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Last Update: 12/1
Current Update: Part 26 - Melancholy
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Editor's Story...
So it all began with a question. What was the least supplied embark I could get away with? One pick challenge is well known, but do you really need that pick? Experienced Dwarf Fortress players would mention how a 0-pick start really isn't that different than 1-pick because you can just chop down some trees and survive that way. But what if there were no trees? And that's what's led me here today. A haunted biome with an aquifer was just a necessary addition to ensure fun.

Introduction
Most people are aware of dwarven justice. The practice of hammering is well known. What most people don't know however is that it's not the only form of dwarven justice. For particular egregious crimes, or sometimes just at a noble's whim, a different type of justice is dispensed. Dwarves are forced out of their homes and off to settle in completely inhospitable conditions with completely inadequate equipment. This is one of those times...

The embark

The loadout

The story so far...
Part 1: http://imgur.com/a/Cz8kk#0
Part 2: http://imgur.com/a/6qDSH
Part 3: http://imgur.com/a/uibCA
Part 4: http://imgur.com/a/beFl1
Part 5: http://imgur.com/a/LSFkO
Part 6: http://imgur.com/a/1IMDW
Part 7: http://imgur.com/a/5Kw3O
Part 8: http://imgur.com/a/z1b51
Part 9: http://imgur.com/a/u79nh
Part 10: http://imgur.com/a/hfXf9
Part 11: http://imgur.com/a/7126l
Part 12: http://imgur.com/a/Cjlnd
Part 13: http://imgur.com/a/9TWpV
Part 14: http://imgur.com/a/ClllH
Part 15: http://imgur.com/a/bKB5V
Part 16: http://imgur.com/a/3B7D8
Part 17: http://imgur.com/a/3hTnP
Part 18: http://imgur.com/a/eWDgH
Part 19: http://imgur.com/a/NFX1N
Part 20: http://imgur.com/a/z61tX
Part 21: http://imgur.com/a/vsrIQ
Part 22: http://imgur.com/a/Hdu49
Part 23: http://imgur.com/a/v9qEQ
Part 24: http://imgur.com/a/T1QdQ
Part 25: http://imgur.com/a/niELW
Part 26: http://imgur.com/a/h1B0z

The Prologue
I also wrote about my first attempt at this challenge which you can read here:

Ok I know I know the UI is not a priority, nor is the game "that hard to learn" or whatever. I actually agree with all of that. HOWEVER I still think part of DF's bad rap in people learning the game has a lot to do with really really simple UI stuff. Specifically I'm talking about the main menu. The problem with the main menu is not the wealth of options, or even having it expose the complexity of the game. I think a big part of the problem is just simple issues with layout and naming. Problems that should be very easy to remedy very quickly.

First what we are dealing with:


It's a mess! The most important menu options for new players (designations, stockpiles, zones) are spread all around the menu and most of the menu has no logical progression in how it reads. So new players see this and just give up on trying to parse it effectively. So anytime they forget a command they just get frustrated. I think we can do a lot better:



Here's a mock-up I've made. I've organized the menu in a top down fashion. At the top are all of your commands that interact with the world in some way (building, designations, stockpiles, etc.) that gives way into reports and listings which then gives into all of the view commands and finally the help/menu/movie commands.

NOTE: I forgot the Hot Keys menu option which should appear above TAB or to the right of View Units

I've also made a few changes:
Building should really be buildings (or build). It's the only singular noun in the whole list.
I did move the right column in a bit mostly because I could, though you wouldn't need to.
Some items have had their menu name shortened because they're unnecessary. Depot is the only menu option at all referring to Depot so having it say just Depot instead of Depot Access will confuse no one. Same with Move this menu/map which I changed to View Map.
I grouped line wide elements together as much as possible (as in lines that take the whole width). This way the UI reads cleaner and the columns are more distinct making the menu easier to parse visually.

I would probably also change Desginations text to something like Mining & Designations. ONe of the chief complaints about DF is "I couldn't even figure out how to mine". Having it easily identifiable will help to color player's first game perceptions.


Uh well that's it. I just wanted to show that there's some really really easy things that could be done that would probably help to improve the new player experience for Dwarf Fortress at a minimal amount of effort and no gameplay changes.

I'm pretty sure the answer is 'no' but is there any way (no matter how elaborate) to lower the z-levels of a magma pipe. On my current fort the pipe is a little bit in the way of a big area I wanted to dig down across my entrance ( I wanted a multi-level chasm that you have to cross to enter the fort). I can have a single z-level drop into magma with my current situation but I wanted to see the splat and retrieve the trinkets.

The title really says it all


So first the dwarves make a bed called the 'complex crowd'. Suspicious but ok.

Then they make a pretty kinky sounding loincloth with spikes and rings and a weapon rack. I'm assuming 'weapon rack' is some sort of euphemism for them. (It's actually another more innocent artifact).

Then they make ANOTHER loincloth agian with spikes and the weaponrack. This time they put the very suggestive images of a pike and an oyster on it.

THEN they make that engraving... Yeah I'm sure the dwarves are really 'labouring' with a title like that.

WTF I'm running a fortress full of pervents. This is more gloating than anything!

I know this is a rather 'low' priority suggestion but it'd be awesome if the location of a historical engraving had some influence over WHAT was engraved on it. Essentially the room type (and ideally assignment) of the tile being engraved should influence (but not 100%) what event gets engraved there. Examples would be engravings of a tomb tending towards events about that dwarf, engravings in a barracks tending towards battles and war, and so on. Mostly it would have no affect on gameplay but it'd make a lot more sense and I think it'd be more interesting for going through adventure mode.

Ideally the tomb idea would extend to proximity to coffins as well. I'd love it if I could engrave a headstone for each of my dead dwarves. Actually for this a new object might be a better solution. Allow for a headstone to be placed from a block (or rock) and assigned to a dwarf like a coffin. When the dwarf dies the headstone gets engraved with the death of the dwarf.

The evil biomes right now are pretty nice and also pretty challenging at times but that's not going to stop me from making my suggestion. I think that evil biomes should carry an additional issue of keeping the dead... dead.

Essentially I think that when a corpse is changed from XXXX Corpse -> XXXX Rotten Corpse it should have a chance to turn into a skeletal/zombie unit of the same type. For example a dead war dog might get back up as a zombie war dog. Using coffins and indoor burial areas could reduce this risk. Indoor burials would not be entirely safe from the dead rising back up but coffins would be.

It'd add a unique twist to the evil biome game play and place a bigger importance on the dead other than them just being free bones. Also changes the balance of weapons. Using kill methods that reduce your opponents to 'chunks' rather than corpses would result in a lot less angry zombies at your gates.

Since zombies and skeletal units only drop rotten corpses and bones there'd be no problem with a unit dieing + getting up repeatedly.

I'm sure this has been suggested but it didn't turn up in a search. Even if not suggested I'm sure it's on someone's radar.

It'd be really neat if dwarves would play instruments and relatively easy to do (I guess).

A dwarf with the musician skill enabled would carry an instrument in their inventory at all times (provided their hands are free). Then as a low priority task they would sit in any meeting place playing their music. All the music would do is give (some) dwarves in the same room a happy thought.

Later you could expand it if you wanted so dwarves can get an unhappy thought for bad music or like/dislike certain instruments.