Losing is fun, or so they say. What could possibly make for even more fun?
Howabout if we all lose, simultaneously?
I have prepared a special challenge, for any and all would-be overseers:
Edangzak Utharsanad Gedor, the Simultaneous Challenge Embark!
The Story:
By Armok (glory to) and Nish (praise be), we leave home. This sacred land to see, northwest from the Hall we marched. Questing for a new demense, honour to the makers. Rain and sun, a thicket of sunberries lay before us. Thikut turns to us and says:
"Ooooohhhh... My fellow foundlings, have you ever seen this shade of violet before, in both plants and trees?"
Then it sorta all goes to shit.
The Setup:
It is only the 2nd year of existence, and already the industrious dwarfs are ready to go out and explore the world outside, far from the Mountainhomes. As an innocent and naive civilization, they sent only 7 dwarfs, laden on a single wagon, bearing only the sacred Anvil (representing the very Forge of Armok himself [glory to]), in which all dwarfs were crafted, and a single copper pick, the symbol of industry everywhere.
Ah, the foolishness of the freshly-spawned.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a different sort of multiplayer thread: instead of taking successive turns, we all use the exact same embark (linked below), and play until our inevitable, miserable failure. Then we post our reports - how long did you last? What finally killed you?
To at least allow for some survivability, vampires and werebeasts were not included in the world generation. It should still be enough of a challenge to make this interesting.
Da Roolz:
1. This is a vanilla 0.34.11 game. So please, keep it fair, and keep it unmodified in the raws.
2. There is no savefile to pass, therefore there is no time limit per turn. At least semi-regular reports/updates will help to keep the thread alive, however.
3. No savescumming. You are on your honour.
4. This thread is declared over on either New Year's Day; the day all players have lost and submitted a report; or the thread is left untouched for more than 5 consecutive days (please, no double-posts, or bumps. Awesomeness or death, is the name of the game, here)
5. Why are you still reading this, when you should be grabbing the save, replying with 'in,' and STRIKING THE MUTHALOVIN' EARTH, ALREADY!?
Outlast everyone else! Mine the deepest shaft! Build the tallest tower! GO, by the Adamantine Beard of Armok!
For those who are intimidated by the embark, not interested in playing, made of vomit, or otherwise unable to play - this game will especially need you, as the scoring panel. I'm not gonna be the one to do it - perhaps we'll do a poll later on. One may not be able to win Dwarf Fortress; this thread, however...???
(http://i.imgur.com/GEtmbd1.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/P6e2wmw.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/Vrschkz.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/pKzNaEk.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/giPbEsX.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/QfnTsBR.png)
Link to region folder (.rar format): http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=8135 (http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=8135)
DarkArtemisFowl, welcome to the meatgrinder!
Sounds good, puutuulion. Any particular way you'd like it formatted?
"Each of the two contestants would then concentrate their will on
the bottle and attempt to tip it and pour spirit into the glass
of his opponent - who would then have to drink it.
The bottle would then be refilled. The game would be played
again. And again.
Once you started to lose you would probably keep losing, because
one of the effects of Janx spirit is to depress telepsychic
power.
As soon as a predetermined quantity had been consumed, the final
loser would have to perform a forfeit, which was usually
obscenely biological."
Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
{fortress date}
Post screenshots of your status screen, stocks, etc here
Post screens and descriptions of your hall, any notable mechanical works, megastructures, etc here
Post screens and descriptions of your military, particularly ingenious trap systems, war animals, kill count, etc here
Post screens of invaders lists, groups of undead, FBs, giant pools of miasma, etc here
What it says on the tin. What you find relevant that isn't covered above, goes here.
Also, what do you think of the idea of a bonus/malus for naming dorfs after judges, and keeping them alive? Just an idea.
The file is already there, for the sake of everyone who is interested having access immediately. Grimmath, for example, expressed a wish to see the save before commiting to a playthrough.
Personally, I'm ambivalent on this one. It's not like it's a race or anything, on the one hand; on the other, without having hammered out the scoring system, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage as far as fort design goes. We should probably wait for a few more judges before posting anything, at least.
What say you, puutuulion?
