[Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Botched another one this weekend. Even though I am playing in calm circumstances, I go from having no goblins attacking to getting sieged. I have no defenses to hide behind and my military gets mowed down.

So I'm trying a new fort with a new philosophy. Four stone crafters right of the gate, leaving me two miners, and a trader. The idea is to get ahead and trade for everything. I've never really begged from my Dwarf cousins before, but I sent off a request for weapons and armor at 200% trade value. We'll see what they bring.
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Sepiche
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Sepiche »

The Bad Shepherd wrote:Until I see "fixed crutch walking" and/or "fixed issue with dwarfs waiting infinitely at designated water source to make plaster cast" I'm not downloading the next patch. These were issues six months ago, and fairly major ones to boot.
Ask and ye shall receive!
Toady One wrote: I guess we're about halfway to the next bugfix release. Here's the list from the last few days:
made dwarves get crutches properly
allowed dwarves that can't stand even with a crutch to move around instead of never moving again
stopped webs from cancelling rest job
made "apply cast" job use water properly
made hospital stock plaster properly
a few fixes for hospital zone/health interface
stopped invisible underground creature camps from counting towards wealth
stopped invisible underground creature camps from popping up in civ list
stopped theft announcements from invisible underground creature camps
fixed some empty name display issues from legends/civs
fixed more stockpile category etc. issues
I'm guessing that patch will be out in another week or two.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

I wonder if the new version will accept our old save game.

I also am going to need help when the new version comes out, setting up the tile set, etc... like you did for me last time. If you point me in the right direction for configuring things myself, I'd be happy to that too.

The crutch fix looks like it could be major enough for me to jump up then.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by noxiousdog »

Can someone explain me how to take captured creatures and transport them to something like an arena?
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Shinjin
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Shinjin »

If memory serves, I think you build a cage at your destination - maybe located where the only exit for it's denizen would be an open pit to your destination? Link it to a lever that is somewhere safe. Then assign the creature to this cage. After one of your dwarves escorts the creature to the cage, and it is safe to do so, pull the lever.

You might also be able to get away with having an opening in your floor over the arena zoned as a pit and fling the creature into it. I don't recall the specifics of assigning the creature to the pit, but I do remember doing this to incinerate prisoners.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by KW »

Finally got a fort going long enough that I just survived my first goblin ambush... awesome.

My poorly trained dwarfs managed to kill 5 goblins - I think a couple more escaped.

I lost 2 military dwarfs in the attack with 5 more wounded. Of the wounded, 2 will never walk again. A third had two arteries torn and has some permanent motor nerve damage that means he can't really grasp things anymore, but apparently my rudimentary hospital miraculously got him patched up. The other two were successfully treated and are back to work.

A few questions -
- How much should I be training my military dwarfs? I have them set on 2 month on, 1 month off training schedules and it looks like they're developing a little bit but not that quickly. I do see them sparring and have plenty of training weapons. I was actually expecting fewer casualties in the attack since my dwarfs are fully equipped with iron armor and weaponry, but I guess their training is poor.
- Why didn't my marksdwarfs fire at the goblins? Despite having plenty of bolts and quivers, my marksdwarfs thought a better approach was to charge the goblins and club them with their crossbows.
- Are my two crippled dwarfs going to permanently occupy beds in my hospital? They've been diagnosed and treated, but are now "resting" in the hospital beds next to my traction benches. I have crutches and splints showing in the hospital. It's fine for now, but if there's another attack, I imagine I'll be needing those beds. If it matters, one has motor nerve and sensory nerve damage and the other just has motor nerve damage.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Shinjin wrote:If memory serves, I think you build a cage at your destination - maybe located where the only exit for it's denizen would be an open pit to your destination? Link it to a lever that is somewhere safe. Then assign the creature to this cage. After one of your dwarves escorts the creature to the cage, and it is safe to do so, pull the lever.

