough to contain your entire civilization. There are 6 things classified as traps, 3 of which I will teach you to use in our pyramid.

Four trap types:
# Stonefall trap
# Pressure plate
# Cage trap

Stonefall traps are the most basic. Requireing only a mechanism and an economic stone, they are the easiest and cheapest trap to build. The enemy would simply walk onto the trap, triggering it, releasing the large stone upon itself. These traps do minimal damage, usually only a small injury or two but are still useful in large quantities. These are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|T}}, and {{k|s}} buttons in that order. To enhance your pyramid, simply sprinkle one or two on each level.

Cage traps are only slightly more advanced than stonefall traps, requiring only a cage and a mechanism. They capture any enemy that stnads upon them.

Pressure plates are tiles that can be linked to building, that can (upon being stood on) trigger things like the release of the goblins in a cage, the release of magma or mabye something even funner! In pyramids, pressure plates are best used to release goblins within the pyramid.

===Sloped Walls===
Right now, you have a blocky pyramid, instead of a work of art like the Egyptians did. To smooth out the sides of your pyramid, build an up ramp on the side of each wall, including the corners. So, the bottom layer of the pyramid will now look like the diagram, with the R representing an up ramp amd the * representing the ground.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

RRRRRRRRRRRR
RWWWWWWWWWWR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RW**********WR
RWWWWWWWWWWR
RRRRRRRRRRRR}}

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:46:59Z

Chessnuts:

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

==Putting the "Mega" in Mega Construction==
So, you have now created an empty, blockey, probably very mismatched pyramid with all sorts of unvaluable stone types. In effect, you have created a construction. We are now going to create a Mega Construction. If any of you want to see what a really nicely made pyramid looks like, visit [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/Pyramid-1.jpg] or [http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk125/Frustratedsigh/PyramidwithObelisks-1.jpg].
== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31 Talk:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:40:41Z

Chessnuts: /* Pyramid construct? */

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:38:45Z

Chessnuts: /* My dwarves keep getting stuck! */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the trapped dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D}}

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:37:46Z

Chessnuts: /* My dwarves keep getting stuck! */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

This happens when they walk along the floor that is actually the wall below them, and then build a wall to block thier exit point, as shown in the diagram. In this diagram, W is a wall, * is a floor that is there becuase of the wall on the floor below, X is the up/down stairway and D is the idiot (dwarf).

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X*******WD}}

(Note that other arrangements of this can occur, such as

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

X****
*
*
*
W
D}}

and

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

XWD******}}

In theese situations, the walls on that level got built before the floors on that level. What you must do is designate floors to be built to the dwarf so he can get back down. In most situations, the dwarf built the wall in the correct place, so you would perfer not to deconstruct the wall(s), allthough that is also a suitable solution. Ideally, the floors reach the trapped dwarves before they have too much [[fun]] up there...

In the diagram, where * is a floor that is there becuase of a wall on the layer below, W is a wall, D is a dwarfand X is the up/down stairway and F is where you want to build the floors to save the dwarf.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\

FFFFFFFFFF
X*****W**D

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:28:18Z

Chessnuts: /* Troubleshooting */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

===My dwarves keep getting stuck!===

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:27:24Z

Chessnuts: /* Troubleshooting */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

==Troubleshooting==

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
===My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.===

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

===After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!===

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:25:02Z

Chessnuts: /* Troubleshooting */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

===Troubleshooting===

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
1. My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructed walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

2. After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

Once that floor is built, your dwarves should build the corner wall. Then, you will need to deconstruct the floor using the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys. Once that is complete, fill in that space with a wall.

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:22:27Z

Chessnuts: /* Troubleshooting */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

There comes a time in every dwarf's life when he says to himself - why not? ("Because it's insane" is not considered an automatic fail condition.) Be they magma waterfalls, huge castles, skyscrapers, great cathedrals, inverted pyramids, the Statue of Dwarferty (bonus points for magma eyes) - you can build anything!

While building a fully automated sacrificial temple to the dwarf god with magma-falls is quite an undertaking, the techniques are mostly the same as those to build a simple wall or tower, just putting one stone on top of or next to another - so we'll start there.

(And it's recommended you do too - start with some smaller projects, a defensive wall, and then some simple archer towers to secure your area, and build on your experience from there. It's very easy and frustrating to build a complete disaster. But fun is in the eyes of the player.) [http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and maybe the occasional magma pump. We'll start you off at the basics, and leave you to have [[fun]] once you get started.

