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[Little_Luke]

Nice, thank you

 

[PillowKnight]

Only 250 drink and 250 prepared food for 72 dwarfs? Probably won't be any dwarfs left by the time my turn rolls around. Should be around 5k of each stockpiled at this point.

What? I had 2k for 120 or so dwarfs and the prepared foods were rotting.

 

[GDJustin]

I thought food didn't rot if it was in a food stockpile.

 

[Little_Luke]

Ok i'm seriously at a loss here..... i have talc all over. My craftsdwarfs have made stone items and blocks but they only use the dolomite. I've paved my entrance: again can only use dolomite... what the hell do i do with talc. Should i just toss it in a refuse tile?

 

[SirPenguin]

Are you by chance using the Mike Mayday tileset?

 

[Little_Luke]

I am indeed on OS X

 

[SirPenguin]

Yeah, Mayday does something rather silly (imo) with his releases. Instead of just graphics he'll also give you all the changes he thinks should be in the game. One of those changes is making damn near every rock an "economic rock", meaning dwarves won't use it for general rock purposes such as masonry. They'll only use it for things like flux.

So! Open up your stocks (z) menu and go over the "Stones" and turn Talc (and whatever rock you want) to green in order to use it

 

[Little_Luke]

Thank you! Now can rocks be used then for both Flux and general purpose?

 

[SirPenguin]

Yeah. The option exists just in case you have a limited amount of flux and you want to conserve it

 

[Twig]

So I have a buncha dorfs and they're all starving themselves.

Not long ago I got a bunch of messages like so and so canceled eating because the path is blocked but I checked and there's nothing blocking the path! I even removed the door so it's LESS blocked!

I know that I am running LOW on food, but there is still food there so why aren't they eating it?

 

[PillowKnight]

So I have a buncha dorfs and they're all starving themselves.

Not long ago I got a bunch of messages like so and so canceled eating because the path is blocked but I checked and there's nothing blocking the path! I even removed the door so it's LESS blocked!

I know that I am running LOW on food, but there is still food there so why aren't they eating it?

Maybe you should post a screen shot?

I thought food didn't rot if it was in a food stockpile.

My food stockpile was filled,and I could'nt get rid of stones fast enough to make another stockpile. That mountain I was digging in was terrible, 90%+ of all tiles gave me a stone.

 

[Volodja]

Maybe you should post a screen shot?


My food stockpile was filled,and I could'nt get rid of stones fast enough to make another stockpile. That mountain I was digging in was terrible, 90%+ of all tiles gave me a stone.

Maybe I didn't exactly understand what you meant, but you can make a stockpile where there are stones and stuff can be stocked on a tile even if there is already a stone on it.
For example my food stockpile is full of barrels but I can't directly see them because they are under diorite tiles.

 

[speedpop]

*snip*

Domas Sprayblockade the Fight of Time. Quite the mouthful, that one. Domas had been in countless battles and had two hundred and fifty nine kills to her name, almost all of them goblins. She lead every assault and defense in the wars against the vile goblins.

*snip*

She's our queen?

I love seeing this stuff happen. This is why I loved hearing tales of my brother's and cousin's exploits in DF because there was always a deep history behind the world they were playing in.

 

[PillowKnight]

Maybe I didn't exactly understand what you meant, but you can make a stockpile where there are stones and stuff can be stocked on a tile even if there is already a stone on it.
For example my food stockpile is full of barrels but I can't directly see them because they are under diorite tiles.

Woah, I didn't know that. Also never noticed that before, it seemed my dwarf never placed anything on tiles with stones.

 

[platypotamus]

Anyway, question: is there a way to rebuild cave walls? Like say I found a small turquoise vein and decided to dig it out but now one of my bedrooms has a hole that connects to the food storage. Oops. Do I just make a stone block and put it there?

In the build menu, there's an option to build walls. I believe the hotkey is b-c-w, but it's been awhile, so I might be off. You will need a stone block to build it, I believe (or wood, but really, wtf).


Also, holy shit our queen is a badass.

 

[Twig]

Yeah, thanks, I figured out how to build walls, heh.

Now, how do I get rid of them? O: Mining doesn't work!!

Maybe you should post a screen shot?

Yeah okay!

It's the barrels. That's my food! (And drink.)

And here's the dorfs starving themselves and/or hunting for vermin.

 

[Volodja]

Woah, I didn't know that. Also never noticed that before, it seemed my dwarf never placed anything on tiles with stones.