Though I've lurked for the past 6 months or so, I only signed up to these boards very recently. As it's incredibly poor ettiquette to make requests in other threads, and I don't think spamming strangers' message boxes is on the list of things MIss Manners would recommend, I call upon those of you who know a few others to kinda... put the word out a bit, y'know? If you can think of anyone who'd be likely to take an interest in judging this little competition, please wave your magic wands, and summon them to the thread! Cheers.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ad9f8VH.png)
My initial plan was to have my miner carve out a quick shelter while the rest of the dwarves gathered some plants. But as I said, my expedition was immediately welcomed by a flock of giant zombie sparrows:
(http://i.imgur.com/Ad9f8VH.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/ILavNIH.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/AAJNRzj.png)
Urist Mcbirdseed cancels dig: damp stone located
(http://i.imgur.com/xsTwI3R.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/xa5Fx4m.png)
This guy dove into a murky pool and drowned rather than be torn apart by birds. He was the smart one.
(http://i.imgur.com/w0Zk668.png)
It was a meaningless victory. There were still six more sparrow corpses left. Nearby, the miner emerged from the side of the hill, wet and dejected. They locked eyes, and without a word, both knew what the other was thinking. This world was never meant for dwarves.
(http://i.imgur.com/BSBhfTa.png)
Welp, that's that. Do I get any points for a kill list one name long?
(http://i.imgur.com/0YP3jEc.png)
Howdy folks. Woob poked me to drop by. :)
This looks amusing. As I'm finally getting my personal concerns in order, I'm able to get back into being Dwarfy... which means I'll be banging away at FurnaceClans again once I get Pinnacle purchased. So, since I've already got my own dwarf project, I'll volunteer for being a judge, if you'll have me.
Thanks for poppin' in! Of course we'd be glad to have you - the more impartial judges there are, laughing at our failures, the less likely the results are to be biased. Plus, if ya wanna plug FurnaceClans, or any of your minecart/machinery tutorials here on Bay12, I'm sure those who may be having difficulty with this challenge would appreciate it.
Now, on to my Mid-Year report:
(http://i.imgur.com/LPzx3KU.png?1)
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit some dwarves. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbits bolt-hole, and that means [dis]comfort.”
(http://i.imgur.com/lbCd4uJ.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/hK4SjUP.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/Ogw1w13.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/igs1wlH.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/Ne5xNTv.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/mJiQ69j.png)
5th Hematite. Things have finally settled down enough for us to grab a couple plants and brew them. We also butcher our draft animals: they're far more useful in our bellies than in our hidey-hole.
(http://i.imgur.com/rwf9AMf.png)
puutuulion dug out a big space, and we dug out a small ramp to the surface when the coast was clear; just long enough to chop some trees. Unfortunately, we weren't quite quick enough getting back in to save our pair of brave recruits from a Louse Woman Corpse:
(http://i.imgur.com/K8N4P37s.png?1)
(http://i.imgur.com/rfPCaY0s.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/8azsOwXs.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZRTKZIys.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/tlTJJKqs.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/JP091YSs.png)
Since then, we've managed to gather a few more logs, enough to build a screw pump, a meager dining room, and a door. Now to take on the aquifer!
(http://i.imgur.com/KJcTV8Il.jpg)
This is the surface. 1 is where our little entrance/exit to the surface is. 2 and 3 are our brave fallen companions. 4 is where we first started this mess, and lost our first beard.
(http://i.imgur.com/B9XnjAk.png)
Home sweet hovel. Until we can get some more lumber, we'll all have to share a single bed, table, and chair. The dump pit leads to water at the bottom, and was put in to control potential miasma problems from refuse. So far, hasn't been an issue. The only miasma we've had was when I moved the food stockpile, and forgot to enable meats for a minute, hurrdehurr.
(http://i.imgur.com/jDDysr8.png)
This is the aquifer level z+1. Doing the double-slit setup, as materials are scarce. With only 4 of us here, we don't need much of a staircase right now anyways.
(http://i.imgur.com/q1PxDsE.png)
Drinks have run out again; at least everyone has had some booze; going back to water for a little bit won't kill them. No migrants yet, but I expect to see some very soon. Hopefully, they'll come soon enough, and in great enough number, to get another lumberjack and carpenter training - it'd be nice, but unlikely, to have a trade depot set up in an outdoor airlock, before the first caravan arrives.
