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Dwarf Fortress => DF Dwarf Mode Discussion => Topic started by: barak177 on April 13, 2008, 09:34:00 am

Title: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: barak177 on April 13, 2008, 09:34:00 am

Hello everyone!

I want to build a fortress that produces silk clothes from a (tamed) GCS. Therefore I was searching my world for one of those animals but I could not find it. Is there any advice for easier finding one? I searched about 20 chasms, mountains, vulcanos, also with reveal.exe...

Thanks for help
Barak

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: McDoomhammer on April 13, 2008, 09:54:00 am

My advice would be to give up now and check yourself into a padded room.

But on a practical note, the one time I know I had a GCS, although I suspect there was one on another map under the same conditions, it was a chasm and when I started the fort it was hidden, lurking. It promptly ambushed my hunter and tore him limb from limb in about 3 seconds. I don't know what reveal does, but unless it uncovers ambushing creatures, you wouldn't see it when you started out.

Also, there was a bug that GCSs and anything else that is on the map when you start out can't be caught in cages or other traps. I don't know if that was fixed yet.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: THLawrence on April 13, 2008, 11:19:00 am

quote:
Originally posted by McDoomhammer:
Also, there was a bug that GCSs and anything else that is on the map when you start out can't be caught in cages or other traps. I don't know if that was fixed yet.

That bug has been fixed.

However it is rather hard to find GCS since they start out sneaking. You can't even see they're web until they're right on top of you. And by then it is to late. If you really want to try and find a GCS my advice would be to check out chasms while using companion to see if there are any that are hiding. That or take up modding.

However you won't be able to get any web from them once they are tamed. They only produce web as a giant web or as a form of an attack.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: bigmcstrongmuscle on April 13, 2008, 01:01:00 pm

I've had them lose their sneak by attacking kobolds before. If you can find one that way (look for chasms and caves), you could try luring it onto a retracting bridge, then dropping it onto a platform surrounded by moat. Then, anytime you want silk, you could just send a recruit to stand on the other side of the moat and get webbed at.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Mechanoid on April 13, 2008, 01:37:00 pm

quote:
Originally posted by THLawrence:
However you won't be able to get any web from them once they are tamed. They only produce web as a giant web or as a form of an attack.

1. Drop GCS in single-tile room with fortification /grate floor looking at your entrance.
2. Wait for seige.
3. ???
4. Profit!

The same can also be done with dragons and their fire breath.

Alternately, you can do the same thing with a large room in front of the web-generator, put a cage with an enemy in the room, release the creature via lever, wait for the spider to spew webs at him, and then kill the released creature with xbow dwarves before he destroys too many webs.
[Or use the recruit method above, but that'd be wasting a recruits' valuable training time.]

[ April 13, 2008: Message edited by: Mechanoid ]

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Slappy Moose on April 13, 2008, 02:03:00 pm

quote:
Originally posted by barak177:
I want to build a fortress that produces silk clothes from a (tamed) GCS

You do know that taming a GCS is like taming a aids-devil posession-cancer hybrid disease in Tyrannosaurus Rex form, right?

Because if you don't, then you ig'nant. Taming a GCS is impossible...

[ April 13, 2008: Message edited by: Slappy Moose ]

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: GreyMario on April 13, 2008, 02:21:00 pm

It's not.

You just need a dungeon master.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Akroma on April 13, 2008, 02:24:00 pm

or preferably, 3-4 dungeonmasters

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Alex Encandar on April 13, 2008, 03:40:00 pm

I remember a system I designed to install in a tower for silk production, it was spread over 2 floors.

Hope this works:

code:

 ##########
 ####  ####

code:

 TTTTTTTTTT
 TTTT  TTTT

That's the just of it. T=Traps, #=Grates, I planned to hook up a lever to all the grates so that the spiders could fall into the traps whenever I wanted to harvest the silk, then I could carry the traps back up to the upper floor. Never got to test it though. The 2 block empty spot would be for where the doors were, obviously the entire system is walled in.

