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Topics - slMagnvox

Pages: [1] 2
1
DF General Discussion / The NEW Future of the Fortress
« on: July 24, 2008, 10:26:46 am »
The new Future of the Fortress is EPIC.  Just staggering.

So much to look forward to, I am at a loss for words. A couple highlights that nearly offed me from my chair:

III.B.4: Ability to attack enemy armies at non-site locations on the world map/midlevel tactical views and decisions (requires III.A.1)

Wow.  Just imagine my Hammerdwarves pillaging and razing.  I'll be picking a fight with everyone.  Can't wait to see my dwarves ransacking some human village, or getting pincushioned by elves on their turf.  Hahah.

II.B.2: Way to build shelter/home and ability to save it as a permanent site

Holy hell.  From Adventure Skills Preliminaries.  I'd build the awesomest lodge/harem.  I hope I can convince that Merchant Princess to elope with me.

III.B.1: Addition of bandit groups which harass caravans

I hope this leads to more sentient adversaries in Adventure mode.  I want to stumble across a band of goblin raiders while I am adventuring around a Dark Tower.  And fighting bandits is gonna be so much fun.

II.D: Generalization of "zombie" and "skeleton" to broader curses/sphere-related alterations

The human fleshbane of stenching attacks!

Phew.

What are your favorites?  Discuss.




2
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Erratic pathing (Cancels job: Path blocked)
« on: July 17, 2008, 01:08:32 am »
In my shiny new .28...39b I've noticed some odd dwarf pathing behavior.  Ever since I've played DF, when a dwarf assumes a job they'll make a bee line for the material, make a bee line for the workshop, without any deviations except the standard emergencies.  Namely seeing a groundhog, eat, sleep, drink or giving birth.

Since playing 39b I've seen dwarves kind of stutter on their way to jobs.  I've seen dwarves pick up a material and drop it on the way to the workshop reverting back to No Job.  I've watched a couple of masons zig zag between getting another block to build a wall or .. going somewhere else, not positive.  I watched my architect design a section of road and then get distracted before finishing it.  Naturally, if this was just to eat/sleep/drink I wouldn't be concerned, but I'm noticing this when eat/sleep/drink isn't the imperative. (Note to self, play next round of DF with full job cancelation disclosure.)

Anyone else noticing anything along these lines?  Is it just my imagination or is DF using both of my CPU cores now?  Like the shorter sleep cycles.

EDIT Update:  Turning on all job cancellation messages reveals many many job canceled:  Path blocked messages.  Many considering starting seven fill half a screen in a hundred ticks or so.

3
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Reviewing region map post embark
« on: July 04, 2008, 01:36:37 pm »
Hey

Was wondering if anyone had a good strategy for taking another look at the site selection map after embarking and getting the fort started.  Backing up, abandoning the fort and looking it up just shows the Ω icon and hides the region.  Essentially, I'd used regional prospector to choose a site with a cave pool and shiny blue metal, but can't remember which was where exactly.  Should've taken a screenie, huh?  Anybody got a good trick for having another look at my site map pre-embark?

4
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Excavationist Build
« on: January 16, 2007, 08:33:00 pm »
I am having alot of fun with this build and thought I would share it:

3 Miners, Skilled Wrestlers
1 Mason, Building Designer*, Nov Mechanic
1 Nov Butcher, Nov Tanner, Nov Grower, Bone Carver, Proficient Bowyer**
1 Grower, Brewer
1 Grower, Cook

* I went with Skilled Building Designer because it is a hard skill to train and I want a Legendary Architect one day.

** Crossbow making is also hard to train and again I spent the extra points to get a headstart.  High quality crossbows are definitely something to look forward to.

3 Picks
6 each seeds
21-35 assorted 2p meats
30-60 assorted drinks
0 pets
0 battle axes

Basically, spend what ever is left over after skills on a bare minimum of seeds, plus meat and drink.

This build can mine alot.  I had a very very large farm room ready by mid summer creating lots of mud for tower caps.  Very large halls and large stockpile space.  Excavation impresses immigrants, both times I've played this I've gotten large immigrations in the Fall.  Wood will be available as soon as some axes immigrate and putting carpentry and bed making off for a year hasn't proven much of a disadvantage, there is always the 6-9 wood from your wagons if you need a well or a bed for resting.  And it should go without saying that 3x miners and no axe is natural build for treeless maps.  Lastly, those miners are an impressive fighting unit, just be sure you keep them together and they can "hunt" -i.e. slaughter- wildife and defend against many threats.

