Metalgate - 127 Mid Spring by Sinergistic

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Points of Interest

• ¶ 366. 'Massive' Sun Mural (front view)

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  Crimson and Yellow dyed cloth (changed an existing dye color, and added one to another plant).
  
  Took forever to get right, but I'm happy with the result. Going to rework the framework (The walls circling it), since I think it takes away from the effect. Still in the process of removing the last of the bridges behind it, and I'll be rescuing that stuck dwarf (near the bottom) asap. - Sinergistic

• 54. One of the bridges main support columns

  ( 111 Late Spring to onwards )
  This is one of the bridges main support columns, there are three in all, with 2 side supports built into the 'cliff' edges.
  
  You can also get a good idea how how high this bridge is, and this also gives you a good view of the arches. I wanted to build an arched bridge - Sinergistic

• Δ 40. Begginnings of the aboveground fort

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  This is the begginning (and almost end) of the above section of the fort. I've opted for a somewhat large circle that will be very low, probably maxing out at about 3-4 z-levels high + the roof (still being designed).
  
  The aboveground section will feature a fountain and an integrated arena of some sort.
  
  The smaller structure up and to the left a little is a smaller replica of the big sun mural tower on the other side of the map. I have yet to build the mural it will house, however, so it's just an empty tower + scafolding for now. - Sinergistic

• Δ 39. Magma Trap

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  It hasn't seen any real use yet, but it works great in tests. When the pump stuck to the north is on, magma comes welling up out of the three grates (the one the POI is centered on, the one above and the one below) really, really fast and flows into the grates on either side, where it is collected and pumped up again.
  
  The entire area in between both collection grates is completely flooded with magma seconds after turning it on. I'm planning on doing something similar with the rest of the path.
  
  The bridges (there are four, the two big ones, and two one-tile ones in between magma grates) you see are for resetting it quickly, since once it's shut off, you end up with a bunch of unpathable magma puddles sitting in your entrance. - Sinergistic

• 40. A Lamppost

  ( 111 Late Spring to onwards )
  This is one of the lampposts I've been talking about (incase you couldn't figure it out :P)
  
  Each lamppost is made of:
  4x Clear Glass Windows
  4x Clear Glass Walls
  4x Clear Glass Floors (on the level above, positioned above the windows)
  
  Making this POI has reenforced my resolve to edit my tileset so the sky tiles aren't as similar as the window tiles. Or maybe vice versa. Who knows. - Sinergistic

• 40. Finished lampposts

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  I finished all the lampposts back around 116, this four have skull totems place on top of them. The rest of them will get the same treatment soonish.
  
  Those are clear glass ramps, by the way, with a clear glass wall under the skull totems ^^
  
  If you move down several levels to the bridge, you will see that I'm experimenting with the base. I haven't settled on a design a really like yet, but this one is ok. - Sinergistic

• 39. Birdseye View

  ( 111 Late Spring to onwards )
  A birdseye view of the bridge, to give you a sense of how long it is. - Sinergistic

• Δ 36. Pipes in the bridge

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  I've built a couple pipes in the bridge. The pipe on the left will handle moving magma from one side of the map to the other, and the pipe on the right will handle water. The walkway in the middle is for dwarves.
  
  If you move down a level, you will see I've reenforced the areas right under the pipes with walls. I plan on doing this for all levels of the bridge in the future.
  
  - Sinergistic

• 38. Temp animal farm

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  I decided I would start breeding animals to butcher for their bones, and set up this quick breeding area to do so. I ended up expanding it twice, and I might be expanding it a third time.
  
  What prompted this was the acquisition of a two two humped camels from the elves. Both of them where female, but I figured one of the might be pregnant from before arriving at the fort. Sure enough, about a year after they arrived, one of the camels gave birth. To three female calves... goddamnit.
  
  Several years pass, and the elves bring another two humped camel, and I'm thinking "YES! Finally! I'll get a male!", so I rush some food (only thing I had at the time) to the depot and purchase my camel, chain it up and check it's gender... female. Goddamnit.
  
  Currently hoping that the new adult I just bought will give birth to at least one male.
  
  Other animals I'm breeding include: Dogs, Horses and Cows. - Sinergistic

• 35. Underground river

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  Somewhere, under all this rock, is an underground river.
  
  I was looking through my folder, and I saw the picture of the start that I took, and I noticed that I had an underground river tile in this corner of the map. I had completely forgotten about it. Nice to know I have the option of growing trees underground should the need arise. I've decided to leave it unfound for now.
  
