v0.34 Talk:Skyfort

Why does this page exist? --Quietust (talk) 19:37, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Eh, why not? It is an interesting quirk, and it should probably be on the wiki somewhere. Why not here?--Loci (talk) 20:17, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Because it isn't something that's actually part of the game, just something that players have decided to do. If we're going to have an article for this, then we would also have to have an article on making fortresses underwater, in the magma sea, and in Hell, and that's a bit of a slippery slope that can lead to quite a bit of clutter. --Quietust (talk) 21:27, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Like Quietust said, I'm concerned about the lack of clear guidelines on which megaprojects deserve their own page. This page clearly has some useful content in addition to being a megaproject, so it's fine with me, but some (like Santa Claus) obviously shouldn't have their own page. (Organization is also a little unclear – I added {{Category|Physics}}, but if there are other similar pages a separate category or infobox/navbox would be useful).

Regarding underwater forts (and building forts in any location): that kind of information would be useful to some players, and there isn't exactly a comprehensive source of information on the wiki, but I agree that the place of an article like "Building forts underwater" is debatable. In my opinion, we could use a "Tutorial" namespace, or tutorials/advice like this could be placed in a subpage of, say, design strategies or megaprojects. (That leads to versioning issues, though, although something like {{mwv}} could help resolve them) --Lethosor (talk) 21:41, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Maybe it would be better to do an article on sky support physics, which would naturally address the skyfort project, as well as the "power mining" trick. --Itg (talk) 00:03, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Last I checked, megaprojects, stupid dwarf tricks, style projects, dwarven atom smashers, magma pistons, tree farming, obsidian casting, the entire science of dwarfputing, and the extensive masterwork mod weren't "actually part of the game" either. There are dozens if not hundreds of forum threads with information that should be somewhere here on the wiki... but few ever get added (possibly because of responses like "Why does this page exist?"). If users are willing to volunteer their time to make these articles, I would hope we are gracious enough to accept them. It is trivial for you to ignore the pages you consider to be "clutter", but I personally do not share your opinion; I would gladly slide down that slippery slope until all aspects of Dwarf Fortress are covered by the Dwarf Fortress Wiki.--Loci (talk) 00:40, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure I see the connection between those examples and this page - dwarven atom smashers, magma pistons, tree farming, and obsidian casting are widely recognized techniques that provide a clear benefit in gameplay (efficiently eliminating items/creatures, quickly moving magma upwards, creating a safe and efficient wood supply, and creating large above-ground structures that can be engraved), while megaprojects, stupid dwarf tricks, and style projects are collections of smaller ideas that range from beneficial to cosmetic to pointless to outright detrimental. In fact, a stupid dwarf trick is explicitly described as a "project that requires a large amount of time and effort - often for little or no practical benefit" which "exists primarily as a challenge for experienced players" - I don't know about you, but this "skyfort" concept fits that description almost perfectly. --Quietust (talk) 01:19, 20 December 2013 (UTC)