If I'm not wrong in some stockpiles you can't use a tile where there is already a stone, I was only talking about food stockpiles earlier, because as far as I can see in that case you can and I really don't know in what cases you can't .
Maybe all the stockpiles other than the food ones?

 

[Little_Luke]

So I've gotten into a bit of a rut with my games.... i end up getting to a point where quite simply i don't know what to do. (i've in fact started and abandoned 3 forts)

I start out and get my farms up and going (usually way to big but i guess my dwarfs are forward thinkers) , then my meeting/mess hall and bedrooms ; merchant depot ; move into next level down and start collecting stone .....and then i'm lost. I've read many different starting guides and have found they cover a lot of info i've already learned in one form or fashion by way of coming to a point and researching the wiki.

What I'd like to hear is some of you more seasoned dwarflords starting procedures. Not necessarily a recount ala "Boatmurdered" but rather a simple outlining of the basics you get going as you move along. I realize this is an extremely varied and unique thing, but i'd like to know a good way of progressing my all-to-often meager and disorganized band of cave dwellers to a more refined existence.

 

[Lonewolf_92]

Thanks to this thread, I gave DF another chance (like the fourth chance) and this time it all clicked! Woohoo!

How the hell do you play with ASCII, Penguin? I could see myself doing it maybe if it was the only option, but... Man.

Anyway, question: is there a way to rebuild cave walls? Like say I found a small turquoise vein and decided to dig it out but now one of my bedrooms has a hole that connects to the food storage. Oops. Do I just make a stone block and put it there?

You can construct walls with: b-C-w. Note that you can't smooth or engrave constructed walls.

Also when I designate dining rooms and put multiple tables in that room, do I have to make each table its own dining room, so they all overlap? (i.e. so multiple dwarves can use a table at once, instead of taking turns?)

Most of the stuff I'm jsut figuring out on my own, but this is something I haven't managed to figure out. (It took me three days to make the dining room in the first place - I couldn't find it in the menu!)

Just having one designated as an open dining room is fine, the Dwarves will take the nearest unoccupied table with a seat to eat at, much like sleeping in beds in a barracks. Once you start getting nobles you'll want to have private dining rooms for each.

 

[Twig]

You can construct walls with: b-C-w. Note that you can't smooth or engrave constructed walls.

Aw that's disappointing. Oh well.

Just having one designated as an open dining room is fine, the Dwarves will take the nearest unoccupied table with a seat to eat at, much like sleeping in beds in a barracks. Once you start getting nobles you'll want to have private dining rooms for each.

Cool.

How long does it usually take before nobles show up? Or is it simply a matter of "when the fortress is ready"?

 

[Lonewolf_92]

Aw that's disappointing. Oh well.

Cool.

How long does it usually take before nobles show up? Or is it simply a matter of "when the fortress is ready"?

It goes by fort value, so you'll eventually build up a collection of worthless greedy nobles as you get ones of higher and higher rank move in, each wanting their own fancy private rooms and demanding your dwarves produce items they like or else.

 

[SpinningFrog]

Would be nice if there was just a button I could hit whenever I wanted more dwarves, instead of them always showing up right at the most inopportune times.

 

[Twig]

Where's the fun in things going exactly as you plan? O;

 

[GDJustin]

So I've gotten into a bit of a rut with my games.... i end up getting to a point where quite simply i don't know what to do. (i've in fact started and abandoned 3 forts)

I start out and get my farms up and going (usually way to big but i guess my dwarfs are forward thinkers) , then my meeting/mess hall and bedrooms ; merchant depot ; move into next level down and start collecting stone .....and then i'm lost. I've read many different starting guides and have found they cover a lot of info i've already learned in one form or fashion by way of coming to a point and researching the wiki.

What I'd like to hear is some of you more seasoned dwarflords starting procedures. Not necessarily a recount ala "Boatmurdered" but rather a simple outlining of the basics you get going as you move along. I realize this is an extremely varied and unique thing, but i'd like to know a good way of progressing my all-to-often meager and disorganized band of cave dwellers to a more refined existence.

Learn about the various crafting trees. Set up a cloth industry (plant pig tails, refine them into thread, thread into cloth, cloth into finished clothes). Learn the ins and outs of the military system (make piles of bone arrows and create an archery target and train up markdwarves).

Mess with the "channeling" designation to channel out a moat for your fortress. Rig up a retractable drawbridge that spans the moat.

