Slaves to Armok: God of Blood
Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress
Imagine SimCity and Oregon Trail had a beautiful, ascii lovechild. Dwarf Fortress is this game. With a learning curve similar to being tasked with drinking yourself, feel free to come here for help. Though I'd prefer helping more directly, via instant messaging of some kind. If you're a seasoned player, share some awesome stories (as any seasoned played of DF should have a few). I kind of want to play a succession game, so if you want to join me in one by all means let me know. I guess I'll kick the thread off with the blueprints of the (my) Mark V Dwarven Lava Cannon. They're spoilered due to size.
New arrivals to the thread:
I completed thisFrom top to bottom: The first image is the top level, where the cannon gets its lava from. The easiest way to get lava is to embark to a volcano and dig into its side, this is what I usually do. The second image is the middle level, assuming 3 levels. My implementation of this design spans 8 stories and is quite a bit larger. Regardless of size, this is one story above ground level. In the middle of the cannon is the pressure chamber, which is sealed in as the output ends of the pumps (pictured with their ingame icon, the % mark) act like walls. Pressurized lava is pumped in, and its only exit is the pair of floodgates. The third image is the bottom level, and the design assumes the cannon is placed directly over the fortress' entrance. The reservoirs from which the pumps above draw lava flank the entrance hall, which is directly below the pressure chamber. Vertical axles on this level supply power to the rows of pumps from below, and they are connected by other axles underground to an off-site wind farm/waterwheel in a place that can't be flooded with lava.
I did change a few things from the blueprints during my actual implementation of this design, though. First and foremost, as I mentioned above, the size. I added a bunch of stories in between the middle and top pictured, empty spaces for lava to fill. Thus, the cannon will continue to spew pressurized lava at a slightly slower rate after its initial blast of pre-loaded lava. I also made the pressure chamber extend 4 tiles out from the reservoir, rather than 2, giving it a slightly larger initial blast while keeping said blast close enough to the entrance of my fortress - which is, as planned, directly below it - to melt goblins who are standing around at my front door during a siege... and probably those poncy elves, too. And humans once I become self-sufficient enough not to need their trade. Hence, my trade depot is right under the cannon.
Dwarves as the master race ftw? Anyway, because of these changes and others I consider the one I'm building now to be the Mark VII, despite being based on the Mark V's blueprints.
[spoiler=Top Level]
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Middle Level]
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Bottom Level]
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And here is the predecessor to this design. All the previous iterations I built were modifications of this one, and I believe this was the Mark III. Note that the pressure chamber and supply are on the same level, thus there is very little room to store more, erm, ammo and it just drips after its initial blast as a result. Add to this that the lava has to ooze, unpressurized, quite a distance to get to the reservoir before being loaded, and you have a 1-2 month reload time. These are the major flaws I wanted to correct. Still, its range is impressive, the furthest I saw it shoot lava outward was 6 tiles, and the sheer destructive power is huge. It covered an area about 20x50 tiles. For those of you who aren't DF-savvy, the wavy lines are lava and the darker wavy lines are lava on a lower level, and the differently colored dots are open space over differently colored ground. If the lava weren't pressurized it would be dripping 1-2 tiles away from the opening of the chamber, very slowly and very non-threateningly (except to those directly under it when it starts dripping). If anyone wants to see it in action, I have a save of this fortress right before the screenshot below. Good thing, too, because I wanted to consult it while laying out the Mark VII's design with notes, in addition to my hand-drawn blueprints.
[spoiler=Mark III Dwarven Lava Cannon]
[/spoiler]
