Bay 12 Games Forum

Here's the guidelines & goals for this thread:

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Post your interesting worldgen parameter sets for version 0.47.01+, along with a description of the 'ideal' embark you've found. Pictures of sites or directions to them (so others can find them) are especially helpful, but at the very least, try to provide others with the parameters for your new Fortress Paradise, roughly where your embark was and what you got out of it (features, resources). One man's Paradise is another man's Hidden Fun Stuff, so try to point out if you found any obvious problems (no underground plants, no iron known to playable civ, etc).

Got an embark situation you'd like to see? Ask for it, and perhaps a world that someone else has discarded would work better for you! Found an interesting embark with some unusual feature (Adamantine space elevators, tiny island off shore in the ocean, chasms open from surface to caverns)? Post it, and let others have some fun with what you've discovered!

A screenshot showing the embark location is ideal, if you are posting with a specific embark in mind, rather than just the entire world.
Please use spoiler and code tags where appropriate, to keep your posts a reasonable size.

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To get things started, here's my first 0.47.01 parameter set, which features..
One living dwarven civ.
One enemy goblin civ.
Single cavern starts at 130, ends at 126.
Steel friendly (flux, iron, wood)!
Limestone from 132 to 128.
Magnetite, Limonite, Platinum on Z132 in NW quadrant.
Native gold also present (on 123 at least).
Slow filling fresh water from aquifer on 134 SE of center (or under any embark-layer red sand).
Magma Sea from 125 to 121.
Candy present. 
Sinister badlands + desert, adjacent to a Goblin Fortress. 
Dead surface trees, but no undead animals or re-animation, as far as I can tell.
If someone could verify the world generates identically for them, and the embark is in the same location with the same features, that would be ideal.

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EDIT:  Here is an HTML form you can save (as an .html file) and open locally (in your browser) for use as a template or starting point for making specific embark feature requests.  There's no logic/validation in this form, it just selects everything with a checkbox and then highlights the results so you can copy/paste that into a new post.  If you think something should be added to this form, PM me.
Also, the HTML form is hosted here, on github pages, and should be usable by anyone.

Context:
For your starting embark in this challenge, you've been given 7 Dwarven Chefs, along with the following starting equipment:

10 pig tail seeds
10 sweet pod seeds
10 cave wheat seeds
1 copper battle axes
7 copper picks
10 gabbro blocks
1 iron anvil
1 pig tail rope
40 dwarven ale
40 large rat meat
3 peahens
1 peacock

Guidelines:
This is a challenge for version 0.42.04 of Dwarf Fortress, unmodded. (vanilla)
You may use Dwarf Therapist.
You may, if desired, use DFHack:Reveal/Unreveal. Only.  No other DFHack scripts or features, please.  DFHack is not required and I have completed the challenge myself, entirely without DFHack.  The only reason this guideline is here is so that FPS may be preserved by avoiding the caverns.
No reclaims, please, but savescum as often as you wish. 

Goal:
As quickly as possible, by the in-game calendar, be the first fort to produce a Clown Stew.
Download: Here is the save,ready for extraction & placement into your data/save/ folder. There's nothing special about this save, all raws are default.

Notes:
There is an aquifer, but it does not cover the entire embark.  It is specific to one biome.
You should not receive any caravans.  Nor liaisons.  Nor additional migrants beyond the two hard coded waves.
Half of the clowns in this world are potentially edible.

The in-game starting date for the challenge is: 15 Granite, Year 1000, Early Spring

Winning:
The posted/linked saved region that has a Clown Stew in the fortress, with the fewest in-game days between embark and stew, will be the winner.
The challenge starts as of this posting time/date. Go go go!
The challenge will end on Monday, Feb 1, 2016, 11:59pm, MDT.
At that point, I'll review all the submitted forts to see who produced their Clown Stew in the fewest number of in-game days.
One submission per player, please!  Just post your submission in this thread.
Any issues or questions, PM me or reply.

I've long been a fan of automated magma hallways for dealing with invaders.
In the past few days since 40.08 was released, I had an epiphany regarding simplification of all the overly complex designs I've used, and distilled it down to this:
A short video of the hallway in action via stonesense.
In the past, a fair bit of effort, while creating other magma hallways, has gone into the surrounding infrastructure.  A magma reservoir, suitable drainage, timing circuits (water and gear based) as well as wall-bridges, retracting floors, and so on.

However, what is shown in the image above, is vastly more simple, and just as effective.
This magma hallway was built 15 Z levels from the embark layer, on top of the magma sea.  This has the advantage of being both a source of magma and a drain.  In essence, the magma is pumped from the sea back into the sea.  Being contained all on one Z-Level, there are no pressure issues, as the hallway is filled and is constantly draining.  It will never overflow to the Z-Level above the pumps.

