v0.31:Mega construction

v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31.25 · v0.28 · v0.23

This article is about an older version of DF.

xTATTEREDx · +FINE+ · *SUPERIOR* · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡ · ☼MASTERWORK☼

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.) [1]

Even though those projects listed above may seem hard, they are all simply a combination of walls, floors, ramps, and mabye 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 sucessful 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

Walls are built by the pressing of the b, C, and 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

Floors are built by the pressing of the b, C, and 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

Ramps are built by the pressing of the b, C, and 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 Stairways are built by pressing the b, C, and x keys in that order. Up/Down stairs are most usefull 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

Fortifications are made by the pressing of the b, C, and F keys in that order. Your archerers are able to shoot thier 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 thier bolts unharmed. However, another equally important feauture 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 thier 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

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 b, C, and w keys, in order to select the wall function.
Use the u, m, {{k|k and 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 b, C, and u to build an up staircase
Confirm your selction 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 b, C, and f keys to build a floor on the layer above, changing your size with the u, m, {{k|k and 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 - 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.

-++++++++-

-+******+-

-+***X**+-

-+******+-

-++++++++-

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:

-++++++-

-+****+-

-+**X*+-

-+****+-

-++++++-

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:

-++++-

-+**+-

-+*X+-

-++++-

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 - representing the walls on the layer below, the U represnting the downward stairway and the * representing a floor.

-**-

-*U-

The pyramid is now complete.

Mega Construcions

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

Challenges

Challenges are when you decide to ~~hinder~~ make your fortress more interesting (and fun!) by imposing restrictions on what you can do. Challenges have thier own page.

Notes

[2] Magmawiki Link to 40d Mega Construction Page