Bay 12 Games Forum

OK, this is all very interesting, and it's clear to see that there are many different ways to play DF. Likewise, there are many different ways to defend an above-ground settlement. Experiment, and have fun!

However, at the very beginning of a fortress, manpower - er, dwarfpower - is at a premium. I don't want to spare even a single dwarf to the military. That's where wardogs come in handy. They're cheap (especially if you just bring dogs and then train them, which takes little time, even for unskilled animal trainers), and they're tough on goblin ambushes and murder on kobolds.

They're not always where you want them, of course (it helps to designate a meeting area where you want them to hang out), so bring a bunch of dogs. You can also assign them to dwarves who'll be most at risk (woodcutters, herbalists, etc.), though that doesn't always work, either. And tie kittens to restraints near your bridges and other choke-points. Goblins will usually attack them first, and the kittens will uncover snatchers and thieves. A little advanced notice is really, really nice!

If you plan to use traps at the start of your fortress, keep in mind that unskilled mechanics are very slow. I brought a proficient mechanic with me from embark, for that very reason. Later on, you'll have dwarves to spare, easily enough to form a powerful military force. But to get there, you have to survive the early years.

Great fun, huh?

Bill

I just assign my amputees to the Fortress Guard.

I've got a peasant who lost an arm within seconds of migrating to my fortress (right in the middle of a goblin ambush) and hasn't gotten out of bed since. So now he's the lone member of my Guard.

Well, he deserves the easy duty, after giving so much for his fellow dwarves. I can't begrudge him a little food and water, even if I suspect he's just milking his injury for sympathy.

Bill

I think size of caravans is affected by the the amount of profit traders make from you. The more profitable you are for them, the more they'll bring you in subsequent years.

Well, they make a LOT of profit from my fortress. I'm a terrible haggler!

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'm not interested in modding the game, and this is pretty much what I expected. No big deal. I just thought I might have missed something.

Bill

The easy answer is to look at every dwarf in your fort for one that likes the rhino lizard and then look at every bedroom for that one, and then build the cage in that room and make the lizard available as a pet.

Heh, heh. That's the right answer, no doubt, but it's quite tedious to do. I don't really want to examine nearly 100 dwarves, looking for one who might like rhino lizards. (And I may be wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen a dwarf who likes OR dislikes rhino lizards. I don't think I'd ever heard of them before I got one from this caravan.) And then, as you point out, painstakingly searching for that particular dwarf's bedroom...

And speaking of tedium (yes, I know I'm getting completely off-topic - sorry), is there any way to tell whose pet a war dog is, after it dies, without examining every single dwarf? I like to replace war dogs, but this is really a pain to do.

Bill

The only reason I've been wanting to make crystal glass is that I haven't yet.

I know, not exactly a great reason, but there it is.

That sounds like a good reason to me!



Bill

(OK, I assume that 'interface improvements' is too vague, as well as being a 'perpetual goal.' But I'd really like to see Toady focus on improving the interface right now, more than adding new features.)

At any rate, I guess I'll vote for:

1) Multiple operations per screen. (I don't know what to call this, but I'd like to eliminate switching from screen to screen to do things. Like being able to see a terrain square from the mining designation screen, instead of having to switch to the 'look around' screen and back again. Or being able to zoom to a dwarf from the 'unit' screen, then return automatically to the same location on the unit screen.)

2) Zoom to announcements. (Individually controlled, of course, by calling up the announcement screen and picking one.)

3) Better control of announcements. (In particular, I'd like to turn off the constant announcements when my miners find a non-economic stone. Ideally, I'd like to choose which types of stone get announced and which do not.)

Bill

Wait, I don't have to assign rooms to all and sundry?!? HOORAY!

Just create a bedroom from a bed, and a dwarf will claim the room after sleeping it it. (If you don't make a bedroom from the bed, homeless dwarves will still sleep in it, but won't claim the room.)

Bill