The up/down stairways to the right and left act as entrance and exits, as well as seals and drains.  The down stairways in the main corridor act as a drain and soft-seal while the pumps are active.
The key to this whole arrangement is building the pressure plates (which are set to trigger when creatures(goblins, in this case) walk on them).  They are linked to a gear that provides power to the pumps.  Initially the gear is disengaged via a level connected to it. The goblin steps on the pressure plate, the gear activates, power is transferred to the pumps, and the hallway is instantly flooded.  The goblins are vaporized, the metal is left behind, and the pumps are shut off again almost immediately, as the gear is disengaged when the creature steps off the pressure plate.  No manual intervention is required.
No reservoir or fancy dwarven logic circuits are required.  The hallway can and does run continuously (if desired/required), as the removed magma is pumped directly back into the magma sea, acting as a sort of magma aquifer.  Typically though, it activates just long enough to do the job and then returns to a dormant state.

Power is connected at any point above the south tiles of the pumps, and requires just three waterwheels worth of power.
Having the pressure plates at 15/20 tiles allows a full goblin squad to enter before being consumed.  So far in my testing, no goblin has managed to escape the trap while moving at full speed from west to east.
The grates over the magma sea are there to prevent fire imps and magma crabs from pathing into the fort.  Strictly speaking, they're not required.  Of course, all the pumps are constructed out of magma safe materials, but the hallway was simply dug out of whatever layer material was at hand.  The door shown was used as a construction access point, and could be removed and replaced with a wall after the fact.

You can't build pressure plates directly on top of downward staircases, so I built a floor over the 15/20 tiles (the yellow shaded area) in the hallway, built the pressure plates, connected them to the pump gear, then deconstructed the floors beneath them.  This allows the magma to flow through the tile, providing a clear path into the fort at all times.  Full service vaporization, no waiting!    Waiting for magma to evaporate is a thing of the past.

Finally, I'm reasonably sure this would all work on top of a flat-embark-surface volcano, so that's my next project.  Thanks for reading, and any questions, let me know! [Edit 4 years later to fix a broken image link, stupid Dropbox]

So, I've got a situation here I've never seen before.



I'm building a demonstration fort to show how to bait/draw building destroyers.  It's worked fine so far, until the beasts got where there are now. Just... stuck in front of two doors.  There's no Z-level strangeness, and the doors aren't artifacts.  They've been there for two in-game years.  Forbidding doors (or not) doesn't change anything.

So why won't they break them down or move?  Anyone have any thoughts?

Challenge Context:
This is a military expedition to eliminate some very nasty creatures that have been plaguing the world for 1500 years.  Being a military expedition, all of the members are skilled military professionals.  As with any new embark, food production requires attention, as does securing fresh water.  A few animals have embarked with the expedition, including a breeding pair of alpaca.

Prospect report from the Scouts:
A 3x2 Badlands in the Wilderness.
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Liquids:
                    WATER :       324 Z: 131
               Has aquifer:      5251 Z: 135..141
Layer materials:
               LOAMY_SAND :       870 Z: 142
                FIRE_CLAY :     12954 Z: 142
                    CHALK :     33769 Z: 138..141
Ores:
                MAGNETITE :     17684 Z: 138..141
Wood in trees:
                TOWER_CAP :       170 Z: 121..133
                BLACK_CAP :       100 Z: 110..124
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The goal of the challenge is to exterminate any combination of fifty (50) Forgotten Beasts and/or Titans, as quickly as possible.
Any save uploaded showing that goal achieved will qualify as a potential winning fortress.  The overall winner will be the qualified fortress with the fewest number of in-game days played since the embarkation date. 
The challenge starts on February 1st, 2013 and ends on February 17th, 2013, at 11:59PM MDT.
Here is the saved embark, ready for extraction & placement into your data/save/ folder.

The Fine Print:
Three caverns. No Magma. Embark date is 8th of Sandstone, Mid-Autumn, 1501.
Embark level is 144.  Bottom of the world is 110.
This embark location contains all the resources necessary to arm and defend a fortress.  There are no restrictions on design, layout, defense, industries or production.

There will be no visits from any civilization.  There will be no caravans, no migrants, no traders,  nor visits from any liaison.
There are no goblins, nor any other surface civilization.  There are no necromancers, werebeasts, vampires, night trolls, or demons.
There will be no Titan attacks until 20,000☼ of wealth is created.  The first Titan can show up as quickly as 2 seasons after that goal is achieved.
TIP: If you dig down, breach and entirely explore all three caverns, the frequency with which Forgotten Beasts appear will be increased.

The embark starts with 22 dwarves, one anvil, one axe, one pick, plus a few other supplies.  All the dwarves have the same preferences and starting skills.
This challenge is meant for vanilla DF 34.11, with the following exceptions:  graphics packs are permitted, as is Dwarf Therapist.  No reclaims, no DFHack, no mods, no patches, etc.  If you download a fresh copy of vanilla DF 34.11 and extract the save, you're ready to go.  I have tested this challenge, and know 100% for certain it can be completed with the above parameters.