End Update 1
Strike the Earth!
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic1_zps9bfecf94.png)
Temporary Shelter
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic2_zpse91ba36f.png)
Flying creatures spotted!
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic3_zps356bc098.png)
Hitting an Aquifer
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic4_zpsbe7841c1.png)
Breaching Attempts
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic5_zps6d11d055.png)
The miner in trouble
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic6_zps4a9e943b.png)
Our carpenter a corpse
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic7_zps8037f724.png)
Zombies in the fortress!
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic8_zpsb04cc0fd.png)
The desperate fight
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic9_zps2df42dcf.png)
The Expedition leader joins in
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic9_zps2df42dcf.png)
The Rotten Skin Attack
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic10_zps2d456590.png)(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic11_zps64cc1629.png)
The absolute chaos
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic12_zpsc7b5b73c.png)
The strangler
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic13_zps42a09ef9.png)
The meeting attender
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic14_zpsb0a0a0bb.png)
The last dwarf
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic15_zps1c65dedd.png)
The Skin's revenge
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic16_zps3d7ec0aa.png)
The Absolute fail
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz101/FireCrazy50/pic17_zps83522f06.png)
Can I have another go?
I have one dwarf left. Luckily, through the madness of a MASSIVE tantrum spiral... but I get ahead of myself.
(http://i.imgur.com/DR5Mqqgl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/DR5Mqqg)
At last, some help from the MountainHome! With spare hands to pick some berries and chop a tree or two, our carpenter and pump operator can focus on getting us through the aquifer!
Let's see....
(http://i.imgur.com/hqXd0v6l.png) (http://imgur.com/hqXd0v6)
.... well, fuck me sideways with a bronze mini-forge. Naturally, the kids start throwing parties. One after the other. Using up all the booze, and leaving me with no more than 3 adult dwarfs active at any given time, for a few months straight. !!FUN!! happens...
(http://i.imgur.com/MSBEESnl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/MSBEESn)
That's the diplomat. I was too busy partying with a bunch of useless parasites to guarantee us a future. Fml.
(http://i.imgur.com/OT47sE4.png?1)
Just lovely.
(http://i.imgur.com/KUiEFK4l.png?1) (http://imgur.com/KUiEFK4)
We managed to get a screw pump running, and started looking at what's under this sand layer....
(http://i.imgur.com/vYsIzL0.png?1) (http://imgur.com/vYsIzL0)
(http://i.imgur.com/keHCmivl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/keHCmiv)
Until...
(http://i.imgur.com/THDibzFl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/THDibzF)
YEAH, BUDDY!
Good news, guys! There's loads of marble...
(http://i.imgur.com/gOkFxrxl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/gOkFxrx)
...and the caverns have been breached, then floored off. The spores can now work their magic.
(http://i.imgur.com/6syWJ5tl.png) (http://imgur.com/6syWJ5t)
Now, if you'd be so kind as to STOP PARTYING WITH THE ARMOK-BE-DAMNED PARASITES, and instead clean up some bodies and brew a few drinks, you wouldn't be so pissy.
(http://i.imgur.com/t3Ezbo4.png) (http://imgur.com/t3Ezbo4)
See those farms on the right? The top one is plump helmets. The farm will be destroyed by a tantruming child, a week or so before harvest. Fuuuuuuuuu....
The small one in the mid-left, by the still, is fisher berries. I used 3 logs a z-level above to floor over a channel earlier in the year, while gathering lumber on the surface.
See that mason's shop? I'm trying to get some coffins built. Unfortunately, the adults are busy partying in among the rotting parts of their lost friends, and the kids who aren't partying are busy tantruming and destroying that shop. 5 times over.
Seriously - they're very mad about watching their friends decompose in front of them; just not mad enough to actually stop the orgy and BURY THE FLIPPIN' BODIES!
....which leads to a shitton of the kids going berserk, which leads to all the adults having to take turns culling the herd, which leads to a buttload of melancholic kids and adults. Just when I think I'm going to lose it all to a goddamned tantrum equivalent to screaming 'SANTA CLAUS ISN'T REAL' at the mall Xmas Village, this happens:
(http://i.imgur.com/7cQdrX2l.png?1) (http://imgur.com/7cQdrX2)
....and he takes the bloody mason's shop. When it's not being torn apart by pissy dorfs, it's being usurped by mental ones. We're never gonna get this mess cleaned up.
