Dwarf Fortress

[SolkaTruesilver]

Hi there, I tried beginning to play with that game, but I just can't find a proper good starting location with the latest version of the game (or is it me who isn'T good at looking?)

I'm trying to find a place that has volcano, river and forests. Don't seem to be able to find anything remotely like this. Also, previous game examples show a simple cliff near the starting dwarves, and you just have to build your way in. In my game, I seem to have a weird mountain organisation, I cannot find any good cliff to start building in (none that are any close to a river anyway)

Am I doing something wrong?

[Khosan]

No, no, you're not mistaken on the last point. The big cliffs were from way back when it was 2-dimensional and all the maps were guaranteed to have everything you'd ever need.

As for a starting location, here's all you really need to do: Find a volcano, and search outwards from that until you can find a location that meets your needs as they stand. If you don't want to go through the hassle, you can check the DF wiki for seeds and starting locations.

Also, I feel the need to show off: Glovedravens! (http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-2527-glovedravens) My horribly understaffed fortress. 11 Dwarves running the whole thing, and running it smoothly, I might add.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Ah.. shoot. Thanks for the help, however.

What would you suggest? That I download an older version of Dwarf Fortress, or do the most recent addons give more interesting things?

[endoperez]

Ah.. shoot. Thanks for the help, however.

What would you suggest? That I download an older version of Dwarf Fortress, or do the most recent addons give more interesting things?

Build downstairs on the ground

[endoperez]

Ah.. shoot. Thanks for the help, however.

What would you suggest? That I download an older version of Dwarf Fortress, or do the most recent addons give more interesting things?

Designate downstairs on the ground, and upstairs on the same spot one level below. Move with < and >.

There aren't interesting things in all starting areas, but there is more stuff to do. Also, next patch will bring in armies; read latest developments from Bay12games.

I suggest trying the 3d-mode for now, and waiting for patches once you get bored.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Designate downstairs on the ground, and upstairs on the same spot one level below. Move with < and >.

There aren't interesting things in all starting areas, but there is more stuff to do. Also, next patch will bring in armies; read latest developments from Bay12games.

I suggest trying the 3d-mode for now, and waiting for patches once you get bored.

3d-mode..? You mean, the one with the Z axis? Or you mean there is a DF with actual graphics available?

[NikkTheTrick]

3d-mode..? You mean, the one with the Z axis? Or you mean there is a DF with actual graphics available?
Z axis.

Here is what a perfect location will have:
- Magma source. You don't need much - a small lake would be enough. Magma forges and magma smelters do not require fuel!
- Sedimentary layer. Has lots of magnetite (iron ore) and bituminous coal (source of carbon for steel).
- Flux layer. Chalk, limestone and dolomite are both sedimentary and flux layers. Marble is not sedimentary.
- Some sand. Needed for glass making - you cannot import sand or glass.
- Water source. A brook is fine. River can be problematic since it can contain the beast of beasts: carp! Dwarves and carp do not mix!
- Forested. Wood is very valuable since it is the only thing you can make beds of. However, you can both trade of it and take a lot of it at the start (I took 200 logs).
- Chasm. Useful for garbage disposal and looks cool. But do not forget to have some military there. I had a single cave swallow get into my barracks and do naughty things to 12 wrestlers there until miner came and ended the farce (which resulted in cave swallow body exploding in gore in a single strike). 12 bloodied soldiers were very ashamed to be saved by a single civilian... I invested heavily into traps when that happened!
- Adamantine. Very good stuff, but only 1 source per mountain region and you might dig to the demon pit...
- Decent temperature. I like temperate climate the best: water is liquid most of the time and freezes in winter, allowing you to change the path brook is flowing since you can just mine out the ice, dig a new channel and wall off the old one.
- Also, stay away from evil (sinister, terrifying, etc.) AND good (mirthful, etc.) biomes. Skeletal and zombie creatures can hurt. Skeletal carp can get out of water and hunt your poor dwarves wherever they are! and you cannot kill skeletal creatures by damaging their organs since they don't have or need any! Unicorns are good, but very vicious! It might be fun watching all the gory details of unicorn massacring a village of elves, killing guards, civilians and children (looks like they're Miko's reincarnations...), but it is less fun when the tree hugger cannon fodder is dead and it is turn of the dwarves... Really, those unicorns can rival carps in how vicious they are!

I find sedimentary layer, flux and magma to be the most important (provided location and temperature are OK). Farming can be done if you wet some stone, making it muddy, and farm on mud.

However, getting sedimentary and magma together is hard. Magma is close to vulcans and volcanic biomes have extrusive layers (basalt, obsidian, etc.) - no sediment. So, the region needs to be on the border of volcanic biome and sediment-containing biome. That border must include volcano. That sediment must be chalk, limestone or dolomite (or, either biome is lucky to contain marble). Getting soil is good. Sand -- much better. Source of water is also very useful.

You can also download a program that turns combat reports on in fortress mode - very useful for seeing how battles go. Be warned though that detailed report is a double edged sword: you get useful info, but you also learn details of how things went... There is a good reason TV troupes list gorn as a feature of the game, even though "graphics" are ASCII :smalleek:

One thing is having a dwarf you knew and loved die. Another is having him die and then read that first a goblin cut his hand, then the goblin broke his leg with a well placed strike, shattering his knee. Then, his left hand is mangled. Next strike sends his hand flying off in a bloody ark. Your dwarf gives in to pain. Next strike hits his lower body. His stomach is pierced, his liver is mangled and his gutts spill on the ground. Your dwarf vomits. Next strike hits him in the upper body and one of his lungs is mangled and your dwarf has trouble berating... And you are watching the whole thing... Then a friendly dwarf kills that goblin before goblin delivers the merciful finishing blow. You think that the dwarf is dead, but he is not... Not yet at least... He crawls to the bed, leaving a trail of blood. He wants to live. he hopes his comrades will stop the bleeding and he will recover. Deep inside, you have faint hope that he lives, but you know that he is a goner. After he crawls 10 or 15 meters, he finally falls unconscious due to blood loss, exhaustion and, most importantly, agony :smallfrown:

And there you are, watching that happen to a dwarf you liked most. You learned what he likes, you decorated his room. You were looking forward to him getting married with this recent immigrant he loves... But he died right in front of you. Slowly and horribly. And there you see his lover struck with grief crying over his body :smallfrown: He or she might be driven insane by this. Maybe, go berserk, maybe jump off a cliff... And since he is your first causalty, you haven't yet built any coffins, nor have you prepared a tomb. So, you stop all the digging, you stop other task for your mason and make the tomb, the last favor to your favorite dwarf. :smallfrown:

Then again, you can read about your dwarves having fun with goblins when well trained, equipped and, most importantly, lucky:

That is 2 girls in my army in full steel armor meeting a goblin ambush... Don't mess with dwarven girls!
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1053/dfgornnv4.jpg

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/7188/dfgorn2wz2.jpg

[nooblade]

I think playing on any old map is fun rather than min/maxing. Magma is only useful when you know a lot about how the game works and can set up efficient and powerful production facilities within your fortress, and you don't usually learn how to do it with magma. And then even after you know how to really use magma to the best effect, it's just a mite bit helpful when you find it again, woodcutting and wood burning are just a small addition to the smithing process (it cuts time spent not working on metal into a fraction if you can find coal).