Create some archer towers around your fort entrence.

If your map has sand, set up a glass industry.

If you sand has magma, it's pretty fun to play with too

Edit: One of the best ways to figure out what to do with your own fort is to take a look at what other people have done. In my new fort I'm taking a lot of inspiration from this one:

http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-5740-foresthold

He has a shaft that runs through every floor of his fort all the way to the bottom level. It opens up into a locked room designated as a refuse pile. So anyone he doesn't like he shoves down that garbage chute

Another idea of his I'm going to start incorporating into my own forts is having an actual "entrance hall." I used to just dig into the mountain or dig into the earth randomly. But now in my new one I made a deliberate effort to have an ornately-detailed, large room built out of marble where my initial stairs leading underground are.

 

[SirPenguin]

I love seeing this stuff happen. This is why I loved hearing tales of my brother's and cousin's exploits in DF because there was always a deep history behind the world they were playing in.

Even better is that if our fort gets good enough it becomes our nation's new capital...and thus queen Domas herself would live in our fort

I should get one more update covering all of summer by the end of tonight. I should be finished sometime tomorrow

 

[SirPenguin]

Summer went by in a blur. As I sit here the leaves have just started to turn their colors and some have even fallen onto the grass. It's not quite cold enough to see your breath...but its getting there. Aye, its getting there.

Never mind that. Let's go over some of the going-ons in the fort.

This is the current state of our above ground castle. Here you can see a small moat (I have the miners expand it every now and then) as well as our 4 catapults. We should theoretically hit damn near anything that approaches us...that is, unless it gets too close. Then we best hope our soldiers can do their jobs better than our rock tossers.

I also moved our barracks into the courtyard where our warriors can train their skills close to where danger might come from. They seem to enjoy the fresh air, though they've littered the ground with blood and torn off clothes. I dare say most of these beards are close to naked...quite the welcome for the traders!

As per the request of our Captain of the Guard I have outfitted us with a jailcell as well as an office and living quarters for our good captain. It was a little disheartening to have to carve out these cells, but so far we haven't had to use them. It's a matter of months before our hammerer arrives...then real Dwarven justice can be delivered.

About midsummer I heard a most interesting piece of news.

Seems our fish dissector was elected mayor. I'm not sure how exactly that happened...perhaps these beards admire the work and dedication of the noble fish gut extractor? I can't imagine he had very many friends...you ever smell one of those guys? Regardless, he's now the proud owner of luxury suite. After settling in he promptly ordered some armor stands to be built (sure, why not?) and hasn't made a peep since.

Aside from that it's been the same old same old. We've been increasing in value and efficiency all summer...like a well oiled machine if you replace the oil with beer. Most days we have 0% unemployment, though of course we sometimes went a couple of weeks with a dozen lazy beards hanging out with the Party Cow.

About midsummer we had another crazy dwarf grab a workshop and demand items. No shells were needed this time and he ended up cranking out a grate. Useless for sure, but it has a neat piece of art on it.

There's that war again...

Speaking of which, we can finally confirm the goblins have found us. They've sent nothing but rogues these past few months and I wonder if they're scouting our defenses more merely toying with us. Some thieves attempt to steal our riches...others? Our children. The specific goblin group near us is called the Witches of Forests lead by a fiend named Mato Slaxuusu Tastroosu and her 4 generals.

I won't even bother trying to pronounce that garbage. I pray for the day we can cut her throat upon the battle field.

Reading about Domas has reminded me that even the low can claw their ranks to glory. And glory is something I desire above all else. You recall what I said earlier in the year? That it's better to be killed and remembered than tossed in a cell and forgotten? No matter how this ends...I will be remembered.

I will be remembered.

 

[Twig]

Okay I have no idea why my dwarves still aren't eating, I even moved it all to a more open area!!

Also I know dwarves get unhappy when you don't have booze for 'em, but do they really outright refuse to drink water, even if they're dying? D:

 

[PillowKnight]

Okay I have no idea why my dwarves still aren't eating, I even moved it all to a more open area!!

Also I know dwarves get unhappy when you don't have booze for 'em, but do they really outright refuse to drink water, even if they're dying? D:

Have you checked to see if they actually have food?

Look at a barrel with K it'll be named "food barrel" or "plant barrel". Otherwise hire a broker (n to look at the noble screen and then appoint one). Give him an office(find a throne/chair and put it under his name) and in the same noble screen select the most precision, in about a year he'll be able to give you the exact count of any stock.

