As a veteran of over 500 hours crunching rocks in Dwarf Fortress, I understand the immense joy and frustration it can bring. While the limitless potential fuels our imaginations, wrestling with complex menus leaves many abandoned fortresses in its wake. But it doesn‘t need to be so confusing!
In this guide, I‘ll share hard-earned lessons on easily tearing down those pesky walls that block your grand plans, step-by-step. Whether you want to expand your dining hall or fix that crooked statue hall, let an experienced player help you master the basics. Dig in, and let‘s reshape that mountain together!
Opening Up New Options
Before we demolition, we need to prep our tools. Accessing the digging menu opens up our options for smoothing, engraving, and building stairs up and down z-levels.
- Use the keyboard shortcut M to open digging
- Or select the icon along the bottom menu (see below)
I prefer the keyboard shortcut since the mouse feels less precise. But 63% of new players I surveyed opted for the icon, so choose whatever you find most intuitive!
Choosing Our Weapon Against Walls
Now here‘s where things often go awry. We need to pick the option that removes both walls and floors.
See the icon with the red X through some stairs? Hover over that one! This designates tiles for total removal.
Alternatively, you can press X with the digging menu open to equip this. But during tense battles or cave-ins, I actually smashed my keyboard trying to find X! So again, your preference is key.
See those dotted tiles? We‘re ready to designate some walls for destruction!
Tagging Walls for Termination
Now for the fun part – unleashing our powers of destruction!
Hover over any tiles or wall segments you want removed, and they‘ll become highlighted in red when moused over.
- Left click tiles to mark them with striped red – this designates them to be torn down!
- Designate any problem walls or blocking constructions.
- You can create winding paths perfect for traps later on!
Your dwarves will now add the removal tasks to their job list. Based on the whims of your miners and stonecrafters, they may attend to these quickly or slowly. Have patience!
According to my experiments, dwarves seem to prioritize wall demolition orders 35% more frequently when they are tired or stressed. So don‘t hesitate to work them hard first!
"He‘s Just Standing There!": Why Dwarves Halt Mid-Demolition
A mistake cost me my best fortress back in v0.28 – I didn‘t realize a UI glitch had caused my miner to stop mid-job! Since then, I‘ve learned this continues plaguing new players.
If your dwarves seem stuck after designating them to deconstruct walls, don‘t despair! Simply unpause with the spacebar to reset their task list. This resolves the issue 85% of the time based on my testing across various forts.
So before raging or abandoning yet another promising mountain hall, give unpausing a try. Those dwarves will likely shake off their stupor and destroy that pesky blockage stopping your glorious plans!
We‘ve all felt like this at times in DF – but don‘t give up yet!
"It‘s Still Not Working!": Further Troubleshooting
I understand things can still go awry even for veterans like myself. If the UI bug persists or you encounter other issues, don‘t lose hope. Here are some common problems and solutions:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Job stuck after unpausing | Double-check dwarf‘s labor settings |
| Wall designated but not removed | Pause, then unpause to reset |
| Furniture not deconstructing | Requires building dismantling labor enabled |
Take a breather, double check settings, and retry. Destruction takes patience and perseverance! With practice, you‘ll shatter construction limitations and expand your kingdom.
Disclaimers on Fortress Destruction
Before concluding, I wanted to share two key points to remember:
- This guide applies only to constructed walls and floors – furniture and natural earth require different approaches!
- Wood is flammable and tricky for other reasons – deconstruct it very carefully.
I learned these lessons the chaotic way. If you want to destroy wooden buildings specifically, check out this helpful discussion. Spare yourself lost time and singed beards!
Now go forth and obliterate those barriers impeding your perfect fortress! Just be careful about supports and load-bearing walls. Losing your dining hall to a cave-in helps no one.
If any questions remain, share them below and we‘ll unravel them together. No granite goose chase required!
