Bay 12 Games Forum

Dwarf Fortress => DF Dwarf Mode Discussion => Topic started by: Shardok on April 27, 2010, 12:51:14 am

Title: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Shardok on April 27, 2010, 12:51:14 am
So, I go to trade something to the humans and I notice "Hey, that value is pretty high compared to all the other crafts (which were around 20-40 because most of the stuff was junk). I know, I should see what makes this thing so valuable."

(http://grabug.web.nowhere-else.org/web/Dogwins.JPG)

It did explain *what* it was that my gemsetter was encrusting with gems all this time though. That's the first craft I've seen that actually was encrusted with gems despite having him encrusting for months. Apparently someone just left this next to his workshop and he kept encrusting it again and again.

Really though, the artwork alone is awesome to begin with, mainly because that's detailing an event from the same fortress which I didn't even find out about until months later when I looked at my animals list and was all like "Why is that stray dog named?". Then the gemsetter decided that it needed 4 different gems encrusted on it. That one craft beats several of the artifacts I've had made in prior fortresses (and it beats the single wooden one I've had in this one).
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Canalan on April 27, 2010, 12:55:46 am
At least you can sell it.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Shardok on April 27, 2010, 12:57:39 am
Yeah, but I know if I didn't sell it then that gemsetter would seek it out and start encrusting even more gems on it. Took a look through my stocks and found 2 other items that he's done this same thing to. Apparently he refuses to work on multiple items instead preferring to just stick to the same item.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Canalan on April 27, 2010, 01:00:44 am
Do you want to fix this behavior or let him be?
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Shardok on April 27, 2010, 01:03:29 am
Well, looks like I lost the choice. He just became possessed.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Paul on April 27, 2010, 01:07:12 am
It's only an olivine statue encrusted with 4 gems. That's nothing.

I recently sold a platinum scepter encrusted with: ruby, sapphire, emerald, indigo tourmaline, black diamond, green diamond, blue diamond, yellow diamond, red diamond, clear diamond, faint yellow diamond, light yellow diamond, clear zircon,star sapphire, star ruby, black opal, demantoid, blue garnet, and tsavorite. I think it had some other gems too, but those are the ones I still have stockpiled and know that I used. It was also decorated with gold, steel, and aluminum. I can't remember the value, but it was obscene - it bought out the entire dwarven caravan and left them with a massive profit to boot.

The funny part is the dwarven caravan was carrying a load of the same gems I encrusted the scepter with, in addition to aluminum and platinum bars - so in the trade I gained enough material to make another one and have stuff left over.

If you want them to encrust multiple items you have to use different gems. They'll happily encrust one item with 50 different gems if you tell them to work on a variety of gems.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Shardok on April 27, 2010, 01:17:58 am
That's just obscene... Of course it makes sense, they grab whatever item is closest, which will inevitably be whatever item they worked with last.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Urist Imiknorris on April 27, 2010, 01:36:57 am
Quote from: Shardok on April 27, 2010, 01:17:58 am
That's just obscene... Of course it makes sense, they grab whatever item is closest, which will inevitably be whatever item they worked with last.

This. This mechanism is why I rarely make shitloads of stone crafts anymore. I can generally get a gem craft at random and encrust it with everything under the sun. Or I use metal crafts when I just need to get rid of all this FUCKING GOLD.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Ubiq on April 27, 2010, 02:02:56 am
Quote from: Urist Imiknorris on April 27, 2010, 01:36:57 am
This. This mechanism is why I rarely make shitloads of stone crafts anymore. I can generally get a gem craft at random and encrust it with everything under the sun. Or I use metal crafts when I just need to get rid of all this FUCKING GOLD.

Why go to all that trouble of melting it first? Just make the crafts directly out of the gold nuggets and then decorate them with gems. That or use the gold for mechanisms as even a no quality gold mechanism is still worth 900 dwarfmoleons.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Max White on April 27, 2010, 02:06:32 am
Haha, normally I have nobles beds so encrusted with gems, there is more shiny then wood.

Quantum encrusting is fun!
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Zalminen on April 27, 2010, 03:27:20 am
Yeah, it's fun indeed.

The first time I encountered this I had requested every type of gem available from the caravan and bought them all.
Then unleashed my get setter.