Try playing on a wooded area, they always have soil that you can farm in, and set out with a goal in mind. Maybe you should try trading away 20 masterwork wooden spiked ball traps before abandoning this fortress. That should give a good idea of what options are functional, necessary, or superflous.

[Inhuman Bot]

So I was playing this recently and for some reason it would not let me start. Anyone else have this happen?

[NikkTheTrick]

What do you mean "won't let you start"? Some kind of error pops up? The game does not start at all? The world won't generate? You can't embark?

[NEO|Phyte]

From the Devlog, something that is too awesome to leave unshared.

05/09/2008: Now that the human, dwarven and elven children can be snatched in world gen (they snatch kobolds if they manage to find them, though that might not last since kobolds shouldn't be able to integrate into other societies), I've retooled religion acquisition a bit, since the dwarf baby shouldn't worship a dwarf deity that he or she never actually learned about. Now (world gen) children learn about religion a little later in life than birth, and godless critters living in towns with temples have a chance of picking up religions. Nothing complicated yet, but it's something. So... the goblin snatchers, who were very successful before I activated the guards, got their tower populated with several generations of dwarves that managed to outbreed the goblins. Some of the older abductees imported belief in Dasel, one of the dwarven gods, and since there were more dwarves and in fact more believers in Dasel than in the demon, they constructed a temple to Dasel by the dark towers. The demon, being a godless critter, decided over the course of a few years that Dasel was worthy and began worshipping Dasel at the temple. The few goblins remaining still worshipped the demon. I've since stopped powers from worshipping gods, because it's out of character for what a power means in the stock universe, but it was kind of funny in any case.

Then I created a pocket world. Kivish Soarcrafted the dwarf was abducted at age 3 and moved to the Cruel Tower in Felldweller. He became a farmer and married Olin Roofchanced, another abductee, and eventually joined the guard. The humans and goblins were fighting a lot at this time, and the demon and many goblins were slain in the wars, as well as Kivish's wife. Kivish then personally led four defenses against the human onslaughts on the dark tower, and by the year 33 there were only 11 defenders left. In the year 34, only 4 defenders remained, and Kivish became the leader of the goblin civilization, such as it was. More attacks followed, and in the year 35, Kivish stood alone against twenty four human attackers, defending Felldweller and a goblin baby that had been born in 33, the only other resident. Kivish was victorious, but the dwarves then launched an assault on Felldweller, and Kivish faced 22 dwarves in the Forest of Dashing outside Felldweller, killing 4 of his own kind before being fatally shot by a crossbow bolt. Although the dwarves were victorious on the field, the humans slipped in and installed a new leader in Felldweller, who lived alone with the goblin child, Amxu Blottedvile, for a year before more humans decided to move in, establishing a temple to Odel the goddess of truth called the Truthful Temple in 37 and a mead hall called the Muscular Voice in 54. The original human city declared war on the dwarves after this and was eventually conquered, and the humans there died out over fifty years, with dwarven populations established in two mountain fortresses and the formerly human town. Felldweller, now a human-populated dark tower, never went to war again, but without support from the original human city, the humans left there eventually died out. I'll have to check out exactly what happened there.

Amxu had entered the priesthood of the Truthful Temple by this time, and as the last of the humans aged and died, Amxu, the last goblin in the world, became the high priest of the Cult of Honesty, worshipping the human goddess of truth alone in Felldweller. Amxu continued in this capacity for 157 years at which time play began. I decided to start an adventurer, and I only had two choices -- a human from the dark tower (it doesn't check for existing critters, just the controlling culture), or a dwarf from any of the the dwarf-controlled sites. I started as a human in Felldweller. It was a strange place. There were three goblin towers, a full set of empty stores, many hovels, the mead hall and the Truthful Temple. I met Amxu there. I asked him about his family, and he told me about several goblins that had died in the wars 300 years ago. Then I joined the temple so he wouldn't be so lonely and retired there. I guess I'll die of old age eventually though. That can't be helped, since he's the last immortal in the world.

There were a few other snatcher-related occurances in other worlds. A dwarf was snatched at age 10, became a hunter at the goblin site and eventually led an attack on the dwarves twenty years later. The goblin leader must have been overzealous, because the attackers numbered 19 against 72 defenders in the dwarven fortress. Still, you can see why the goblin leader thought there was a chance, since the dwarven general of the goblin attack force managed to personally kill 51 of the dwarves before being struck down.

I also had an elf abductee decide to become a (quite successful) baby-snatcher upon reaching adulthood.

[NikkTheTrick]

Nice! and in the meantime I am having my adventurers killed in ways, detailed description of which here would get me banned...

A censored description would go like this:
- "Hi, mayor! Wazzup?"
- "Hi! We have this hydra problem around here. Could you please kill it?"
- "Sure thing!"

<fast forward 1 day due to censorship>

The hydra spits out your lower body.

[Cubey]

This thread made me play the game again - it's nice to see it substantially improved since the last time I played it, both in terms of options and the dwarves' AI. My tiny settlement will probably manage to survive its first winter, as it is almost spring and I have more than enough food for everyone. That's despite the fact that ten new dwarves (and one kitten) arrived just before winter.

All the basic facilities are set up, including small barracks, a meeting hall with table&throne combo for everyone, the office for the leader, two irrigated farms, small housings for everyone and even a smithy - I didn't start with an anvil, but I bought one from the first caravan to arrive. Damn, these mechanisms sure were a cost- and time-effective thing to make. They're worth a lot.

I recently set up some walls and traps to squish any potential invaders too. Although I didn't have any yet, except for a single kobold who ran away without stealing anything, chased by the caravan's guards.

I have several lover pairings in the settlement already, so I expect new dwarves some time soon. Funny thing, both dwarves from one pairing have the same name - apparently it's gender neutral.
Report out.

[Glawackus]

So I picked out a nice starting location, I'm working on making a well, all this stuff, and I notice that my dwarves seem to keep encountering an ettin and giant mole(s) on their way to and from the stockpile.

Now, I know there aren't any ettins and/or giganto-moles roaming around outside my fortress gates, so I start looking around the map. I spot the ettin and some giant moles in a cave two z-levels down from my fortress. I shrug and put it down to a bug.

