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v0.34:Gravity
| This article is about an older version of DF. |
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall"
Gravity in Dwarf Fortress shares similarities to the real world but has some key differences. Items, creatures and fluids will descend under gravity, moving to a lower z-level in the right circumstances. While this mimics the real world, the biggest key differences are listed below:
- In a cave in, terrain collapses to the lowest point instantly, however items, creatures and buildings fall slowly (over multiple ticks)
- Buildings in a cave in will instantly deconstruct before they fall, and the resulting items will then fall slowly
- Items and creatures that are thrown, shot, cut off and sent flying, knocked back or generally expected to travel in a parabolic arc will do so in a straight line, on only a single z-level. This means that a stone thrown by a catapult will only appear on the same z-level as it was launched from, is only displayed on the same z-level and will come to a halt only at a wall or at the maximum range for the projectile. No additional z-levels are required for "clearance"
- Creatures fall at a constant rate (6 ticks for each z-level, although the first z-level usually takes an extra tick due to the order with which the game evaluates events). Water falls at a random rate, taking between 5 and 20 ticks to fall a single z-level.
- Creatures that fall into water do not take damage for the levels they fall in the water, only for the levels above the water-- a dwarf dropped into 10 z-levels of water directly beneath him will fall the entire way, but won't even be stunned by the fall, although he might be stunned by drowning.
- Creatures that are dropped from a hatch onto a standing creature's head will only ever be stunned by the fall, regardless of how many z-levels they fell. For some reason, creatures dropped from bridges don't benefit from the same effect.
When designing pit traps, one consideration to keep in mind is how a creature will respond to the fall. Larger creatures like blind cave ogres don't require much: a five story drop will kill nine out of ten of them, and the tenth one will bleed to death within a game week. Smaller creatures like crundles or creeping eyes, however, tend to land lightly and require a much longer drop.
Falling seems to have been nerfed in the most recent update. Previously any fall from more than 1 z-level was guaranteed to at least break a bone on a dwarf sized creature or larger. However, it now seems that dwarves can survive falls of at least two z levels unscathed, and goblins have been seen to fall more than four with only light bruising and stunning.