Bay 12 Games Forum

The problem that I see is that as you are able to specify the site to gen in more detail, what constitutes a "good" site will just rise to meet that. Right now a good site is volcano + river (+ flux?). If we're able to guarantee a site with a volcano, a river, and flux, then there will be the ones that are full of layers of sedimentary and igneous rock and the ones that are filled with metamorphic rock. The ones with sand and the ones without. The ones with extreme elevation change and the ones without. And so on, and so forth.

Though I would like to be able to see on the embark map (or find in the site finder) the above-magma-sea magma columns.

I'll chime in here as a programmer with friends in IT: The people who say that you need connections or a degree to get into anything major are right, but mostly because even with that criteria in place there are still tons of worthless resumes flying around, and so the concern is more about cutting down the number of people that you need to deal with than it is about worrying that some qualified people might be being excluded. Tough, but that's how it seems to be.

There are two real ways to get around that filtering, as far as I can tell:

1) Go get a 4-year degree. If you're looking for only programming/computer/IT classes, you'll be disappointed. If you look at it as a time to try out a scattering of new things (Ever taken a course on existentialism before? Management? Now's your chance!) and learn how to learn, that can be a very productive two years (assuming you can transfer over the credit from the 2-year degree). Many four year programs also have connections into intern programs, which is a good place to start getting your foot in the door at larger places.

2) Don't go for the big places that are deluged with everyone who can figure out how to throw together a resume. Look for startups, small companies, things like that and try your luck there. You'll likely have to ask around a bunch, but jobs do exist there, and they generally have the time to actually bring you in and see if you know what you're doing. After getting a bit of experience there, you can move up to work somewhere larger and more well-known.. If you even want to. Many of the people that I know in that kind of role love the job satisfaction that comes with it, and have no desire to move on to other employment.

Wouldn't that mean that it would require effectively three coke (from the coal, and then in the second version + 1 from the [FUEL]) to produce three coke? That seems like a losing proposition to me... One coke + fuel seems doable (2 -> 3), though at that point only equivalent to lignite (which might be the intent).

So it's convenient for you instead of the people you're sharing it with?

Well hey, I'm not going to call that unreasonable because it isn't. I'd like to amend the tone I used earlier and thank you for all the time you volunteer to help folks.

Actually, I'd be happy to translate them into DF macros if I could figure out how to do loops. It's just that, at some level, they all translate into "dig x tiles" or "move x tiles", and if I can't write functions to do that for me it starts getting ridiculous.

Why use autohotkey scripts anymore? The game's got macros and a nice text file we should be able to paste them into nestled right near the init one we're always prodding anyway.

a) I have them left over from 40d, and haven't gotten around to translating them to the DF2010 macro system yet. My file of DF-related AHK scripts is 700 lines or so long, so it's not a trivial task.

b) I don't actually know how to do loops in the DF macro system. The hundred lines of script that I posted are easily capable of generating thousands of actual commands, not to mention the lack of flexibility without code branches.

I second CinnibarMan: The whirlpool design, especially with stairs in the lobbies, is really nice. With some clever arrangement, a 2x2 cluster (4 + 3*4 + 2 *4 = 24 rooms) will give you all of your housing in a single 2x2 grid square level. I tend to stick a dining room over each one of the clusters, but I'm not sure if that adds or detracts from the efficiency. I've also got an autohotkey script to generate a slightly modified version, if anyone is interested. Fractal designs are awesome, and even more awesome when they don't give you carpal tunnel setting them up.

what exactly does "size" signify? length*width*height? volume? surface area?

I believe it is volume (in cubic centimeters, if I'm remembering something from the raws correctly). That the min size is 62500 and dwarves are 60000, though, means that there would be some dwarves who can wield it - look for ones that are exceptionally tall or broad.

Since I am using Ironhands graphics pack I am using the Goblins from the mod by Phobeus to represent my Orcs.  Would you like me to put together a zip file that includes the Entity changes we made further up the page, as well as the Orc graphics (I would of course have to ask for permission from Sphr first)?

That would be great, now that I'm back from Labor Day, although I've already fixed the orc_orc issue and replaced the file on dffd. I remember some name clashes last version, so thought I'd be a good modding citizen and take my own namespace before publishing it, then forgot to change that reference.