==Basic Constructions==

The building blocks of every successful fortress. While in combination they can produce insane constructions, even by themselves, they are useful. Want to build a bridge across that river? Maybe build a wall to keep the goblins at bay? Even just build an up/down stairway to get from level to level? You've used basic constructions!

===Wall===

[[Wall]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in that order. Walls are simply tiles where no one can walk, but can be walked on, provided you are one layer above the wall. You can build floors off of them and they can be used to close in buildings that are built outside, or even can be used to wall in your fortress from the outside. The cost of one wall is equal to one economic building material.

===Floor===

[[Floor]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys in that order. They can be walked on, but no constructions (eg. walls, ramps, etc...) can be built upon them. However, things such as beds and doors can be put upon floors. Building a floor above an open tile outside will designate that tile inside, so furniture could be placed there. The cost of one floor is equal to one economic building material.

===Ramp===

[[Ramp]]s are built by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|r}} keys in that order. They can be used to get from level to level of your fortress and are similar to stairwells. If a floor is built on top of the Z level the ramp is placed on, the ramp will not be usable. The cost of one ramp is equal to one economic building material.

===Up/Down Stairway===

[[Up/down Stairway]]s are built by pressing the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|x}} keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most useful inside of buildings/fortresses that span multiple Z levels. They are useful for replacing ramps in situations where space is more valuable. They can easily be stacked upon each other to become something like a grand staircase. The cost of one Up/Down stairwell is equal to one economic building material.

===Fortifications===

[[Fortification]]s are made by the pressing of the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|F}} keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot their bolts out of fortifications, but liquids and the ranged weapons of your enemies can also pass through, making fortifications a very [[fun]] addition to your fortress. However, used correctly, they can be rather useful and productive to your "sucessful" fortress. Fortifications are used to protect your archerers from the melee attacks of your enemies, while the archerers shoot out their bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feature of Fortifications is the ability to allow [[projectiles]] to pass through them, allowing you to build a catapult behind a fortification and then shooting it at a Goblin Hammerer without the loss of any dwarven life. The cost of one Fortification is equal to the cost of one economic building material.

==Putting Everything Together==
There is a small learning gap from building a wall to building a giant statue of your mayor with fire in his eyes, but it is a small one and we will try to walk you through the process of a mega construction. So, now that you know how to build basic construction components and their uses, we're gonna learn how to build a mildly simple mega construction, namely a pyramid.

===Pyramid===
How to Build a Pyramid in Dwarf Fortress: A step by step tutorial

(When something goes wrong, scroll down to the troubleshooting section)

# Gather rocks. Lots of them.
# You will need a mildly large, outdoor area and many masons to build this
# Once you have those, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|w}} keys, in order to select the wall function.
# Use the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k}} and {{k|h}} keys to select a 1 by 10 wall
# Choose the materials you wish to build this wall out of.
# Press enter to confirm your selection
# Repeat until you have the outer walls of the bottom layer of your pyramid, leaving a hole to enter.
# In the very center, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|u}} to build an up staircase
# Confirm your selection of material to build this out of.
# Once that is built, on the layer above this (2nd layer) build an up/down stairway, using the keys I have told you before.
# Once that is complete, press the {{k|b}}, {{k|C}}, and {{k|f}} keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the {{k|u}}, {{k|m}}, {{k|k and {{k|h}} keys, making the floor of this level not quite extend to the walls of the 1st level.
# You will need to build around the up/down stairway in the middle

In diagram, where W is a wall on the layer below, X is an up/down stairway, and + are where you want your wall on this level and * is where you want your floor, this is how it should look. (Unfortunately, in the diagram, the pyramid seems to curve inwards and is not perfectly straight. However, if you could picture the symbols in a grid pattern, you would see what I mean.)

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWWWW
W++++++++W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W+***X**+W
W+******+W
W+******+W
W++++++++W
WWWWWWWWWW}}

Notice how this level of the pyramid is slightly smaller than the ground floor. (Any questions, post on talk page.)

# On the third layer, build the initial up/down stairway
# Build the floor around it. This time, the ground area (Not including walls) will be only 6 by 6 tiles.
# Build the walls around that

Using the key in the diagram above, the 3rd layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWWWW
W++++++W
W+****+W
W+****+W
W+**X*+W
W+****+W
W++++++W
WWWWWWWW}}

# Once more, notice how this layer is slightly smaller than the layer above it.
# Next, extend that up/down stairway into the 4th level
# Build the walls and floors around it

The 4th layer will now look like this:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWWWW
W++++W
W+**+W
W+*X+W
W++++W
WWWWWW}}

# Note how there is only a 2 by two area of walkable tiles
# As we are now out of room, to close the pyramid off, we first build a down stairway on top of the layer containing the up/down stairway on the 4th layer.
# Build floors around that on the 5th layer.

