Bay 12 Games Forum

Thanks for the tips guys.   A reservoir at the bottom combined with a couple floodgates solved my problem admirably.   Now I'm running into a couple more issues, but figured I throw them in this thread, rather than create another one.

I'm trying to create a moat around my fortress, but it's tough going, because my miner is an idiot.   He keeps falling into the channels he's digging, forcing me to dig stairs to get him out.   Unfortunately, I can't get rid of the bloody stairs, because if I have him dig a channel to eliminate the stairs, he ends up inside the bloody moat when he's done.

How can I get the moron to stay out of the channel he's digging?

Also, is there any way to tell a dwarf which side to build a floodgate from?   I wasn't thinking ahead when digging my well, and now it's interfering with my moat.   I'd got to strategically place floodgates so that the moat doesn't spill into my fortress and flood the whole thing, unfortunately my moron dwarves always build it from the wrong side, leaving them stuck and doomed to drowning.

...Actually, if I tell my dwarf to place a floodgate in a 1x1 stairway, will he build it from the top or bottom?

I just re-downloaded the game after a long time away from it, and I'm having a tough time getting accustomed to the changes.

First and foremost, we have to dig down now?   What the hell?   So I dug out a couple sets of stairs going down into the ground.   Only, now I can't look underground.   I can't change the viewpoint to go down a level.   Looking at the wiki, it says shift+> and < should change the level you're looking at, but that doesn't do anything, and I can't find anything in the key bindings to help.

I'm sure it's a simple solution, but I can't find it.

Man, that makes me nervous.   It sounds like the game completely changes halfway through once you start the economy.   I'm still trying to come to grips with how it starts  .

I know this is a big request, so no worries if no one fills it completely.  

I've got early game down, I think.   I never really have any problems getting through winter, and getting some basic bedrooms and workshops going.   But once I had that down, I'm kinda lost.

Right now, my plan is.

1. Set up stockpiles outside, and clear away any trees/plants and smooth any stone in the way of my eventual road.   Also, start digging to the underground river.

2. Build a mason, craftworking, carpenter, mechanic workshops, aswell as a kennel and trade depot.   Butcher shop or fishery aswell depending on what I'm doing.

3. Start making floodgates, doors, crafts, beds, tables, chairs, blocks and buckets while clearing space for a farm and a new food stockpile.

4. Set up my farm and start farming while I clear bedrooms and a dining room.

5. Move all my furniture in while I flesh out my hallway, and dig out whatever's leftover from my rushing to get my farm and bedrooms set up.   Also, start building a bridge and road to connect offscreen.

6. Clear room to move my workshops and stockpiles inside.

This seems to work pretty good, and will usually get me to spring of the second year.   From here, I don't really know what to do.  

Should I be trying to flesh out my military?
Try to figure out how to hell to use the other workshops?
Dig to the magma?
Sit tight for a while, clean out my extra rocks and smooth everything?

If anyone has some time, I'd really appreciate it if you could give me a general outline of how you advance to having a huge, functioning fortress  .

Also, I have a couple other questions that I figured I'd just toss in here, rather than making another thread.

1. The wiki says hunting is bugged, and to avoid it.   Is it still that way?  And if so, how is it bugged.   Meat and bones would be pretty useful.

2. What do you do with all the bloody rocks?   I have a massive freaking room in my base that I keep having to expand, but its never big enough to keep it clean.   I'm a little anal, and hate having rocks all over the freaking place.

I can't seem to get my farmers to plant seeds.   I've done it before, I don't see what the problem is.

- flooded area to make mud
- set up farm plot
- set it to make plump helmets every season

But the farmer just sits there saying No Job.   In the job list, there is nothing there regarding planting seeds.   Did I forget to do something?

A major problem with sieges is that, as has been mentioned, the point was to starve the enemy and cut off supply lines.   Good fortress can be/are completely self sufficient.   An easy fix for that is affecting the water supply.   The underground river basically supplies food, drink, and wood.   If the enemy could poison the water or something like that, it could severely cripple that.

My right cursor key is ****ing broken.   And its a laptop so I don't have a numpad.

I'm gonna try to take it to get fixed tomorrow,  but I'd kinda like to play now.

I've been trying to remap the cursor keys, but whatever I do, it interferes with another key.

Any suggestions?

Okay, how about a couple I couldn't find the answer to in the wiki.

1. I placed my tradehouse just inside my fort.    I understand that you need a road 3 wide all the way to it.   If I build a path 3 squares wide at the entrance, I can't build doors to cover all of it.   I read of using a statue to attach a door, but I think that's kind of an exploit, and would rather not.   Is there something I'm missing?   I noticed some people build them separately from the main fort, is that what I'm expected to do?

2. My farms, after I plot them, I get a square full of wavy lines, then my farmers go plant seeds, and they turn straight.   However, they only do a few squares for some reason.   If I put their labour on farming only, they just sit there with no job.   What's the deal?