Style project

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v50.15 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Style projects add style, realism, or interest to a fort. They can be any size or complexity, from small and simple to huge and involved. While many megaprojects incorporate elements of style and there is definitely some overlap in the categories, megaprojects are defined primarily by their size while style projects are defined by their content. If you do something solely because "my dwarves would like it like that," chances are it is a style project.

Fantasy design

Choose your favorite dwarven fortress/stronghold/city from any kind of fiction with dwarves, and model your fortress after that. This can be used for other things too, Orzammar can be used to separate different jobs, Moria can be used for tons of defence, Ironforge looks amazing, and much, much more.

Decorating with Magma

Dig channels around important parts of your fort and fill them with magma! Make your noble's rooms and tombs far more impressive. Impress visitors with your fiery hot entry hall.

Mosaics

Mosaics make use of differently colored floor tiles to create large and possibly quite intricate images or patterns on your floors. Other than increased architectural wealth, mosaics have no practical use—a perfect style project.

The Dwarven Mosaic Assistant is useful for converting images into working mosaics. Regardless, it takes a long time to create piles of differently colored stone blocks, to dig out a huge room to put the mosaic in, and then to design and actually make the thing.

For extra style points, build your mosaic out of 1x1 retracting bridges, all linked to one or more levers. Pull a couple levers and the floor changes from one pattern to another. Or add in a repeater so your mosaic will be in constant motion!

Gargoyles

Make a bunch of statues out of the same sort of stone as your walls. Put the scariest ones (optionally scary=poor-quality) on top of your walls, like gargoyle decorations.

Hunter's Lodge

A hunter's lodge, with quarters for your animal slaying, food providing chaps, with 1x1 totem stockpiles along the walls to display impressive/exotic kills, a recessed fireplace (wood furnace), small table and chair clusters and a private stockpile of booze (only the best) and fine food. Give it a wood floor for that cozy feel, and maybe intersperse 1x1 stockpiles for tanned skins on the floor, and once a skin is placed, forbid it and remove the stockpile, leaving you with animal skin rugs!

Dwarven Bunker

Your traps have been bypassed, your bridge won't close, your military is on the ropes, and your dwarves are hiding. What do you do? Retreat to the dwarven bunker and seal the gate! There is NO way in or out (except a back way out to the outside) and it contains levers to seal off the fortress from the outside world. Also contains 60 beds, a well, space for some workshops, backup food and ale storage, and some backup stone and wood in storage. All that's needed to survive in the bunker, or to build a wagon and evacuate... while providing a staging point for future reclamation efforts! Warning: Alcohol storage may be difficult due to how your dwarves keep trying to drink the stores. Remember to forbid the alcohol and the barrels that hold it.

Vault 101

Create a dwarven bunker as above, but burrow some dwarves (bonus points if you use nobles and a single vampire) inside and seal it off. Add a chute for giving them food and booze and see how long it takes for them to all go insane.

The Divine Quarter

Hollow out a big, tall cavern and put a bunch of temples in it, one for each of the dwarven gods your dwarves worship. Each temple should look unique and different. The God of Fortresses looks like a fortress, God of Mountains like a natural cave, God of Dawn has a golden wall on the east side with clear glass in front, etc. Make it several Z-levels high of empty space (some temples are shorter, with arched roofs). Bonus points if you include a 10x10 mosaic of the God's Symbol on the floor of the temple.

The Gardens

Create an outdoor area showcasing the natural scenery, complete with winding dirt paths, ponds with islands and bridges, paved plazas, picnic tables and chairs, artfully placed statues, obsidian pavilions, marble columns, porcelain fountains, and so forth. Is the in-game effect exactly the same as plopping down a few random statues outside? Of course. Does it look nicer? If you use your imagination, sure!

Fisherman's Lodge

Along the lines of the hunter's lodge, but also including a fishery workshop and a fishing pier.

Commemorative Coin Vaults

Create a vault with commemorative coins for each year of the fort, made out of a different metal or alloy each year. Once a vault is full (don't use bins, so all those lovely coins are on display!), seal the chamber, and dig out another.

Watchtowers

Tall towers, 5x5 walls (3x3 inside) with a single stairway heading straight to the top floor, which has glass windows looking out on the surrounding countryside. Bonus points if you can make a sloped roof. MORE bonus points if you make it all out of one material. (The White Tower, the Black Tower, etc.)

Nicer Housing

Add some interest to your housing units with multiple rooms, or even balconies overlooking a cliff face or cavern. Build multi floor housing units with workshops on the bottom floor and housing on the upper floors. Sure, your dwarves may have to wait for their fancy new homes, and they might not even like them any better, but that's never the point of style projects!

Art in Architecture

A giant bridge is a megaproject. But creating 20 z-level statues as supports for that bridge is a style project. Making an enormous castle is a megaproject. Making an exact replica of Winterfell is a mega-style project!

Statues for Heroes

Keep pumping out statues until you have one of each of your legendary fighters, then give each of them a statue of themselves.

The Vault

Create a vault, complete with gated, lever controlled entrance with guard animals and traps. Put all your most valuable stuff in high-quality-only stockpiles in the vault. Make separate vaults for different things or materials.

Bird Coops

Give each female bird her own little nook with her own nest box, and a door in front you can lock to keep her eggs safe from greedy dwarven hands. Implement a foyer system to prevent hatchling leakages.

Indoor Waterfalls

A perfect marriage of style and functionality, a well-placed waterfall in your legendary dining hall or other area of high traffic will not only look beautiful, but the mist generated will result in happy dwarves! Try building one out of the front of your fortress. Make the grand entrance directly underneath, then just sit back and watch as traveling merchants look upon your dwarven engineering in awe.

• Bonus points if the waterfall is incorporated into your power generation and screw pump system, so it never needs maintenance.

Water Tower

Instead of having the simple pump and floodgate system to get water to your farms or waterfall, pump all your water into a large room constructed above the entire fortress, and use hatches to selectively drain water from the water tower when you need it. Double points if your drainage system pumps back into the water tower. Triple if you also make a magma tower.