The 5th layer will look like this, with the W representing the walls on the layer below, the U representing the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWW
W**W
W*UW
WWWW}}

# The pyramid is now complete.

===Troubleshooting===

I have gathered a list of problems and solutions. If the problem you are having is not listed here, ask about it in the talk section.

Problems:
# My dwarves do not construct the corner walls.

This is perfectly natural, as they have no route to them! Theese corner walls are most likely blocked by other constructed walls as shown in the diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway and U is an unconstructed wall.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
W******W
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
W******W
UWWWWWWU}}

As the unconstructed walls are blocked by the built ones, and the dwarves can not walk around them, because they are a few levels above ground, they are unconstructed. There will probablly not be an error message for these walls not being constructed. To fix this, use the {{k|d}} and the {{k|n}} keys in that order to designate that you want a construction removed. You will want to deconstruct one of the constructed wall next to each of the unbuilt ones. This will be shown in the next diagram, where W is a constructed wall, * is a floor, X is an Up/down stairway, U is an unconstructed wall, and N is the walls you want removed.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
UWWWWWWU
N******N
W******W
W******W
W***X**W
W******W
N******N
UWWWWWWU}}

Once those walls are removed, idealy your dwarves will build the unconstructe walls. Then you simply fill in the gaps that you just created.

# After that, my dwarves still do not build corner walls!

They only other possibility for this is that there is no ground to walk on. You will need to build a temporary floor, as shown in the diagram of a corner of a building. In the diagram, the U represents the unconstructed wall, W represents a constructed wall, * represents a floor, and F represents where you need to build a floor.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
WWWU
***F
***W
***W}}

== Mega Constructions ==
Mega constructions, also deemed megaprojects, can incorporate almost anything, whether it be beneficial to the fortress or not. The definition of a "mega construction" will vary by user. Visit the page [[DF2010:Megaprojects]] for some more ideas.

== Challenges ==
[[Challenges]] are when you decide to <s>hinder</s> make your fortress more interesting (and [[fun]]!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do.
Challenges have their own page.

== Notes ==
[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/40d:Mega_construction#ixzz0pMjWMxMK] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:06:40Z

Chessnuts: /* Troubleshooting */

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:06:18Z

Chessnuts: /* Troubleshooting */

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T20:01:13Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31 Talk:Mega construction

2010-06-04T19:58:45Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:17:41Z

Chessnuts: /* Mega Construcions */

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:17:18Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:16:18Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:13:09Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:12:19Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:11:06Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:09:29Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:08:46Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-04T00:08:04Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31 Talk:Mega construction

2010-06-03T22:22:32Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-03T22:21:46Z

Chessnuts:

Projectiles

2010-06-03T22:13:58Z

Chessnuts: Redirected page to DF2010:Ammunition

#REDIRECT [[cv:Ammunition ]]

Projectiles

2010-06-03T22:13:37Z

Chessnuts: Redirected page to DF2010:DF2010:Ammunition

#REDIRECT [[cv:DF2010:Ammunition ]]

v0.31:Construction

2010-06-03T22:11:39Z

Chessnuts:

{{av}}{{Quality|Tattered|23:24, 22 May 2010 (UTC)}}

'''Constructions''' are buildings such as {{L|floor|floors}}, {{L|wall|walls}} and {{L|stair|stairs}}. They can be made of any solid material, {{L|wood}}, {{L|stone}}, {{L|metal}} or {{L|glass}}, and are accessed by pressing the {{k|b}}uild-{{k|C}}onstruction keys.

See also [[DF2010:Mega construction]]

v0.31:Construction

2010-06-03T22:11:15Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Construction

2010-06-03T22:10:49Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Construction

2010-06-03T22:10:24Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Construction

2010-06-03T22:10:05Z

Chessnuts:

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-03T22:08:36Z

Chessnuts: /* Fortifications */

Up/down Stairway

2010-06-03T22:06:04Z

Chessnuts: Redirected page to Stairs

#REDIRECT [[stairs]]

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-03T22:05:00Z

Chessnuts: /* Up/Down Stairway */

v0.31:Mega construction

2010-06-03T22:04:17Z

Chessnuts: /* Up/Down Stairwell */