Dwarf Fortress IV: Urist Cancels Pull Lever: Drowsy

[CircleOfTheRock]

Previous thread’s link be here ({http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?148553-Dwarf-Fortress-III-Instant-Fun-Just-Add-Magma})

The previous thread died roughly 7 years ago, so I thought that it was about time I made a new one, especially with DF:2014 not once discussed on this forum.

So, anyway, what are the most hilariously stupid ends of Fortress that you have seen? As in the title, I’ve had a dwarf going to pull a lever need to sleep - the lever that would pull up the bridge between the Fortress’ unarmed population and the goblin horde.

What are some you have experienced, Playground?

[Grif]

I have not actually toyed with Dorf Fort for over two years now, but did we not have a succession fort going two or three times in the forum?

[Stuebi]

The most commong thing that _used_ to kill my forts were Tantrum-Spirals, which are no longer a thing. As soon as you reach a pop in the triple digits, it just became too hard keeping track of the general happiness scale to avoid them. Granted, Dwarf Therapist does give you the option, but I could never be bothered micro-managing to make sure that you eliminate any ticking time-bombs.

Funny enough, the best way to avoid it was just to make sure everybody is too busy to make friends, and isolating dwarfs with high social skills.

Right after that are Megabeasts. Ever since the implementation of randomly generated Godzillas stomping onto your map, I've consistently either got completely underwhelming ones (For example, ones made from snow or other similiar materials, that just dissolve after taking 3 steps) or the kind that kills you by proxy through infections. Particular because you can't tell the latter until half your population is already coughing up their lungs.

Finally there is just me as an Overseer. I just play DF so much that any sort of regular defense system is too boring. So I'm liable to flood my fortress with magma, acidentally release the guardian dragon, or starve my population due to neglecting mortal needs like food, usually about 3 or 4 years into a fort.


On a more general note, I've been trying to get into the whole minecart stuff. And although I have managed to implement them as a whacky defensive measure, I have not yet actually got them integrated in any meaningful way that actually contributes the industry (Which is at least very much in the spirit of the game). My fort tends to be built with each floor serving an individual purpose, and I'm frankly not sure if minecarts work well across multiple height-levels.

[Leecros]

On a more general note, I've been trying to get into the whole minecart stuff. And although I have managed to implement them as a whacky defensive measure, I have not yet actually got them integrated in any meaningful way that actually contributes the industry (Which is at least very much in the spirit of the game). My fort tends to be built with each floor serving an individual purpose, and I'm frankly not sure if minecarts work well across multiple height-levels.

The way I used minecarts was as a direct access from my Mining Area to the Storage Area. Often the way I built my fortresses was with the storage room on the top Z-level, my entranceway below that, followed by my workshops, meeting hall, Residental area, then everything below that was mining. The whole thing was connected to a vertical shaft with the Entranceway and Mining area fortified with military defenses. Hence in order to more easily traverse from the bottommost part of the fort to the topmost part, a second shaft for minecarts became of immense use.

The big draw of minecart use over physical labor is that it's faster to use a minecart than to haul it by hand. Minecarts can carry more and are faster. However, it all depend on the layout of your fort whether it's an efficient or worthwhile use of your time.

[Wookieetank]

I have not actually toyed with Dorf Fort for over two years now, but did we not have a succession fort going two or three times in the forum?

Apparently its been some 4 years since our last succession fort:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?355955-Dwarf-Fortress-Succession-Game-6-in-the-Playground!-Return-of-the-Evil-Biomes

My how the time flies

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well, I've been inspired to start playing myself. My very first Embark is actually turning out surprisingly well.

Started off with a gently sloping moderately wooded region, no surface water to speak of, and nothing particularly aggressive. Got started with the basics, food, booze, beds, and doors. Oh, and chopping trees, of course.

I also discovered surface level iron deposits (Magnetite), and the first cavern level I broke into has Marble, which is a flux stone, meaning I can have very early steel production going.

I made quite a few mugs of stone, and sold them to the Dwarven caravan when they showed up. So far, it is winter of the first year, and I'm at least sort of established. There's a few concerning things, though...

* for some reason, my farmer cannot find enough seeds to keep the plump helmet field fully filled, it's only a 5x5 area as well. Is this going to be cause for concern later on? Do I just not get back as many seeds as I put in or something? I've got a place to put the seeds designated right next to the farm, even made sure there were a few bags there as well.

* I don't have a decent military yet. I was hoping to wait until I had steel weapons and armor so the dwarves didn't just make do with whatever fell to hand and then didn't want to give up their named copper axe in favor of a far superior mastercrafted steel axe. However, I have concerns. If a FB or invasion happens, I'm pretty much screwed. I'm hoping to only recruit my 'hauler' dwarves (those with no other useful skills) so as to minimize the day to day interruptions should I need to deploy the military for extended expeditions.

* To the previous end, I probably need to get a barracks and training area set up. And training weapons.

* I have plans for a renewable silk farm, which requires a giant spider. Which are scary and dangerous. I'm thinking cage traps set in the caverns might help?

