Bay 12 Games Forum

lol I've never particularly 'stayed' in any online community.  I drift in, drift out, no big deal.  So me saying that I'm likely to go play something else isn't a very monumental declaration.  It's mostly an indication that I'm aware of how annoyed I am and that I should get some distance before I give myself a serious headache...
 Besides, I lurk in the shadows around here to keep an eye on things even when I'm not actively posting.  Don't think I've been overly active around here since the Hospital arc first came out and made my eyes want to bleed from frustration.  Or was it the military arc when I simply didn't understand the new interface layer?  meh, doesn't matter other than to make my point.  I back away to let go of the frustration, then inevitably pick it back up at some point. 

I only categorize it as sloppy since new features are being constantly added instead of trying to trim down the bugs.  An unhealthy dose of frustration doesn't help much either if I'm being particularly honest.

I think my overarching problem with it is that every new feature adds another potentially lethal bug to the fort, and I'm losing every fort to these bugs in recent versions.  As an example, for all that the old 40D had really unreliable military at least they'd pick up all their gear and train.  These are two things I've had massive problems getting my military to do in the latest versions.

  The Hospital arc as Toady called it wasn't even debugged firmly as far as it's basic functionality before he moved on to the next feature.  Haven't had the fingernail problem, just the hospital consistently scouring every scrap of thread in the fort, which leads to tantrums when I can't provide replacement clothing.  When this happens it's a guaranteed fort death by end of year 2.

   To be fair, I've found the Hauling arc (minecarts and whatnot) to be very useful, and easily more dangerous than the military in it's current shape.  You don't even need a minecart loaded with anything to cause incredible damage to a rather substantial group, and it can make moving ore SO much easier.  And it's the first addition I've seen in a while that doesn't have any fortkilling bugs.

  So yes, I have a different perspective of things from the developer, proper function before new features, and I'm sorry to say I'm not seeing proper function from two of the last 3 major advances.  the hospitals can be worked around, this is very true, however, the failings of the military turn my entire fort into coffin-stuffing unless I rely on traps or lockouts.

  You may view these as rather small bugs, but I find them a bit more important than whether I can become a necromancer in adventure mode  

I tend to use tunnels to draw water from streams/rivers instead of channels to avoid the freezing problem.  Have to install a flow control method (of which there are many floating around the forums) but your water never freezes.  I also tend to have large cistern/aqueduct systems beneath my fort, which ensures an abundance of water available regardless of the blizzards outside.

Some people build great temples for mega projects.  I carve great waterways, or I used to.

I don't see why you should get flamed for that. I got really angry as well when I learned the hospital bug had been around since 2010. Well, it's a one-man dev team we're talking about. It's not professional by any stretch of the word, but some people, me included, don't mind the sloppiness and even like it. Where I'm from, there is not much choice but to sloppily fix the sloppiness others left behind, with the sloppy tools and means we have, and the result can still be considered progress. It's a matter of personal nature; some of us consider working around the bugs as part of the fun of the game. If you can't overlook the flaws, then sorry, but this game just isn't for you; again, it's a one-man dev team .

I just tend to fix the problems with toy A before I start working on toy B.  so far over three days I've lost 3 forts each to a different bug that's been around in excess of 2 years.  I have not yet lost a fort to legitimate !FUN!.  I expect newly added items to the game to be sloppy, they're still being tested and worked on.  These bugs should be worked out before moving on to the next cool idea.

As far as a one man dev-team, that's no excuse for sloppy work.  A professional approach is just as effective with one man as it is with 50, some would argue more effective, since that one knows ALL the code.

In any event, you're right in that these issues are quite unlikely to be resolved or they would have already.  I may go dig up 40d.  That predated all of the issues that have been destroying my forts and will let me actually deal with the real !FUN!

Just be careful when replacing clothing... your dwarves will get upset if they run around with no pants!

You do NOT want an upset hammerdwarf with a masterwork silver hammer... or maybe you do.  DWARFTEETH FOR ALL!

well the stockpile method isn't working, the ENTIRE fort is refusing to move materials into those stockpiles.

Really wish Toady would fix the broken toys instead of adding new ones.  this is absurd.

Edit:  After all, it'll just lead to tantrums my second year when I can't produce any clothing for the dwarves.  Well it was a nice idea, I'd better toss the game into the recycle bin and hope that some day it'll get fixed properly so I don't have to give every last scrap of cloth/thread in the universe to a hospital that will barely get used.

There's 1 chest.  Can't put less than that.

I didn't see anything about a mismatch, but have seen that before in other games.  always wondered what it was referring to.  I'll give it a shot on the next fort (I hadn't saved) and see if I can get better results.

  I haven't even tried my hand at the marksdwarves yet.  the inability to set up formations would make it a little difficult for them to use fortifications properly.