Bay 12 Games Forum

Butcher near main stairs
Seems reasonable until
Miasma flows down.

I've only gotten ponds to work when they're dumping in from the z-level directly above.  Ponds on the same level have never worked for me.  I'm not certain, but it sounds like you may have tried that at first, then tried to finish with ponds on the same level?  The second option just won't work.  And the problem with even functioning ponds is they don't get filled fast enough to irrigate large plots faster than evaporation.  If you're determined to get it done, I'd go back to the one pond on the above z-level and turn off everybody's labors except for hauling, and set a burrow that excludes any other hauling jobs they might want to do.  Just force everydwarfbody to work on it at once to overcome evaporation.

I didn't figure this out immediately myself, but the best thing for fast farming is a murky pool in a soil layer.  Tunnel in from the outside to a larger farming chamber for drainage - don't immediately open it up to your main delve.  Then tunnel to the murky pool and channel out the last square from above.  You'll have to wait for the water to clear if it was a big pool, but I think it's still the fastest route if you start right away.  Lastly, dig into the farm from inside and wall off the outside entrance.  Don't forget to wall off or floodgate the tunnel to the murky pool, because those can refill from rainwater.

As they say above, it's all percent.  I had to start pretty high, but I've got everyone down now with an expert negotiator and generous trades in the past.  If the percent is above 100, I wonder if you've pissed them off in the past, or they lost a merchant to enemies and the parent civ knows they're down in goods?

I would add, in 2010 trade goods have not been a problem for me.  Stacks of lavish prepared meals are in the neighborhood of platinum crafts in value, so I buy every raw food item caravans carry and sell it back later cooked as roasts.  After a couple of years I was cleaning out everything I could possibly want from caravans and still holding back trade goods.  Or, to prime the pump try iron and silver serrated discs.

On the other hand, those are some mighty expensive meals and trap components, so this may well count as an exploit.

Thanks.  I think I'll skip the pickdwarfs, especially since I see elsewhere there's a little bit of skill decay/"rust" for unused skills.  I may still try one hammerdwarf per squad, even if it is suboptimal.