Then, I notice that one of the dwarves in question is abed, with his right arm broken. I spot a giant mole corpse in the refuse pile.

This time, I follow one of the dwarves that seems to keep running afoul of the things.

The dwarves have been using the ettin cave as a shortcut to the trade depot, and fighting anything that tried to stop them barehanded. There are several wounded giant moles in the cave, and the ettin is wandering around with some kind of head wound.

I felt pretty proud, let me tell you.

[Cubey]

I don't have anything dangerous like that on my starting location - no giants or dwarf-eating elephants, the worst I've got are kobold thieves that my hunter one-shots with a crossbow - he butts them with it, not even wasting bolts.
Spring came, and with it an elf caravan, who came in to be snooty and possibly trade a bit. And shortly after them - surprise, surprise, another group of immigrants! I had 17 dwarves, now I have... 38. That's right, 21 new dwarves arrived! Including two kids. I guess they're making sure I never have too little work to do.
Oh, and they brought a mule too.

[ElectricEel]

The dwarves have been using the ettin cave as a shortcut to the trade depot, and fighting anything that tried to stop them barehanded. There are several wounded giant moles in the cave, and the ettin is wandering around with some kind of head wound. A good thing the recent versions have the traffic settings.

[Cubey]

I just had my first artifact crafted! It's an idol, worth 6000 [Silly dwarf money].
I'm glad it wasn't that hard to make - just some standard stone+wood. I know artifacts can require very weird stuff.

[NikkTheTrick]

I know artifacts can require very weird stuff.
So can nobles' mandates... Get your hammerer and annoying nobles killed.

Actually, I'll try to get mine paralyzed. Will have to go through quite a few of them though untill they have just right wounds...

Actually, does anyone know any friendly-fire-friendly traps that can chop off hands? I'd love to have a handless handless hammerer in my fortress :smallbiggrin:

[Cubey]

Results of setting up a sparring area: two dwarves lying down in beds, wounded, moaning as they slowly heal. One of them has a serious injury to the lower body, the other has a mangled lung. Fun - I wonder how many victims will my training program swallow?

[tyckspoon]

Results of setting up a sparring area: two dwarves lying down in beds, wounded, moaning as they slowly heal. One of them has a serious injury to the lower body, the other has a mangled lung. Fun - I wonder how many victims will my training program swallow?

Tips for helping your dorfs survive military training:
Give them armor.
Train them as wrestlers or with low-damage weapons made of wood, silver, or another weak material until they have armor skills. Wrestling has the additional benefit of giving them a skill they can use to fight with when they eventually decide to report for battle without picking up their sword/hammer/axe first.

Once they have improved their toughness and defensive skills from practicing in armor, then you may (relatively) safely give them real weapons to practice with. Or just give them obsidian swords from the start, if you've got too many dwarves hanging around and want to see your sparring room covered in blood.

[Cubey]

Funny thing, I actually gave them armor and made them practice Wrestling before. Still, as soon as I gave them axes: "Woo, real weapons!" *hacks the nearest dwarf's abdomen out* "Whee!"

Fortunately, it seems the wounded one won't die, she'll only spend the next half a year or so in bed. I also got my second artifact - a green glass chalice. Yup, very lucky with artie ingredients so far.

[NikkTheTrick]

Hmm... That got me thinking... maybe we should have an "adventure every couple of days" here? Say, story master gives several choices, people vote on those and then he proceeds with adventure. And then writes a story with a few screenshots about how that adventure went. So that people see if they got the adventurer dead with their votes. If so, they will also see what kind of horrible death that was.

In most cases it will end up in something like:
You vomit
You vomit
You give in to pain
Goblin swordmaster strikes you in the upper body with his iron longsword
It is cloven asunder!
You have been struck down!

What board would it belong to though? Silly games one?

[ufo]

Hey, I need a little tip. What's a good way to acquire food, other than farming? I had created a irrigation reservoir and all for my farm, but my attempts at re-routing the river have been horridly unsuccesful.

[Glawackus]

Or, conversely, Nick, you could have a succession game, with people passing on the save file for a fortress from player to player.

Disclaimer: I would probably end up having the fortress be all OH NO BLOOD EVERYWHERE A DWARF HAS BEEN STRUCK DOWN.

[ufo]

Or, conversely, Nick, you could have a succession game, with people passing on the save file for a fortress from player to player.

Disclaimer: I would probably end up having the fortress be all OH NO BLOOD EVERYWHERE A DWARF HAS BEEN STRUCK DOWN.

Ever read Boatmurdered? Yeah, that wasn't pretty.

[Driderman]

Hey, I need a little tip. What's a good way to acquire food, other than farming? I had created a irrigation reservoir and all for my farm, but my attempts at re-routing the river have been horridly unsuccesful.

Well, you could assign a lot of hunters to get food, but I don't really think that's a viable alternative. An alternate food supply would be animals, although you'd need to have a whole lot of them if they're to mate and grow up quickly enough that you don't deplete the food supply.
In the end though, I'm pretty sure you'll have to learn to irrigate if you want to survive.

Here's a little diagram for a suggestion on how to irrigate:

~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~
======X===
======X===
======X===
======1===
=..............=
=..............=
=..............=
2..............=
==========

. Being open space
~ Being water,
= Being rock/wall.
1 Being the location of your floodgate
2 Being the location of a door
X Being rock that needs to be excavated

First you dig out your farm plot. Then you excavate the rock leading to the water, but don't break through the last part. Build the floodgate. Your dwarf may very well have trapped himself on the wrong side after placing it, so be sure to have built a lever and have mechanisms ready for linking it to the floodgate.
Pull the lever to release the dwarf, excavate the last part and quickly pull the lever again, once your dwarf is safe.
If the room floods more than needed (which is likely) the door should keep the water in and you can simply excavate another room for more farm plots to drain off the excess water. You'll need a decent amount of plots, so either build them right away and flood it all, or make sure there's room for more flooding systems later.
As long as you have a large enough tunnel system, excess water shouldn't really be a problem so long as you remember to close the floodgate again. Your dwarves may not like sludging through 4/7 water, but they can and will do it if they need to.

[NikkTheTrick]

Or, conversely, Nick, you could have a succession game, with people passing on the save file for a fortress from player to player.

Disclaimer: I would probably end up having the fortress be all OH NO BLOOD EVERYWHERE A DWARF HAS BEEN STRUCK DOWN.

More likely it will be "Irrigation gone bad! Water everywhere! All dwarves have drown!"

I am up for it. So, people who wish to be a part of a succession game, please sign up:smallsmile:

[NEO|Phyte]

Or, conversely, Nick, you could have a succession game, with people passing on the save file for a fortress from player to player.