You might also be able to get away with having an opening in your floor over the arena zoned as a pit and fling the creature into it. I don't recall the specifics of assigning the creature to the pit, but I do remember doing this to incinerate prisoners.
I need to set up a freedom zone. I occasionally buy caged animals and then they just rot. Right now I'm taking a small break from the game though. I played almost all last weekend, finally surviving a siege and I put a serious crick in my neck, back, and arm. I need a new computer chair and desk at home.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

KW wrote:- How much should I be training my military dwarfs? I have them set on 2 month on, 1 month off training schedules and it looks like they're developing a little bit but not that quickly. I do see them sparring and have plenty of training weapons. I was actually expecting fewer casualties in the attack since my dwarfs are fully equipped with iron armor and weaponry, but I guess their training is poor.
- Why didn't my marksdwarfs fire at the goblins? Despite having plenty of bolts and quivers, my marksdwarfs thought a better approach was to charge the goblins and club them with their crossbows.
- Are my two crippled dwarfs going to permanently occupy beds in my hospital? They've been diagnosed and treated, but are now "resting" in the hospital beds next to my traction benches. I have crutches and splints showing in the hospital. It's fine for now, but if there's another attack, I imagine I'll be needing those beds. If it matters, one has motor nerve and sensory nerve damage and the other just has motor nerve damage.
I don't have an answer but I set my dwarfs to train 12 months out of the year, don't set patrols, and set squads to train at least 5 dwarves at a time. Training is slow.

I find the best way to train marksdwarfs is to make them hunters first. After a year of hunting they often become acceptable marksdwarfs and then they actually use their crossbows.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by KW »

LordMortis wrote:I don't have an answer but I set my dwarfs to train 12 months out of the year, don't set patrols, and set squads to train at least 5 dwarves at a time. Training is slow.

I find the best way to train marksdwarfs is to make them hunters first. After a year of hunting they often become acceptable marksdwarfs and then they actually use their crossbows.
I'd forgotten about the use of hunting for training marksdwarfs. Good one. Though on my current map it appears I have nothing to hunt, so not as useful for this fort.

Had another ambush. Lost 6 dwarfs this time with another 6 wounded, 4 of whom have taken up permanent residence in my hospital. Thankfully got a 19-dwarf migration wave, making up for all my losses.

Doing my wiki research, I guess those crippled dwarfs will never move from the hospital beds due to the bug regarding crutches. Now I remember it being discussed in this thread before, but I think I just skimmed right over it at the time since I hadn't yet encountered the problem. My hospital is getting very full with all the crippled though and not totally sure what to do about it. I guess I could flood it and drown them, though I bet that would make some dwarfs unhappy.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

KW wrote:
LordMortis wrote:I don't have an answer but I set my dwarfs to train 12 months out of the year, don't set patrols, and set squads to train at least 5 dwarves at a time. Training is slow.

I find the best way to train marksdwarfs is to make them hunters first. After a year of hunting they often become acceptable marksdwarfs and then they actually use their crossbows.
I'd forgotten about the use of hunting for training marksdwarfs. Good one. Though on my current map it appears I have nothing to hunt, so not as useful for this fort.

Had another ambush. Lost 6 dwarfs this time with another 6 wounded, 4 of whom have taken up permanent residence in my hospital. Thankfully got a 19-dwarf migration wave, making up for all my losses.

Doing my wiki research, I guess those crippled dwarfs will never move from the hospital beds due to the bug regarding crutches. Now I remember it being discussed in this thread before, but I think I just skimmed right over it at the time since I hadn't yet encountered the problem. My hospital is getting very full with all the crippled though and not totally sure what to do about it. I guess I could flood it and drown them, though I bet that would make some dwarfs unhappy.

Sepiche found a Toady post that says the next update is supposed to prioritize hospital/walking fixes. We'll see.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by The Bad Shepherd »

I brought it up in my Fortress thread, but it bears mentioning here: 3.22 is up, as is a graphics pack for it. As for Therapist...I am checking right now.
At any rate, go get!
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baelthazar
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by baelthazar »

The Bad Shepherd wrote:I brought it up in my Fortress thread, but it bears mentioning here: 3.22 is up, as is a graphics pack for it. As for Therapist...I am checking right now.
At any rate, go get!
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

I need to check it out. Will old saves upgrade?

I cricked my neck again this weekend playing. Idiot. I'm playing in Serene place and yet two years in I got attacked by 5 goblin ambushes in a row and have an Antman colony about 12 deep all discovered less than two years in to the game. I sealed off the Antman after handling a drone rampage but the amushers hurt me quite a bit. One of the 5 sets (that was close to 30 goblins who rushed me every time I thought I was taking the battle) appeared inside my tiny above ground portion of my fortress.
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baelthazar
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by baelthazar »

LordMortis wrote:I need to check it out. Will old saves upgrade?

