Bay 12 Games Forum

Matters a lot at higher population.  Only one dwarf can 'stand' in a tile, so whenever two dwarves have to pass one of them will sit down and move slower.

Also, if you have multiple 1-tile ways of getting somewhere, a dwarf seeing another dwarf enter the 1-tile way of his choosing will try repathing through a different passage.  This can lead to amusing games where a dwarf continuously repaths back and forth between multiple routes as other dwarves occupy the passages.

Removed from above *through magma*?  That sounds more ridiculous than old channeling.

Anyway, my biggest complaint has always been the fugly liquid breaches.  I could care less about moating.  So the extra designation step is irrelevant to me, its the fact that I can't remove them when they're covered by water/magma that annoys me.

Quote from: Squirrelloid on April 21, 2010, 03:38:27 am

stuff

Actually, I've found that it is possible to explain the contents of such articles, once they are understood, in layman's terms.  It is possible to tell someone in brief, and without extrapolating Latin or Greek roots, what "crush syndrome" entails.  Sure, you won't be able to diagnose it from such an explanation, but that's not exactly what we're asking for here.  My idea of a summary for "crush syndrome," for example, would be something along the lines of "A kidney-failure-inducing syndrome caused when bloodflow returns to pressure-damaged muscles, releasing muscle-destroying chemicals."  That's what I got out of the article once I'd followed enough links. 

Wait, didn't it say basically that?  I mean, sure, it used some 10 cent words instead of 1 cent words, but expanding your vocabulary is good for you, and I'm guessing they chose 10 cent words because they had a more specific meaning that was more accurate.  It would be easier to point out the flaws in a 'layman's rewritten version' if it was something I had technical expertise with.

we are ALL chaotic neutral.

...

I actually hadn't written an alignment quite yet.  And I hadn't looked to see what alignment everyone else was... La la la, I was thinking about being Lawful.

While the cannibalism thing may be ok between elves,do remember that most humans in the DF canon live in small towns they rarely leave,and probably have numerous horror stories about the evil elves.(cannibalism seems to be the number one reason the humans go to war against the elves in world gen)

Dwarfs,obviously,don't have the best relations with elves.As a chaotic barbarian,i doubt my character will care about the cannibalism thing,but it might be a problem explaining it to any do-gooders.
 Essentially,be discreet about it.

The consumption of a sentient being is a sacred act, and should be accomplished with the solemnity and ritual appropriate to such an act.

The point is to "annoy" players, as you put it. It's actually called disencouraging. When you know you'll have to perform extra actions, you'll think a little before starting your construction.

As to why player actions are a resource... well, put it this way. The time it takes to designate something is irrelevant because of the pause feature. The time it takes to actually dig the thing out is also irrelevant because you normally have quite a lot of time on your hands. The resource cost for a channel is usually negative, because you get rock from channelling (unless on soil, in which case it's zero). Therefore, there's only one way to apply balance to channels - make the player pay more of his attention. Micromanage, essentially. That's also a form of balancing. Now, when your first-pass channel is done, (I'm presuming here the re-channel functionality is added) you will have to look away from anything else you might be doing and designate the ramps for removal. The pause feature lessens the magnitude of the impact this has, but it's still there nonetheless. It doesn't really have to be a limited commodity in order to be a resource.

You might almost have a point if hundreds of thousands of designations per dwarf year wasn't typical.  The extra inconvenience is unnoticeable.  Lets be honest, there's no way to make building a simple moat a project because its just a small thing next to crazy pumped maga traps and 20000 block castles.

Oh, and "don't use it if you don't like it" is a bad argument. It's like saying "don't use overpowered units if you don't like them" in any RTS. The problem is that they're there, and while DF isn't a game with real competitive play, it's generally a good idea to make the game difficult on its own rather than have the players devise self-imposed challenges.

Well, its the way DF is right now.  There are plenty of things that are 'overpowered' - i've defended a fort for 15 dwarf years on nothing but traps.  Its not a competitive game, so challenging yourself by restricting your options is a valid playstyle.

Certainly the change to channeling does nothing to make the game more difficult.  In fact, making the game more difficult is probably next to impossible.  You have *years* to engineer a defensive system to deal with any invaders - that is a substantial advantage.  All AI is exploitable, and players will figure out how to exploit it to minimalize the risks from attackers if they care to.

I was gonna buy an everburning torch since I have the money, but I decided that a lamp and oil might be more authenticish.  I have a few things to ask though.  Why do you have 2 sq. yds of canvas and a mirror?  Is an ounce of ink all you'd need for 10 sheets of parchment?  Would you have bought a climbers kit if you could afford to(you seem to have a bunch of other climbing supplies)?  Why do you have a glowing sword(which lights up 20 feet), sun rods(which light up 30 feet), and candles?  I can understand the first two, so that you can see well at either of those ranges, but candles are like 5 feet of dim light right?

A mirror is potentially quite useful.  In addition to the obvious mythological use, you can utilize them to look around corners and for signalling at a distance.

2 Sq. Yds of Canvas?  I'm sure I'll think of something.

1oz. ink is almost certainly sufficient for 10 pieces of parchment.  Probably more than that.  There aren't exactly rules for this stuff though.

I forgot there was a climber's kit, honestly.  A hammer, pitons, rope, and a grappling hook basically are a climbing kit.

Regarding light sources:
Sunrods are strike and then they stay lit no matter what you do with them.  So you can throw them, drop them down a shaft, drop them on the ground and move elsewhere, etc...  Totally different use than a lightsource to hold.

Candles are good for non-combat non-adventuring uses like writing or whatnot.  Using a candle also produces molten wax, which can be used to seal things like letters  (special sealing wax will hold a seal impression well, but even regular wax will hold parchment closed).

Having my sword glow means I have a light source i can use in combat without tying up a hand.

Since I don't understand how some stuff can be used, why do you even want an 11 foot pole?  I was gonna ask how you managed to fit it onto a mule, but the mule's about 10 feet long, so you could probably strap it to it's back without affecting mobility too much.

Because 10' pits are common. =)

Just in general, a pole is a versatile piece of equipment that can be used for a variety of purposes, like tripping traps and extending your reach.

---------
Thinking about things, I need to find entries for some additional useful items.  Like thread and iron nails.  Hmm... probably want some salt too.   Wow, I really don't have enough room for mundane equipment...

... isn't it obvious?

Bronze < Silver < Gold.  I mean, there's only been organizations awarding medals in those gradations for well over 100 years.