Oh, yeah, and now the kiddies are dying off faster than we can even stash the bodies in a makeshift corpse stockpile. I can't even find some of them - everything is purple clouds.
This happened. At least one dude will be happy for a while.
(http://i.imgur.com/p9V59aGl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/p9V59aG)
Things are grim. First, an overview of the fortress so far.
This is the main level. I had our miner carve out that space up top while we were pumping the aquifer. Enough should grow there to keep our meager population going, now.
(http://i.imgur.com/9sgqfo7l.png?1) (http://imgur.com/9sgqfo7)
Down a z-level, we find our well, and some exploratory, and ultimately pointless, stairs.
(http://i.imgur.com/7GkHph9l.png?1) (http://imgur.com/7GkHph9)
Below that, the aquifer pierce:
(http://i.imgur.com/jtpLenl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/jtpLenl)
(http://i.imgur.com/44NHFKql.png?1) (http://imgur.com/44NHFKq)
(http://i.imgur.com/T6ULpKpl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/T6ULpKp)
There are a few, as yet unexplored, layers of rhyolite:
(http://i.imgur.com/9IfiRBol.png?1) (http://imgur.com/9IfiRBo)
And then the marble starts, as shown above.
I'm just very relieved that it was an adult that had the mood; that the mood was macabre and not fell; and that he only needed a single stack of bone. At least I have one adult left alive to work:
(http://i.imgur.com/qzAyR2Vl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/qzAyR2V)
Don't worry - I don't have as many mouths to feed as it may seem at first:
(http://i.imgur.com/LUqElULl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/LUqElUL)
(http://i.imgur.com/esASPXml.png?1) (http://imgur.com/esASPXm)
(http://i.imgur.com/dEPz7X3l.png?1) (http://imgur.com/dEPz7X3)
(http://i.imgur.com/MqweI1X.png?1) (http://imgur.com/MqweI1X)
So, it's all up to this guy:
(http://i.imgur.com/3IZL3wVl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/3IZL3wV)
to watch over these two:
(http://i.imgur.com/Gu2SadDl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/Gu2SadD)
(http://i.imgur.com/O2v49jYl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/O2v49jY)
We have plenty, we three:
(http://i.imgur.com/etLnFLml.png?1) (http://imgur.com/etLnFLm)
(http://i.imgur.com/G4v3PXsl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/G4v3PXs)
But, will it be enough to survive the PTSD?
(http://i.imgur.com/86GvygBl.png?1) (http://imgur.com/86GvygB)
It's gonna be a long winter.
Sorry for the slightly necro-ish post, but even though I ran across this challenge a bit late I really wanted to give it a try.
Well, Thikut reasoned that this here embark may be swarming with horrible undead giant sparrows now, but with all this fluff and feather wood in the vicinity some less-fatal wildlife should be wandering along any time now. So the dwarves struck the earth, walled themselves in, and made rudimentary preparations while they waited for the nightmares to stop. And stop they did, although this land sure did seem to spawn rather a lot of flying zombies. Once Thikut's dwarven senses told him that naught walked the surface but a docile giant grasshopper or some such, the dwarves tore down the entrance wall, and ran out to chop and gather wood and plants. They even had the sense to do these things in small increments and only very close to the entrance ramp, but as none of them knew anything about woodcutting, herbalism, or carpentry, things proceeded rather slowly. Before long, a zombie giant owl was spotted coming from the east, and everyone hustled underground. Yield: two logs, one of which was used to replace the wall with a door to speed up the whole matter of getting in and out.
A second excursion a couple of months later yielded a little more wood and, prize of prizes, a prickle berry. Mouths watered at the prickle berry wine they would soon enjoy. Thanks to a hatch and an unsuccessful experiment with caving in trees, there was even a reasonably safe sunlit tile in which to plant the seed.
Even though the miner Kel was rapidly mastering the swing of the pick, she reported that she could not dig through the waterlogged layers of silt and sand on her own. Thikut dared not open a large skylight, and he knew that even the most conservative pump-based methods would require a good deal more wood. And who knows, maybe he hoped to find a sun berry.
