Bay 12 Games Forum

Way back when I was making the magma forges in my new fort (Letmosashock, Cobalttimes, a volcano fort), we dug a lava pipe to the forges, which had two drains for emergency burning rock release. The first was off the side of the map many levels down in the usual "smooth and fortify" manner. The second was what I was thinking of as a "joke release" (I remember Boatmurdered) through a long pipe that then went out of the side of the mountain above one of the two fort entrances, to make a fiery waterfall I never intended to use. It had a magmaproof floodgate, with magmaproof mechanisms, and a lever deep in the heart of the mountain connected to it. Because I'm a paranoid player, I also had a vertical grating just outside the floodgate. I then pretty much forgot about it. So did the dwarves of Cobalttimes, far as I know.

A decade later, the latest wave of goblins arrives, and they bring a dozen trolls. I don't really pay much attention, as they attack often and we survive easily, although trolls are new. We follow the usual protocol: the dorfs block off the trade entrance around the side and the military are summoned. The enemy will have to enter through the main entrance, which is full of traps. Go for it goblins, we've got a military well covered in steel on the other side of the doors and traps. Have at thee!

...They didn't go for our entrance though. Perhaps they knew about my steel-clad military. They all trooped up the mountain, and wandered in little circles, while the trolls walked down a long-forgotten pipe above the entrance. I watched them for a bit, realised what was happening, and sent someone to Pull The Lever. By this time, the trolls had taken out the grating, and were heading for the floodgate.  The whole thing was under rather a lot of pressure....

I thought at first that the Lever Had Been Pulled, until I saw my magmaproof mechanism surfing the front of the wave of smoke and fire and charred furry loincloths. Oh dear. None of the enemy survived, as the few horrified survivors who had been further from the pipe sought shelter from fiery death by cowering in my entrance, and dying in my traps. The military was not needed. It was all so fast that I didn't even consider taking some screenshots.

I now have a permanent red burning river. I cannot turn off the flow. The lever, of course, does nothing. We are digging a drain to let it flow off the map, and a bridge over it, and a new trapped entrance.... Without a magma trap. But if I did instruct the dorfs put a new one in, it would have a lot more gratings and extra floodgates, and vertical bars, between it and the great outdoors! Or I would arrange, somehow, for the mechanism to be placed on the INside of the floodgate, because that was evidently the mistake the mechanic made!

I've been experimenting with trapping and training and building a captive breeding programme for the local wildlife. I made an obvious error (it involved being distracted by a mood), and the not-quite-tame male and female giant grey langurs got away.  Now they know a few facts about the fort.   They have not submitted to retrapping, but they attacked an apricot-picker, and they stole a bucket. They know just enough to be not friendly towards anyone from the fort any more. But what do they plan to do with the bucket, I wonder?

I'm also surprised by the blind cave bears being generally familiar about the fort. I breached the top pinnacle of a cavern, and immediately walled over the puncture. How could they possibly be aware of us as anything other than from a moment of diagonal gap in the roof of their cavern, a year ago? Are they familiar with the vibrations we make in the walls?

The dwarf caravan was leaving when were-capybara attacked. The werebeast went through the carts and outriders like a knife through hot butter, and at least three caravan dorfs got bit. The caravan promptly left. The werebeast is dead.  My dorfsoldiers didn't get bitten, they're wearing steel armour and carrying steel weapons, no one from my fort was even injured.

....so... Should I be concerned about the phases of the moon when they get back next Autumn? Or will the Mountainhomes have a cure? Or did that infection just kill off my entire kingdom other than our little fort?

Hi. I'm a long-time player who has had a sabbatical from the game for a couple years, so I'm just getting to know the Tavern/Library/etc stuff.

Seeing as http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Petitions is marked for deletion and has zero information, and doesn't answer my questions, I'll ask here: I've got a whole lot of non-dwarfs who keep coming to my tavern, and Petitioning to stay.

Question 1: How do I know if my dwarfs like their non-dwarf music and poetry and accept the Petitions of performers they like, and leave off the Petitions of performers they don't? Dorfs do occasionally say they enjoyed a performance, but so far as far as I could tell they've been nonspecific as to what they enjoyed, so I don't know if it was the goblin, the elf, the human, or even their incompetant dorf companion who performed the music they most liked.