If you have questions, feel free to ask them below and/or to review the previous challenge regarding guidelines.

May the best Overseer triumph!

Poor Dwarven Losers Challenge for Vanilla DF 34.11 (An easy one for novice players)

Context:
For your starting embark, you've been given 7 of the worst peasants Dwarven society has to offer, along with the following starting equipment:

40 pig tail seeds
40 sweet pod seeds
40 cave wheat seeds
40 plump helmet spawn
7 copper battle axes
7 copper picks
2 iron anvils
20 dwarven wine
20 dwarven ale
20 dwarven beer
20 dwarven rum
40 rat meat

Due to an untimely Goblin ambush, the incomplete Prospect report is as follows:

               SAND_WHITE :     13824 Z: 136
                 SAND_TAN :     13824 Z: 135
                FIRE_CLAY :     13824 Z: 134
                 DOLOMITE :     47762 Z: 130..133
                 LIMONITE :      6449 Z: 130..133
               SPORE_TREE :        24 Z: 107..109

The starting embark date is 1st Granite, 351 (Early Spring).
The challenge is to be the fastest fortress (time-wise) to produce or attract a Monarch.


Now for the fine print...

Specifically, the first posted/linked saved region played from the original embark that has either a Queen or King present, with the fewest in-game days between embark and Monarch, will be the winner.
No reclaims, no dfhack, no reveals, etc.  Just Vanilla DF 34.11, and your big overseer brain.  Graphics packs/tile sets are, of course, up to you.  Dwarf Therapist is fine. Everything else? Nope.
Use the saved embark to start playing, and post YOUR save when you get a Monarch.  Easy!

Here is the saved embark, ready for extraction & placement into your data/save/ folder.
The challenge will end on Thursday, January 17, 2013, 11:59pm, MDT, if no winner has come forth prior to that date/time.
Any issues or questions, PM me or reply.

Reference for Monarch/Noble advancement: http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Fortress

The worldgen, embark location, populations, etc, are all in the saved region folder linked above, for those interested.

Mods:  If this should be in the "DF Community Games and Stories" forum, by all means move it!

So, I'm looking for a place to store my public dfhack lua scripts.  A few forum folks have recommended the wiki for such a thing.

A few questions towards that goal...

How long do user page requests take to be fulfilled?  I see requests in Emily's Talk page (as noted on the top of every page of the wiki), but every request since march 5th (3 months ago) shows no content on the pages.  I've requested a user page, but I cannot edit my user page.  Who/where/what is Emily?

Even if I do get a user page, the <source lang=""> tag appears to be disabled, which makes it difficult to properly format source code entries.  Any chance it could be enabled?

If that's not possible, can .lua files be added to the list of upload-able files? (which is limited to images only at the moment) That would be the best option, as people can then just click on the file links without having to worry about the tag/formatting.

If the wiki is not the right place to store public dfhack lua scripts, I completely understand, and will continue to use the dfhack forum thread.  Just let me know!

thanks,
vjek

I'm trying to build the following:

• A three wide corridor filled with upright spikes, leading from the outside of the fort to the inside of the fort.
• The upright spikes are all tied to, and driven by, a wave repeater.  They are off by default/normally.
• When an invading goblin reaches the end of the hallway (the point closest to the fort interior), they step on a pressure plate.
• This pressure plate activates a repeating oscillation of all the upright spikes.  They now move up and down until manually disabled.
• The goblins must now pass through all the oscillating upright spikes either to move farther into the fort, or attempt to escape.

I can build the hallway. No problem.  Upright spikes, easy.
I can tie all the upright spikes to the wave repeater.  Works great in isolation.

I can't figure out how to get the pressure plate at the end of the hallway to "enable" the wave repeater to start moving the spikes up and down.  I need a solution that allows me to dynamically (as in, on demand) transfer power from the wave repeater to all the upright spikes, which can be disabled.

I have used techniques in the past such as a RS|FG|PP|FG|ME where RS=riversource, FG=floodgate, PP=pressure plate and ME=map edge, so you can use a trigger of the first FG to cause the pressure plate to trigger something for as long as you wish, then use a lever on the second floodgate to turn it off.  Ideally, it would be that kind of a design.

You can't tie a gear to upright spikes with mechanisms.  My initial thoughts were around that, however, tying the wave repeater to a gear causes it to be enabled and disabled repeatedly.  So provided that gear was powered from a water wheel, enabling and disabling it could cause whatever else hooked up to the gear to oscillate on/off.  The problem is... I can't figure out how to tie that powered output to all the upright spikes.

Any ideas?  Anyone else built anything similar in the past?

Caveats:
I have no access to animals.  Can't use them in the design.
I have no access to captured invaders.  Can't use them in the design.
Whatever design makes this work does not have to worry about building destroyers (there are none in this map).

I completely understand I could tie all the spikes to a single lever and have a dwarf repeatedly move the lever.  I don't want that.   I want a mechanical-based automated solution/design.

Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions.