Anyone here play Dwarf Fortress?

[Coidzor]

I'm just a bit curious since I recently got into the game after having my curiosity piqued by the threepanelsoul comic dealing with an explosion of cats almost overwhelming a dwarven outpost.

Also, I did a search and no one seemed to have made a Dwarf Fortress thread, so, y'know....

[Rockphed]

There was one. That is where I finally learned how to actually play the game of insanity. These days I just spend much time waiting for my dwarves to go insane and make me items of glory and power. Then I abandon the fort and come back as a crazy adventurer and destroy everything in my path. Bwahahahahahahahahahah!

Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. Now, what was I saying?

[NeoVid]

Huh... there should be a big thread about the DF succession game that was set up here. I forgot to keep up with that after a while...

[SolkaTruesilver]

There was a thread, but it was way back.

Funny, I started playing DF again two days ago ;) My current outpost is busy diverting a local brook. Having fresh water at will without needing to get out of the fortress is a must. Not to forget I have plannet an intricated system to flood some of my territory to create internal farms.

If you plan on playing this game, I recommend a few things. Maybe watching Boatmurdered, that'll give you a proper scale of the complexity of the game. Don't be alarmed at the complexity, you will have the time and conditions to learn (and don't be sad if you loose, it's normal. The game is supposed to be played knowing that you won't win in the end)

Also, go on the Dwarf Fortress Wiki for the instruction guide, and also to know how to use everything (the most complicated elements need a proper explanations). They will also give you some good ideas regarding the layout of the fortress, and the excavation strategies to search your mountain for precious mineral without ruining everything (I prefer to dig up/down stairs in one of every 9 squares, and dig out the precious when I find them.

[Rockphed]

I've tried the "Dig shafts in the earth to find precious things. It took too long for my dwarves to do and to long for me to designate. Instead, I just fill the entire mountain with my bedroom design. Somebody called it "Ultra nazi" at some point because it looks like a swastika on steroids. Let me dredge up the picture I use as a base. I don't actually do it this way, but it is a useful base. Furthermore, I have lots of places to put workshops, barracks, noble rooms, or meeting areas with this.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5006/dffractalbedstzmodifiedds5.png

Its kinda hard to see, but each pixel is a tile. The important features are thus: 7x7 boxes which either get 49 up/down stairs or 24 up/down stairs around the edge with 25 tiles in the middle for rooms or workshops(even the largest workshops will fit in a 5x5 area). Between the boxes, there are 5 tile long hallways that have 2 bedrooms(which are 2 tiles by 3 tiles) coming off them from the middle. Some places, the 5 tile long hallway ends in another bedroom. The biggest benefit of this is that I end up with a very interconnected fortress. Unfortunately, it I mine out veins of anything, it messes up the pattern which rather stinks. Also, if invaders make it into my fortress, it is very hard to stop them from just slaughtering most of my people.:smallfrown:

[SolkaTruesilver]

I've tried the "Dig shafts in the earth to find precious things. It took too long for my dwarves to do and to long for me to designate. Instead, I just fill the entire mountain with my bedroom design. Somebody called it "Ultra nazi" at some point because it looks like a swastika on steroids. Let me dredge up the picture I use as a base. I don't actually do it this way, but it is a useful base. Furthermore, I have lots of places to put workshops, barracks, noble rooms, or meeting areas with this.



I don't think I would have the patience of doing this... Just 20 layers of 50 shafts is ennough to drive me mad. I really need some auto-sequencer to create a speedy way of giving dig patterns...

the vertical shaft trick is very useful, because you have ennough room afterward to make proper rooms in the explored area. While if you dig 1/3, you end up with useless space.

[Maxymiuk]

I usually don't care about efficiency during exploratory mining - I have room to just dig around, since I tend towards very compact fort designs - I can house my entire industry, military, and the main part of the residential complex in approx. 75x75 square. Then I use the Z-levels above and below that for stockpiles and the low-income residential sprawl.

I've been trying to move towards bigger, more organic forts though, since I end up in a situation where 1 farmer, 2 miners, ~10 dwarves to man the various workshops, and 20 haulers can cover all of the fort's labor needs, and the rest of the reprobates just loiter around and drink my booze.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I usually don't care about efficiency during exploratory mining - I have room to just dig around, since I tend towards very compact fort designs - I can house my entire industry, military, and the main part of the residential complex in approx. 75x75 square. Then I use the Z-levels above and below that for stockpiles and the low-income residential sprawl.

