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Topics - yarnosh

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1
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / How did they cross the chasm?
« on: October 18, 2009, 01:50:15 am »
I'm playing the dig deeper mod and I got my first orc siege. At first I laughed because they appeared on the opposite side of the map which is bisected by a chasm. I never built any kind of bridges. Never got around to it. So I go to check up on them and they crossed teh chasm somehow! WTF? So I was totally unprepared. I couldn't even wall off my entrance in time.

How did they get across?

2
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Too lazy to read through changelog....
« on: October 08, 2009, 11:53:54 am »
Hey all,

I haven't played DF in a while. Probably 2 years. I first played around 0.22 when there were no z-levels. And then again around 0.27 when z-levels were introduced and I was totally blown away.

What big features have been introduced in the last 2 years that might totally change the way I play? I realize that it is a relatively small version jump from 0.27 to 0.28 and not like adding z-levels. So I am not expecting TOO much, but it would be nice if DF was a a little more challenging without going out of my way to handicap my dwarfs. I've always found it to be all too easy to thrive in any half-decent environment. I almost always ended up with way more food than my dwarves could possible consume. And that was even making fine/lavish meals out of everything. Also it woudl be nice if armies were a little more manageable.

Are there any new major "goals" in the game? Important interactions with other civs?

3
DF Gameplay Questions / Redirecting river...
« on: October 13, 2008, 08:59:44 pm »
I got a brook and some pretty crazy mountains and cliffs. The magma pipe I want to use is like 20 z-levels below where the brook is, so the brook isn't very convienient. I decided to undertake a big project that would reroute teh brook through the mountain and down to the level where my fort is. I figured I could steal some of the water for some nice waterfalls in my fort while I was at it.

So I have this long, 4 unit wide tunnel ready to carry the brook down 20 z-levels  to another grass plateau. I even trenched out  a new river bed to go off the screen. But I just realized that I can't channel that last square on the edge of the screen... so there is no place for the water to go!

What are my options here? I'd like to have a nice dwarf made underground river, but I'm worried about flooding the area on the other side of the mountain. If it is just one z-level of water, I don't really mind,  except that my fort is on that level and I'll have to be careful about letting the water in. Will it flow off the end of the map if I just make some walls to redirect it or something? Will I be able to build a wall at the end of the map?


4
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Trade?
« on: October 12, 2008, 05:14:25 pm »
I've been playing DF on and off for a while. One thing that strikes me is that there seems to be a lot of work put into developing trade, but I really can't find much use for it. Unless I purposefully handicap myself such as having no wood, there's really not much that my dwarves need (ok, I need a few anvils to get going). The dwarves are pretty much self-sufficient. Even living on a glacier, I don't seem to have resource problems. I always have a ton more to sell than I want to buy. It seems like all I need to do is make one legendary item or, heck, just some good prepared food from a proficient cook, and I can pretty much buy anything I need with it from caravans.

So what is the point of the complex trade agreements? Why do I care about making battle axes for 200% if I can just sell a couple barrels of prepared food and get what I need?


5
DF Gameplay Questions / Mineral Gathering Priority
« on: September 27, 2008, 09:10:32 pm »
I've noticed, much to my chagrin, that dwarves really like to collect the most recent stone mined when filling a stockpile. While not a problem in the beginning, it can get quite frustrating when the dwarves wall all the way to the farthest end of your exploritory mining operation to get the latest rock, while ignoring the stuff lying all around the fortress itself.

Masons will grab the closest rock when building. That's great. How do I make haulers do that same? Closest to the stockpile they are filling nwould be idea.

I can't constantly "forbid" the stone since the next miner will always create the next stone that haulers j ust HAVE to have.

6
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Arctic Fun
« on: September 26, 2008, 04:49:38 pm »
So I tried a few games starting on a glacier next to a volcano (standalone, not in a mountain range). The area is "Haunted." I really liked the land features. There are basically two smaller "cones" standing next to the main volcano.

First lesson: bring protection (axes, war dogs, etc), lots of protection if you think you're going to land far away from the mountainside you're going to make your home. I was quickly overrun with ice wolves and dark gnomes before I ever really got started.. while I was trying to bring my stuff into the mountain.

Second lesson: Reclaiming an underdeveloped glacier fortress is rough. Holy cow, that was my first reclaim. What an army to feed! Everyone eventually died of thirst before I could manage to create water. Which leads me to my question.

What's the deal with melting ice? The magma always seems to be 3 z-levels deep and the ice only 1 layer thick. So unless I can find some iron, make a fireproof screw pump, there's no way that I can see to melt the ice. This wouldn't have been so urgent in my regular embark because I brewed tons of wine, but when I reclaimed there was no way I could make enough booze...

I tried the "collapse ice into a hole and get a pond" trick but that seemed hit and miss. One time I managed to create a pond, but I lost my miners because they got frozen in the ice when it froze on the sides. I know, it was dumb to have them initiate teh collpse from below, but I guess you have to learn somehow.

Another time I tried collapsing ice, it never turned to water. Or turned to water tan then immediately refroze. I even tried dropping it down to -3 Z.  What's the secret?

Oh, and another time I thought I be clever and built a wall out of ice blocks over the a magma passage. But I just ended up with a "warm water brlock wall." WTF? It would be nice if "water" stones would just melt into useful amounts of water and you could just drop them on warm stone and generate as much water as you need. But I get DF is all about being clever.

7
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / What's New?
« on: September 23, 2008, 12:13:34 am »
Hey all,

It has been about a year since I last played DF. Probably more. The first new thing I noticed was the Mac port... awesome! This is almost as cool as z-levels.

