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Topics - schnobs

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1
DF Gameplay Questions / I've been away a while... any changes to hauling &c?
« on: January 28, 2009, 05:43:51 am »
Hi,

The last time I played this game, the map was still two-dimensional. Probably so much has changed that I'd need to re-learn things from scratch. Before I even start to put much effort into this, I'd like to know about the the issues that eventually made me stop playing last time.

* Will ammo still degenerate into many stacks of one item, or have the dwarves learned to repack them?

* Related: What if you have many similar items in one location, like seeds in the brewery? Still one hauling task per item?

* What has become of the used clothes that noone would move, eventually cluttering the whole fortress?

* I remember having fiendish troubles with overproduction. Keeping track of stocks, switching production on and off as needed became a micromanagment hell. Any improvements in that respect?

2
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / mangled limbs *do* heal
« on: April 04, 2007, 08:24:00 pm »
It only takes forever.

The first madate slipped past me. As nothing happened, I felt free to ignore further mandates. Noone got jailed. Then the hammerer arrived, and the legendary jeweler (not gem cutter: jeweler) got a good whopping. Then another about one year later, both hammerings earning him a red entry in the wounds list.

He's been bedridden for like six years or so, I just noticed that one of the limbs that used to be red has fully recovered.

Now I wonder if it will take another six years for the next limb...


EDIT: changed tile. It should be "mangeled", right? While "maimed" means completely gone. Though dwarves growing new limbs would be silly indeed.

[ April 05, 2007: Message edited by: schnobs ]


3
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / this sucks
« on: April 02, 2007, 06:37:00 pm »
Somehow, somewhere, there was not enough foodstuff. The cook cancelled his repeat job.

When I first became aware of the problem, there was still some plump helmet left; also lots of raw fish.

Two dwarfs gutting fish; a total of ten dwarfes having cooking, milling, etc betwen them. A few more kitchens have been built, but it was too late. Endless amount of flour, sugar, leaves in stock. On kitchen was enough to provide for them for years, actually I had to turn it of from time to time.

But now three kitchens are not enough to catch up.


4
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Goblin and Kobold Thieves
« on: March 31, 2007, 04:38:00 pm »
In my current fortress (screenshot), the first traps used to be quite a bit from the entrance. I've occasionally found traps triggered and goblin corpses among the refuse, without ever having received a thief warning. This is a fortress of well over 100 dwarves now. Statue garden and meeting hall notwithstanding, there's always a crowd hanging out in front of the cave. Yet obviously the goblins manage to sneak past them; just as obviously, they fail at the first trap they encounter.

Kobolds, though, are encountered (and clubbered by the military) on an almost regular schedule. Only one made it into the cave (and across some newly built traps) while the military was converging on him, but that's as far as they got. However, a resourceful one stole a crossbow bolt that was still in the open.

Conclusion: goblins are much better at sneaking than kobolds. But goblins will trigger traps.


5
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / narrow road trails?
« on: March 28, 2007, 07:17:00 am »
Every once in a while, it happens that the scattered plus'es indicating a functional road do not spread across the whole width of the road.

This does not appear to be any problem, the human wagons still arrive. Yet I wonder if it's supposed to convey any meaning.


6
DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / what *are* war dogs, anyway?
« on: March 07, 2007, 12:23:00 pm »
Asking as much on behalf of the wiki as out of personal curiosity: what's the difference between war, hunting and untrained dogs?

It appears that the trained ones are more dangerous and more willing to fight, although I'm not entirely sure even of that.

Hunting dogs roam quite a bit, but I still have to see a hunting dog actually track down some prey or assist a hunter.

Also, while I'm at it: will other animals become [TRAINABLE] if I add the statement to their description?


7
DF Gameplay Questions / Dear Toady, about stuck traps...
« on: April 06, 2007, 05:21:00 pm »
Would you be so kind and tell us what (if anything) affects the chances of a trap to get stuck?

Is it that piercing weapons are more likely to stick? Do lopped off body parts get in the way? Does it merely depend on the quality of the mechanism?

All of these have been discussed, yet noone seems to know for sure.

[ April 06, 2007: Message edited by: schnobs ]


8
DF Gameplay Questions / Are fortifications intransparent?
« on: April 05, 2007, 08:56:00 am »
I admit that this is a silly title, but I can't think of any better.

Long ago, I tried to spy out the chasm and seach for side branches on the far side by carving fortifications on my side. No luck, though: I had to breach the wall to actually see what the far side looked like.

