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Dwarf Fortress => DF Dwarf Mode Discussion => Topic started by: Caz on January 19, 2008, 08:08:00 am

Title: Do you farm?
Post by: Caz on January 19, 2008, 08:08:00 am
I find farming in DF makes the game far too easy. One dwarf can feed 15 through farming, cooking and brewing indefinitely. Where's the danger of trying to kill giant cave spiders for meat or tackle giant pike in the river?

Just looking for opinions   :)

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: pushy on January 19, 2008, 08:22:00 am
If you don't want to farm, that's your choice. Even if you're not growing crops, though, I'd still encourage farming animals for slaughter, to supplement your pickings from hunting, fishing or plant gathering, due to the lack of guarantee these methods have in putting food (and drink) on your dwarves' plates.
Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: jonnym on January 19, 2008, 08:24:00 am
I farm there for i am

I dont have much choice in farming I never have enough wild animals to hunt effectivly enough for my fortress to be fed and fishing gives so little in winter its just easier to farm and adds more fun to other areas like sieges as i dont have to worry about starving to much   :confused:

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Fedor on January 19, 2008, 09:33:00 am
I farm because it frees up lots of dwarves to work on <<insert>>.
Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Eagle of Fire on January 19, 2008, 01:35:00 pm
quote:
One dwarf can feed 15 through farming

15? I have two legendary planters in my fortress, they can easily feed 200 dwarves...
Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: umiman on January 19, 2008, 01:51:00 pm
Farm? What kind of strange new age concept is that? I discovered that after 3 years of consecutive farming, I reached a food threshold so high that no other food input is needed... forever.

Hunting had been quite successful for me until the 6th year, when I lost all but two of my hunters to miscellaneous dangers. And I lost all my hunters on the 7th year due to sieges.

Fishing is also absurdly efficient when you have 6 or more fisherdwarves.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Chariot on January 19, 2008, 04:19:00 pm
i do not farm, fish, or hunt.

my fort is fed entirely by the work of 2 herbalists

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Torak on January 19, 2008, 04:21:00 pm
I just grow a million pig tails. And cave wheat.
Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Fenrir on January 19, 2008, 05:09:00 pm
quote:
Originally posted by Torak:
<STRONG>I just grow a million pig tails. And cave wheat.</STRONG>

Why would you want to grow pig tails?
Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Torak on January 19, 2008, 05:10:00 pm
quote:
Originally posted by Fenrir:
<STRONG>
Why would you want to grow pig tails?</STRONG>

Take a guess.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Wiles on January 19, 2008, 05:37:00 pm
I usually farm. Hunting is fun until you run out of things to hunt. Which doesn't take too long if you have a few hunters.


quote:
Originally posted by Torak:
<STRONG>

Take a guess.</STRONG>


To make mittens?

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Kagus on January 19, 2008, 05:47:00 pm
Ale.  Dwarven Ale.
Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Torak on January 19, 2008, 05:59:00 pm
quote:
Originally posted by Wiles:
<STRONG>
To make mittens?</STRONG>

I use pig tail for images and bags, kitten leather is used for all clothing means.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: BurnedToast on January 19, 2008, 08:12:00 pm
My current fort is a no-water glacier/mountain so I can't farm, even if I wanted to. Importing food is not a problem (at all) and my food stocks are quite full even with ~100 dwarves.

normally, yeah I do farm though. It's stupid easy, but fishing is bugged (the dwarves all stand on top of each other to fish making for slow progress) hunting is broken (you get a year, max, of animals before they go away forever) and trading limits your imports which is annoying. I toyed with the idea of catching enough purring maggots that I could survive off cheese alone, but all the chasm creatures lag my fort down too much, plus if I remember right it kills the purring maggot to milk it, so you spend more food catching them then you get from milking them.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Scorpios on January 19, 2008, 11:28:00 pm
quote:
Originally posted by Torak:
<STRONG>Take a guess.</STRONG>

fur eatin lol

Yeah, Fenrir, I'm not really following. Unless you've never embarked on a map without spiders, I don't see why not. Even if you don't make clothing, there are bags, ropes, decoration, crafts (I think?). The elves bring cloth, but then you have to trade with elves.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: numerobis on January 20, 2008, 03:03:00 am
The humans tend to bring me cloth nicely wrapped in bins.  My first real losing-is-fun fortress hasn't built a bin yet; I just keep the bins after converting the cloth into clothing and images.

But, I grow a bit of everything just "for kicks."  Not that I seem to be able to keep dwarves alive long enough that they really need to eat much.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Javis on January 20, 2008, 03:23:00 am
quote:
Originally posted by BurnedToast:
<STRONG>My current fort is a no-water glacier/mountain so I can't farm, even if I wanted to. Importing food is not a problem (at all) and my food stocks are quite full even with ~100 dwarves.

normally, yeah I do farm though. It's stupid easy, but fishing is bugged (the dwarves all stand on top of each other to fish making for slow progress) hunting is broken (you get a year, max, of animals before they go away forever) and trading limits your imports which is annoying. I toyed with the idea of catching enough purring maggots that I could survive off cheese alone, but all the chasm creatures lag my fort down too much, plus if I remember right it kills the purring maggot to milk it, so you spend more food catching them then you get from milking them.</STRONG>


Maybe you don't have any animals because you're on a freezing glacier/mountain.

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Eagle of Fire on January 20, 2008, 03:45:00 am
Wild animals eventually get hunted to extinction if you hunt them extensively. The code require that at least one of them is still alive to bring new fresh animals of the same kind into the fortress area again.

I wonder if you can prevent that by having one of each kind of wild animal caged in a zoo in your fortress?

Title: Re: Do you farm?
Post by: Tyrving on January 20, 2008, 12:36:00 pm
I grow plump helmets, quarry bushes, pig tails and dimple cups in 3x3 plots. Just enough for brewing and processing, not too much to have a ridiculous food surplus. Fisherdwarves add to that with turtles, mussels and bullheads.

I've never been able to bring myself to slaughter kittens, even digital kittens, so I stick them in metal cages and trade them to the elves. The humans get some dogs and horses, and that's pretty much how I keep my animal pop down.

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Tyrving ]