I've been trying to move towards bigger, more organic forts though, since I end up in a situation where 1 farmer, 2 miners, ~10 dwarves to man the various workshops, and 20 haulers can cover all of the fort's labor needs, and the rest of the reprobates just loiter around and drink my booze.

Makes all of those loiters military dwarves in 4 squads, and make them train at wrestling (with armor and shield). When they are proeficient with dodge/armor and wrestling, give them sword/axe to train them even more. And keep a powerful unit of crossbowdwarves.

You never know when you'll need them, and it cost ya nothing to train those dwarves to get nice stats :-)

[MeatShield#236]

Question: Where can you get this game? Is it free?

[Maxymiuk]

You can download it freely here (http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/).

[TheSummoner]

Eh... I used to play, but haven't in a while... I never got to match wits with the fearsome Giant Cave Spider =/. After trying for about a month I was sick of the game... could never find one of the damn things...

My defence setup usually involved a 4 wide path leading into the fortress (3 minimum for wagon access and 1 extra because I'm insane and a 4 wide one makes symmetry easier and I want a fortress that is both efficient and pretty), filled to the brim with cage traps... as well as a squad of legendary crossbowdwarves.

Back to the spider though... apparently they're tameable with the help of a dungeon master... I wanted one soooooo badly... Giant eagles too...

[Amalith]

There was a large thread about this fairly recently. I have no idea what happened to it. Also, the sucession game is gone as well, very strange.

Anyway, Dwarf Fortress is pretty fun, but I keep flooding my forts building waterfalls. I always underestimate the amount of water found in a murky pool and the system overflows.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Okay, can people help here with nice utility programs for DF?

I downloaded a nice skin extra recently, which makes the game remotely more enjoyable (but not by far). I heard there are very nice utility programs around made by fans, and maybe people here could tell which ones are the best (without going into the realm of cheating)

Of the things that I'd like:

- Localisator. I have to have one of my dwarf die and I cannot zoom to its location
- Comprehensive Dwarf Administration screen. I'd have all the dwarves with all their skills with all their job setting put in front of me, and allowed to change their labor choices/military settings. Better micromanagement!
- Automatic Designation. Nothing fancy, just a pre-set of commands I could give the game like: d (designation), i (up/down stairs), enter, enter (to select 1 square), go down 1 level, enter enter, go down, etc.... for about 15 levels. That way, I wouldn't have to do it all by myself, being driven to near-suicide because of the freakish micro-management of commands involved.

If people have good other ideas for a neat utility programs, or have heard of such programs, please put in this thread.

Also, no trainer/file editor. I think we can do away without cheating. 'cause it'll make us stop loosing. And loosing is fun.

[Connor Darkdart]

Okay, I need some help. I started playing DF, but found the symbols too difficult to comprehend (this coming from someone who played Nethack with no problem)

So I downloaded a tile set. Mayday to be exact. And I copied over the required items, only to have DF popup and say that index in /data/ was not there or corrupted.

Halp?

[Suicide Junkie]

There was a large thread about this fairly recently. I have no idea what happened to it. Also, the sucession game is gone as well, very strange.

Anyway, Dwarf Fortress is pretty fun, but I keep flooding my forts building waterfalls. I always underestimate the amount of water found in a murky pool and the system overflows.Try building the mechanism dry, and filling it carefully once completed, using buckets.

EG: A collection trough in the basement, feeding a waterwheel which powers a set of pumps to take the water from behind the wheel upwards a couple levels where it splashes back down into the trough, thus powering the waterwheel in a perpetual motion sort of way.

Then designate the collection trough as a pond (you will also need a designated water source, such as that murky pool) and let your dwarves fill it 1 unit of water at a time with buckets.
Once the trough is filled to about 4, you can have a dwarf crank start the contraption. If your design operates smoothly enough, you can use your fountain to power a millstone too.

[Thane of Fife]

Hmm. My last fortress was built with the intent of housing everyone in log cabins. It didn't work so well (mostly because I have no idea how to use mechanisms or any of the complex orders, and thus ended up draining a murky pool through half a dozen channels so I could create something like 8 spaces of farmland).

[Rockphed]

You can make farmland on any soil space as it currently stands. Thus, the best way to get a nice large farm set up is to dig out a square of sand or other soil. Removing the roof allows above ground crops while keeping the roof allows underground crops.

As for graphics sets, I cannot help you, but this page (http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Tilesets) might be of use. I use the extended ASCII, so I have no sympathy whatsoever for you.:smallyuk: Okay, so I get confused sometimes too, but I'm too lazy to change anything. Once again, sloth prevails!

[Astrella]

@SolkaTrueSilver: There's this tool called Dwarf Manager (http://minoku.net/dwarfmanager/), that allows you to easily edit dwarfs jobs and even make custom job-sets and stuff.

[Dragor]

I just started playing DF... well, today. I'm not expecting to do well, so my first few attempts have been milling around, and it's fun just learning the game, with small elements of frustration (I was no good with Nethack in the slightest, so DF is a massive step-up for me).

I simply have no idea where to begin. My first fortress was a genuine epic fail, stuck in the middle of the mountains. All I could seem to get right was smoothing stone, engraving said stone, and then making a beeline for the soil and mud nearby to make some farms. I tried designating some areas to be mined, but nothing seemed to happen. These aren't complaints; I really, really want to learn this game. It seems amazingly complex and something I desperately want to tackle as a good time sink between revision sessions.

I don't know whether to carry on with that fortress, or to keep retrying and experimenting with different tactics.

[Suicide Junkie]

Were you designating the surface for mining?

Mining means tunnels along the currently visible layer. (Channel means dig down through the surface and mine out the next level down at the same time)
You'll probably want to go down one level, dig a ramp and then mine out some rooms (this leaves the grassy roof intact).

[Destro_Yersul]

I play it, and I have a few fortresses.

One very well established one, with magma and water and everything, up to the point that I have a king, complete with guard towers and traps. Goblin sieges can't touch me.

Several less established ones that I haven't touched in a while.

One new one, in a Dwarven paradise, except for one thing. Terrifying surroundings. Thus, the entire fortress is one big deathtrap, which I can activate to kill everything inside via drowning. For things which don't breath, it tends to wash them out of the fort through the drain instead.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I play it, and I have a few fortresses.

One very well established one, with magma and water and everything, up to the point that I have a king, complete with guard towers and traps. Goblin sieges can't touch me.

Several less established ones that I haven't touched in a while.

One new one, in a Dwarven paradise, except for one thing. Terrifying surroundings. Thus, the entire fortress is one big deathtrap, which I can activate to kill everything inside via drowning. For things which don't breath, it tends to wash them out of the fort through the drain instead.

how do you survive in the first years when sorrounded by such horrors?

[Destro_Yersul]

Frantic digging, and early recruiting. Getting some wrestlers going from the beginning can be a good way to fight off zombie wildlife early on. Especially since they make champion quickly if you leave them alone.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I'd like to have them turn automatically on "on duty" the moment they see an ennemy... No sense having them training and not engage the ennemy on sight.

[Maxymiuk]

I'd like to see sheathes and harnesses implemented, so that civilians other than woodcutters could can carry weapons with them while not on duty. Having your whole fortress respond to a call to arms without having to muck about with retrieving weapons from a storage somewhere can be critical to survival, after all.

[Rockphed]

Hunters will carry the equipment they are told to carry. Unfortunately, they also hunt, so maps with wildlife will be harder to arm your civilians. Also, hunters sleep wherever they are, so it would also be harder to keep your people inside.

Also, to Dragor and anybody else new to DF, remember that < (SHIFT + ,) moves the view up one z-level and > (SHIFT + .)moves it down one z-level. I lost my first 2 forts to not knowing that. My third fort was lost to not having a clue how to use floodgates and trying to divert a stream past my front gate, which is a story for another time.

[Talvara]

I Play dwarf fortress now and then, its a game that really gives you the sence of "endless posibility" my forts never live to huge sizes tough... after I get above a certain amount of dwarfs I just dont feel attached to them anymore.

You should try kobold camp and Goblin tower aswell ((or try to build a settlement completely aboveground))

btw, the game is still considered BETA, and in development ((Tarn adams works on it almost everyday of the month!)) if ure curious... check out the development page of the website! http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_next.html

also... if u're like me and the asci graphics creep you out till no end, (and you dont like manually editing in graphics) you can download DFG HERE (http://www.kefaja.com/games/igrice/D/dwarf_fortress_dfg/dwarf_fortress_dfg_eng.html) its basicly a version of dwarf fortress with graphics already set up.

[Destro_Yersul]

One of the fortresses I haven't done much on is almost entirely above ground. Only thing underground Is the glass furnaces and the magma pit. Yeah. I'm building a fortress entirely out of green glass.

[stabbybelkar]

I'm just a bit curious since I recently got into the game after having my curiosity piqued by the threepanelsoul comic dealing with an explosion of cats almost overwhelming a dwarven outpost.

Also, I did a search and no one seemed to have made a Dwarf Fortress thread, so, y'know....

I haven't played though I'm thinking of getting it. My only question is how much does it cost? Is it a free download?:smallbiggrin: or is it something that you need to subscribe to inorder to play?:smallfrown:

[Destro_Yersul]

It's free. You can donate if you like, but no money is required to play the game.

[Arachu]

I just downloaded it (hoping I'll last a day :smalleek:).

That music, though relaxing, is kinda creepy...

[The Valiant Turtle]

I haven't had much time for games lately, but I love DF. Can't wait for the next version.

[toasty]

Just started playing this game. Darn confusing, but fun.

Now to figure out what's the next thing I can mess up on. :p

[Maxymiuk]

Does anyone know if there's any way to restrict the use of barrels to a specific product? I'm trying a survivalist fort and the bearded bastards keep sticking rat weed in my only barrel, which I intend to put booze in.

[Talvara]

only way I can think of is... set the allowed amount of barrels for stockpiles to 0. asfar as I've seen they only put stuff in a barrel when its inside a stockpile ((afraid I dont know how to get things out of the barrel again))

[Maxymiuk]

That... could work, actually.

And it's possible to empty barrels by using loo[k]-Enter to view its contents and designating them for dumping. Of course, in my case that meant they just immediately filled it back up. :smallannoyed:

[Destro_Yersul]

I have gotten quite annoyed at the zombie creatures several levels below the surface in a chasm. I am trying to brick over said chasm, but the dwarves think that the tiny zombies in the gloom near the bottom are a credible threat, and keep being distracted by them.

I am THIS close to just tunneling down there and smiting them all.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I have gotten quite annoyed at the zombie creatures several levels below the surface in a chasm. I am trying to brick over said chasm, but the dwarves think that the tiny zombies in the gloom near the bottom are a credible threat, and keep being distracted by them.

I am THIS close to just tunneling down there and smiting them all.

Crossbowdwarves standing near the edge, target practice?

[Da King]

Does anyone know if there's any way to restrict the use of barrels to a specific product? I'm trying a survivalist fort and the bearded bastards keep sticking rat weed in my only barrel, which I intend to put booze in.

Have you tried making a custom stockpile for drinks only? Maybe if you forbid the stuff that they keep putting into barrels it will work.

Anyway, anyone here use the Orcs mod? It makes the game much more challenging, since you get really tough sieges twice a year, and the Orcs are VERY hard to kill.

[Destro_Yersul]

Crossbowdwarves standing near the edge, target practice?

Don't think they'd have enough range. They'd have to shoot down a number of z levels and across a large pit. I could try it, though.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Don't think they'd have enough range. They'd have to shoot down a number of z levels and across a large pit. I could try it, though.

If it's too high, simply dig a tunnel down and create a new shooting ledger :smallbiggrin:

[Destro_Yersul]

did one better. I dug a tunnel and sent 17 champion wrestlers in steel plate down there to beat them the hell up. They won't be bothering me again. Now, to take care of the rest of the things down there....

[Maxymiuk]

A small question. I want to mod in wood and bone spears, only I'm not sure if I know everything I need to go about it. From reading the wiki and lurking on the DF forum, it seems I need to:

a) Add the weapon into the item_weapon.txt file.
b) Add the weapon to the items the race I'm using can use
c) Add the weapon to the reaction_standard.txt file, since it's currently the only way to mod in production of nonstandard equipment.
d) Gen a new world.

Or do I only need to do c) and d) and the game will automatically adjust weapon damage etc. based on material used?

[Rockphed]

Alternatively, you could add whatever tag makes something a ranged weapon to spears(or whatever you want to make bone and wood versions of.) The benefit is that, if you could already make the weapon in your workshops, you can make it with just a restart of Dwarf Fort. I'm not on my normal computer, so I can't test it out, but once I get home, I will.

Furthermore, I think you can already produce bone or wood versions of weapons with reactions. Just be sure to use proper bone and wood definitions rather than generics. Generic materials either weight a ton or boil into a freezing cloud of death.

