A few questions about walls

[Drosta]

I tried to build a wall with the edge starting near existing natural wall (the nearby mountain i dug under) this seemed to create a level of wall above my ground level. but then my dwarfs couldnt reach it to build the rest of it, some construction sites said it was a pillar, others said floor depending on where it was in the perimeter.. so I tried to build a ramp which allowed my denizens to, i guess, go up the ramp and out over the wall. but that seemed to allow a way back in for them as well. so I tried to deconstruct the ramp but couldn't find any way to do that.. so i guess,

1) How should I go about building an outer wall to keep the hostile enemies out? it should be straight forward but im confused about why and how it wanted to continue constructing on the upper level.. and
2) how to give them access to build up there would you build a ramp? stairs? even with the ramp they still had no interest in completing the upper layer of wall i hadnt realized they would need.. and
3) is there a way to deconstruct things like ramps after they've been built?

[Fel]

Wall, then build (not dig) stairs to go up, make a floor on the "in side" tile (1 tile wide) to be able to build higher.

The idea is to have a wall high enough to block line of sight even from the highest point outside of your fort in order to prevent ranged enemies from shooting at you (all shots are straight lines, no curves).

Ramps, walls, stairs and floors need to be deconstructed via a special entry in the "dig" menu because you don't have an interface when you click on them (like furnitures or workshops).

[Drosta]

So something like wall, staircase, floor, more wall on top of the existing wall?

I did try a few of the options in the dig command for being able to remove the ramp but nothing seemed to work. I was reluctant to try the channeling option though. Lol

[Graknorke]

They need to be able to stand next to a construction's tile (orthogonally, not diagonally, and at the same height) to build on it. So yes to build tall walls you need to have something like a floor or a staircase there to put up the layers above ground level.

[Drosta]

Originally posted by Graknorke:

They need to be able to stand next to a construction's tile (orthogonally, not diagonally, and at the same height) to build on it. So yes to build tall walls you need to have something like a floor or a staircase there to put up the layers above ground level.

Sure but I don't understand why they wanted to build a multi level wall in the first place. I didn't tell them to do that.

My guess was because it was trying to match the height of the nearby natural "wall" provided by the mountain. But I don't actually know.

[Red Heifer]

1. Walls are easy to build but don't bet on just a wall saving you, you would need a roof essentially for flying werebeasts.
2 you would need stairs from the construction tab. Or a ramp but building walls is iffy, goblins can climb, so you need a moat with that z level with the water dug under the wall, so they don't climb. If you embark in a zone where water freezes good luck. Might want a roof then.
3. Yes with the mining cancel button. You can remove ramps with that.

[Graknorke]

Originally posted by Drosta:

Sure but I don't understand why they wanted to build a multi level wall in the first place. I didn't tell them to do that.

If you didn't tell them to do it they wouldn't have done it, construction orders go exactly where you place them. Maybe you had your camera higher than you meant to and didn't realise.

[Drosta]

Originally posted by Graknorke:

Originally posted by Drosta:

Sure but I don't understand why they wanted to build a multi level wall in the first place. I didn't tell them to do that.

If you didn't tell them to do it they wouldn't have done it, construction orders go exactly where you place them. Maybe you had your camera higher than you meant to and didn't realise.

No

[TPark]

Originally posted by Drosta:

So something like wall, staircase, floor, more wall on top of the existing wall?

I did try a few of the options in the dig command for being able to remove the ramp but nothing seemed to work. I was reluctant to try the channeling option though. Lol

It is the right most option in the dig commands, one to the right of channeling down.

[TPark]

When building a second level of wall, your dwarves will happily choose to build each section in such a way that they can't finish the project i.e. if you are building a one tile wide wall a level above the ground sitting on a one tile wide wall with access from only one end, your dwarves will happily build on a tile at the NEAR end of the wall thus blocking access to all of the other tiles that need to be built. No warning or any indication is given that a location can't be built on. The dwarves will simply ignore the order until there is access to the location.
So building multistory single tile wide walls requires a lot of micromanagement (or using the DFHack tool meant to address this which works pretty well).

[TPark]

To deal with the issue of climbing enemies you need to build your walls with an overhang. Construct a floor tile on the tiles adjacent to the outside of the wall.

[Drosta]

Originally posted by TPark:

To deal with the issue of climbing enemies you need to build your walls with an overhang. Construct a floor tile on the tiles adjacent to the outside of the wall.

Overhangs needs to be 2 tiles out from the wall correct?

[Pogey-Bait]

Originally posted by Drosta:

Originally posted by TPark:

To deal with the issue of climbing enemies you need to build your walls with an overhang. Construct a floor tile on the tiles adjacent to the outside of the wall.

Overhangs needs to be 2 tiles out from the wall correct?

No

[TPark]

Originally posted by Pogey-Bait:

Originally posted by Drosta:

Overhangs needs to be 2 tiles out from the wall correct?

No

I have not experimented personally - and have never encountered enemies that climbed over a wall. But the wiki indicates only one tile overhang, except if you build something on the overhang (I think - I'm not sure I'm remembering correctly).

[Drosta]

Ok thanks. I'd seen it somewhere, some streamer I think, that said it needed to be two tiles out to prevent climbing enemies being able to get over it but if it's just one, great

[Fel]

The "2 tiles" probably comes from the fact that putting a fortification/wall as the "1 tile" doesn't work unless you also put a floor because creatures can move in diagonals as well (even when going up/down).
So remembering it as 2 tiles prevents mistakes like that.