Bay 12 Games Forum

I am aware that near-surface dirt is considered "poor" for farming yield and that the soil in the cavern layers is much better but where does "irrigated muddy rock floor" come in this scale? Is it exactly the same as a near-surface dirt plot or is it part-way between dirt and real cavern soil?

Are there any differences in the answer when comparing dwarven crops and surface crops (assuming light has been taken care of)?

I couldn't find an answer in the wiki.

Thanks!

Instead of presurising the system with a screw pump to get "flowing" water, can you supply it from a cistern that has been filled from a river?

If I watch the power on the standard reactor I can see it dipping all the time in increments of 100 so it must be down to where the output of the screw pump falls onto the water wheels. I made a smaller 2-wheel DWR and it runs at 200 output, dips occasionally to 100 and rarely to 0.

I will have to look for examples of creating water flow because folks are still producing standard DWR videos even for Steam 50.05 and not mentioning these issues.

Thanks folks - I have had success with a dirt chamber with little zones for sleeping and eating - no poor moods and things are steadily being done. I have just got through the first Winter and while I have not tried to find the caverns yet, am slowly expanding into the rock layers for the simple industries, the proper tavern and temples and storage. I have made some small bedrooms in the dirt layer as well as moved my dormitory down into the rock with a smoothed floor. Slowly getting there. It seems the trick is to pace myself and make them wait for amenities and new crafts.

This isn't specifically a Steam DF issue but is one of my own making. All my early forts so far have run into what feels like a labour shortage... or "too much work, not enough Dwarfs" in their first year and I am struggling to get through it so would appreciate some advice.

I think I have responded too soon to unmet needs and am finding that nothing is getting done because Dwarfs are trying to do everything... if that makes sense.

I am around the time when the first Autumn Trader arrives. There have been one or sometimes two migrant waves and the population is about 12-16 Dwarfs. The entrance is secured (but Grazers still loose outside). There are half a dozen 1x5 farm plots between a mix of surface and dwarf seeds. Tanner and Butcher are idle. Kitchen and Still are keeping up with Easy Meal and Drink demands. Farmers workshop is jumping on every plant as it comes available. Loom is working on Cloth but is limited to an amount to make. We have a small dormitory, there are a few mugs but no tables, chairs or tavern. As for industry I have one wood, stone, craft and mechanic with the first jeweller just starting. I have a water cistern and grindstone but no hospital or well. No temples or noble quarters yet. No tavern and only a few individual bedrooms.

This is where the issue starts... just prior to the first trader, everything seems to be working adequately if a bit slowly. As soon as the first merchants arrive and I scrabble for absolutely anything to sell them, all hell breaks loose. Immediately afterwards, folks are busy hauling our purchases back to storage. All the workshops fire back up to replace the stuff we just sold (you know the sort of thing... tables with four wobbly legs, mugs you can't lift with two hands). Rocks are being dragged about to the workshops. Orders for the first few luxuries so soothe the now upset dwarfs (mostly caused by rain, lack of temples and no tables) such as coffers and cabinets are not getting made. No doors available yet. Can't dig the bedrooms because we are rolling rocks. Forget about the second stonemason as we are busy hauling cheese you just bought and can finally plant the pigtail seeds in that new farm plot... apart from the one next to it which we are too busy to build. Archery tower? No sir, we have no stone blocks. Food rotting on the floor under workshops? Nobody seems to be free to put it into barrels... if we had any made.

I suspect I am giving them too much to do and don't know how to resolve the issue. Even though work orders have upper limits (and they are small ones) there is simply too much queued to do.

Do I slow down and put up with unhappy dwarfs by cancelling all the luxuries or do I just persist and wait it out by effectively putting a sign on the door saying "Closed for staff training. Please invade later."

Each time this happens, I throw the fort away as "broken" and try again only to fall into the same trap. That first expansion of items to meet needs but not enough Dwarfs to fulfil the work.

Thanks - I have restarted the fort and am still still seeing things piling up under workshops. I got two very small migrant waves in the Summer and Autumn and am now at only 13 Dwarfs so I can see I will have to learn how to pace myself with tasks.

One Reddit comment I found implied that there can be issues when adjusting work orders with multiple conditions when the game isn't paused or something? The end result seemed to be if you created a multiple condition order without pausing, the game could sometimes only trigger on one of the conditions instead of the AND result of all of them.

Stockpiles 2. Altars are stored with Other Large Tools along with your Stepladders for some reason.