[Raven the Rogue]

I love dwarf fortress and am looking forward to the next version. Play it for a while and you will never think of dwarves quite the same way again.
My current fortress is located where a cold haunted badlands meets a terrifying mountain, complete with a magma pipe and a chasm open to the surface. I am on my first reclaim attempt and the barracks are already decorated with images of zombie trolls and skeletal camels killing dwarves. Good news though, the obsidian farm is almost complete!

[Rockphed]

Okay, to further answer Maxymiuk(who really should stop playing Dwarf Fortress and get back to Space Empires 4:smallmad:) Adding the following line to a weapon you can already make will enable the production of bone and wooden versions of it:

[RANGED:CROSSBOW:BOLT]

That is in the form [RANGED:(ranged skill):(ammunition)], so you can do all sorts of fun things with it. I saw a discussion where people were training record keepers with a modded in weapon. I will leave the puzzling out of the particulars to others.

[SolkaTruesilver]

To be honest, I think I'd like to give some useless weapons to my dwarves who are training. one of my dwarf lost a toe training with a battleaxe...

[charl]

Just recently started playing. My current fortress is a small complex dug into the side of a mountain. I am at a loss how to exactly proceed. I'm thinking maybe start making crystal glass, and eventually start building a palace of some sort with it.

But I seem to be unable to attract any immigrants. My 8 dwarves need some more company. How do I make people move in?

[Arachu]

Three general questions (well, they're kinda specific, I guess :smalltongue:)

1) Is it possible to make wooden weapons? (not counting crossbow or modding)

2) If a dwarf enters a Secretive Mood (he occupies a building and draws things), and he sketches skeletons, does he want Dwarven bones, or will any bones do?

3) (And most importantly;) Is it possible to build an above-ground fortress? before, I built walls into room shapes, and it wouldn't let me place beds in them. Is there a way around this impedance?

@ Solka: ... He cut off his toe? I don't know if I should laugh or gasp :smallsmile:

[Maxymiuk]

1) Is it possible to make wooden weapons? (not counting crossbow or modding)


Without modding, no. If you really want some, elves will occasionally bring a few every now and then (mostly swords).


2) If a dwarf enters a Secretive Mood (he occupies a building and draws things), and he sketches skeletons, does he want Dwarven bones, or will any bones do?

Any bones should do. If he ever wants dwarven body parts, you'll find it out when he drags some hapless peasant into the nearest butcher shop.


3) (And most importantly;) Is it possible to build an above-ground fortress? before, I built walls into room shapes, and it wouldn't let me place beds in them. Is there a way around this impedance?


You need to put a roof over the building, otherwise it still counts as being outside.

[Da King]

Three general questions (well, they're kinda specific, I guess :smalltongue:)

1) Is it possible to make wooden weapons? (not counting crossbow or modding)

2) If a dwarf enters a Secretive Mood (he occupies a building and draws things), and he sketches skeletons, does he want Dwarven bones, or will any bones do?

3) (And most importantly;) Is it possible to build an above-ground fortress? before, I built walls into room shapes, and it wouldn't let me place beds in them. Is there a way around this impedance?

@ Solka: ... He cut off his toe? I don't know if I should laugh or gasp :smallsmile:

1) You can't make them, but you can sometimes buy wooden weapons from elves.

2) Any bones will do, but there are macabre and fell moods that do require dwarf bones/skin for completion, in a fell mood they kill the nearest dwarf and use their corpse, in a macabre mood they need dwarven bones, but won't kill a dwarf for them.

3)It is indeed possible to build an above ground fort, and I have done so. The reason you can't place beds is that you need the tile to count as inside to place furniture. Use look (k) to find out if a tile is inside, and build a roof if it is not.

[Suicide Junkie]

Just recently started playing. My current fortress is a small complex dug into the side of a mountain. I am at a loss how to exactly proceed. I'm thinking maybe start making crystal glass, and eventually start building a palace of some sort with it.

But I seem to be unable to attract any immigrants. My 8 dwarves need some more company. How do I make people move in?If you want some immigrants, try pimping out your fortress with riches.
Have somebody start decorating your loot with shells and bone. If you've got a glassworks, you can put up a jeweler's shop and decorate all sorts of stuff with glass for almost free.
Smooth the walls and floors, and then let an experienced engraver deface them.

Be sure to make a huge stockpile of food and drink so you can handle the influx.

Keep in mind that flashing lots of bling will attract thieves, so you'll want to activate some of the immigrant peasants into your military and set up traps near your entrance. A couple wardogs on chains near the gate are great at sniffing out sneaky goblins, too.