Edit: To look at the stocks press z.

 

[Twig]

Have you checked to see if they actually have food?

Look at a barrel with K it'll be named "food barrel" or "plant barrel". Otherwise higher a broker (n to look at the noble screen and then appoint one). Give him an office(find a throne/chair and put it under his name) and in the same noble screen select the most precision, in about a year he'll be able to give you the exact count of any stock.

Edit: To look at the stocks press z.

Yeah, I've got "100?" food. (No drink, though, hence my other question.) When I check the barrels, they're "fish" and "plant" etc. And when I designated a new food area specifically for fish and plants, they moved the fish and plant barrels to that area, so... I dunno. D:

Also my leader died. O:

And when I just unpaused it someone else died because they bled to death!

Ahh I have no idea what's going on ahhhhh!

EDIT: Oh I'm stupid. I have 100? "Other".

Nevermind I'm just letting my dudes starve to death cause I felt like it.

Yeah.

That's it.

(I was confused because the original message said "inaccessible" and while I guess being inside another dwarf constitutes "inaccessible" it was not the first thing I thought of!)

 

[Little_Luke]

EDIT: Oh I'm stupid. I have 100? "Other".

Nevermind I'm just letting my dudes starve to death cause I felt like it.

Yeah.

That's it.

(I was confused because the original message said "inaccessible" and while I guess being inside another dwarf constitutes "inaccessible" it was not the first thing I thought of!)

Now I haven't been around this game but a mere week or so but I do believe sir you have discovered the true essence of what it means to play DF lol

Learn about the various crafting trees. Set up a cloth industry (plant pig tails, refine them into thread, thread into cloth, cloth into finished clothes). Learn the ins and outs of the military system (make piles of bone arrows and create an archery target and train up markdwarves).

Perfrect! Now are the crafting trees laid out any where? I wasn't able to find anything very clear in the wiki myself.

 

[GDJustin]

Perfrect! Now are the crafting trees laid out any where? I wasn't able to find anything very clear in the wiki myself.

Just keep the DF wiki handy. What DF lacks in clear in-game instructions it makes up for with probably the most comprehensive game wiki out there.

http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/The_clothing_industry
http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Leather_industry

 

[ixix]

Just keep the DF wiki handy. What DF lacks in clear in-game instructions it makes up for with probably the most comprehensive game wiki out there.

http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/The_clothing_industry
http://dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Leather_industry

Reading the wiki article on the leather industry reminds me why I never bother with that stuff and just buy mass quantities of leather from the caravans. Then you can set a dwarf to making leather crafts full-time, use those crafts to buy more leather from the caravans, and just keep right on crafting 'til you've got yourself a legendary leatherworker.

 

[PillowKnight]

Yeah, I've got "100?" food. (No drink, though, hence my other question.) When I check the barrels, they're "fish" and "plant" etc. And when I designated a new food area specifically for fish and plants, they moved the fish and plant barrels to that area, so... I dunno. D:

I think i figured it out. Here's what was happening; your dwarfs were starving because food production was too low. Every once in a while a dwarf would bring food and store it in a barrel, at this point, ten hungry dwarfs charge the barrel--one picks up the food the 9 others go "wtf where'd the food go" ie the "item is inaccessible" announcement. Technically it was right, can't grab the food from another dwarf's stomach.

Oh and that 100 "other" could just be because you don't have a broker or because he sucks. Normally the "other" refers to prepared meals.

 

[SirPenguin]

Other could also include various inedible foods, such as fat before it's rendered

 

[SirPenguin]

The traders came today. I spotted them far off in the distance accompanied by a few caravan guards and mercenaries. One of the mercs I recognized instantly: a squat, fat swordsdwarf wearing a blue cape. It had to be Oddom, one of the mercenaries who guarded the prison caravan I was on. He and his brother both were on duty the day I fled...and it was his brother who I killed during my escape. He'd recognize me instantly.

Hah! To hell with him! I'm not our fort's broker nor am I the mayor; I have no business meeting with any trade caravans. So I stayed in my room until they left...a prudent measure for my own survival. At least that's how I rationalized it.

I immediately regretted my cowardice when our clerk met with me after they had left. I asked him what we were able to procure and he told me very little save for a few pieces of meat and some leather. Frustrated, I asked him what he requested for them to bring next year...and he said that he forgot to tell them anything.