I know I could probably pour through changelogs and such to figure this out, but I thought I might get more informative results here... I was wondering what are the big new features since .23 that I should look for when i start my first game? Obviously I could just play and find out, but I'd kind of like to plan a fort based on whatever feature I want to play with. LIke with z-Levels I played with building super-structures and waterfalls and the like. I believe my last fort was a 10+ story seaside (actually, in-sea) retirement resort built completely over the water with only a drawbridge connecting it to land. It even had a magma channel running into it from land, over teh water. Which was necessary to form the obsidian columns on which the whole thing rested. Eventually I used the magma to form an obsidian base through which I could tunnel to get at stone and resources under the seafloor.

So what kind of cool things can I do with .28?

 


 

8
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Challenging engineering tasks?
« on: December 24, 2007, 04:56:00 pm »
So I'm finding the day to day life of a dwarf to be rather dull and perhaps a little too easy. And there's not much fun in merely accumulating wealth. I mean, how many bins full of flasks, toys, instruments, etc and you have??

Before I start with challenge builds in inhospitable areas and all that, I'd like to try some interesting engineering tasks and maybe some "artistic" things. So far of done the following:

1) 3 level high, 6 tile wide waterfall in a legendary dining room. The water was just recycled from a reservoir.
2) 10 level high "water tower" near a river (not very useful, but a good way to learn how to bring water up many levels and transfer/combine power.
3) I usually build a big dome around entrance with a glass ceiling. Not very challenging, but a good use for all that extra rock and glass (assuming I have magma)
4) Nice apartment buildings with wells in the lobby.

Anyone else have some fun projects? Preferably projects that have some game function. I'm not looking for blueprints. Just ideas.


9
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Volcano Island: Boring?
« on: December 16, 2007, 08:32:00 pm »
I read the volcanoes and named mountains tended to be the most exciting as far as resources, pits, chasms, etc. So I tried my first serious volcano island for the guaranteed magma vent. Once I got past the initial engineering challenge of punching a few holes in the aquifer (one for stairs and the other for magma), it seemed pretty dull. Seems that there are no elven or human traders. No kobolds, no goblins. Just a quiet, flat island with only a tiger here and there and the annual dwarven caravan. And so far it seems pretty resource poor. Can't find much more than copper and silver. No iron, but lots of flux (i guess this is often the case.)

I didn't go for a named mountain because I couldn't find one that was at all settleable. They all seem to be buried deep in maintain ranges.


10
DF Gameplay Questions / Kobold Bowmen
« on: November 29, 2007, 04:11:00 pm »
What is the most effective way to deal with kobold bowmen hanging out at the edges of the screen? I don't know if I'll be able to get any significant military force out there. It is hard enough to get more than one or two at any one spot close to the fortress at the same time, forget about getting them all out to the edge. Would a catapult help? They are kind of annoying. One time my dwarves killed a kobold thief out there and they kept trying to retrieve his equipment and they'd get ambushed by the bowmen. So I forbade the equipment. Then I lost a Hunter. And building roads for the human traders is risky.

11
DF Gameplay Questions / Lakes drying up
« on: November 27, 2007, 11:56:00 pm »
It looks like lakes in my area keep drying up naturally in temperate and warm areas. Is this normal? Do I need to pull the water underground to keep it safe from drying?

12
DF Gameplay Questions / Importance of water
« on: November 22, 2007, 11:55:00 pm »
After playing a few short games of the new DF, I've gotten the impression that water isn't nearly as important as it used to be. Seems like you don't really need any water sources at all if you have underground soil and/or arable land on the surface. Is this correct? Should I not worry about water when selecting a site?

Also, if I do need water in the long term and only start with a few ponds. Will they refill naturally over time if I drain them?


13
DF Gameplay Questions / Hauling with peasants?
« on: November 14, 2006, 11:38:00 am »
I hear a lot of people talk about using peasants to haul stuff and I just have to wonder how many peasants you have? I've had populations up to 70 and only a few peasants. I usually end up with like 5 jewelers, 4 craftsdwarves, 5 capenters, etc. Maybe 5 peasants. How much are 5 peasants going haul? I need more to get anything done in a reasonable  amount of time, so why not let the spare carpenters and jewelers do it?

I guess this leads to a larger question, what do ya'll do with "extra" skilled dwarves if not let them haul stuff? I mean, there are only so many gems to be cut, right? One game I made stone detailers out of the extras and I ended up with like 12 masons. :-P

-yarnosh


14
DF Gameplay Questions / Attracting initial immigrants
« on: November 13, 2006, 07:52:00 pm »
I've started several games now and found the first year is often exceptionally dull. I'll have more than enough food for winter to feed 20+, but all I get is the standard metalsmith. So basically I spend all winter (and a good part of autumn) just twiddling my thumbs while my 8 dwarves clean up and ever so slowly accomplish queued jobs. Sometimes I get immigrants, but not always.

Is there any way to guarantee a good pre-Winter immigration? What attracts them, specifically? Or is it just random?

-yarnosh


15
DF Gameplay Questions / Two Dwarves stuck on a tower
« on: November 17, 2007, 02:05:00 am »
Help! I'm trying to build a water tower and I managed to get two of my part-time masons stuck on the second floor! I can't figure out why they are stuck. Here's a screen shot.

 


It is the top two dwarves who are stuck. They're getting thirsty. I tried deconstructing some of the walls that were near them and I know other dwarves can get TO them, but they can't leave those spots. The only thing unusual about the squares they are on is that one is over a door (had to build a floor to make it walkable) and the other guy is over a wall made from stone BLOCKS, not just plain stone. Again, I had to build a floor over that too. For some reason walls made from blocks don't seem to go high enough to make a floor on the next level up like stone walls do.

What's really wierd about the spots they are stuck on is that when I "look" them with the 'k' key, it says "Wall" and "Open Space". So am I to assume that these novice masons managed to build themselves into hollowed out (open space) sections of wall?


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