Just now, I had my first siege. Ever. Ballista shots went far astray; marksdwarves stationed behind fortifications just stood there picking their noses. I came to the conclusion that they might as well go back to their barracks, so I told the soldiers to stand down. I also lowered the bridge and unlocked the doors to permit the goblins into the fortress, hoping that the few traps would suffice to sort things out. Un-paused the game.

Suddenly the marksdwarves started shooting as if the goblins were upon them. Some of them were outdoors, some used the fortifications. It all went rather fast, so I'm not entirely sure. But it may well have been that the shooting started the moment the first dwarf opened the doors.

Can it be that in order to sucessfuly shoot through fortifications, you need another dwarf on the far side to relay target information? If so: does it need to be a dwarf, or will a friendly (=tame) animal do?


9
DF Gameplay Questions / seeds in cages
« on: March 31, 2007, 08:27:00 am »
Ok. I tamed an animal. This left plump helmet spawn in the cage. The only way to make this cage usable again will be to chasm the seeds, I'm told.

The only way I know is to open the stocks screen, browse for seeds, browse for plump helmet spawn, hit "z". I may probably need to repeat this dozens, possibly hundreds of times until I locate the seed in question; provided that I manage to remember it's position in the list, I may then open the stocks screen once more and have it chasmed.

Is there a less tedious way of chasming a seed from a cage? Chasming the whole cage is not yet an option.


10
DF Gameplay Questions / fortifications and nearby enemies
« on: March 30, 2007, 07:51:00 am »
Will a siege operator still drop his work and run from a nearby enemy if there's a fortification between them?

How close does a threat need to be for a dwarf to cancel his work? 15 tiles? 20?

What's the range of bolts and arrows?


11
DF Gameplay Questions / forge workshop profile
« on: March 29, 2007, 05:22:00 pm »
In a nutshell:
Is the game smart enough to look wether task at hand is weapon, armor, etc and to check the appropriate skill?

12
DF Gameplay Questions / my dwarves use no barrels
« on: March 27, 2007, 05:40:00 pm »
The food pile is running over with single crops  lying on the bare floor. There's plenty of empty barrels just ten steps away. The barrel counter of the pile is set to max.

Am I missing something? It's been that way since a year or so already.

On second thought. Some noble constantly forbids the export of brass; most barrels happen to be brass. Can this be related?

[ March 27, 2007: Message edited by: schnobs ]


13
DF Gameplay Questions / pictures of raw gems
« on: March 26, 2007, 07:10:00 am »
One moody dwarf demands raw gems.

Stocks:
Turquoise
rock crystal
rose quartz
aventurine
aquamarine
red spinel
chrysoberyl
opal
diamond
emerald
ruby
sapphire
green, clear and crystal glass

The dwarf in question has grabbed one crystal glass; apparently he demands more. The pattern is:
pictures of an ore mine, 6 blinks (3 platinum)
rough gems, 4 blinks (1 crystal glass)
skeletons, 2 blinks (horse bones)
ore mine, 2 blinks (hematite)
stacked cloth, 2 blinks (silk)
square blocks, 2 blinks (jet block)
stacked leather, 2 blinks (whale leather)

This could well become one hell of an artifact, and I'm eager to see it happen (although the dwarf in question will probably become a furnace operator).

But what coudl be the last gem? Is there anything common missing from the list, or am I stuck with the once-in-a-lifetime chance of recovering one of the really rare gems?

What also strikes me as odd is that he jumped the queue. Usually dwarves not only need specific materials, they also pick them up in a certain order. The pattern is as explained, and as we only had two platinum easily available, he sat idle until the third was mined. But then he was content with one unit of glass and went on fetching bones etc. There was another break for the jet block, he didn't go for leather until the block was made. So why did he ignore the second gem?


14
DF Gameplay Questions / The stocks screen
« on: March 25, 2007, 11:01:00 am »
I'm currently trying to melt or chasm stuff I don't need, including imported iron gear. Can someone tell me what the colours on the stocks screen are supposed to convey?

It appears that (imported goods) are displayed in white (in addition to them being displayed in brackets). Stuff created at the fortress is olive. Do I see this right, or is it merely a coincidence?

Also, several iron shields are displayed in dark red. I suspect they're being held by my nobles... but suspicion won't do.

Also, I see quite a few items in dark red. They're also imported


15
DF Gameplay Questions / too much fat
« on: March 23, 2007, 11:40:00 am »
I'm constantly slaughtering animals to keep the population bearable. All other stuff gets used somehow, but fat accumulates. I found no better solution than wanton chasming.

I'm far from making soap, is there any other use for fat? I thought it would also vanish in the kitchen, but that appears not to be the case.

If I ever make soap, will my dwarves use it or can I only trade it away? I'm not exactly short of trade goods as it is.


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