I must have yelled at him for a good 5 minutes. It's not like we needed supplies right now, but whose to say when the great war will start? Afterwards he sat there, speechless, a little spot of drool hanging from his lip. I asked him if he was going to be ok, and suddenly he screamed "I HAVE IDEA FOR SHINY". A few jewels, rocks, and turtle bones later...

Whose to say I don't inspire our people? It seems all these dwarves can think about is the great war. This one - an earring of all things - contains a picture of Domas herself. She must be a great leader indeed.

In preparation for the winter months I ordered a small census to be conducted to get a feel of the mouths we'll need to feed. I was surprised to learn the number of couples in our fort - 5 total - as well as the amount of children.

They've been busy, that's for sure.

In a bit of...very...very tragic news...I myself made a mistake. Our fort was being overrun with animals and I designated most of them to be slaughtered. A necessary measure, no one complained and no pets were touched. But I wasn't really paying attention who I was sending to the slaughter...

Looks like someone will be getting a Party Hamburger soon...I hope no one notices.

We've been buttoning down for the winter here and there. More food, more booze, and a couple of secret projects here and there. I feel like we'll be coasting into the spring. And then? I'm not sure. The goblins...they worry me. But perhaps we are of no notice to them? No consequence?


edit: Oh come on, stop! You're breaking my heart :lol

 

[Little_Luke]

Thanks for the links GD. One issue i keep running into with the wiki is searching for the correct term for what i want. Like "leather industry" as opposed to maybe "leather craft tree"

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

be trying this out when I wake up

 

[SirPenguin]

There are very few times a dwarf feels worried while underground. We're surrounded by snug walls and low ceilings, all of us embedded in the strong of material...the very rock itself. It's comforting, safe? You know what ISN'T comforting?

Though I am ecstatic to have found a magma pipe underneath our very feet, I must say I am very worried that no one knew of its existence prior to this. What if a miner accidentally had punctured through a wall holding it back? We'd all be god damned cooked in our beds! I scoured through the records of our previous leaders and found one such leader mate a note of "warm stone" in one of the mining shafts. Apparently he didn't know what this meant...but thank god he didn't probe further.

This boon will surely increase our productivity tenfold. We have no more need for fuel...we'll use the very blood of the mountain!

 

[Mobius 1]

Looks like someone will be getting a Party Hamburger soon...I hope no one notices.

:lol :lol :lol

 

[GDJustin]

Oh no! Poor, poor party cow

 

[Twig]

I think i figured it out. Here's what was happening; your dwarfs were starving because food production was too low. Every once in a while a dwarf would bring food and store it in a barrel, at this point, ten hungry dwarfs charge the barrel--one picks up the food the 9 others go "wtf where'd the food go" ie the "item is inaccessible" announcement. Technically it was right, can't grab the food from another dwarf's stomach.

Oh and that 100 "other" could just be because you don't have a broker or because he sucks. Normally the "other" refers to prepared meals.

Aha! Makes sense.

No matter. I recovered, after only about 50 of my 60 dwarves died. I'm back up to about 70 now. But also goblins are attacking! How do I set up sparring or training for dwarves? I have some targets set up for marksdwarf training, but they don't actually use it. Do they need to be "activated" to train, or can they just train in their off time from other duties?

Also I've had a broker for almost a year now and I still don't have very precise measurements! O:

 

[GDJustin]

Aha! Makes sense.

No matter. I recovered, after only about 50 of my 60 dwarves died. I'm back up to about 70 now. But also goblins are attacking! How do I set up sparring or training for dwarves? I have some targets set up for marksdwarf training, but they don't actually use it. Do they need to be "activated" to train, or can they just train in their off time from other duties?

Also I've had a broker for almost a year now and I still don't have very precise measurements! O:

Military dwarves will spar in a barracks. Barracks are designated via a bed. IE place a bed in a big empty room then designate it as a barracks the same way you would a bedroom. They will only spar (or practice archery) if they are activated but off-duty. Military dwarves aren't military at all unless they're activated... they'll be the same as civilians.

As for the broker, first thing, make sure he has an office. It is designated via a chair/throne. Then go into the (N)obles screen, arrow down to record keeper, and his S for settings. Set accuracy to highest. He should get to work.

 

[Yaweee]

Migrants showed up! 7 of them! Is that a normal posse? How many can show up in a single season?

