Bay 12 Games Forum

i use Apple Scripts.
The one below designates an up/down stairway:
Press [d], and position cursor at the top of the shaft (one level below your initial downward stairs), edit 'bottom' and 'top' as needed, then run the script.
set bottom to 131 -- bottom level of the shaft
set top to 144 -- top level of the shaft
set d to 0.015 -- delay between keystrokes.
-- a higher d is a longer delay for slower CPUs

tell application "Dwarf Fortress"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "i"
delay d
repeat with i from bottom to top
keystroke return
keystroke return
keystroke ">"
delay d * 3
end repeat
keystroke "u"
keystroke return
keystroke return
delay d * 3
repeat with i from bottom + 1 to top
keystroke "<"
delay d
end repeat
end tell
You can play around with the d value, depending on how fast your CPU is. If you set it too low, then some keystroke will be lost; this means that you won't come all the way back up to your initial z-level which, for this script, is mostly an annoyance than a problem. If you set d to be too high, then the script will simply run more slowly.
I used to have about a dozen scripts, but accidently deleted them when upgrading to n.40.  This is the only script I've re-written so far.

Spiral stairs have a central support.

Plurality of the statement doesn't reflect how many of the item the dwarf actually wants. Quantity is expressed by how long the message is displayed. Also, they'll only fetch the current item in the list, so if he's stalled before getting wood, then he wants whatever item is listed before 'wood.'

Setting dwarves to carry two weapons isn't dual-wielding, it's carrying a spare weapon for when the dwarf gets disarmed. I'm not sure how this works with shields (i.e. how the secondary weapon is carried), but the point is that is isn't dual-wielding.

What's worse is that DF has loot set to FFA by default.

There's often a 'cap' above the magma pipe: obsidian, dead grass, etc. If there's absolutely no indication, then try to remember which square it was on in the embark screen. Try to hit the middle of that square with your mining.

When dwarves move things for construction/furniture, they usually only move it just far enough to be out of the way. Check the entrance to the pit for your stuff, just off of where the bridge would be built.