From 45e3dbd4200c6b7c6a2f3dc2d2f76f2f3ab1eaef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Myk Taylor Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2024 12:51:44 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] add info on bridging two landmasses --- changelog.txt | 3 +++ docs/gui/embark-anywhere.rst | 47 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------ 2 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt index 28a17540e3..dc2e423dbb 100644 --- a/changelog.txt +++ b/changelog.txt @@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ Template for new versions: - `gui/control-panel`: include option for turning off dumping of old clothes for `tailor`, for players who have magma pit dumps and want to save old clothes from being dumped into the magma - `position`: report current historical era (e.g., "Age of Myth") +## Documentation +- `gui/embark-anywhere`: add information about how the game determines world tile pathability and instructions for bridging two landmasses + ## Removed # 50.13-r4 diff --git a/docs/gui/embark-anywhere.rst b/docs/gui/embark-anywhere.rst index 4583b04cd7..db5c06fc34 100644 --- a/docs/gui/embark-anywhere.rst +++ b/docs/gui/embark-anywhere.rst @@ -11,8 +11,13 @@ embark in an inaccessible location on top of a mountain range? Go for it! Want to try a brief existence in the middle of the ocean? Nobody can stop you! Want to tempt fate by embarking *inside of* a necromancer tower? !!FUN!! +If you are using this tool to create a fort that will bridge two disconnected +areas of land, see `So you want to bridge a gap?`_ below for tips and caveats. + Any and all consequences of embarking in strange locations are up to you to -handle (possibly with other `armok ` tools). +handle (possibly with other `armok ` tools). In particular, +embarking in inaccessible locations will prevent migrants, caravans, and +visitors from arriving. Usage ----- @@ -21,9 +26,37 @@ Usage gui/embark-anywhere -The command will only work when you are on the screen where you can choose your -embark site. The DFHack logo is not displayed on that screen since its default -position conflicts with the vanilla embark size selection panel. Remember that -you can bring up DFHack's `context menu ` with -:kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`C` or the -`in-game command launcher ` directly with the backtick key (\`). +The command will only work when you are on the screen where you can choose the +embark site for your fort. + +So you want to bridge a gap? +---------------------------- + +A popular use case for this tool is to create a fort (or a series of forts) that +bridges two disconnected landmasses so sites on the two landmasses can reach +each other (that is, they can send raiding parties and/or engage in trade). + +However, the way this works is not entirely intuitive. + +A single large embark is not necessarily going to functionally connect the two +shores so that armies can cross the gap. You could still choose to use this +approach to build a continuous constructed bridge in fort mode for later use as +an *adventurer* in adventure mode, but it will not be usable by the other +characters/armies in the world. + +The DF world map is divided into blocks of 16x16 tiles. When you are choosing +where to embark and you move the mouse so that your embark area "shadow" moves +over a little bit -- that's one "tile". An embark area can span block +boundaries, and there is no indication on the map where those boundaries are. + +The way DF determines world pathability is to check if the ground is continuous +**or** if the enclosing 16x16 block contains the upper left tile of a fort +embark area. + +In order for a connection to be formed for armies, one fort upper left corner +must exist in each 16x16 block that contains part of the gap. + +Therefore, the simplest solution for making a "bridge" that armies can use (but +walking adventurers cannot) is to make a 1x1 fort every 16 tiles across the +water gap, starting on land on one shore and finishing on land on the opposite +shore. That will ensure that every 16x16 block in the gap is covered by a fort.