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Dwarf Fortress => DF Dwarf Mode Discussion => Topic started by: Gatleos on July 25, 2010, 10:22:39 pm

Title: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 25, 2010, 10:22:39 pm
Alright, so I embarked in a location consisting of a small bit of red sand desert, towered over by huge sheer cliffs. This place has the potential for an insane fortress, and I've been looking for a challenge. So, what are your suggestions for a megafort?

By the way, here's a link to the map. (http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-9258-viperchasm)
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Terisuke on July 25, 2010, 10:27:48 pm
Ignore the lowlands for now.  The top of the main mountain or the top of that smaller terrace midway up would be amazing fort locations.  In fact, I'd build on both of them and make an enclosed skybridge out of glass linking both entrances, then reduce movement cost for it so your dwarves move around in it all the time.  Bonus points if it's caravan-passable and you need to travel through it to reach your depot.  When you're a more mature fort, wall off and flood the lowlands, or use them as a staging ground for an epic megaproject - or both. 
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 25, 2010, 10:43:37 pm
I'm gonna go with glass castle (made of desert sand) encompassing the mountainside. BONUS: Make two layers of walls, and fill the space between them with water and creatures, so that you have and aquarium castle. MEGABONUS: Fill it with Magma instead. Magma castle. Woot.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 25, 2010, 10:45:52 pm
My main concern is that I have no idea where caravans, sieges, etc. will show up. Does the direction of the capital of a civilization from your fortress determine the direction they come on to the map from? If not, I'd expect the caravans to come from the low area or the summit.

I'll wait to see where the first supply caravan comes from, and if it's the desert, I'll remove the slopes at the base of the mountain and construct a massive spiraling ramp made of clear glass all the way up to the summit and my skybridge.

While I'm at it, I might as well build my glass magmacastle entirely over the pit, with the whole thing resting on the spiral ramp...
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 25, 2010, 10:50:28 pm
Now that's DWARVEN. I like the way you think.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Untelligent on July 25, 2010, 10:50:38 pm
I wouldn't necessarily call those cliffs sheer or huge, but it's still an impressive spot.

Suggestion: Giant kangaroo statue.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 25, 2010, 10:53:16 pm
Yeah, I was actually hoping for totally vertical cliffs. Does anyone know of a worldgen seed that produces crazy altitude changes?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 25, 2010, 10:54:01 pm
AFAIK, you have to set periodic erosion of extreme cliffs to NO in worldgen.

@Untelligent: On top of the magmacastle?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Untelligent on July 25, 2010, 10:58:44 pm
Maximize elevation x- and y-variances, turn off erosion, turn off all the reject parameters, and embark on a small or smaller world. On the embark screen, look for spots on the region and local maps where lowlands are next to the big light grey mountain triangles. Then change the local map to elevation view (the one with all the blue and grey squares) and look for an embark spot with a lowest blue square by the highest grey square.

I got a 100-story mountain in 40d with this method. Usually end up in the 50-80 range, though.



You will NOT get flat cliffs, though, even without erosion. The only way to get flat cliffs is to get a river or ocean in a spot with some decent elevation changes (I hear turning erosion makes rivers deeper) or switch to a version of DF from before the cliffs got all rampy.



@MaximumZero: No, put the magmacastle on top of the kangaroo.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: hailthefish on July 25, 2010, 11:19:07 pm
Or, you know, just have your miners make some cliffs.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 25, 2010, 11:40:30 pm
How about a turtle, with elephants on its back, with magmafalls, and the magmacastle on top of the elephants, with the kangaroo on top?

Okay, now I'm just being silly. I need to stop that. </silly> There, that should work.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: FreakyCheeseMan on July 25, 2010, 11:55:18 pm
Massive Aerial Trap Field.

Have a lot of long, twisty, 1-wide paths with no walkways, high above the ground, that invaders have to cross over. Dig into the cavern layers from the surface, not your base, so *everything* has to come in that way. Line them with weapon traps, fortified outposts for marksdwarves and war dog pits- anything to make them dodge to their deaths.

