Gait

A gait is a mode of movement which a creature can use. In real life, the word only applies to movement on land; but in Dwarf Fortress, the term describes any mode of movement by a creature, including swimming, flying, and climbing.

Gait Types

There are 5 different types of gaits: walking, crawling, climbing, swimming, and flying.

Walking gaits are land-based gaits which require the creature to be standing up, and have more than half of their [STANCE] body parts, e.g. legs, intact and working. They can be used to move across flat ground, and go up and down ramps and stairs.

Crawling gaits are like walking gaits, except that they require neither standing up nor [STANCE] body parts. They are much slower than walking gaits. Please note that an uninjured, slithering snake is considered to be using a walking gait, not a crawling gait: its body is its [STANCE] body part. If a snake is injured in the body, it will revert to a crawling gait.

Climbing gaits are used for moving up and down vertical surfaces, such as trees or walls. In order to climb, a creature needs intact body parts to climb with: [GRASP] body parts by default, or [STANCE] body parts if the creature has the [STANCE_CLIMBER] token. Stance climbers include cats and giant cave spiders.

Swimming gaits are used for moving in the water. In order to swim, a creature needs either the [SWIMS_INNATE] tag, or [SWIMS_LEARNED], [CAN_LEARN] and skill in swimming.

Flying gaits are used for moving in the air. In order to fly, a creature needs the [FLIER] tag, and for enough of its body parts tagged [FLIER] (e.g. wings) to be intact, if applicable. Flying does not require a minimum speed to stay airborne, and turning while flying is no more difficult than turning while walking.

Standard Gaits

The grand majority of standard DF creatures use predefined gait patterns. While their gaits vary in speed from type to type and from creature to creature, the gaits' relations to each other are mostly uniform.

Relative Gait	Gait Names	Gait Types	Build-up	Turning	Slowed by layers	Varies w/ Strength	Varies w/ Agility	Slowed by Stealth
Fastest	Sprint Gallop Fastest Walk Scramble Maximum Swim Speed Scramble Maximum Flight Speed Scramble	WALK (biped) WALK (quadruped) WALK (general) CLIMB SWIM CRAWL FLY WALK (slither)	10, from a start speed of Fast	Slow down to Fast	Yes	Yes	Yes	Heavily
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