Disclaimer: I would probably end up having the fortress be all OH NO BLOOD EVERYWHERE A DWARF HAS BEEN STRUCK DOWN.

I started up a Succession game here a while ago, it sort of died off a few years in. I think I've still got the saves from Glazedchaoses somewhere...

[NikkTheTrick]

If you guys want an easy game, I've got a perfect site here:
-3X7
-All area sedimentary layer and flux
-Magma present
-Trees present
-Sand present
-Adamantine present
-Underground river present
-Temperate climate
-Calm
-Temperate climate

Basically 3X7 sedimentary and magma means infinite iron products. Flux and coal present means that this iron becomes steel :smallcool:

In short, we can make an invincible fortress even if all of us are newbies :smallwink:

[Inyssius Tor]

The problem with succession games like this is that they're so easy to break; all it takes is one player with a sudden attack of Real Life to kill the game.

Can anyone think of a good way to solve that? Maybe if a player takes more than, say, four days to post a status update, the next player on the list could take over? I dunno.

[Inyssius Tor]

If you guys want an easy game, I've got a perfect site here:
-3X7
-All area sedimentary layer and flux
-Magma present
-Trees present
-Sand present
-Adamantine present
-Underground river present
-Temperate climate
-Calm
-Temperate climate

Basically 3X7 sedimentary and magma means infinite iron products. Flux and coal present means that this iron becomes steel :smallcool:

In short, we can make an invincible fortress even if all of us are newbies :smallwink:

Ooh! I don't know if anyone else will use it, but I want that seed...

[NikkTheTrick]

The problem with succession games like this is that they're so easy to break; all it takes is one player with a sudden attack of Real Life to kill the game.

Can anyone think of a good way to solve that? Maybe if a player takes more than, say, four days to post a status update, the next player on the list could take over? I dunno.
That is what I was thinking about. We get a sequence of players. In story, the fortress is a republic where elections occur each year. A player who plays a year will start by thanking those who voted for him in the elections. That way, a player who does not post within 4 days (or whatever we decide that to be) is considered to have lost the election and the next on the list is considered to have won.

Skill does not matter if we go with the region I have: it is in vary good location, so unless someone leaves fortress unguarded, nothing horrible should happen.

What we need is a site where we can post the save so that everyone can download it. So, if a player does not submit the story and updated game within the time we allocated, any player can call dibs in this topic, download the file, play a year and post it. Since it can be any player that has time, we can make new deadline within 2 or even 1 day: call dibs only if you are going to play right when you do it.

That way, we can have 5-day update period in the worst case scenario.

Of course, at any moment the player sequence can be changed or someone can be given 2 years if we vote so. Or, if a newbie to a game plays a fortress for a seazon or two and then some SNAFU occurs, like siege, flood starts or a monster attack, and they are afraid of losing the fortress this way, they can just post the game up to that point and let an experienced player handle the situation.

And if a newbie gets a fortress destroyed, remember the Gwarf Fortress motto: losing is fun! We cna always have a new fortress and a new set of dwarves to die horribly build a wonderful fortress.

So, who's up for it? Should we introduce any house rules or modifications(like removing the horrendously overpowered missile weapons from the game)?

[King_of_GRiffins]

Alright, so I downloaded this cool looking game, and I've waited for it to randomly generate a world, and now I'm trying to get stuff together to embark and make my first fortress. Well, thing is, it seems the keys to buy and sell items on the preparation screen are bound to keys exclusive to the number pad, of which my laptop has none... I could look through the binding list and try to find the buy/sell keys and rebind them as something I can use, but the list just goes on and on and on it seems I'll never find them. Anyone have any advice?

[NikkTheTrick]

Ooh! I don't know if anyone else will use it, but I want that seed...
Sorry for the delay. did not see your post while posting the previous one.

not exactly sure how to get the seed. Exported the image and got a text file that contained this:


[WORLD_GEN]
[TITLE:STANDARD]
[SEED:40747432]
[DIM:257:257]

I hope that is the right seed...

The region is here:
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/4126/reg2wonderfullocationqv2.gif


Alright, so I downloaded this cool looking game, and I've waited for it to randomly generate a world, and now I'm trying to get stuff together to embark and make my first fortress. Well, thing is, it seems the keys to buy and sell items on the preparation screen are bound to keys exclusive to the number pad, of which my laptop has none... I could look through the binding list and try to find the buy/sell keys and rebind them as something I can use, but the list just goes on and on and on it seems I'll never find them. Anyone have any advice?

You can change the bindings in the following text file:

Dwarf fortress folder\data\init\interface.txt

Recommended bindings are here:
http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Key_bindings

However, be aware that Dwarf Fortress is very CPU-intensive! It runs slow on many modern desktops. The game does a lot of calculations even though graphics are non-existant...

P.S. Does anyone know how to take in-game screenshots?

[Aquillion]

The problem with succession games like this is that they're so easy to break; all it takes is one player with a sudden attack of Real Life to kill the game.

Can anyone think of a good way to solve that? Maybe if a player takes more than, say, four days to post a status update, the next player on the list could take over? I dunno.How about this?

There's a designated 'next' player. They're the one who definitely picks up the game and plays it.

But everyone else is also encouraged to play around with it. If the next player doesn't upload in a timely fashion, then any of the players who was just playing around with it can upload their progress instead. (If the designated player uploads, of course, those 'forks' become ahistorical and shouldn't be uploaded.)

This solves the main problem with 'the next player on the list takes over' -- it can lead to a cascade of failures that leaves the game stuck in a rut. This ensures that as long as there are people interested, the world keeps advancing.

[NikkTheTrick]

Maybe we should have a common domain for the game. Say, we could create a gmail account, everyone will know the password and then we e-mail the game to ourselves. And send messages to ourselves, to keep everyone informed. Of course, stories and screenshots should be posted here to allow the whole forum enjoy the story and join the game. the more people we have, the shorter can the deadline for a game be.

[Eita]

Or, we could just Rapidshare it. Although, I am a little confused as to which file the saved game is.

Also, I demand that even if I don't play that this pretty much be "Let's Play Dwarf Fortress, the Sequel: Boatmurdered II."

Also also, how does that seed have magma? Is it just a pit, or an entire vein that as such will never run out of magma?

Yes. I do wish to pull the lever.

[NikkTheTrick]

If you look at the picture, you will see 2 sources of magma. Left one is just a pit. Right one is volcano. The problem with it is that trees and sand are on the left side. We can move the whole thing right 2 tiles and we'd get a volcano instead of pit while still having a patch of sand and keeping 3X7 size, but there will be far less trees.

Savegame is not a flie, but a folder. When you generate a region, you will have "region 2" folder. When you save the game, the game is stored in this folder. If you want to backup a save, you can just copy that folder over to a different location. If we share it, we can just zip the save.