I cricked my neck again this weekend playing. Idiot. I'm playing in Serene place and yet two years in I got attacked by 5 goblin ambushes in a row and have an Antman colony about 12 deep all discovered less than two years in to the game. I sealed off the Antman after handling a drone rampage but the amushers hurt me quite a bit. One of the 5 sets (that was close to 30 goblins who rushed me every time I thought I was taking the battle) appeared inside my tiny above ground portion of my fortress.
If you use the Phoebus graphics pack, there is an updater to run that will update your saved games.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

baelthazar wrote:
LordMortis wrote:I need to check it out. Will old saves upgrade?

I cricked my neck again this weekend playing. Idiot. I'm playing in Serene place and yet two years in I got attacked by 5 goblin ambushes in a row and have an Antman colony about 12 deep all discovered less than two years in to the game. I sealed off the Antman after handling a drone rampage but the amushers hurt me quite a bit. One of the 5 sets (that was close to 30 goblins who rushed me every time I thought I was taking the battle) appeared inside my tiny above ground portion of my fortress.
If you use the Phoebus graphics pack, there is an updater to run that will update your saved games.
I think I do. I use whatever Sepiche gave me. :oops: When DOS went away apparently so did my ability to figure out how to configure games by playing with scripts.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by The Bad Shepherd »

Quick question to all of you clever people out there regarding the Military screen and assignment of equipment.

Put simply, I want to know whether it is possible if I can get my dwarves to wear both a mail shirt and a breastplate. The wiki seems to insinuate that this is indeed so, but all my efforts have been in vain. I used Paingod first, telling him to equip a mail shirt. He took off his breastplate, and put on a mail shirt. I told him to put on his breastplate IN ADDITION to the mail shirt. He...removed his mail shirt and put on the breastplate.

Something I am missing here? This is rather important. For those who are not aware, mail shirts are the only article of clothing that protect the arms - hence why most of the veterans in the Fortress have heavy scarring on their arms, due to unfortunate lack of mail shirt. Breastplates provide chest and stomach protection, but no arm protection (I decided the guts and stomach were more vital than their burly Dwarf arms). So yes, please answer promptly so that I may protect the remaining appendages!
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

I had read that they will wear a certain weight, and that's why you sometimes see someone wearing 5 robes and such. I haven't learned clothing armor very well, so I'm interested to see the responses here.

Which is better? Mail or Plate, btw?
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by The Bad Shepherd »

LordMortis wrote:I had read that they will wear a certain weight, and that's why you sometimes see someone wearing 5 robes and such. I haven't learned clothing armor very well, so I'm interested to see the responses here.

Which is better? Mail or Plate, btw?
Plate is heavier, so it slows down the Dwarves. However, it offers "rigid" protection, meaning it protects against blunt attacks (which go through chain mail, causing organ damage). Breastplates cover the stomach and chest. Chain mail is lighter, protects the arms and chest, but does not offer much in the way of protection from bolts and blunt attacks.

Here are the soldier specs:
Melee Fighter
Breastplate
Greaves (offers upper leg protection, is rigid but heavy)
Gauntlets
High Boots (cover lower leg and foot)
Cloak (cool looking, offers limited throat protection)
Helmet (rigid protection)
Melee Weapon
Shield
Protects everything except the arms. The arms get damaged very quickly, and often. This is very irritating.

Heavy Archer (and Paingod)
Same as above, with crossbow.

Light Archer (Paingod's squad)
Mail Shirt
Leggings
Cloak
Crossbow
Buckler

Decent arm protection, they move quite quickly.
But I want to add Steel Mail Shirts to my melee dwarves, and they won't let me. :(
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Isgrimnur »

I got into the game this past week.

After getting to fall and realizing that I was likely to starve to death, as I had no workable farm, didn't know how to gather plants, had nowhere near enough animals to butcher, and didn't have a trade depot, I abandoned the fortress, deleted the world, and started over again.

My second attempt, I'm into my first winter. I've got a farm plot that's working, I have a carpenter working, traps that have been catching rats (now what do I do with them?), a river running through the lower corner, and starting to mine down and found some gold and copper.

