Wall

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A wall is either a map tile or a construction that blocks access to creatures and fluids. The appearance of a constructed wall is similar to that of a smoothed natural wall but it works the same as any filled tile composed of mountain rock, clay or soil. Walls either occur naturally (e.g. a Rough-hewn Andesite Wall), or can be constructed. With constructed walls it is possible to create multi-level buildings such as towers complete with roofs by creating floors on the layer above. A wall fills the tile it is in and creates a walkable space above it.

Digging

As explained on the digging page, naturally occurring walls can be dug out using the designations dig command, or channel command. These tasks are carried out by dwarves with the mining labor activated.

Natural walls can be designated for smoothing and engraving to improve the appearance and value of the wall. These tasks are carried out by dwarves with the stone detailing labor activated.

Construction

Walls can be built en masse. To do this, use the build -> Construction -> wall command. The keys u,m,k and h are used to change size. Walls may be built on any square which does not already contain a structure, provided your dwarves can reach an adjacent square (this includes building a wall over empty air next to a floor, allowing for the construction of inverted pyramids). Diagonals cannot be built from, nor will they support constructions.

The important thing to remember is that all walls, floors and anything built with the b-C keys are LIFO - "Last In, First Out". That means that the very last designation you make will be the very first thing your builders will work on next! Once you master this concept, it can be used to your advantage, but only if you can plan ahead.

It is also important to remember that you cannot build on top of a constructed floor, but you can build a wall on top of another constructed wall, even though the upper surface of a wall is otherwise indistinguishable from a constructed floor.

Constructed walls cannot be engraved, but can be carved into fortifications (designate - carve fortifications). Unlike constructed fortifications, those created from walls retain an implied floor on the level above. As usual, the fortifications will block movement, but not liquids or small objects such as bolts.

Normal walls are considered 'rough'. By using stone, glass, wood, or metal blocks, higher quality constructions can be built with increased value. This can be particularly important when trying to maximize the value of a noble's room.

As with all constructions, the material used dictates which labor is required to perform the construction.

When building walls, your builders will carry the material to the job site themselves. A useful tip when building large projects is to first make a stockpile nearby, and only allow one type of material in it. After it fills up, build only as many constructions as there are items in the stockpile. Wait for your haulers to refill the stockpile, then build the next section of the project.

When constructing a wall over a walkable tile, the constructing dwarf will move any items in the tile prior to construction. When constructing a wall over an unwalkable tile (such as a tree top) any items stuck in the tile will be destroyed when the construction is completed.

Building Walls in damp conditions

When trying to build walls in damp conditions (such as when getting through an Aquifer in a soil layer), you need to make sure that the area to be built on *and* the area the dwarf needs to stand on to build from are at 1/7 or 0/7 when you set the order to build the wall.

If the area the dwarf needs to stand on is 2/7 when the wall is designated to be built, then the dwarf will try to build the wall by standing in the space the wall will occupy, and will never complete the work.

If there are multiple areas, then at least one must be at 1/7, and the dwarf may ignore those which were at 2/7 or greater, even if they subsequently drop to 1/7 or dry out entirely.

Removing Walls

To remove a wall, open the designations menu and select n Remove Construction. This task will be carried out by any unoccupied dwarf, including children and nobles.

Notes

• Walls do not have any effect on noise.
• If a wall that is the only support for a structure is removed, it will collapse, most likely hurting any dwarves on or around it.

Bugs

• Dwarves have a bad habit of attempting to construct walls from the wall's tile. This results in an error message "Dwarf cancels construction of Wall: Creature occupying site", and the construction of the wall will be suspended. See the link above for an explanation and workarounds.

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