Bay 12 Games Forum
Dwarf Fortress => DF Gameplay Questions => Topic started by: kzwix on March 01, 2011, 01:24:52 pm
-
Hello,
I've recently pushed back a goblin ambush, and I've been getting some "XXX has bled to death", starting by cattle (which I assumed had been wounded during the raid), but going on with a dwarven child and a marksman (because, yes, I sent a squad to the location where things got bled to death).
I lost a kitten which was perfectly healthy a few seconds before (I had loo'k'ed at it, no injuries), and I couldn't see any attacker while pausing and looking around, neither melee nor ranged...
Can some creatures stay hidden and kill stealthily ? How do I deal with those ?
-
look up in the sky, is there a goblin messerschmitt raid going on?
-
Maybe a ghost (http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Ghost)?
-
when creatures leave map or if too much time has passed, sometimes the game remove the combat log. Those creatures might have been wounded during the ambush and only die now.
-
@blizzerd : I don't see anything up in the sky. Except for a bee worker, a cardinal, a bat... but no enemy.
@lorb : I have a dwarven baby ghost haunting the fortress, but I highly doubt it would have killed all those. The ghosts I know only lower the morale of the dwarves that hear them moaning (I'm *not* in haunted surroundings, it's a pretty normal mountain - if the ettins and cyclops count as "normal", of course) ;)
@rephikul : As I said, I had my doubts about the first victims. The last ones, I know they were fine a few seconds before they died. The dwarven child was on my screen, then started to leave a trail of blood, 5 tiles, then died. I had him on the screen, there was nobody around him, and I could see no bolts or arrows explaining the wounds.
-
Did you check the combat logs? Those will tell you if anyone's actually been fighting.
Second, did you kill or encounter any forgotten beasts, titans, or demons? Those can leave contamination around the map that poisons and kills creatures and dwarves that are exposed, even years after the creature is gone. Animals and children tend to be affected first.
-
@Sphalerite : I killed three. First, I got an Ettin. He dismembered a large number of dwarves before I actually understood how to equip and send more than wrestlers. Hem...
Second, a Pterodactyl ("Forgotten Beast") from the first cavern level, with poisonous breath. I had a real military squad - probably untrained, but some had weapons and armor - but it still killed 5 or 6 dwarves.
Third, a Cyclops, from the surface (as was the Ettin). This one killed some cattle, but was promptly dismembered by my squad without harming them.
I also got a fight with 5 gobs, 4 of them being macegobs. Those killed some of my dwarves, but were killed or scattered, I dunno.
As for infection, I guess it would poison people, wouldn't it ? I highly doubt it would bleed them to death in a matter of seconds... and especially not all in the same area, one by one, starting only a long time after the death of said creatures. Would it ?
So, I'm still not understanding what kills them, and why. I really don't want to abandon the surface, as I'm not yet growing trees underground, and my cattle would probably starve too.
-
The Cyclops and the Ettin don't leave poison, but the Pterodactyl Forgotten Beast might have left poison coating the area where it fought. Check the surface for any smears, spatters, or pools of forgotten beast extract. Also check the inventory of your children and animals to see if any of them have forgotten beast extract on their feet.
-
I doubt the pterodactyl is the culprit, because the fighting took place underground (a few levels above the caverns), and all the victims are on the surface. Thus, it seems quite... unlikely, to say the least.
-
If any of your dwarves had forgotten beast extract on their clothes, then stepped outside and were rained on, they'd leave puddles of forgotten beast extract on the ground. Children or animals who stepped in those later would be affected.
Look around your map for any forgotten beast extract on the ground.
Also, check your combat reports to see if there's been any fighting.
-
No fighting reported. The feet are bleeding on another dwarven child, right now. One is oozing, the second is running with blood.
I've checked, but couldn't find any pool of poison. How to spot it ?
-
There is some "forgotten beast extract smear", at least near the refuse pile. How can I get rid of that ?
-
Your options:
1. Build a floor (or wall) over it
2. Flood the area with magma
3. Download the latest version of dfhack and run dfcleanmap
4. Move the refuse pile somewhere else and wall off the contaminated area
-
Wouldn't washing the area (with a little flood powered by pumps) work, too ? I don't have magma yet, and I would like to be able to get rid of those pools.
-
The problem with water is that it doesn't destroy the contamination. It can move it, but it can also spread it around and make the problem worse. You need to make sure that the water flow is directed and continuous enough to actually carry the contamination away where nobody will step on it.
-
Unless modded otherwise or used carefully, water tends to spread a mess.
-
Thanks for your replies. I created four floor tiles, one for each puddle I could find... so, well, let's hope it is enough. I'll lava-clean that ASAP, just to be sure (but ASAP could be quite slow to come, as I still haven't set foot in the first cavern I found, and am, overall, a big newb to this game. My fortress is three years old, at least, and I still don't produce metal. In fact, I'm beggining to understand how to use glass ^^