40d Talk:Support

I'm looking into the possibility of creating a truly massive Army Splatter, a whole rooftop built over a large area that can be dropped with the flip of a switch. Lot of work, but if I could flatten an entire army with one pull, it'd be worth it. EDIT: It seems to work. Assuming that having a roof fall on your head is still considered an instakill for, say, a Troll or something, you could do some nice things with this. Kefkakrazy 04:49, 11 November 2007 (EST)

WAY too much work setting up to be effective, sadly. If Toady added the ability to designate floorbuilding as a batch command, like mining and smoothing are now, it'd be fine, but as it is, building a roof big enough to be effective would be too much setup for one shot.Kefkakrazy 02:00, 1 May 2008 (EDT)

Least with the latest update toady allowed us to mass-designate constructions :P --Frostedfire 01:01, 8 August 2008 (EDT)

density of supports

what grid interval do I need between supports to hold up the floor above? I am trying to build a tower:
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....###Do I need any supports to hold up a floor on the level above? Will a support stop me from building a bedroom over the whole level?

TIAGarrieIrons 02:24, 5 January 2008 (EST)

This will work as much as anything else

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One support could hold up the entire map if you were to dig out all the edges and the bottom level. (Which would make an awesome army killer if you think about it.) --Ikkonoishi 04:35, 5 January 2008 (EST)

... meaning that you don't need supports unless there are no walls or other things to hold up the roof. --Edward 06:24, 5 January 2008 (EST)

At least until Toady implements a more realistic cavein model. Kefkakrazy 02:00, 1 May 2008 (EDT)

Supports on top of supports?

Is it possible to build a support, then another support on top of that one (for a sort of multi-level-high approach), or do they need to be on floors? Inquiring minds must know! G-Flex 04:22, 16 June 2008 (EDT)

This is not personal experience, only hearsay. I believe supports can be stacks on top of each other. Imagine the possibilities. A four z-level drop for a cavern ceiling onto goblin invaders?StrawberryBunny 22:14, 7 August 2008 (EDT)

I just had an opportunity to test this and I was unable to place a support directly above another (standard "blocked" message). However, it does appear that you can build a floor above a support, then place a support on the new floor tile. It's effectively the same thing, but worth noting. Nocash 23:21, 25 January 2009 (EST)

i actually did this to quicly clear large quantities of rock to get a good fortress faccade – unsigned comment by Kozzion

Hanging supports.

While trying to seal off an underground river with a large section of rock, I found out supports work both ways; If you build a support on top of something with a ceiling directly above it to anchor to, you can completely dig out the rock/structure the support is built on top of, effectively 'hanging' it from the ceiling until you pull a lever and drop it. Very handy information. Vanguard 10:26, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

deconstruction

Am I right in that de-constructing a support vaporises stone just as effectively as a dwarven atom smasher?Garrie 09:48, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

No apparently I'm wrong, they are just moving it out of the way in effect making mini quantum stockpiles.Garrie 10:25, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Sometimes it's left in place, sometimes it's tossed 1 tile away. Same if it's only been "architected" and not yet "masoned". Start w/ a stockpile of stone, all 1/tile; designate 1 support/tile to be designed, then cancel once they've been designed - your stockpile is a minor jumble. (If you're training an architect, it's a bad plan to then re-designate on a tile where there is more than 1 stone - get a lot of "item blocking site" cancellation messages.)--Albedo 19:18, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Temperature

Am I right in guessing that, as they are not constructions in the same manner as floors and the like, supports should be deconstructed and ignited by fire and magma? If this is the case then I have a most excellent self-destruct plan for my next fortress. --Innominate

There's an easy way to tell if something is, technically, a "construction" - can you build it with the "build Construction" key sequence? Supports... not so much.--Albedo 20:34, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

This should work as expected - a support flooded with magma will melt (or burn) unless it is made from something magma-safe. Even more interesting would be to build the support out of coke or charcoal (or perhaps those spare lignite blocks) - said materials would provide you with a very slow burning (on the order of 8+ months) fuse... --Quietust 21:08, 26 October 2009 (UTC)