Trading was less than fruitful, as all my stuff was rock and logs, way too heavy to offload and get much of worth from the trader. My gates are wide open. Nothing more vicious than bees and boars have shown up, but I don't hold out hope that it will last long. If I get attacked, I'm probably screwed.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Shinjin wrote:LM - If caverns are giving you griefe, I think you can control the number of caverns created if you go into a customization screen before generating the world. I messed around at one point to generate a low cavern world with many volcanoes (for easy magma access).

I didn't see that sort of customization but maybe I don't know. I never used to see this many caverns. My guess is the new world generation that allows me to choose minerals frequency (which I set to way way common) has a biproduct of putting caverns everywhere.

I'd like to learn more about world customization but from when I can see there are very few things I can do but that might be my ignorance more than anything.
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Shinjin
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Shinjin »

I'm basing this off of a slightly older version of DF, but I'm assuming this wouldn't have changed too dramatically.

- Design New World With Parameters
- [e] (Enter advanced parameters)
- Cavern Layer Number: # (probably have to page down a few times to reach the setting)

I'm pretty sure the default value is 3, which gives three distinct cavern systems at different z-levels (I think). You can set this to 'None' to eliminate caverns entirely, but how fun would that be? :)
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Sepiche
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Sepiche »

LordMortis wrote:
Shinjin wrote:LM - If caverns are giving you griefe, I think you can control the number of caverns created if you go into a customization screen before generating the world. I messed around at one point to generate a low cavern world with many volcanoes (for easy magma access).

I didn't see that sort of customization but maybe I don't know. I never used to see this many caverns. My guess is the new world generation that allows me to choose minerals frequency (which I set to way way common) has a biproduct of putting caverns everywhere.

I'd like to learn more about world customization but from when I can see there are very few things I can do but that might be my ignorance more than anything.
Yeah you can control the number of caverns. You can find it in the advanced world generation as cavern layer count. This is a great resource if you want to try editing the world extensively.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Tried the advanced world generation and saw nothing like that. I'm going to have to look again. I didn't see a few pages of things to scroll through. I'd hate to false start again but every time I do I learn a more.

The cavern systems are not so much the problem, it's how damned big they end up being. Assuming I have only hit one cavern system so far, it's at

x
farm, craft storage
x
workshops
x
crypt
x
x > Caves that I can see
x > Caves that I can see
nobles>>>> Discovered Screwed up my noble level and has a cavy crock and poison gas beast I sealed off there.
x > Caves that I can see
common beds > Discovered and screwed up my common beds
caves that I can see
caves that I can see
caves that I can see
caves that I can see
caves that I can see
caves that I can see
caves that I can see

This may only be one cave system but it's covering at least 12 Z Levels, probably more and it starts at least at only 8 z levels deep. The last couple of false starts were similar. This only stared with the new version.

I'd be cool with this but I don't really have any way to fight off beasts as early as this and they beast come quick, even in the my Serene environments.

I love my current fort, I'd hate to abandon it. :(
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Shinjin
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Shinjin »

Do discovered cave systems still increase the value of your fort, causing larger/more frequent attacks?
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Shinjin wrote:Do discovered cave systems still increase the value of your fort, causing larger/more frequent attacks?
I have no idea. I don't really know how value works. I'd prefer to keep the value low at the beginning because I never seem prepared for the first attack, no matter how much I dedicate myself to it.
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Sepiche
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Sepiche »

Shinjin wrote:Do discovered cave systems still increase the value of your fort, causing larger/more frequent attacks?
I think there used to be a bug where x-man civilizations that were under your fort would accidentally count toward your wealth, but I think I remember seeing that was fixed recently.
LordMortis wrote: Tried the advanced world generation and saw nothing like that. I'm going to have to look again. I didn't see a few pages of things to scroll through. I'd hate to false start again but every time I do I learn a more.
Yeah there are a number of pages when you go in to edit the stats. Should be either pageup/pagedown or "/"/"*" to scroll through them... I can't recall.

I've noticed sometimes the depth of the planet can vary wildly and I'm not completely sure why. I've had games where there are 10 or 20 levels between cavern layers, but I've also seen maps where there are only 1 or 2 levels between layers because the overall depth is so shallow. The good news is there's another variable in the customization value that can change how many levels each cavern layer is as well as the openness of each layer. Adjusting those a bit might give you more room to build.