  (And yes, you would think that the pages of deceased dead critters that live in the underground river/ponds would have tipped me off, but I haven't scrolled down the unit list that far since embarking :embarrassed:)
  
  Speaking of dead units, I had cave crocs, but they are dead now :( - Sinergistic

• 25. Metal and Glass Industry

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  This is my factory. All metal working and glass working happens here. One level above this is for raw ore storage, and one level below houses the magma.
  
  The first ring of stockpiles holds all the metal bars that have been purchased or smelted in Metalgate.
  
  The outer wings hold nothing but bags of sand.
  
  North of the factory is a lonely tunnel leading to the sand collection area. While digging towards the sand, I ran into some faint yellow diamonds hidden in a kimberlite vein, which explains the rather irregular end of the tunnel.
  
  I've been meaning to expand it to a 3 wide tunnel for years now, but I've pretty much stopped any and all glass production since completing the lampposts. The only time the glass furnaces get fired up is when I'm in need of some more barrels/bins.
  
  For the curious: There are eight glass furnaces, four to a side, positioned east and west.
  There are eight Smelters, four to a side, positioned north and south.
  There are 4 kilns, positioned between the glass furnaces and smelters.
  And in the middle are eight forges. - Sinergistic

• 23. Food and Cloth production

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  This level was originally a storage level for furniture and glass blocks produced for the lampposts. It's still mostly storage, but I've removed one of the furniture stockpiles, and several reduced the block storage (the stockpile behind the blue downstairs) in order to squeeze in some workshops, and a bunch of cloth stockpiles + a couple other minor ones (weapons/armor).
  
  Cloth production takes place above the main stairwell, and consists of a clothiers and a loom. Many a cloth bag has been made at the clothiers, and many a pig tail has passed through the loom.
  
  To the left of the main stairwell we have three abandon mechanics shops. Some idiot left them on auto repeat, and we ended up with one to many mechanisms. There hasn't been a mandate for more in years.
  
  Below the main stairwell is the food production, consisting of a kitchen, farmers workshop and the all important still. I've edited the furniture stockpile directly behind them to only accept barrels. Normally it's a little bit fuller than it is now, but the fortress hasn't produced any meals in a while, so there are lots of quarry bushes taking up barrel space. Lots of pig tails to, since I haven't been processing them either. - Sinergistic

• 22. The Farms

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  The idea here is that the Sun (the bright red star looking things) gives life to the Moon (the dark blue crescents backed by water).
  
  In theory, anyway. In practice I think it just looks cool ^^
  
  The magma in the center of each 'sun' represents the suns core. I also figured a little light and heat wouldn't do the plants to much harm, and I've been proved right by bumper harvests each year. In fact, the plants grow so damn well, I've had to stop planting for a while to avoid being inundated with to much food. The ones you see growing now are going to be the last for a while.
  
  Bright red and yellow tiles (cinnabar and orpiment) complete the area, giving it a fiery look.
  
  The moons don't do much more than hold the food produced by the suns. The water sloshing around behind them is intended to keep the food cool so it lasts longer.
  I paved the entire floor dark blue (modded microcline) before remembering that stockpiles cover up the floor. So I compromised and removed the stockpile around the edges, to give it a darker feel.
  
  One of the moons does serve double duty though. The lower left moon serves as the fortress dining hall. A bunch of microcline tables and chairs line the walls, providing dining for the entire fortress. Dwarfs have been complaining of the damp, however, so plans are in motion to relocate the dining hall to... warmer regions. The outpost leader, however, has put this project on the back burner until such time that other, more important, projects have been completed.
  - Sinergistic

• 21. Storage and Butchery/Tanning

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  Right below the farms we have a layer dedicated to holding all the crap that makes a fortress run. This layer has stockpiles for pretty much everything. Wood, cloth, leather, furniture, food overflow, gems, animals and refuse and a couple others that I forget (this place is bloody confusing you know).
  
  Before I dug this out, I decided that I didn't want to mar the walls with doors, so I decided to use little connecting tunnels on the level below to hook everything together.
  
  This level also holds the magma for the farms above them. I surrounded the magma engraved magma chambers with refuse stockpiles. The heat from the magma helped the flesh decay faster, cutting down on maisma, and then kept the leftover bones safe from the damp. The rotting flesh right below the farms also provides some much need manure for the rocky soil.
  
  Also, around the time I set up the animal breeding program, I added several workshops to this level. Directly below and to the left of the center circle are two butcher shops and a craftsdwarf shop. To the right of here, past the furniture stockpile, are two matching Tanner shops and another craftsdwarf shop. The craftsdwarfs shops haven't seen much work yet, but my bone stockpiles are growing. They will eventually produce bone bolts for training marksdwarves. - Sinergistic

• 21. The Crypt that isn't really a Crypt

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  There hasn't been much death in Metalgate, but the little there is resides here, in a temporary crypt set up in an unused storage circle. It's sole occupants are two babies who fell to their deaths when born while their mothers where working up high on the bridge, and three pets who immigrated to the fortress in it's early years.
  