[Eita]

Volcanoes never run out of magma, correct?

[NikkTheTrick]

Volcanoes never run out of magma, correct?
I think that's right, although I never checked myself.

Magma forges just need a thin channel so usually a single pit is more than enough.

[Driderman]

The Tragic End Of Hamlet ónulunnos, Spring 1057.

We are doomed! The cursed giant bat that have struck down half our number still haunts the halls of Mirrorhoof as they flood.
No one knows how it happened, or why. Perhaps the walls were simply structurally unsound, or perhaps there is a more sinister explaining, but fact is that the walls that seperated Mirrorhoof from the brook we use for irrigation and drinking water has come down, flooding the workshops, dining halls and farming plots.
Only the dormitories are safe, as they are only accessible through an overland passage, but most dwarves have been caught unaware by the waters.
And still that damnable bat haunts our caves, gliding over the waters like the dark shadow of death itself

Yeah, my fortress came to a horrible end. Some giant bat had been harassing my woodcutters and fishermen, reducing my population from 50 to 30 from late winter to early spring. Then it found its way into the halls of the fortress, rampaging through animals, children and soldiers alike. And then, just to make matters worse, somehow the walls containing the brook burst and the fortress is currently flooding :(

Update: Seems Mirrorhoof isn't as bad off as I initially thought. The food storage areas were shielded from the flood and we managed to dig another tunnel to get access to the food again. The burial chambers and one of the dining halls were also spared, so at least we have food, chairs, tables and coffins for the dead. Also, many dwarves survived the flood so we are still 20 left alive. The Horrible Bat Of Doom died in the flood, one of the dwarves was canny enough to pull the lever closing off the workshop area from the sunlit world, trapping our malefactor below with the flood, drowning it.

It's early spring and the dormitories are unharmed by the flood, so with a bit of luck we'll manage to pull together and re-create a functioning fortress before too long, get farming and new workshops running again. Most of our weapons and tools are inaccesible, but come winter, I hope we have the manpower and resources to carve our way through the frozen brook, isolate the flooding and reclaim the caverns. Mirrorhoof will prevail!

[Cubey]

Read a story about hardcore irresponsibility: I had my first real fight with goblins. It wasn't an invasion, but only an ambush. I sent my 10 dwarf strong team to deal with them - 9 dead goblins out of about 12, the rest ran away. Casualties: two, a wrestler and her baby which she carried along.

WHAT KIND OF MOTHER BRINGS HER CHILD TO THE BATTLEFIELD?
Allcaps off. But seriously.

My settlement's current population: 64. 5 dwarves died so far: these two aside, one died when the goblin king (no, not the Labirynth one) paid a visit to steal stuff - he took nothing but that poor guy's life. Two other deaths happened when my freshly migrated hunters decided to go play with wolves. Stupid move.
...
At this rate I'll need more coffins.

[NikkTheTrick]

Don't worry. Immigrants are cheap as dirt with only few exceptions. I'd rather get dogs (which, although they tend to die fast, are quite useful) as half of my immigrants.

You'll get more. Just take good care of experienced dwarves. Infants are useless and wrestlers are weak, so that mother+child loss is not really a loss. Freshly migrated hunters are just darwin awards winners. I'd say let them rot and make bolts out of their bones. That way, they would be useful - something they could not achieve during their lives. Really, for them death and then getting turned into ammunition is kind of a promotion. Since they have no friends yet, others would not mind their rotting either. Just make sure their bodies are in a trash pile outside.

[Cubey]

You don't really have to tell me that - less dwarves means less micromanaging. I was really happy with just seven. It's only a little bit disturbing* that I had such an irresponsible dwarf in my fortress. It's probably good she died.

* - disturbing for people who don't find Boatmurdered funny. People who aren't me.

[Eita]

Alright, how do I train hunting dogs and war dogs?

[NEO|Phyte]

Alright, how do I train hunting dogs and war dogs?
Kennels, along with an animal handler/trainer.

[Eita]

I have both. When I put in "Train ..." it says, "Needs trainable animal"

[NikkTheTrick]

I have both. When I put in "Train ..." it says, "Needs trainable animal"
Sorry for a stilly question, but do you have uncaged dogs running around?

[Driderman]

The best way I've found to keep and breed dogs so far is to keep a breeder pair in a cage. When migrants start to arrive with their own dogs as well, let all the dogs run free, except for the breeder pair. Of course, patience is still needed...

A somewhat related question: I've managed to capture several goblins in my cage traps, but I can't figure out if I can do anything with them, except make them the subject of ridicule by setting up the cages somewhere and making an exhibit of them?
Any ideas?

[NikkTheTrick]

Set those cages in a room with a lot of kittens after a catsplosion.

Release the goblins using the lever.

See them die in agony as kittens tear them to shreds :smallbiggrin:

Alternative:

Place a lot of goblin cages next to a trade depot.
Have an elven caravan come there.
Release the goblins:smallbiggrin:

[Driderman]

Hmm, actually that DOES give me a good idea...

A fighting pit!
I could pit my war dogs against the goblins and see who survives. Valuable combat experience for the dogs too, if they survive of course

[Cubey]

I have both. When I put in "Train ..." it says, "Needs trainable animal"

If the dogs are uncaged, the other possibility is that they are someone's pets. An animal has to be unowned to be trained.

I had my first real siege some time ago. 13 attackers, 7 died, the rest ran away. 4 dwarves died from my side - one marksdwarf (the one with the hacked off lung she got courtesy of axe training a few years back, it's a wonder she survived that long), one ballista operator and two idiots who got caught in the crossfire.
Damn, missile weapons sure are deadly. Just stating the obvious.

[NikkTheTrick]

Damn, missile weapons sure are deadly.
To the point of being ridiculously over-powered. I am considering removing all missile weapons from the game.

[Cubey]

Okay, my new traps work excellent. They're pretty simple - bridges set in such a way that enemies get trapped on an island of ground if I pull the lever. Then they get peppered by archers hidden behind fortifications. Net result of a siege: 27 dead gobbos, and only one dwarf (who wasn't a fighter, and had the misfortune of being too close to the border when the siege started).

And right after that, a guard starved to death, bed-ridden due to wounds. I find my dwarves' carelessness disgusting.

[Eita]

Sorry for the delay. did not see your post while posting the previous one.

not exactly sure how to get the seed. Exported the image and got a text file that contained this:


[WORLD_GEN]
[TITLE:STANDARD]
[SEED:40747432]
[DIM:257:257]

I hope that is the right seed...

The region is here:
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/4126/reg2wonderfullocationqv2.gif

Why do I have the feeling that you have some sort of mod that you always use in-game? I put in the seed, and got a world that does not look like that at all. Also, next time, highlight the area that has all the awesome stuff.

