Bay 12 Games Forum

I accidentally discovered that if you mine out a frozen brook, the ground there counts as above ground! So you can farm above ground crops, and it will grow grass for grazers. I checked and didn't see this on the wiki so I wanted to share it here!

After browsing around the future of the fortress thread for a while I noticed a certain worry. With the planned changes to crops some people think that all of the games fake crops will eventually be replaced with more interesting real world or procedurally generated ones.

Including the plump helmet.

Now I don't believe that there will ever be a version of DF without that most delectable of fungi. But I do think that those of us who truly love the Helmet should be heard! Here I call to you to share your love of that most humble yet incredible crop.

The plump helmet is simply irreplaceable. It serves a vital role in dwarf society that is both impossible in real life and too important to leave to chance. It is THE staple crop! In the real world there are no plants or fungi suitable for a dwarf staple crop. Plants need sun, and fungus lack the sugar to be brewed. Thus the vital role of a fictional staple. While the other underground crops are rather bland the helmet has captured the attention of the player base.

Consider the role the humble helmet must have had in the birth of dwarf agriculture. If Plump Helmet people were more numerous during that time it may have constituted the entire dwarf diet! Both hunters and gatherers would fill stout bellies with the succulent mushroom.

To those who scoff and dismiss this incredible crop, consider this. When have you made a fortress without them?

So the traps in df are pretty great, but I feel like there are some mechanical things sort of missing. For one thing, harkening right back to Tolkien, is secret doors. Maybe it would be a masonry thing instead but I think it seems along the lines of the other indiana jones traps. Basically an enemy would have a chance to notice the door as if it was a sneaking creature- but would not path towards it until it knows about it!

Another trap that is kind of missing is the classic dart trap. Sure we have weapon traps, but it seems like there should be ranged traps where you build it into walls like fortification and have to load it with disposable ammo. Essentially it would have to be linked to a trigger (obviously since an enemy can't walk into a wall!) On the other hand it could also be used to create a sort of poor mans ballista.

This would go great when poison coating is implemented, because you just know that different items will require different amounts of coating. A huge serrated disc would take 3 or 4 vials of venom, and even a stack of bolts would take alot. But a bunch of tiny, otherwise useless darts?

This is more of a newbish pipe dream but I also wish pumps could just be stacked on top of each other like vertical axels. Sure it would be less realistic but it certainly would save a lot of fps.