Bay 12 Games Forum

Journal of Eniteris Granitestandards, Mad Scientist
1st Granite, 261
Well, here I am. Finally, they’ve appointed someone with brains to the position of Overseer, and that definitely wasn’t from popular vote.

Looking around the fortress, not much is out of the ordinary. The souls of the recently-deceased float silently around the fortress, starving people, internal heating, unlabelled levers, a pit of death, fair for a fortress of this size. But a few things must be fixed.
One:
[002]
The stockpiles. What kind of organizational scheme is this? This has to be changed.
And two:
Not enough test subjects. We need more.

I am interrupted in planning by the pesky traders, still looking for trade agreements. Begone! I need you not!
2nd Granite, 261
Apparently the death pit is a well. Well, it’s a death pit now. And it will be christened with blood.
The ghosts can stay. I like them.
4nd Granite, 261
It took them a while to get the groundhog into the well, but a few bolts got that done.



Also, for Armok’s sake, somebody dig him out.


6th Granite, 261

Just when I thought things were going to get boring. Sound the horns! Sharpen your blades!
Oh wait, it doesn’t have wings. Shucks. I was looking forward to experimenting on it.

10th Granite, 261

Great. More responsibilities. Can’t you just leave me to do science in peace?

And these levers were made for pulling. On repeat.

13th Granite, 261

So that’s what it does.

23rd Granite, 261
And this is why I hate designs which are not my own. You know what? I’ll just leave these levers like this, and hope nothing explodes.

23rd Slate, 261
Some migrants arrived earlier, but not one that mattered. Many projects are on their way, and the bridgedrop for undesirables has been completed, christened with the blood of a friend.

Only have one friend left. Better make it count.

3rd Felsite, 261

And my other friend. No friends left do distract me from science, as is supposed to be.

7th Felsite, 261

We lost one of the miners, while digging a magma shaft. Pity. He was useful.

12th Felsite, 261
[012]
Curse all friends of nature! Now, I wonder if I know which levers to pull...

15th Felsite, 261
Apparently not. We’ll have to deal with them another way.


20th Felsite, 261
Dear past overseers,
What the hell are you doing with unlocked doors leading to the flooded corridors? Luckily nobody burned to death. Luckily. Unluckily. Whatever.

23rd Felsite, 261
We’ve got a possession. One of the bone doctors has run and claimed the leatherworks for his experiment. Hopefully we’ll get something useful.

Speaking of doctors and experiments, it has been a long time since I practiced my doctoring skills on anyone...

7th Hematite, 261

Great. A cap. What the hell are we going to do with a cap?
I’m already halfway done my reign, and construction is a bit slow. We must work faster. You! Yes, you! Go build some walls. What? You can’t even cut stone? What are you, an elf? Get going!

18th Galena, 261

Umans to the slaughter. God, how I hate visitors.
On a better note, my secret hideout is fully stocked and completed. Now I can keep watch of the fortress from a safe place, and give out the commands for my experiments from up high, where I can keep all the observations.

27th Galena, 261

There is only one more thing I want to do during my slow rule, and that is: breach the caverns. The previous overseers have sealed it off, but it is the underworld, a plethora of animals and horrors and terrors alike. I have seen much cave spider silk, and catching one of those giant monsters would be a great boon for our collection.

1st Sandstone, 261

Great. With us breaching the caverns and establishing a connection to the world under, you decide to be a host for some demonic god? Fine! Be that way! Go do whatever it is you want to do. Like I care.

1st Sandstone, 261

Great. A toy boat. Well, at least it’s magmaproof, so once I’ve completed my armokforsaken magmaproof babies, they can use it as a bath toy.

20th Timber, 261

How many times do I have to tell you NOT to open those doors? I mean, come on. And now someone else is dead. Great. Just great.

In other news, the cave spider silk collection is going according to schedule. No giants spotted yet, but when they are, we will capture them.

In other news, we are one pickstrike away from emptying the volcano into the underground reservoir. Just waiting for the forgotten beast to get close enough...

23rd Timber, 261
The liason! Such gal, wondering how we’re helping the mountainhome. As if we’ll be helping them. They should be helping us! We’re on the cutting-edge science and they’re asking what we’re doing? Just go away! I don’t care what you bring back! Just go!