[ April 13, 2008: Message edited by: Alex Encandar ]

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: AlienChickenPie on April 13, 2008, 03:57:00 pm

I once tried to capture a GCS. Traps did nothing, so I tried to make it fall into a pit by triggering a drawbridge. The pit was accidentally filled with water due to an unexpected aquifer, but at that point I only wanted to see the spider dead. It took about twenty brave dead peasants, but I eventually got it to fall into the water and drown.
I'll tell you this- Make sure you use a lever-based trap that doesn't depend on the spider's ability to trigger traps, and make sure all the mechanisms involved are high quality. There is only a very small window between the moment a cave spider steps on the retracting bridge and the moment it spits out dwarf chunks and leaves triumphantly.
Silk production should be theoretically possible by trapping the spider behind a fortification (or channel if you're feeling lucky) with a raising bridge and getting a military dwarf to tease it. Get the spider to shoot the soldier and then raise the bridge.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Frelock on April 15, 2008, 01:42:00 am

Similar system for silk gathering as most others here, with one exception: I just tie up a donkey or some other useless animal, and the spider sits there spitting webs all day long. Doesn't tie up a dwarf, and you still get the silk. Combine with a pressure plate for raising/lowering the sight blocking bridge, and you have a pretty darn good system.

Oh, and as to how to find them...good luck, your gonna need it.

[ April 15, 2008: Message edited by: Frelock ]

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Shamasu on April 15, 2008, 09:03:00 am

If you're looking for giant spiders, you're better of with DF companion. That should show them even if they're hidden.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Lyrax on April 15, 2008, 09:06:00 am

Those spiders are pretty sneaky.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: GeneralValter on April 15, 2008, 10:39:00 am

Well, if you really want some GCSs....

I don't know where the topic is exactly, but one member of the forums found a map filled with over 20 GCS on embark. He posted it here in this forum, and posted the seed. Only problem is it's a map from two modes ago. 33a, or something. You might check there.

EDIT: Here it is. here. http://www.bay12games.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=11&t=001771

[ April 15, 2008: Message edited by: GeneralValter ]

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: RC on April 17, 2008, 02:46:00 pm

You got reveal.exe to work with 38c?
Thought it wasn't updated to work.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: zagibu on April 17, 2008, 04:35:00 pm

You just need a memory.ini...i can post mine tomorrow, if I don't forget about it.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: RC on April 18, 2008, 07:20:00 pm

Oh, nevermind.
The pack here has that reveal.exe function.
I guess this Utility must've gone through alot of changes last I checked. http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/User:Rick/Tweak

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: zagibu on April 19, 2008, 04:27:00 am

I tried to regen the 25GCS-World in 38c, but the region looked all different :(.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: xzzy on April 20, 2008, 11:28:00 am

quote:
Originally posted by Frelock:
Similar system for silk gathering as most others here, with one exception: I just tie up a donkey or some other useless animal, and the spider sits there spitting webs all day long. Doesn't tie up a dwarf, and you still get the silk. Combine with a pressure plate for raising/lowering the sight blocking bridge, and you have a pretty darn good system.

How? When I tried the "trapped GCS with a horse across a channel" trick, the GCS would not attack the horse unless the spider had an available path to the horse.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: Zara on April 20, 2008, 11:45:00 am

if you don't want to use dwarf companion and have time enough, just start a regular game on map with a long chasm. After a year or so, scout along the chasm using 'k' at all z-levels. Take a close look at the webs that you find there. If there is one 'giant cave spider web', you know where you can find you spider.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: zagibu on April 21, 2008, 02:31:00 pm

quote:
Originally posted by xzzy:
How? When I tried the "trapped GCS with a horse across a channel" trick, the GCS would not attack the horse unless the spider had an available path to the horse.

Maybe you have to try "trapped GCS with a horse on the other side of a fortification". Could work. Might need a carved fortification instead of a constructed one, to avoid fortress mass slaughter.

Title: Re: How do I find a giant cave spider?
Post by: dreiche2 on April 22, 2008, 04:43:00 am

No, as far as I know and have experienced myself, there needs to be a path for the GCS (or a dragon) to attack enemies from afar. That being said, a pet-locked door in between works for some reason, at least when the beast is tamed (don't know otherwise).

Edit: BTW, maybe that qualifies as a bug to be reported?

[ April 22, 2008: Message edited by: dreiche2 ]