When the next caravan arrived and I began trading I was at first puzzled why all the rock crafts seemed to be unencrusted - and then noticed there was one very expensive goblet. With a description over a page long.
Must have been quite a sight :D
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Hyndis on April 27, 2010, 10:20:02 am
I also build few items, but I decorate everything. Bone is amazing for decoration! Each type of bone is unique, so you can have something decorated with cat, dog, horse, mule, donkey, bear, warthog, deer, elf, human, goblin, kobold, crocodile, cave crocodile, troll, elkbird, and hoary marmot bone. All at the same time.  :D

Thats a lot of bling. I aim for each item, particularly armor and weapons, to have a full page of decorations.

You can also decorate something once with each type of metal and each type of gem, meaning its quite possible to have 30-40 decorations on a single item without trying all that hard.

Yes, you can produce Planepacked!

Be sure to import exotic materials and you can keep on decorating it.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Satarus on April 27, 2010, 11:52:51 am
Well each encrusted material must be unique.  Also if it is a cloth item, you can sew images on it.  The best was when you could sometimes get sentient specie's skin from the old HFS.  Make a leather craft out of it and then encrust it with everything known to dwarf.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Hyndis on April 27, 2010, 11:56:08 am
Leather crafts aren't worth all that much.

You'd probably want to start out with a valuable material and then make a valuable item out of it, like a mechanism or a statue. Then decorate the hell out of that one item. Once its all decorated you can put it in a room for dwarves to admire.

You lose the ability to sew an image onto it, so you lose one decoration, but the base value is far higher.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Satarus on April 27, 2010, 12:22:25 pm
Who cares.  I wanna encrust elf leather with everything object known to dwarfkind.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: RandomNumberGenerator on April 27, 2010, 12:42:04 pm
Quote from: Hyndis on April 27, 2010, 11:56:08 am
Leather crafts aren't worth all that much.

It depends on the beast the leather is made from. Hoary Marmot Leather crafts aren't worth much. Giant Cave Spider Chitin crafts are, though it's not worth as much as GSC Silk(Then again, what is... A skilled clothier can make GSC items that are more valuable than anything sans HFS).  Of course, I think GSC Chitin is bugged and thus unavailable in 0.31.03, so it's a moot point.
Quote from: Hyndis on April 27, 2010, 11:56:08 am

You'd probably want to start out with a valuable material and then make a valuable item out of it, like a mechanism or a statue. Then decorate the hell out of that one item. Once its all decorated you can put it in a room for dwarves to admire.

You lose the ability to sew an image onto it, so you lose one decoration, but the base value is far higher.

Not sure if it is a bug or not, but Serrated Disks and another trap component... Spiked Balls I think, are worth obscene amounts in the new version. They have a 128 multiplier, compared to furniture & craft's 10, statue's 25 or mechanism's 30. I don't think you can encrust them with gems, but you can stud them with metal at a forge. Layer a steel disc with gold, platinum, aluminum and you will have one extremely valuable object.... Even no-quality would be worth 17,920☼, while masterwork would be 215,040☼!

Too bad you can't make GSC Silk Serrated Disks...
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Hyndis on April 27, 2010, 12:47:54 pm
You can make metal mechanisms at the forge. You cannot do it with the job manager but you can do it manually. Go to the forge, then trap components, then the metal type, and then select mechanisms.

Be sure to first train up your mechanic using junk stone.

Masterwork adamantine mechanism!  :D

Then decorate the hell out of it.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: Paul on April 27, 2010, 02:20:41 pm
Quote from: RandomNumberGenerator on April 27, 2010, 12:42:04 pm
...A skilled clothier can make GSC items that are more valuable than anything sans HFS)...

...Too bad you can't make GSC Silk Serrated Disks...

Unless GSC is something special (I assume you mean Giant Cave Spider), you're mistaken. The GCS silk isn't that valuable anymore. Platinum and aluminum amulets are worth 400, steel and gold are worth 300. GCS amulets are only worth 40. So even if you could make GCS silk serrated disks, you'd be better off with steel.
Title: Re: Wannabe Artifact
Post by: darkflagrance on April 27, 2010, 04:18:01 pm
Screw artifacts. You can actually quantum decorate generic items.

Here is an example of massive bone-decoration:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)