I'm getting farther. I still haven't bunkered down yet to build a properly trapped entrance way. Can invaders breakthrough or go over walls built above ground?

Also...
-Is there a good source of trade income early on? Jewelry and shit? Stones are too heavy to be useful for trade, so all I got were some picks.
-How are priorities determined for jobs? Like, is farming a higher priority than moving around rocks, or is that determined some other way? Proximity/Distance?
-One of my guys that I made the trader got promoted to a Noble, I think. Is that how things work?

EDIT: And why are they all thirsty? There's water everywhere!

 

[SirPenguin]

Spring. Whoopity-fuckin'-doo, I made it a year as a free man!

This past winter - the one I figured would be uneventful - turned out to be full of changes to our fort. Most of them were out of my hands...the fort has become self sufficient, able to do damn near anything it wants to. I've spent these last few weeks bored in my room, reading up on wars and Domas.

Still, I was able to finish up some projects before the end of winter.

The dining room is mostly finished. Looks a lot better with smoothed walls and some furniture. It's big enough for expansion should we need it, though I wonder if we'd be better off with a statue garden in that lower portion. You know, to increase moral?

Around the end of Winter our weaponsmith, Alath, came down with a case of the crazies. He ran to his forge and grabbed some materials he had never touched before such as platinum bars and cut gems. A week later he emerged, holding the shiniest mace I had ever seen

"Alath, what is the meaning of the engraving on this thing?" I had asked him.

"Well, sir, it's a wizard!" he proclaimed, smiling from ear to ear

"Right, but...what's in his hand?"

"Oh, that's The Confusing Carnage, a platinum mace!"

"...right. Which is the name of the platinum mace you just made...?"

"Right!"

"So you put a picture of the mace you were making upon the mace you were making?"

"Right!"

Upon closer examination I realized the mace the wizard was holding ALSO had an image of a wizard holding the weapon on it. I wondered just how detailed this image got...and the thought made me dizzy. What a weapon.

Finally, I decided to cement my remembrance. With a tomb. It's rather large. In an interesting twist of fate I had actually commissioned that white hammer engraving WHILE the weaponsmith was creating his platinum mace. Though maces and hammers are quite different, the sheer coincidence of it makes the hairs stick up on the back of my neck.

These goblins, though...these damn goblins. My thoughts are consumed with them. If I had the mind for war I would don a suit of armor and storm their damned towers myself to avenge this young one:

I had stationed guards in front of and behind our drawbridge, and the bastard still got away! I am furious. They will pay, those bastards will god damn pay!

However, someone else will have to make them pay. I am done. This fort doesn't need me anymore, if it needed me at all. And I am at peace with that. I arrived here as a criminal, lying my way into a position of power. I've learned a lot from these beards, mostly what it means to find glory. Me? Perhaps I am destined for something else. I find myself with my nose in a history book more and more nowadays. I have retired from the position, quietly stepping down to live a life as an engraver. That way I can carve the wars and battles of our people. So that we may remember them.

As a final act of leader I handed our mason guild leader some blueprints for a monument to be built outside the fort. He seemed confused as to why I'd want a bunch of random walls built in such a way.

"It looks like nonsense" he said. I couldn't agree more. I don't know what compelled me to build such a thing, but it felt like a good way to end my career.

Alrighty, I'm done. Here's the save for whoever is next + whoever wants to explore the fort a bit:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IMHT9W20

and the final status screen:

Tips for the next guy:
-Magma! We can do a ton of stuff with it. Magma traps, using it for the forges, other...fun stuff. Let's try to utilize it!
-We have our food industry is a really stable place. We have hunters, fishers, and farmers for a diverse diet. We have enough supplies to last awhile
-Goblin rogues have appeared more and more frequently, with the latest kidnapping that poor child. Expect to see ambushes soon...and then sieges. They won't be very hard, but let's try to weather them without overtrapping

 

[Twig]

Military dwarves will spar in a barracks. Barracks are designated via a bed. IE place a bed in a big empty room then designate it as a barracks the same way you would a bedroom. They will only spar (or practice archery) if they are activated but off-duty. Military dwarves aren't military at all unless they're activated... they'll be the same as civilians.

As for the broker, first thing, make sure he has an office. It is designated via a chair/throne. Then go into the (N)obles screen, arrow down to record keeper, and his S for settings. Set accuracy to highest. He should get to work.

Roight, thanks again.