Thought this was worth sharing, I just noticed the wiki had been updated with a revised Starting Builds entry.  Anyone else have something interesting?


5
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / New DF versions, install strategy?
« on: December 26, 2006, 11:58:00 am »
Should I dump the new version into my existing folder overwriting the old?  Make a new folder for each version and copy over my init.txt and save files?

Any good reason to keep the old, or keep them seperate at least?  What tricks do you guys use for updating?


6
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Which Quality Mods Stack?
« on: December 20, 2006, 03:41:00 am »
I had a Legendary Weaver who went mad with rage when a Masterpiece of his was destroyed.  I know his cloth was safe, so it had to have been a piece of clothing (Most likely a Bag) made from his Masterpiece Pig Tail Cloth (most likely washed into the River).

A) If the cloth is a masterpiece, and a Novice Clothes Maker sews it into a cloak, that -Cloak- is then worth more than a -Cloak- made of ordinary cloth?  Does it have a better chance of being finely crafted or anything?

B) An Armorsmith makes an Iron Chain Mail, and I have a Legendary Metal Crafter stud it with Silver.  It was -Iron Chain Mail- and it is now <<Iron>> (triple bar, Superior).  Does it deflect more damage than the other +Iron Chain Mail+ my Armorsmith made that was not studded?

C) Some dwarves mention having had a decent drink lately, some mention having a fine drink lately.  Some of my -=Barrels=- are Superior, others are (Tower-Cap) starters.  The drink itself has no quality modifier in its description.  Better barrels make better drinks?  Or is it a hidden quality like my Architect's Supports everyone cannot stop admiring.


7
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / These ratmen are outta hand
« on: June 08, 2007, 09:06:00 am »
I got a chasm spewing forth dozens of ratmen about twice a year.  I've never had this level of chasm activity before, the most recent wave was probably over forty ratmen over the span of a week.

No fatalities, a couple wounded.  I had some miraculous recoveries and a dwarf refusing to rest.  At one point, out of the way from the main throughfare, it was 2 wrestlers vs 10 ratmen.  They were on their own quite awhile before any help arrived.  One dwarf had multiple yellow injuries, the other was holding out well until he got a mangled (red) elbow.  Once the marksdwarves hit the scene, the ratmen didn't last.  The yellow wounded dwarf passed out and was recovered back to a bed, the mangled elbow stayed at his post, blinking a yellow +.

A second encounter resulted in a three vs twelve that was yet further away from reinforcements and lasted even longer.  My best speardwarf was on the scene backed by a couple wrestlers.  The two recruits got chewed up pretty bad, both overexerted and multiple yellow wounds.  Once a couple more of my fighters joined the fray, the tide swiftly shifted and the ratmen were done.  One recruit had passed out, and was recovered.  The second crawled (still over exerted) to rest in a nearby bed.  Meanwhile, I am looking for the first resting dwarf and he is not in the barracks any longer.  Then, the other two both hit the bunks and literally minutes later they get up, injury-free?  The one was still over-exerted from the fight, but his yellow wounds had all healed.  And the first wrestler that had been hauled to rest, he was up and injury free also!  If I hadn't seen multiple yellow and dark yellow injuries on all three, I would not have believed it.  One had a spleen injury and was blinking green X and puking.

100% recovery in under a day.

The mangled elbow has yet to generate a rest job and passes out rather often.  I return him to civ status, no help.  We got a spot in the fort guard for him, desk job I guess.  He was a promising fighter.

Looking forward to replenishing my stock of bone bolts for another exciting month of archery practice.  Rot faster, ratman!


8
DF Gameplay Questions / Strange moods and gems
« on: May 28, 2007, 03:19:00 am »
My day one Armorsmith has gotten possessed spring of the 4th year.  He started gathering things so I left him to his own devices, but he never began his mysterious construction.  He is stalled out on Rough Color.  Some kinda gem he needs.  Naturally, I have gems lying all around, I haven't started stockpiling them and I have all the glass but clear (and its nearly complete).  