One thing I also do now when I start a new fort is I have one of my miners dig a single small shaft straight down somewhere and there's a fair chance you'll hit any caverns that are there and that can give you a much better idea of what level those caverns are at so you can build around them.

If you still don't have any luck with that let me know and if I have time I can try to create a world template for you that adjusts those values a bit. All you'd need to do it put it in the right folder and it should show up with all the other default world sizes for you to use.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by The Bad Shepherd »

Sepiche wrote:
Shinjin wrote:Do discovered cave systems still increase the value of your fort, causing larger/more frequent attacks?
I think there used to be a bug where x-man civilizations that were under your fort would accidentally count toward your wealth, but I think I remember seeing that was fixed recently.
LordMortis wrote: Tried the advanced world generation and saw nothing like that. I'm going to have to look again. I didn't see a few pages of things to scroll through. I'd hate to false start again but every time I do I learn a more.
Yeah there are a number of pages when you go in to edit the stats. Should be either pageup/pagedown or "/"/"*" to scroll through them... I can't recall.

I've noticed sometimes the depth of the planet can vary wildly and I'm not completely sure why. I've had games where there are 10 or 20 levels between cavern layers, but I've also seen maps where there are only 1 or 2 levels between layers because the overall depth is so shallow. The good news is there's another variable in the customization value that can change how many levels each cavern layer is as well as the openness of each layer. Adjusting those a bit might give you more room to build.

One thing I also do now when I start a new fort is I have one of my miners dig a single small shaft straight down somewhere and there's a fair chance you'll hit any caverns that are there and that can give you a much better idea of what level those caverns are at so you can build around them.

If you still don't have any luck with that let me know and if I have time I can try to create a world template for you that adjusts those values a bit. All you'd need to do it put it in the right folder and it should show up with all the other default world sizes for you to use.
My first cavern layer was about eight levels deep...and had a pit that led straight to the second cavern level. But it's not so confusing now that I am colonizing it and digging out huge sections of rock! Take that, nature!

Oh, and you Forgotten Beasts? FUCK YOU TOO!
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

I'll try to play with it some this weekend. But if you are playing 3.1.25 (I think that the version. It was the most recent crutch and bee fixing version) and love to know how you get the tile set to work like it did. I tried pulling the tileset manually into the new version but it still has the ground all covered with ' , ; type characters. I hate that and even though I think I'm following the instructions properly in the pheobus tileset to get rid of them. I am an idiot. :D

But I'll play with world generation this weekend again. Bye bye current for. You were awesome but you were going to be very inconvenient for mining and were going to get me slaughtered by nasty forgotten beasts.
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baelthazar
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by baelthazar »

I'm not very happy with the changes to lava, actually. I haven't yet figured out how to use the "pump lava up to a where I can use it in furnaces" routine. Any advice on that? I'm also reticent to dig that deep early enough to do this, because of the forgotten beast and all manner of nasty in the cavern systems.
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Sepiche
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Sepiche »

One of the first things I do is actually to dig down to the magma layer and start planning my workshop there. I think its way too much hassle generally to pump magma up, so I just put my workshop down there right on top of the sea.

And generally I just avoid breaching any caverns I find and dig around them to get to the bottom. Most times if I hit a cavern it's through a ceiling with a stairway. That being the case I just dig sideways a bit until I can find a clear path down and keep going. In the rare case that I dig down and hit a cavern in just the right place to open into it I just send a mason down to block it off and keep going.

Most times I don't go into the caverns at all until I have a decent military that can take out forgotten beasts.
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Shinjin
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Shinjin »

My solution was to put in world generation settings that would favor more volcanoes, then manually search the map to find a volcano with other acceptable parameters. I don't think that I ever got a perfect situation - it would be absent flux or certain useful metals and I would need to trade for those bits.

Another common solution is to build a second village down by the magma levels, keeping the caverns walled off.

I also read of a magma piston mega-project that let you teleport magma to any arbitrary z-level. Lots of work to set up, though.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

baelthazar wrote:I'm not very happy with the changes to lava, actually. I haven't yet figured out how to use the "pump lava up to a where I can use it in furnaces" routine. Any advice on that? I'm also reticent to dig that deep early enough to do this, because of the forgotten beast and all manner of nasty in the cavern systems.
Where is the problem at?