Have a walled-off but unroofed area beneath the bridges- maybe the nobles chambers- where it will be a steady rain of goblings, humans, elves, troglodytes, giant cave spiders and forgotten beasts.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Solace on July 26, 2010, 12:05:01 am
Well you do have two nice peaks on top of a cliff facing a desert, you could suspend your fort between them? Can't really think of anything else you couldn't do with any other map, if you like the location you need to preserve as much of it as possible, I guess.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 12:14:34 am
So, a spiral ramp made of pure clear glass that goes straight through giant obsidian turtle/kangaroo statues, topped with a giant glass magma-castle, which is constantly dropping waterfalls of magma down onto the hellish gauntlet of lava moats and trap-filled hallways in the desert below?!
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 26, 2010, 12:35:22 am
Yes. This will do. Nicely.

Gentlemen?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 01:00:18 am
So, there aren't any aquifers or plants/trees on the map. Any desert survival tips?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 26, 2010, 01:01:18 am
Dig to the caverns! Quickly. There you will find both replenishing wood and probably lots of water.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 01:07:25 am
Alright, hopefully I won't get mauled by a gelatinous zebra like my last fort did...
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 26, 2010, 01:26:56 am
You could always claim a bit of land and water, wall off all the edges and staunchly protect the water from weird creatures. Or, if any show up, Runesmith 'em dead. I love that program. ^_^
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 01:42:43 am
The plan for now:

Start a small farm on the surface, wall it off and hide inside. Buy above-ground seeds from the first caravan. Cut down trees in the cavern, make food and booze. Bide my time until I can move to the summit and begin construction of the main fort.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 26, 2010, 01:46:12 am
Sounds good. Gonna do a journal? I imagine that it would be extremely interesting.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 02:20:44 am
Assuming we're not brutally slaughtered by goblin sieges and cave swallow men, I'll continue on here. Dying within a year of embark wouldn't be a very good story, after all. But assuming I do survive, this will be the site of the great glass magmafort in the clouds!
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 26, 2010, 02:22:17 am
Do you have Stonesense? If/when you get it completed, you should post marvelous pictures.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: breadbocks on July 26, 2010, 02:26:02 am
Quote from: MaximumZero on July 25, 2010, 11:40:30 pm
How about a turtle, with elephants on its back, with magmafalls, and the magmacastle on top of the elephants, with the kangaroo on top?

Okay, now I'm just being silly. I need to stop that. </silly> There, that should work.
That won't work. You need to bracket it like so:
Code: [Select]
[/silly]
As for the project, you'll need be underground. Dig down to the first cavern. Wall and roof off a 20x20 area. Make a 5x5 farm. Have a 1x1 staircase going up to the surface where you have your wall'd off, with a moat, with one 3x3 drawbridge connecting you to the outside world. Roof over that too. That will keep you largely safe. You will need to be under ground for easy access to the trees, for ash, and dig up as much coal and lignite as you can, or find magma for the kiln and furnace.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 04:23:27 pm
So you see, I was tunneling for magma when...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yeah, I guess that's about it for this embark. The glass magma castle WILL survive, however.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: breadbocks on July 26, 2010, 05:00:52 pm
Wait. Is that a Clown Car? FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....................................
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Snook on July 26, 2010, 08:07:58 pm
Whats going on in that screen?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Urist Imiknorris on July 26, 2010, 08:25:15 pm
And then Gatleos was demons.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Toast024 on July 26, 2010, 08:35:05 pm
What the carp is going on with that screen?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: breadbocks on July 26, 2010, 09:27:48 pm
Again, is that a clown car?
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 10:06:22 pm
Yes, this tileset has a really busy tile for demons. I breached the HFS and my fps dropped to 0 instantly.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: breadbocks on July 26, 2010, 10:10:31 pm
X.X

Called it. To the walls. Or do the design I said. Either way...
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: MaximumZero on July 26, 2010, 10:40:45 pm
Quote from: Gatleos on July 26, 2010, 10:06:22 pm
Yes, this tileset has a really busy tile for demons. I breached the HFS and my fps dropped to 0 instantly.

Ouch, that's harsh. I'm gonna go ahead and stay away from any bluemetal I find. I don't want to fry my poor little single core CPU.
Title: Re: What should I do with this embark?!
Post by: breadbocks on July 26, 2010, 10:58:11 pm
Multicore doesn't change anything. You can still mine *some* foometal, just not lots.