Editing 40d:Design strategies

:* [[Defense guide]]

:* [[Defense design]]

:* [[Trap design]]

:* [[Military design]]

It's important to remember that 1 [[z-level]] up or down is the same distance for dwarf to walk as 1 tile in any horizontal direction.  So, rather than moving from a workshop a couple tiles to the door, and then a few tiles down a short hall, and then a couple or more into the side entrance of a "nearby" storeroom (total of maybe 7+), it's closer to put a [[stair]] or [[ramp]] in that workshop, and for that same dwarf to move over 1, down or up 1, and directly into the what could be the middle of a storeroom on the next level.  While this is example uses tiny distances, the idea is the same for larger ones - 15 tiles on one level is the same "distance" as 14 z-levels up or down. And when that distance is repeated hundreds (or thousands?) of times over the life of a fortress, for workshops, for bedrooms, for dining and drinking and breaks, it adds up fast.  Optimally, a fortress should be more like a cube, rather than a pancake.

It is also worth noting that when deciding where to go to get something (say, a stone for crafting), when traveling up or down, the locations of stairs/ramps are ignored.  This means a dwarf will ignore a stone stockpile three squares from the workstation and travel the long way around to two z-levels down to grab a stone directly underneath them.  

For more information on how to dig passages and structures in a 3D map, see [[digging]].

The [[door]]s in the hallway lead to large, multifunction rooms.  The paired doors at intersections present an excellent method of containment, as a prevention against [[flood]]ing and also able to be locked against intruders or to contain misbehaving dwarves.

In DF, one step [[orthogonal]]ly (East-West or North-South) is the same "distance" as one step diagonally.  Diagonal paths thus provide faster access across distances that are not perfectly in line with each other up/down or left/right.  Creating a setup with your main high-traffic areas on diagonals, 2 or 3 wide, is less simple to designate, but saves considerable time and effort for your labour force in the long run.  Workshops can be grouped so they are staggered, perhaps 4-6 in a cluster, so that the diagonal halls serve them and still no workshop is isolated.  Intersections tend to be larger than those of orthogonal passages, but can be designated with stockpiles of booze or other items to make good use of the space.  Diagonal passages that are 1-wide act as barriers to both [[miasma]] and de-pressurize water (in case of [[flood]]s), and can be included periodically throughout a design, especially in 3-wide halls where a single, central pillar will not bottleneck traffic significantly.  Adding doors at these points is an additional precaution against intruders and accidents.

See [[bedroom design]].

See [[workshop design]].

[[Soil]] layers (such as clay, loam, etc.) - which may at first seem to be of secondary importance - are very useful for large storage areas, as they do not leave rock behind when dug through and may be excavated much faster by comparison. You can also farm on soil tiles without first making them muddy.

The C-Chute, or Casualty Chute, is a special internal construction for fortresses with large underground areas mostly disconnected with the surfaces, especially if a fortresses defenses are primarily internal. Basically, a deep pit within the fortress walls, down which goes any dead goblins, wildlife, kolbolds and so forth. They are allowed to decay, but the miasma is too far from the areas dwarves use to affect your fortress. Once they have rotted away completely, you can enter the chute to retrieve their bones, without ever having to go outside! Also useful for fortresses often under siege, where moving bodies outside is not always possible. This is better than using a room to dispose of the bodies, as the dwarves dumping the bodies will not have to deal with miasma from other corpses in the dump zone.

Dwarves have a long tradition of honoring their dead and while some forts may be too bitter to spare resources on proper [[Tomb|burial]], others can honor and pay respect to their dead.  In this design method, hallways do not always intersect, sometimes leading to dead ends where coffins can be placed as well as statues made in the likeness of the former living.  Likewise, workshops can also be placed in the center of a 5x5 grid, with the back and side walls used for [[statue]]s and [[coffin]]s.  Once the current area is exhausted and the dwarves are satisfied that their work has been completed, the workshop can be disassembled and the dead left to rest in peace.

Consider this;  You have a very large fortress with all the amenities, including a well-staffed military, valuable trade goods and engravings and lavish halls.  Now imagine that same fort with a well-planned and effective plumbing system, delivering water to various spots throughout the fortress.  This could be used for anything from killing enemies, casting [[obsidian]], watering your fields, filling your moats and helping your Dwarves.  How do you create such a system, you ask?

First, you're going to need a source of [[water]] to draw from.  Preferably a [[river]] of some sort, because lakes tend to dry up.  Design a large cistern/reservoir inside your fortress, this is where you're going to be storing your water supplies.  If you're drawing from a source of salt water, make sure the entire reservoir is built out of constructions, or this won't work.  You're going to need a few grates and a lot of floodgates for this.  Once you have your cistern dug out/constructed, dig a channel from the top level to your water source.  Make sure you install a floodgate and a grate in that channel;  The grate is there to filter out unwanted pests like [[Carp]] and prevent them from getting into your water supply.  Make sure to link the floodgate to a lever so you can control the flow of water;  While you're at it, you might want to design a separate 'plumbing control room' where all the relevant levers for this will be installed.  Make sure that before you fill this cistern up, that you install several separate exits from the cistern that lead into channels which will funnel water to your other systems.

When you're happy with it, you can go ahead and fill your cistern up.  Remember to make sure that all your floodgates are linked to levers;  You might want to tack notes onto each one so you don't forget which does which.  Now you have an easily controllable water source that you can use for all kinds of purposes, including fishing holes and irrigation systems, not to mention powering water wheels.  Incidentally, the abovementioned Grate will not prevent small [[fish]] like Salmon from entering your water system.  They won't cause any problems and you can fish them out at your leisure.

See [[dam]].

* [[Stockpile Design]]