I am worried though because he's been Possessed awhile  and when I read his preferences I see a fondness for Star Ruby.  If the raw clear glass doesn't fit the bill, is this guy doomed?  A very valuable dwarf, I spent alot of effort training him up.  Rubies are available, but even with an extensive mining project, finding a Star Ruby is such a longshot.  And I've seen plenty of times a dwarf choosing a materiel besides that he prefers, but with all the gems lying around, my smith either wants clear glass or something much more rare.  I haven't found any star gems or colored diamonds.  Damn.


9
DF Gameplay Questions / Training Military Dwarves
« on: January 06, 2007, 05:20:00 pm »
Certain dwarves in my military definitely seemed lazier than others.  I drafted a squad of dwarves under an ex-Mechanic to be Macedwarves.  Mezbuth Sitalcog was the captain of the squad The Granite Heads, and yes, I chose him simply cause I loved the squad name.  Under him were two migrant Macedwarves (a weaponsmith had made an artifact mace and next season two Macedwarves immigrated, guess they were impressed) and a former Fort Guard.  A year or so later Mezbuth was still no better than a Dabbling Macedwarf while Unib, an immigrant, was by now an Accomplished.  He hadn't sparred with his -silver mace- more than once!

Had a similar problem with my squad of Hammerdwarves.  A Hammerdwarf immigrated named Ingish who led the squad The Crazy Towers.  Sweet, another awesome squad name!  But his troops, which included a couple legendary ex-Operators, were risking becoming Hammerlords and displacing Ingish as squad leader while Ingish never got beyond Skilled.

Do squad leaders spend less time sparring?  Was it just an RNG thing, coincidence?  Higher XP dwarves seem to gain further XP much more readily than less experienced dwarves.  The Agile stat really speeds XP gain in particular, less transit time I guess.

An aside, silver weapons make awesome equipment for squads to spar with.  It is abundant, prevents serious injury, and if its gotta get used it can still readily crush a batman's skull, especially in the hands of an Ultra-Mighty ex-Stone Detailer.


10
DF Gameplay Questions / Backpacks and Waterskins
« on: December 26, 2006, 12:12:00 pm »
I made a set of packs and canteens for my military dwarves, had some questions about how they function.

A dwarf is carrying a pack and his squad is told to carry two rations.  He gets hungry and eats one of his rations, how soon does he generate the Get Provisions job to refill his pack?  If he eats a ration he was carrying and then immediately goes to refill his pack, this is kind of a wash and I could've saved the leather for more shoes or something.

An off duty squad drinks from their waterskins?  Will this make them start complaining about having not had a drop to drink in ages?  Seeing as how they don't put any beer in those canteens.

I'll spend a couple seasons studying how my troops like the gear, hopefully it will help save time and improve discipline.

Related bug report/odd behavior, I had just assigned my squads to carry rations as the last couple plump helmets were getting brewed and a few last pieces of meat/fish were being cooked.  I got quite a few dwarf cancels job Get Provisions: Job item lost or destroyed as their target meats and mushrooms were cooked/eaten/brewed (God forbid they grab a prepared meal) when one of my dwarves got so frustrated about no veggies to put in his pack, he hiked all the way out to the just then approaching Human Caravan and nicked a Bloated Tuber from one of their wagons.  He must've been a pretty good sneak, because the Humans did not seem to notice.


11
DF Gameplay Questions / 20 Pilgrims VS Elephant
« on: December 15, 2006, 03:28:00 pm »
I made a new fortress, things are doing well.  Three miners is a fun build, I had excavated alot by second spring.  Mid Spring rolls around and ... Immigrants!  and between them and the bridge, Elephants!  The first group walked right through the herd unharmed, but the second and third group were not so lucky.  Four casualties and two seriously wounded.  I am thinking of digging channels and installing a moat above and below my main road.  Or just let some migrants get trampled.

I like Elephant maps because I imagine one day assembling a squad of dwarves for Elephant Patrol.  Wonder how they'll fare.  No, please don't tell me, I will find out soon enough ... A squad of six high XP dwarves, a couple seasons of sparring and steel arms and armor.  It'll be an exciting matchup.

