Bay 12 Games Forum

It had been a little while since the last time I played, so I decided to give 40c a shot and started a new fortress with my hopes high...

I'm thinking "Oooooh, fire imps. Good thing I took 15 war dogs with me."

Maybe I was mistaken. It didn't help much... I get a message that my mechanic was burnt to a crisp, and okay so there was no dog around to protect him while he was hanging out by the magma (which was right next to the embarking spot). I don't mind. Just one dwarf.

And then I go take a look and there's a huge fire spreading at a wild pace, with nothing stopping it. Looks like it'll overtake the whole map, which is covered in grass (and oddly the trees go undamaged).

At this point, I gave up hope and said "Ah to hell with it!" and unpaused the game to observe the tragic end and see how the contents of my former wagon would hold up under a grass fire. The trees did fine, so...

!!(turtle)!!

Everyone's dead except my two miners, three of my fifteen war dogs and a lucky horse, and most of my food is ruined or on fire. I still have some plump helmets... I could eat those and start an emergency farming operation, and split various job tasks between my two remaining dwarves. I wasn't looking for a serious challenge game though...

But look on the bright side, the map is covered in ash. Can that ash be collected and used for glass?

I just noticed that the fire is NOT going uphill. There were a couple places untouched because they were a little uphill from the otherwise flat map.

You have struck Native aluminum! Yippee....

And the miners don't seem to be upset at all, since they went straight into the ground first thing and isolated themselves from the rest of the crew.

Okay, forget that, my plump helmets have withered and one of my miners has become a running ball of flames. I'm doomed.

Kitchen: "You have no appropriate ingredients."

That was a short-lived fortress! Almost entirely annihilated by a single fire imp (and my negligence). Midspring on the first year.

Could that single dwarf survive though? I've got satyrs and unicorns on the map... A horse to eat... No booze... Mining skill... An axe for chopping trees (or satyrs) with. It's just so bleak.

He's hungry... Time for a (final?) hunting expedition! (forget the horse)

Didn't I say a while ago, "Just one dwarf"?

And he tries to hunt a fire imp with an axe. In an ironic twist, he's taken down (unconscious) in melee instead of being scorched to oblivion.

The end.

Any ideas on how to approach fire hazards in the early game? Or other useful insight?

I don't really get on here much, but...

I used to spend a lot of time playing DF. It's addictive. I don't really have the attention span lately, but I like the things that have changed in the period of time I've been into the game. I'm still excited to think of the future of DF.

I'm happy that there IS progress being made on a regular basis, and I'm lead to agree with the people who say it's significant progress.

Actually, I remember being disappointed with a certain different roguelike's development. For over a year, there wasn't even a word from the developer on the internet. But DF is being worked on all the time, and ToadyOne stays in touch on the forum. I'm impressed and grateful.

This game is becoming rich, thick with meaningful atmosphere. It gives us all something to talk about, something to be excited about. I remember all the hype over elephants in 2D. And then there were carp. Early on, little miscalculations were/are a major source of entertainment, and later on, there will be so much depth to the game... Already, I feel sympathy for a widowed dwarfette who cries herself to a miserable, lengthy death over the tragic loss of her husband.

Now picture World of Warcraft... (and forgive me for the resulting agony)

Even in its relative infancy, this game is leagues ahead of commercial games in depth and atmosphere. It's legendary, and it took more than a big huge room with lots of chairs and tables to get it that way.

I think of DF as not only a game but also a form of art. Think of some of the elaborate fortresses and fortress designs people have come up with, not to mention pump designs and things like that...

It's actually sort of frightening for me to imagine what DF might be like when it's "finished" (whatever that means). I can imagine I'd have to take a week's vacation from work just to wrap my mind around it and tinker for a while.

Rant over. I hope it wasn't a tedious rant and I hope I stayed on topic.

PS: I guess it does take an unusual kind of personality to love DF though. The thought of directing a big project like a fortress, managing resources, designing infrastructure, defense, agriculture, and loads of other things, just fills me glee. I get pleasure out of just thinking about what I might do in the game, even if I don't end up doing it.

Rant really over.

The spinning vomit strikes the goblin drunk in the upper body! It is battered! The goblin drunk's upper spine has been bruised!

Vomit is now my favourite projectile... Projectile vomit... Deadly.

EDIT: Wait, this is better...

The spinning vomit strikes the wolf in the head!
It is smashed into the body, an unrecognizable mass!
The wolf is propelled away by the force of the blow!
The wolf has been struck down.

[ March 23, 2008: Message edited by: Bryan Baywood ]

Kogan Spreaddikes

Female macedwarf in adventure mode.

I skipped through funnier names, but I can't remember them.

EDIT: Actually, wait... That one died. And my next one has an even worse name:

Kubuk Dikesquirts

So very obscene. Textporn!

EDIT EDIT: Oh. Here's another naughty one.

Dipug Pantsquest

[ March 23, 2008: Message edited by: Bryan Baywood ]

[ March 25, 2008: Message edited by: Bryan Baywood ]

His (EDIT: valcon's) spelling's perfect, and it's not leetspeak, and he's not omitting 3/4 of the letters from half the words. It's easy to read, and the thoughts are nicely separated. Why give a damn? I'm picky with grammar (making exceptions for colloquial expression) but I don't complain unless it's a problem.

And I like what he has to say about licking cooked chunks of flesh. But that's the way I am.   Mmmm, cat-flesh.

[ March 25, 2008: Message edited by: Bryan Baywood ]

Forgot about the panic thing myself.

Then I realized jumping into a river with a bunch of zombie fish might make my novice swimmer panic, and that's why she drowned and died.

Haha. Sure. Like "Hmmm, is it just me or is it getting kinda chilly?" or "Wow, this sheet of ice I've been breaking through is just getting thicker every day! Should I swim for another month?"

EDIT: As for reporting it as a bug... Uhhh. I didn't really care, but I GUESS I could do that if nobody else has. I was just trying to 'discuss' the phenomenon in a humourous context.

[ March 26, 2008: Message edited by: Bryan Baywood ]

Okay, so I started this adventurer, and I was all psyched up to go start trouble, so I go find a river, and I'm swimming around, and I'm like "Well, there's no carp around here... But I guess I'll swim around for a while..."

So I'm swimming around, just minding my own business, haven't seen any enemies at all.

Then BAM!! "You have been encased in ice" and all in one turn the whole damn river solidifies, instantly.

That was a disappointing character. I guess eventually, when they start filling out adventure mode, they'll put a message like "Hmm. The water's getting really cold. Get the hell out before you die."