[NikkTheTrick]

Why do I have the feeling that you have some sort of mod that you always use in-game?
I don't have any mods installed. I have a windows XP and I heard that different OS will generate different worlds with same seeds... Should I zip the folder and post it somewhere?

I put in the seed, and got a world that does not look like that at all. Also, next time, highlight the area that has all the awesome stuff.
I did hilight the area:smallwink:

The place is marked with yellow X on world and region maps and it is not shaded brown on the local map.

P.S. I am using a graphics set, so that is why the map might look different. Just try going to where the yellow X are. If you see the right biomes, you are there.

[Eita]

I have XP as well. Do you have Service Pack 3?

[NikkTheTrick]

I have XP as well. Do you have Service Pack 3?
Service pack 2 here... So, do you want me to email you the file or something?

[Eita]

Service pack 2 here... So, do you want me to email you the file or something?

That'd be good.

[email protected]

[NikkTheTrick]

That'd be good.

[email protected]

Uh... Just realized that region is a bit too big for emailing (over 20 megabytes).

I rared the file and posted it on RapidShare:

http://rapidshare.com/files/118700517/region2.rar.html

[Eita]

Downloading.

EDIT: Alright, looked in wrong spot for a second, but got it right.

EDIT EDIT: Alright, I'm going to have to say this: Oh hell no. I'm not going to start a fortress, even if it is in a badass position, with the default items. I would reclaim it, but the sheer number of dwarves, and their awesome fighting skills seems to undermine the purpose of starting a fortress. No offense, but I want to live.

A note to everyone, the lists put here (http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Your_first_fortress#Buying_skills_and_items) have served me well.

[NikkTheTrick]

Wait, did I have a fortress with default items started there? I know I started one just to check, but did not think it would save.

If it did, whoooops!

I re-generated the world using the seed. Checked to make sure it is the same one.

Posted it on rapidshare:

http://rapidshare.com/files/119238561/region6.rar.html

[Eita]

Alright. Here we are.

STRIKE THE EARTH!

Also, is anyone else still interested in that Succession Game?

[Lunix Vandal]

I started my own game with the map posted by NikktheTrick on the 20th. In the first eight months of its existence, Rulushkivish (The Clasp of Toning) has recieved two modest waves of immigrants (though not enough for a sheriff), and has even seen its first casualty. Full tale follows, perhaps with more literary embellishments than it deserves:
Atîs érithorshar was a simple stonecrafter. Five short months after the brave members of The Crypts of Helping embarked on their journey, he and five other dwarves chose to join them at their newly-established outpost, The Clasp of Toning.

Long story short, it would not be his last mistake, nor his most fatal.

Short story long, anything by Dickens.

This tale was not written by Dickens, but it may have to suffice.

Atîs was set to work quickly - by the time he arrived, autumn was fast approaching, and with it the dwarven caravan from the Mountainhome. Unfortunately, all but two of the dwarves already at The Clasp of Toning seemed more concerned with friendly chatting than anything else, having failed to produce any kind of trade good. Atîs thought that this was somewhat excusable, as those two who were working had been steadily carving out hallways and generous work areas since they had arrived, and up until that point they had not had enough room to actually build any workshops, save a temporary Carpenter's Workshop used to assemble the beds for the similarly temporary communal bedchambers. Atîs' own workshop had been wedged in a space almost too small for it, even as Unib and Udil, the resident miners, had expanded the rooms designated for both it and the forges just to the north.

One day before the caravan arrived, Atîs began thinking about the digging that the pair had been doing. They had recently finished a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, just to the west of the construction sites set up for the forges. By this time, Unib had established herself as a truly Legendary miner, and Udil was fast approaching mastery of the craft as well. Certainly, the passages would need to be cleared of stone before they could be put to any great use. And what better use for that stone than in his crafts? He had already made a modest number of limestone toys and instruments, each good enough (in his opinion) to fetch a goodly quantity of meat or plump helmets from the traders. But from the descriptions of those little twisty passages he had received from Unib during one of her breaks, he knew that they ran through a cluster of kaolinite, which might provide the traders with a little more variety. He decided to retrieve some, ignoring the fact that another massive cluster of the stuff littered the floor of the room directly across the hallway from his own workshop.

Udil, however, was not on break. Or perhaps it was the other way around - it's hard to tell, as he and Unib are nigh-indistinguishable, save for the latter's "flickering but mostly glowing personality." (It's the beards.) Whichever one it was, s/he was hard at work at one end of one particular twisty little passage, getting ready to carve a channel into the floor. Directly below that miner's position, a thin obsidian wall was all that separated a large pool of magma from a second set of little twisty passages, perfectly similar to the one s/he now stood in save for two key respects. First, the lower passages did not "end" where the higher set rejoined the main hallway, rather going on for another hundred yards, directly underneath the construction sites for a particular set of forges, set not a stone's throw away from an otherwise relatively lonely Craftsdwarf's workshop. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the lower set of tunnels did not rejoin the main hallway - the only way in or out of them was a single staircase, about halfway between where Unib (or perhaps Udil) was now working.

A few swings of the pick later and it was done. The magma began to flood the lower set of passages, and would leave the higher untouched. As Udil (or perhaps Unib) passed the staircase leading down into the lower set of passages, s/he thought about their purpose. With luck, the multiple bends in the tunnels would discourage the fire imps residing in the pool itself from noticing the dwarves siphoning off their magma, thus keeping the forges relatively safe compared to the superheated rock that would soon run directly below them. As s/he passed that same Craftsdwarf's workshop, s/he noticed that Atîs was curiously absent. S/he shrugged it off, thinking he had probably gone for a drink. Perhaps S/he would join him.

Atîs, naturally, had not gone for a drink. Indeed, he had chosen to spend several days down in the tunnels, selecting just the right bit of kaolinite to carve into a handsome set of matched stone mugs. As he began to carry his load back to his workshop, he realized that something had gone Very, Very Wrong. It almost seemed that something was now blocking the stairs leading back up a level - something very dangerous. He could see holes in the ceiling that bordered between his current position and the forge-construction sites above but, naturally, he could not climb up through them, especially not while carrying a heavy load of stone. He decided to simply wait for someone to remove the blockage.

He spent nearly a half a month waiting. All the while, the air grew warmer, a fraction of a degree at a time. Atîs decided it was time to trek back towards the stairs to see what the matter was. After he rounded the third corner, he found it. The magma, released two weeks prior, was only just now finding its way to the eastern extremities of the lower tunnels. For lack of a better phrase, "Atîs panicked." He began to try to run over the flow towards the stairs, hoping he would be able to make it before he passed out from the heat or the pain. He quickly reconsidered the instant his feet touched the lava, igniting his shoes and burning the soles of his feet. He staggered back away from the lava, choking on the smoke from his burning clothes. He began to crawl back down the passage, perhaps thinking it a safer bet than a second encounter with the lava.