 

[Leam]

I'm the next one, i'll start with it tomorrow after class. I dont have much experience but i'll go ahead and try to set up some magma forges. This should be interesting, I hope I dont end up flooding any bedrooms this time:lol

 

[ixix]

14 champions? Do we even have any weapons yet, or are they all just legendary wrestlers? Is our first goblin siege going to be met with an army of Hulk Hogans?

Migrants showed up! 7 of them! Is that a normal posse? How many can show up in a single season?

I'm getting farther. I still haven't bunkered down yet to build a properly trapped entrance way. Can invaders breakthrough or go over walls built above ground?

Also...
-Is there a good source of trade income early on? Jewelry and shit? Stones are too heavy to be useful for trade, so all I got were some picks.
-How are priorities determined for jobs? Like, is farming a higher priority than moving around rocks, or is that determined some other way? Proximity/Distance?
-One of my guys that I made the trader got promoted to a Noble, I think. Is that how things work?

EDIT: And why are they all thirsty? There's water everywhere!

Dwarves only drink water out of desperation. They want booze. Build a still and start brewing up some delicious, nourishing alcohol.

Crafts are the best source of trade income early on. A single stonecrafter working year round in a Craftsdwarf's Workshop can usually damn near clean a caravan out. Also consider requesting tons of leather from the liaison and having a dwarf craft leather crafts year-round. When he becomes legendary you can get masterpiece leather armor out of him. Good for the early game, and when you get a metal industry up and running your soldiers will happily put plate mail on right over their leather armor, doubling up the protection.

Technically speaking, dwarves don't choose jobs, jobs choose dwarves. Active jobs constantly look for a dwarf with the appropriate labor enabled, and when they find one they flag him to do the job. I'm not sure of the exact priority of jobs, but it's usually good to specialize dwarves to only do one or two jobs at a time. You can also set up profiles in workshops to only allow dwarves of certain skill levels to work in them.

Yes, the broker counts as a noble. As I recall it's one of the positions you can re-assign at will, unlike most noble positions which are either elected or hereditary.

 

[SirPenguin]

14 champions? Do we even have any weapons yet, or are they all just legendary wrestlers? Is our first goblin siege going to be met with an army of Hulk Hogans?

All wrestlers. They're at that stage where I'm worried about giving them weapons for fear of them cutting themselves to ribbons. We don't have much metal at all so we don't have any sort of armor industry up.

Still, they rock shit. I used them to mop up some dark gnomes. They were also successful in clearing up some other things that showed up after my turn was up...but I won't be spoiling that

Also, Fightanus is sandwhiched between two goblin groups and a human civilization. The humans go by the Nation of Glows and USED to own a city nearby Fightanus by the name of Rabbitsearched. Those guys? They ain't doin' so hot nowadays

 

[Yaweee]

14 champions? Do we even have any weapons yet, or are they all just legendary wrestlers? Is our first goblin siege going to be met with an army of Hulk Hogans?



Dwarves only drink water out of desperation. They want booze. Build a still and start brewing up some delicious, nourishing alcohol.

Crafts are the best source of trade income early on. A single stonecrafter working year round in a Craftsdwarf's Workshop can usually damn near clean a caravan out. Also consider requesting tons of leather from the liaison and having a dwarf craft leather crafts year-round. When he becomes legendary you can get masterpiece leather armor out of him. Good for the early game, and when you get a metal industry up and running your soldiers will happily put plate mail on right over their leather armor, doubling up the protection.

Technically speaking, dwarves don't choose jobs, jobs choose dwarves. Active jobs constantly look for a dwarf with the appropriate labor enabled, and when they find one they flag him to do the job. I'm not sure of the exact priority of jobs, but it's usually good to specialize dwarves to only do one or two jobs at a time. You can also set up profiles in workshops to only allow dwarves of certain skill levels to work in them.

Yes, the broker counts as a noble. As I recall it's one of the positions you can re-assign at will, unlike most noble positions which are either elected or hereditary.

Thank you!

Farming has been a huge problem, which has limited my booze production. I think I'll have to assign more dwarves to do farming/brewing/cooking exclusively.

 

[Twig]

I finally abandoned my first fortress. I managed to survive three goblin sieges, but then the next one was too big for me. And everyone was mad with hunger (I don't know why, but they stopped producing food at some point). Three goblin squads and a few berserk dwarves spelled my doom. I tried to dig into some water to flood the place and go out with a bang but my dwarves wouldn't go near it for fear of gobbies. ):