The third foray onto the surface did not end well:
(http://i.imgur.com/GcuRNz1.png)
Only three dwarves remained alive (and thankfully the battle took place in a serene setting, so their comrades at least stayed dead). The other yak had also managed to get itself killed aboveground, so the stocks of yak stew suddenly looked rather pitiful. Kel determined that they would not perish in this shallow hole like vermin, and decided she'd just have to make do with her single pick after all.
(http://i.imgur.com/qXB5xzF.png)
Kel being a bit clumsy, and thus destined to never be the speediest of miners, it took a while, but just as hunger was starting to set in, autumn brought a flurry of activity! Within the space of a month, Kel collapsed a plug of silt into the aquifer, her pick tasted rock and the earthen tunnels tasted cavern spores, and the population abruptly quintupled with the arrival of over a dozen migrants. Conveniently they arrived close to the recently dug traders' entrance, and they were ushered inside without incident. At first Thikut panicked a bit as the many children demolished their remaining food supplies, but Mebzuth the elderly Master Jeweler calmed his nerves.
The dwarven traders would be coming soon, Mebzuth reminded them, and a lovely marble depot was constructed. Meanwhile, Mebzuth built himself a workshop near the depot and had every raw gem, and their handful of rough bone and stone crafts, brought there. By the time the merchants arrived, several crude crowns and earrings gleamed with expertly-worked gems. The merchant Athel was more than happy to trade them for all the food they had brought, and a few other useful supplies.
(http://i.imgur.com/bMMJMDF.png)
The peril of their situation was made clear once again a few weeks later when Athel fell to a Giant Parrot zombie while trying to leave. Thikut made a note to retrieve the dropped trade goods at some point and sell them again.
The winter was spent carving out chambers from good stone, polishing up the dining hall to take everyone's mind off of the recent carnage, cooking and brewing. Kel found a magma pool and made preparations to dig into it below the second cavern, although her plan required that someone find the spare time to learn the curious art of dwarven mechanisms. Brewing plump helmets fast enough to keep up with the childrens' thirst proved challenging.
(http://i.imgur.com/BjenImG.png)
That spring, the Mountainhome sent far more help than Thikut could have anticipated. Nearly seventy migrants! Many children, but also a fair number of able-bodied adults, although none with especially useful skills. (Yes, they did arrive with a High Master Cheesemaker, though.) "They must be insane!" was the collective exclamation when the dwarves realized that the migrants were standing on the far eastern edge of the terrifying mire, but the Overseer picked out for them a route skirting well south of the wheeling and cavorting flock of murderous undead Giant Lorikeet. Miraculously, they picked their way across the cursed land unscathed.
Soon after, elvish traders appeared. Although Reg (the other surviving founder, the broker, bookkeeper, manager, and now Kel's suitor) wanted to lock them outside, Thikut contemplated the tremendous amount of wood they had brought, coveting a night in a bed of his own. In the end, this overcame traditional dwarven distaste for tree-huggers, and the elves were sold the same bejeweled crafts that the dwarven merchants had failed to leave with the previous fall.
With so many idle hands, loose stone and wood was soon corralled into sensible stockpiles, magma and ore flowed to furnace and forge, and raucous parties echoed in the crowded marble halls. To Thikut's dismay, the dwarves elected Mebzuth as their mayor, and as his first act Mebzuth appropriated an artifact bone coffer to deck out his otherwise spare throne-room. As his second act he recognized the severely cramped sleeping quarters by banning export of beds.
Thikut, being a dabbler in many trades but skilled in none, mostly withdrew to his room to plot the taming of the surface and the caverns. Kel and Reg married that summer, and Reg moved his managerial duties into their home office. Kel is very busy training new miners. She's heard in passing that Mebzuth really likes fabled Adamantite, and with a mix of excitement and concern she anticipates that someday soon he will send her to find some.
Time elapsed: 1.5 years
Population: 45 adults, 46 children, 2 zombie dwarves
Casualties: 7 citizens, 2 merchants, 2 undead wildlife, no elves (yet)
Wealth: 119K created wealth, 3 low-value artifacts