Question 2: Am I making a mistake accepting every petition? I noticed that the soldiers who come and Petition to defend my fort can be put in a squad and will start work just like a dorf will, but I have far more performers than I do soldiers, and should I impose some sort of limit on the performers?

I must say I do enjoy when everyone in the tavern suddenly flashes a blue musical note symbol. Presumably that's all of them enjoying a performance, but I'm seeing it more as if they have turned into the DF Orchestra, and are actually all playing music, which I don't think they are. Boy it cuts into the booze supply though. I've now got two brewers working full time, and a stoneworker making another 50 stone pots, just to keep up. This one is a rich fort, digging out several levels of gold supplies, so everyone is drinking from a decorated gold goblet.

The chief medical dorf has become a duchess. Fine. Then she's in getting some diagnosis done on some of the patients when...

"The Duchess of Unionship has turned into a werepanda!"
I descended to the kitchen/hospital level to watch her patient get out of his bed and run like anything. He got away.
"The Duchess of Unionship has turned into a dwarf!"
"The Duchess of Unionship cancels diagnose patient: Patient not resting"

...heh. No way he's resting now, your excellency. No way at. All. He's busy having a heart attack...

So. Now I've got to work out how to corner and store the Duchess. Great. I didn't even see her get bitten... But evidently she managed it.

I've been trying to get to the (endlessly deep down below) magma layer. I have finally reached cavern 3, and am digging past it.... when I find this:
  . . .

That's a human merchant, a yak, and on the next level up, a human swordsman. Yes, we were just visited by merchants (with carts though) and it is summer. But this is the third level down underground cavern, which is floored and walled off, and has been ever since I broke through the ceiling of it in winter.

The cavern is 106 levels underground. I checked.

What on earth are they doing there? Will I be able to put in a trade depot down there? It would, I guess, be massively convenient to live down that far... (I know to deconstruct the original trade depot) Should I be finding out how to save and report a bug? They don't seem to have carts. Or room for carts. That could be a hassle. We traded with the surface human merchants just fine... I wonder if these guys are different to those merchants we traded with...

I'm just wondering whether any of you lot have some good stories involving serious injuries to citizens. What is the most seriously injured dwarf you have had who didn't require traction? Or pets? Is there a way of speeding up the healing process when they have multiple injuries?

I have a dwarf child in surgery at the moment who has been in surgery for three dwarf years: She came up against a fire breathing forgotten pterodactyl and lived to tell the tale, but not before breaking almost every toe and finger she has, for some reason. I'm trying to work out how it happened, I think she climbed and fell. There is no one in the fort willing to set her bones: They just clean the wounds and put in sutures. Ten sutures as yet. The kid must look like Frankensteins' monster: She has sutures on both hips, and on at least one digit per limb.

I want to keep the fort alive to answer just one question: Will she be healed first, or become an adult first? It's an even chance right now. She's seven, and many of her injuries are as yet uncared for, and none are immobilised.

Any advice or stories welcome.

I'm not sure  that the good dwarves of Mountainshocked are going to remain friends with the humans. They have... some odd habits. ...Now I do realise that they are allowed to choose a diplomat with good people skills, and I realise that a vampire has good people skills, but... well... but.

This is what I saw when my Count (nice dwarf, keeps to himself, has an odd infatuation with breast...um...plates...) was having a pleasant nap:



I don't tend to check every half minute whether there are "strangers" in my fort, so I was actually totally unaware of these guys being here in Mountainshocked. It's a vampire and two humans. The vampire is a "lawkeeper" and a diplomat. I hadn't thought about it... but perhaps the two humans (an axeman and a swordsman) are to stop him from having a snack? They are classified as "friendly", whilst the diplomat is classified... as a diplomat. But honestly... he is watching the Count sleep. That is sodding creepy. I mean, it was creepy when we had a dwarf diplomat watch the Count sleep but this is far creepier.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm at a loss. I think this, out of all the dwarf fortress events, will probably be the thing that successfully gives me nightmares.