  I do have a proper crypt planned, or at least the inkling of one, but it hasn't been needed. - Sinergistic

• 20. The Refuse level

  ( 118 Late Spring to onwards )
  Ah, the refuse level. Magma, glass windows and miasma, not to mention all those bones.
  
  This level was originally just going to be the connecting tunnels for the storage area above, but the outpost leader demanded that space be used wisely, so I designed this.
  
  It works much the same way as the magma chambers below the farms. The magma ring provides heat, causing the flesh to whither away faster, and reduce miasma. This is just doing it on a bigger scale.
  
  The thin clear glass windows allow the heat out better than the thick engraved walls surrounding them, speeding up the decay process.
  
  I've also been slowly redecorating this level. I ran into an unlucky patch of microcline on the east side of this level, and instead of crying bitter tears of rage at how unfair it was (UNIFORM COLORS GODDAMNIT) I decided to embrace it by converting all the stairs in the connect passageways to microcline.
  
  On that note, I've changed the stairs in the inner refuse area (the only access) to green. I've yet to do the stairs in the outer refuse ring, but my dwarfs recently hit some serpentine, so it will happen soon.
  
  The outpost leader is also trying to think of a way to use the empty area in between the outer connecting tunnels, but hasn't come up with anything yet. I suggested we just leave them alone, but he wont hear it. - Sinergistic

• 16. Failed Perpetual Motion plant

  ( 111 Late Spring to onwards )
  This is my failed attempt at a perpetual motion plant to power my pump stack. It only ever really produced about 300-400 power at a time, despite having upwards of 20 waterwheels in it.
  
  It even shut off a few times do to lack of power to the single pump 'running' it. It was rather frustrating, and I redesigned it several times, but could never get it running at max capacity. Oh well :(
  
  Year 118: I've set up a working perpmotion power plant, it's been running for a couple years now without a hiccup. The waterlevel appears to be going down very slowly though. - Sinergistic

• 15. Working powerplant

  ( 111 Late Spring to onwards )
  As I mentioned in another POI, I had a very hard time getting a powerplant capable of producing enough power to run my pump stack. This one puts out 1600 power, and I use most of it.
  
  Year 118: Looks like the tiles got messed up, those are water wheels ^^ - Sinergistic

• Δ 11. Abandoned Underground Powerplant

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  Put some effort in to designing this, and I don't think it will ever see a drop of water. Decided it was to cheaty and I didn't want to use it, despite how epic it would be.
  
  I've come up with two other plans for powerplants which should see fruition soonish. One will be above ground, the other is planned for underground.
  
  This power plant here would have put out 12,000 units of raw power, some of which would have been consumed by the gears.
  
  The level pictured here is the upper level, where the 'control' room is (with objects placed so I can remember which lever does what) and the 'flow generators' (pumps). The water would have occupied the lower level, which as engraved walls and constructed floors (to avoid tower cap growth).
  
  The tentative long term plan to re work this is into something useful is turning it into a park/garden/tower cap 'farm' of some sort. I haven't put much though into since deciding I wasn't gonna use it. - Sinergistic

• Δ 10. Engraved Walls Versus Non Engraved
  Just a quick POI to show how I've changed PTTG's tileset to look better when engraved: thread can be found here:
  
  http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=30780.0 - Sinergistic
• Δ 6. Temp Waterworks

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  This area was rather hastily designated, and it shows. However, again, I'm going to rework this at some point and make it look much prettier/more natural. The power plant here is also a temp, and is going to be removed once I get a better one setup someplace else.
  
  I haven't really done anything with the water since tapping into it, but I've got plans, just haven't had enough time to spend working on them ^^ - Sinergistic

• Δ 2. Tapping the Magma Pipe

  ( 127 Mid Spring to onwards )
  Took a LONG time to drain the pipe, but I finally got it low enough to build this.
  
  It's pretty self explanatory. I've built a protrusion into the magma pipe so I can pump magma straight from the pipe, instead of having to wait for it flow into whatever channel I've made, and then into my pumps. In short, the magma flows faster :P
  
  To the right and above, you can see where I'm starting to map out where the magma is gonna go.
  
  - Sinergistic

Related Maps:

Metalgate

• 127 Mid Spring [R]
• 118 Late Spring
• 111 Late Spring

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Map details:

• Fortress Name: Metalgate
• Map Year: 127 Mid Spring
• Author: Sinergistic
• Submitted by: Sinergistic
• Date Added: 11/03/2009