* I have no water sources anywhere uncovered so far. May need to continue delving to second or third cavern to source water.

[CircleOfTheRock]

Well, I've been inspired to start playing myself. My very first Embark is actually turning out surprisingly well.

Started off with a gently sloping moderately wooded region, no surface water to speak of, and nothing particularly aggressive. Got started with the basics, food, booze, beds, and doors. Oh, and chopping trees, of course.

I also discovered surface level iron deposits (Magnetite), and the first cavern level I broke into has Marble, which is a flux stone, meaning I can have very early steel production going.

I made quite a few mugs of stone, and sold them to the Dwarven caravan when they showed up. So far, it is winter of the first year, and I'm at least sort of established. There's a few concerning things, though...

* for some reason, my farmer cannot find enough seeds to keep the plump helmet field fully filled, it's only a 5x5 area as well. Is this going to be cause for concern later on? Do I just not get back as many seeds as I put in or something? I've got a place to put the seeds designated right next to the farm, even made sure there were a few bags there as well.

* I don't have a decent military yet. I was hoping to wait until I had steel weapons and armor so the dwarves didn't just make do with whatever fell to hand and then didn't want to give up their named copper axe in favor of a far superior mastercrafted steel axe. However, I have concerns. If a FB or invasion happens, I'm pretty much screwed. I'm hoping to only recruit my 'hauler' dwarves (those with no other useful skills) so as to minimize the day to day interruptions should I need to deploy the military for extended expeditions.

* To the previous end, I probably need to get a barracks and training area set up. And training weapons.

* I have plans for a renewable silk farm, which requires a giant spider. Which are scary and dangerous. I'm thinking cage traps set in the caverns might help?

* I have no water sources anywhere uncovered so far. May need to continue delving to second or third cavern to source water.
For your plump helmet situation, make sure your dwarves aren't cooking your plump helmets, because you don't get any seeds when you cook plants.

For capturing a Giant Cave Spider (known as a GCS), the most effective method is to scatter a few doors around the caverns and surround them with cage traps, because GCS and many other cavern-dwelling creatures target buildings to destroy. Also, make sure to put cage traps at any entrance to the caverns.

If you don't have a decent military, until you get one make sure not to make many entrances to your fort, and if you do, put traps in the entrances, and make them small and keep stockpiles of rocks nearby so that your mason can build walls in the entry ways, as walls are impenetrable to everything but the mighty dwarven pick.

[Shpadoinkle]

I made quite a few mugs of stone, and sold them to the Dwarven caravan when they showed up. So far, it is winter of the first year, and I'm at least sort of established. There's a few concerning things, though...
In recent versions your dwarves need mugs to drink from barrels, so be sure not to sell off all of them.


* for some reason, my farmer cannot find enough seeds to keep the plump helmet field fully filled, it's only a 5x5 area as well. Is this going to be cause for concern later on? Do I just not get back as many seeds as I put in or something? I've got a place to put the seeds designated right next to the farm, even made sure there were a few bags there as well.
As CircleOfTheRock said, cooking plants destroys the seeds. If you have sand, clay, dirt, loam, or just muddy stone (which can be made via having water pass over it) underground areas, and you've breached at least one of the caverns, you can harvest plants from the bushes and stuff that grow underground for more plump helmets. I tend to disallow all plants from being cooked unless I've got hundreds and hundreds of them.


* To the previous end, I probably need to get a barracks and training area set up. And training weapons.
Dwarves can and will spar with real weapons. The chance of injury is slightly higher, I believe, but only slightly. Even so, it's good practice for your doctors.

[5crownik007]

My current fort is a Human Fort.
I did this by putting the [CIV_CONTROLLABLE] token in their game file.
There is a serious handicap caused by this, I have no nobility or administrators.
No bookkeepers.
No militia commander.
No broker.
No manager.
No sheriff.
Essentially our town is an anarchic commune.
Strangely enough, we're surviving rather well without any organization or military, but I feel that's going to end as soon as we're threatened by enemy military forces.

It is a fun handicap though.
We live in above ground structures, and building them is a bit of a pain when digging out underground rooms would be quicker.

[Leecros]

There is a serious handicap caused by this, I have no nobility.


That is a serious handicap....how can you even cope without those snotty, good-for-nothing parasites dwarves.

[5crownik007]

That is a serious handicap....how can you even cope without those snotty, good-for-nothing parasites dwarves.

I could really do with a manager. I'd forgotten the pain of manually assigning tasks at workshops individually. A bookkeeper, so I know how much stuff I have would also be nice.

The biggest loss is the militia commander. Without military squads, I have to resort to... alternate means of defense. I can still assign ammunition for hunters, and place traps though, so defense isn't entirely impossible. I've enabled hunting on every citizen(except children) so they all carry a bow or crossbow and the ammunition for it. Unfortunately this also means they go out to hunt, rather than just carry their weapon for defense and do their jobs, but it's a small price to pay, and we do get some food out of it.