3rd Moonstone, 261
I took whatever they had for the remains of the elves that we slaughtered in the depot. A good trade.

19th Obsidian, 261
Ambush. I ordered everyone inside.
Snatchers came with the ambushes, but I scared them all away.
All in all, only three casualties, I think.

31st Obsidian, 261
Well that’s the end of my rule. A boring, slow year, but at least now I can rest in peace. Later.

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=5473

I'm not sure if that was an accident...
Sysice, it's the first person to post and download after the save has been posted. It's a pain if you want to join, but it (should) keep things rolling smoothly.

It appears fivex has gotten there first. Sorry, iceball3.

First time running a succession fort, I hope this works.
Vanilla 0.31.12, no mods whatsoever.
Instead of having a list of people to play next, the first person to post, with the intention of playing, after the save has been posted will be able to play. This (I hope) will reduce delay, and there will be no need to skip players.
One turn per player at first, and if we start to run low on players, people can take multiple turns.

The World
Embark

Strike the Earth!
I'll post the diary and save hopefully later today. Possibly tomorrow or Saturday, if I don't have the time.

1. Eniteris
2. Fivex

Do you have a boring central staircase?
Do you have lots of idle workers?
Do you hate it when your dwarves run across the map to get materials?
Do you hate having your refuse stockpiles always full?
Do you hate leaving so much space for your stone and log stockpiles?
Do you want always build an execution tower, but don't know where to put it?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, a SHAFT FORTRESS might be for you!
Replace your central staircase with this state-of-the-art contraption, and all of your dreams will be answered!
Top view:
 +O+
+XOX+
OO_OO
+XOX+
 +O+
X = Up/down Staircase
O = Wall
_ = Open Space
+ = Door

The main point of this design is to dump all raw materials and refuse (bodies, bone, stone, logs, gems, furniture) down the central shaft, where it ends up on the lowest level, where the workshops are. All you need to do is reclaim the objects and voila! a stockpile for everything except food, booze and trade goods.

One major benefit of this design is that it's modular, and that if you ever need expansion, you just move the workshops down one level. This gives the fortress an inverted-pyramid shape, which is beneficial for efficiency by minimizing the distance between points. (zlevel+horizontal distance)

If you want to make it even better, you might want to install floor hatches/grates hooked up to levers, so you can control the descent of goods, and you'll have one-way elevator downwards.

Here's how my fortresses usually look:
Side view:
___________________________ <-- Zeroth floor (ground level)
___+___+___+X X+___+___+___ <-- First floor (Farming industry, dining, barracks, office, trade depot, etc.)
    ___+___+X X+___+___     <-- Second floor (Bedrooms)
        ___+X_X+___         <-- Nonperishables workshops (Carpentry, mechanics, masons, crafts, etc.)
And I keep adding bedrooms between the second floor and workshops. It's great, easy to use, and efficient.
Here's what my floors usually look like:
Lowest z-level:
OOOOO   OOOOO
O   OOOOO   O
O   +   +   O
O   O   O   O
OO+OO+O+OO+OO
 O  +XOX+  O
 O  OO OO  O
 O  +XOX+  O
OO+OO+O+OO+OO
O   O   O   O
O   +   +   O
O   OOOOO   O
OOOOO   OOOOO

Second-lowest z-level:
    OOOOO   OOOOO
    O   OOOOO   O
    O   +   +   O
    O   O   O   O
OOOOOO+OO   OO+OOOOOO
O   O   O   O   O   O
O   +   +   +   +   O
O   O   O   O   O   O
OO+OOO+OO+O+OO+OOO+OO
 O      +XOX+     O
 O      OO_OO     O
 O      +XOX+     O
OO+OOO+OO+O+OO+OOO+OO
O   O   O   O   O   O
O   +   +   +   +   O
O   O   OOOOO   O   O
OOOOOO+OO   OO+OOOOOO
    O   O   O   O
    O   +   +   O
    O   OOOOO   O
    OOOOO   OOOOO
Etc.
As you see, generic 11x11 squares cut into 9 rooms of 3x3 each. 3-tile-wide passages between the blocks.

Any feedback?