A related story, I gave my Carpenter Axedwarf skill level to start, and spied a leopard.  Activated him, sent him out and wham! Leopard leather, meat and bolts.  Awesome, Lokum wasn't even scratched.  A season later, Giant Leopard!  More leather ... Axedwarf activated again, beelines for the beast, was bizarre, the Giant Leopard was just hanging out, but when Lokum gets close!  It gets right behind a tree ..

code:

........
.T..@...
......T.
........
....T...
....L...
..T.....

and waits!  The second Lokum clears the tree, WHAM!  Struck Down!  The Leopard was uninjured.  Just coincidence, or some sweet AI?  Heh, this game is pretty sweet.


12
DF Bug Reports / Stocks screen is hax
« on: November 29, 2007, 03:42:00 pm »
Latest fort, my miner gets a mood and wants silk cloth.  I thought I might've traded for some, so I browse the stocks screen.  Listed under thread are 100+ units of cave spider silk thread?  Tab to changes mode and z to zoom and I am staring at a blank expanse of rock.  Dig my way around and down alot of damp stone and sure enough, a cave pool.

Obviously, though my record keeper is quite talented, we shouldn't have known about those impossibly hidden spider webs.


13
DF Bug Reports / Get Provisions bug
« on: January 03, 2007, 07:32:00 pm »
i have a lot of Soldiers set to carry rations, and whenever a caravan arrives with food I get a little spam about Cancels Get Provisions: Item inaccessible and eventually a Marksdwarf or whoever is out grabbing something off the back of the wagon or an Elven mule that is in the very North West corner of the map.

My version is 22_121_23a

I was looking through the reported bugs and I didn't see anything like this on the list, I think a previous bug had been resolved where starving dwarves would eat from an en route caravan.  Dwarves with backpacks will bypass prepared meals for a piece of meat/fish/produce which is fine, but having them hike out into the wilderness for an Elf's Fisher Berry is frustrating.


14
DF Suggestions / Encrustment disappointment
« on: June 16, 2007, 06:47:00 pm »
When encrusting with cut gems.

Furniture -- Makes sense.

Finished Goods -- Nothing says finished goods like encircled with bands of sapphire.

Ammo -- Huh?

I made a run of steel weaponry and before I designated a stockpile for it, I had my Metal Crafter stud it all with gold, silver and platinum.  I did the same with a couple steel plate mails and steel helms.  Got me thinking, what would be as awesome as spikes of platinum?  Spikes of ruby?  So I carefully stockpiled some cut gems and my glimmering steel weaponry and built a jeweler's shop out of the way to rubify my gear.

Needless to say, the menu I was never that familiar with was a little disappointing.  Why is ammo even on there?  Finished goods had my jeweler fetching a shoe and ignoring my neatly stacked armaments.  I cancelled the job before he could get away with his Wizard of Oz tribute.  We need encrust armor and weapons.

[ June 16, 2007: Message edited by: slMagnvox ]


15
DF Suggestions / Throwing kobolds, dragging frogmen
« on: June 09, 2007, 06:20:00 am »
Dragging frogmen. When a wrestler has a hold on a monster and then steps away, all holds are released and any held stuck-ins are resolved.  A new option in the [c]ombat preferences menu,

Current preference for holds: Maintain holds / Release holds.

If I held a frogman by my embedded bronze spear and took a step, if I had set to maintain holds I would have to pass a check in order to drag him along with me.

The frogman struggles in vain .. The frogman is towed by the embedded bronze spear!

This would work for monsters too, even though they don't do much manuevering.  If I held a dragon by an embedded weapon and he took a step, we'd check each other's strength (dragon wins) and if I passed a wrestling check

You maintain your grip on the embedded bronze spear!  You are towed by your grip on the embedded bronze spear!

This could include the dragon flying upwards in the Z-axis. **

Throwing Kobolds.  When I have a kobold held and attempt a throw

Throwing kobold by head with left upper arm!

I am presented with the throw interface, choose a target, and attempt to successfully throw the kobold.  If I succeed (which would include breaking any grips the kobold had on me, passing a wrestling move check and performing a strength vs size check) all grips I had on the kobold are released and the kobold is thrown like any other projectile.

The spinning kobold hits the kobold bowman in the head!  It is mangled!

In addition to dealing damage to the thrown kobold, a la slamming into an obstacle.

The kobold slams into an obstacle!

When wrestling is due for some new moves, both of these manuevers would be alot of fun.  Would allow for neat new strategies while eliminating the redundancy between the Throw and Take-down manuevers.


**inspired by crayon art reward


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