As far as I know you mine/channel the levels you want and then put in screw pumps at each level you want to move up. you might want to experiment with water first just to get a feeling for how it works. Create a map settle on a river. Make as some screw pumps, dig some channels toward a raised area, channel up a level or two. Add the pumps the raised connectors. Pop a dwarf in the hamster wheel and see what happens. You can automate this with windmills and watermills but I haven't experiments with powered machines yet.
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Shinjin »

Pump stacks are a pain. They're great to have once completed, but they take forever to build.
The Bad Shepherd
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by The Bad Shepherd »

Shinjin wrote:Pump stacks are a pain. They're great to have once completed, but they take forever to build.
I eventually plan to do this. It's only 50 z-levels, what's the big problem?

And it will of course be fully automated.
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Shinjin
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Shinjin »

[I couldn't decide if you were being sarcastic or not, so... :)]

I experienced a few problems once I had the spaces for the stack carved out. After I had some of the various components assembled, I'd designate them for construction. Invariably a foreign object would get dropped or moved onto the designated area and the construction would get canceled. The object would be one of those immovable objects that get claimed for another task, but never picked up.

Clearing all stone from the area beforehand does help this problem, but it still happened from other dropped parts. I'd end up having to babysit the process and designate a pump at a time. With all the other things going on that require attention, the stack always took me a long time to finish.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

While were talking problems.

I seem to have problems making certain things.

Soap. It requires ash and lye (I think it as), so I set my kitchen/tanner to get me some lye and they do. I go make some ash but I'm still always seeing soap reded out.
Gypsum powder/plaster. I have coke. I have gypsum stones. I have empty bags. Yet Gypsum powder is reded out at the kiln.

:?
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Sepiche
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Sepiche »

Soap takes lye and tallow. Tallow comes from rendering fat, and lye comes from running ash through an ashery.

This explains it pretty well:
http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/DF2010:Soap" target="_blank

Not sure about the gypsum. I think there's still a bug sometimes that the make commands at the buildings will be redded out even though you can make them. You might try adding gypsum plaster as a job from the job management screen and see if that works or at least what the error message is when the job is canceled.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Sepiche wrote:Soap takes lye and tallow. Tallow comes from rendering fat, and lye comes from running ash through an ashery.

This explains it pretty well:
http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/DF2010:Soap" target="_blank
That's what I meant. I get tallow from butcher/tanner/kitchen and tell them not to cook with it so I have barrels of tallow laying around. Then make ash and then turn it into lye, so as far as I know I have both ingredients but it still always seems reded out.

I'd say I'll try again when I get home but more likely I start from scratch and it usually take about three weeks of part time playing to get far enough that I'm building a hospital and actually care about soap.
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LordMortis
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by LordMortis »

Lye barrels that are in a stockpile cannot be used in 0.31.19. The barrels must be removed from the stockpile. Since lye is allowed by default in food stockpiles this requires stockpiles to be reset to avoid this
This may have been my problem before. I haven't tried to make soap since I upgraded from 0.31.19

That still doesn't explain why I can make gypsum power at the kiln right now. I have coke. I have more gypsum stones than I know what to do with.
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Jaymon
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Re: [Roguelike] Dwarf Fortress

Post by Jaymon »

Making soap is bugged and its super tricky to do.

The dwarf who makes the lye won't check to make sure he has an empty bucket before he starts, he will grab any old bucket and make the lye in it, often resulting in a bucket that has lye+water in it. If that happens, the bucket is now horked, and can't be used to make soap.
You may have to do some fiddling to make sure you get a bucket that has lye and only lye.

Once there is a bucket with only lye in it, another dwarf comes along and pours the lye into an empty barrel in a food stockpile, so make sure you have a food stockpile that will accept lye.

Now comes another tricky bit. If you have version .20 or higher, you should be good to make some soap.

Version 19 or earlier, the soapmaker won't use the barrel of lye if its in a food stockpile, so once you have verified that the lye is out of the bucket and in the barrel, get the barrel of lye out of the food stockpile. Now you can make soap.
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