Mercifully, Atîs passed out after crawling twenty feet towards his new goal. He remained there for nearly another whole day as the magma continued its steady march forwards. In the end, he was consumed utterly, leaving no trace of his coming or his going, save the now-bittersweet memories he had given to the half-dozen friends he had made in those two short months, and the collection of carved stone goods that were now prized possessions of the Mountainhome traders.It'll be another week before the lava gets high enough that I can actually use those forges. I'm thinking I made the passages a little too twisty. Note to self: Never underestimate how dumb the dwarves can be. Forbid the stone in the lava tunnels. (Idiot.) :smalltongue:
Also, kudos to those who catch the three-ish intentional pop-culture references I threw in there.

[Driderman]

A succession game sounds interesting, this time around I should actually have the time for it too, unlike last time

[Cubey]

A bit on my nobles. They are really quite a bunch.

The Dungeon Master really likes experimenting with new stuff and is even more sociopathic than your usual dwarf. As a DM should be! Also for some reason he likes to wear a LOT of cloaks, which looks either really awesome or really stupid.
The Tax Collector is stereotypically dull and nitpicky. I'm already trying to find a way to have him killed. Especially since dwarf economy messed up several things for me, and my dwarves had to take a nice sleep in the mud.
The Baron is kind and nice, but gutless. His wife is a domineering Tsundere. Sounds like a domestic comedy couple.
The Hammerer is prone to depression and apathy. Seriously, she had "doesn't really care about anything anymore" from the very *second* she arrived on the map!

From other news, I don't really care about dwarves but one of the goblin invaders killed a kitty cat. This means war - I've already set up many cage traps in case another ambush comes near, and created a brutal way of disposing of whatever captives I'll have. Death by drowning, lava is too good for these bastards (my map doesn't have magma anyway:smallannoyed:). Maybe I'll create a bridge of doom from the tall but thin tower I'm building at the center of the settlement. Walk the plank, gobbo. Yarr!

[Nonanonymous]

Ah, Dwarf Fortress. I remember my first Adventurer, when I set out from my town, a bronze golem (I've heavily modded my raw folder) started beating the @#!$ out of some out-of-sight peasants, and I got to pseudo-witness him kick one in the crotch so hard that his lower body exploded in a shower of gore...:smallbiggrin: Not enough things out today are that campy and well executed.



From other news, I don't really care about dwarves but one of the goblin invaders killed a kitty cat.

Reminds me of the time I had to butcher kittens to keep my fortress alive. :smallamused:


That said, I'd be interested in a succession game, but there's the unfortunate issue of giving everyone a copy of my raw files, and, I forgot to save backups of the originals.:smallsigh:

Edit: Also, anyone else not get any response when they tried to sign up for the official forums?

Important question! How do you tell what someone in a fey/strange mood needs to complete their artifact?

[Eita]

Examine the workshop they take over. It won't give you a straight answer though.

[Cubey]

Speaking of which, one of my artifacts is a quern decorated with spikes and ornaments made from GOBLIN BONES. Most badass quern ever.

[NikkTheTrick]

The Hammerer is prone to depression and apathy. Seriously, she had "doesn't really care about anything anymore" from the very *second* she arrived on the map!
I think that just means the dwarf does not gain any thoughts from witnessing death of a fellow dwarf. Which makes perfect sence since Hammerer's job is to execute hardworking dwarves when nobles' insane mandates do not get fulfilled.

Which is why nobles meet mysterious deaths fast in my fortress. Except the hammerer - I try to hive him agonizing injuries and keep him alive in a sealed room until the bastard bleeds to death. Usually, I try to get something that will result in having "entrails shoot out from the wound" combat message appear for him. Unfortunately that results in relatively fast death. Having his spine proken and heem lying paralyzed going mad and then dying of hunger and thirst in a room filled with food and water is a lot more satisfying.


From other news, I don't really care about dwarves but one of the goblin invaders killed a kitty cat. This means war - I've already set up many cage traps in case another ambush comes near, and created a brutal way of disposing of whatever captives I'll have. Death by drowning, lava is too good for these bastards (my map doesn't have magma anyway:smallannoyed:). Maybe I'll create a bridge of doom from the tall but thin tower I'm building at the center of the settlement. Walk the plank, gobbo. Yarr!
Have them executed by... cats. Put them in a room packed with cats. Open the cage...

[tyckspoon]

I think that just means the dwarf does not gain any thoughts from witnessing death of a fellow dwarf. Which makes perfect sence since Hammerer's job is to execute hardworking dwarves when nobles' insane mandates do not get fulfilled.


It's a lot more satisfying to just kill the buggers, but taking the Hammerer's hammer away from him and then forbidding him to get it back works too. It forces him to resort to just pummeling your dorfs, which is (usually) a lot less lethal.

[Eita]

Just break his legs and take the hammer from him. Remember, if the Hammerer dies, you just get another.

[NikkTheTrick]

Just break his legs and take the hammer from him. Remember, if the Hammerer dies, you just get another.
But that means we can have another hammerer die :smallbiggrin:

Hmm... Is there any way we can kill hammerer so that he falls into pieces and we can harvest his bones and use them? And then have new hammerers killed by crossbow traps whose bolts are made of old hammerers' bones?

[Eita]

Don't give him a grave, just a place where he'll rot. Then he'll turn into dwarf bones. Something that works well for me is a damp place.

[Nonanonymous]

Guess whose idiot hunter decided to pursue an elephant today? With nothing more than his axe at the very start of the expedition into the mountains.

Now my deepest fear for my fortress is the wrath of Malduzonga (Shockchance) the Elephant. I think my goblins are going to become vegetarians now.

[shadow_archmagi]

*ting*
*thud*
*ting*
*thud*
*ting*
*thud*
*ting*
The sounds of hammers and pickaxes and regular axes and shovels working busily away was common. Tunnels, trenches, channels... the Empire of the Melon Slopes was expanding. For the first time in hundreds of years, a colony had reaches sixty people without major mishap.
*snap*
A sound no one heard. The sound of madness entering unannounced into the mind of a competant blacksmith. Suddenly the blacksmith realizes just what it is he was born to do. He sinks to his knees and whines, shivering under the force of his sudden brilliance.

His only friend, a fisherwoman, lays a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps ye ought to lay onto the wine a bit more often?"

He stands up "No. Can't drink. Can't eat. Must forge. Forge it. Yes." He does not walk. Moreover; he is dragged to his forge, his gaze shoved along his tools, his cranium compulsed to think.

"Wood. Shiny-shiny jewels. Yes. Bone." he mumbles. He mumbles it again, and again. He races outside, hesitates for a moment, and grabs a block of fresh-cut oak. He stalks the minese, and finds himself a massive ruby.

The other dwarves have heard tales; they know they must satisfy his need if he is to live. They cannot afford to lose a blacksmith at this time of year. A hunting squad is organized; carp, elephants, wolves, even elves meet their end.

None of their bones is satisfactory.

Days pass; nothing changes. Then someone realizes; he wants shell. Turtle-bone. But all the turtles are long dead, their shells stuck in goblin throats; the dwarves are proud of their shell arrowheads. But that was all very well and good; soon traders would arrive and the whole matter would be solved by buying a few turtles. Then the dwarves could go back to being happy and killing goblins.

The goblins did not feel likewise. They sent thieves; the thieves turned up downriver, naked and considerably more dead.

The time came for a war-party. Four macemen and two archers scouted out the dwarf-holm. The front gates would be death; the tunnels likewise. However, there was one exposed place.

So the greenskins crept along through the hidden valley until they came to the sacred pool of magma which was the secret of the fortress's success. There was no one there, no one to stop them getting into the farms and the nurseries and the bedrooms, no one but-

There came a whimper. The skulking invaders crowded around the source, a maceman walked up; eager for his first victim.

The confused blacksmith simply mumbled, unafraid, staring down the invader, unaware that he stood mere feet from firey oblivion.

The goblins were equally confused now; why was this dwarf so unafraid? The leader whispers "what is this?" and the poor dwarf says "This... is madness"

The goblin grins; replies "No. THIS IS MAG-MAAAAAAAAA" and clobbers the poor dwarf, who plummets into the writhing crimson sea.

...

And thats how my first Fey Mood ended in a 300 reference.

[Nonanonymous]

I ended up starting on the top of a mountain and having to dig my way down, now I've found the aquifer in my particular region, should I try to find a way past it, or dig a hole in the side of the mountain and create a waterfall?

It's looking like I've done both, does anyone know conclusively if the aquifer is no longer a problem if it's pouring out already?

[shadow_archmagi]

I ended up starting on the top of a mountain and having to dig my way down, now I've found the aquifer in my particular region, should I try to find a way past it, or dig a hole in the side of the mountain and create a waterfall?

It's looking like I've done both, does anyone know conclusively if the aquifer is no longer a problem if it's pouring out already?

it should eventually drain, I think.

[Nonanonymous]

Trapped in a river in Adventurer mode, so to pass the time while I search downstream for a slope I've decided to engage in mortal combat with fish.


The carp's brain has been broken!
The carp strikes at you but the shot is blocked!
You counterstrike!
You hack at the carp in the left fin with your primitive copper axe!
It is badly gashed!

[shadow_archmagi]

I had no idea brains broke.

[Nonanonymous]

Apparently they can, or I've managed to make the combat system a little bit more bizarre somehow. If it's a normal part of the game I imagine that future releases will resolve it to where it can only be badly mangled like guts and lungs. It might be exclusive to some of the non-dwarfy body types.

[shadow_archmagi]

Huh. Dwarf Foreman is offically the best tool ever. I just had a possessed dwarf demand shell. I was able to get all my dwarves off all their labors and onto fishing only in under a minute.

[Eita]

*brushes off cobwebs*

I need to get around to downloading that.

Also, I'm rather curious as to whether or not I'm the only one who does this. Now then, I got a 4 GB memory stick a while back, before I discovered DF. When I found it, that's what I installed it on. Anyone else do something similar?

[Rockphed]

*brushes off cobwebs*

I need to get around to downloading that.

Also, I'm rather curious as to whether or not I'm the only one who does this. Now then, I got a 4 GB memory stick a while back, before I discovered DF. When I found it, that's what I installed it on. Anyone else do something similar?

No, but if my 1/4 GB stick can hold it, I am totally being a copy cat!

Also, how do you get steel? I tried melting down some steel armor, but that did nothing and I need to fulfill a crazy mandate!

[NikkTheTrick]

Also, how do you get steel? I tried melting down some steel armor, but that did nothing and I need to fulfill a crazy mandate!
Steel has to be made.

First, you need to make 2 iron bars.

Then, you make a pig iron bar. You will need a unit of coal (coke or charcoal) and one iron bar to do that.

Then, you need to make steel out of those. You will need an iron bar, a pig iron bar, coal (coke or charcoal) and a flux stone (chalk, limestone, dolomite, calcite or marble). Those will give you 2 steel bars.

[Rockphed]

Okay, I have plenty of iron and coal. Where should I look for flux?

[NikkTheTrick]

Okay, I have plenty of iron and coal. Where should I look for flux?
Flux should be one of the layers in the area where you started. Chalk, Limestone and Dolomite are sedimentary layers. Marble is a Metamorphic layer. If you have any, you'd see them on the embark screen. Calcite is only found in small quantities in other flux layers. Basically, you either have tons of it (whole layer) or none :smalleek:

So, if you started in an area that did not say is has limestone, chalk, dolomite or marble, you cannot get flux on your map. The only hope is to get it from the merchants. Ask for a lot of flux stone whenever merchants come.

[Maxymiuk]

Just started the game, mostly inspired by reading Boatmurdered. But each time I start something keeps happening to one dwarf or other. They go into their profession's workshop and sit there, doing nothing, refusing all orders, It usually happens within 2-3 months of starting the fortress. Eventually they simply starve or die of thirst.

And no, it's not fey mood, or secretive mood, etc, I already checked for that. What makes it more confusing is that so far it happened to a fisherdwarf, and then a cook, and as far as I can tell those don't even get to make artifacts (a legendary trout souffle? :smallconfused:).

Any idea what this could be? Cause, you know, losing your cook within the first two months kinda sucks.

Never mind, turns out it's because I've been accidentally blocking off the exit with an impassable piece of the workshop. *sigh*

[Driderman]

Just started the game, mostly inspired by reading Boatmurdered. But each time I start something keeps happening to one dwarf or other. They go into their profession's workshop and sit there, doing nothing, refusing all orders, It usually happens within 2-3 months of starting the fortress. Eventually they simply starve or die of thirst.

And no, it's not fey mood, or secretive mood, etc, I already checked for that. What makes it more confusing is that so far it happened to a fisherdwarf, and then a cook, and as far as I can tell those don't even get to make artifacts (a legendary trout souffle? :smallconfused:).

Any idea what this could be? Cause, you know, losing your cook within the first two months kinda sucks.

Never mind, turns out it's because I've been accidentally blocking off the exit with an impassable piece of the workshop. *sigh*

Losing is fun! Especially when the dwarves are the ones suffering for your mistakes, right? :smallcool:

[Rockphed]

A quick Question: What is the best way to get more immigrants?