Bay 12 Games Forum

Smaller updates is better for me, that way I can get 25 days of entertainment of dorfs being flung at goblins and megabeasts instead of 1 day per update

This. I think having smaller updates with the same aims would really help with things. If we had, for example, elf sites released in October or November or whenever they were done, we'd have a hands-on example of how the multi-tile trees were doing. It would save a lot of the massive clean-up that happens before the big releases and I'd strongly recommend it.

You should probably check out this thread: Total Interface Overhaul (now with sparkles).

It's by far the largest collection of UI suggestions all in one place. I'm sure that most of what you suggested is already there, although it's been a while since I last read it. There are some really nice looking UI improvements there though, so it's worth a look.

Also, what's with the useless poll?

Thanks. The poll is intended to be used if this thread grows in size and big questions come up.

Only if we actually mine it. And if that happens, so what? Dig out a couple nicer rooms and stuff the jerk in them and he/she'll be perfectly happy.

@Quietust, is it possible to get DFhack to replace civilisation nobles if we accidentally kill them? That is, say, to "hack to replace the king" or "hack to replace the outpost liason" or "hack to force goblins to pick a new general". I think we're going in the direction where we'll need that.

Are we going to see a return of the economy some day? If so how do you think it would be managed?
[craziness]I know this is more a suggestion, but the way I see it a fortress is well a fortress, a military thing where is okay to order everyone around, but after a while, if it becomes a mountain home or a "city" A reduced control over the civilian activity could work, where you designate workspaces, rooms and dig-able areas where the civilians can go around their businesses, make the workshops they want, work in whatever they want and pay you taxes over it, then those taxes could be used to pay salaries and equipment of state miners/soldiers/public workers/bureaucrats, and fund government/military constructions like walls, fortifications, siege equipment and other things.[/craziness]

Its going to return sometime, but is there any indication of how many releases it will take before that get worked on, even as guesstimate given the state of things now? At the moment the original release schedule has been totally changed, so we've got world activation and sites have been restored and are present. I can see that taverns will be a thing in the very near future, possibly next major release or alternatively as a minor release after the big one comes.

Is it just me or is the front page http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ down?

Exploration shaft further into the mountain? Don't dig any further to the right beyond the magma river, since there's a source of demons right there. They wiped the fort once.

If you want you can create an array of spikes and connect them all to a lever. Set the lever to repeat after you've unleashed the hoards. Make sure you pull everyone back from the area though.

Lots of threads come up about a UI rewrite. How do you think the UI should work? I've put down some of my thoughts below.

My suggestion for building placement UI:

-Menu breakdown between Constructions, Mechanisms, Workshops, Furnaces, Defences, and Furniture.
-Can place building using the left-click standard to RTS games.
-Building material can be filled in automatically, and dwarves will always take the closest of a certain building material to the job.

-Wall placement can be click and drag. You should be able to place nodes and switch between "shortest distance" and "follow my curser" mode. You should be able to undo to the previous node. This means you could designate the entire fortress wall in one go.

UI for connecting up levers and pressure plates:

-You should have the option to click-to-select the thing to link up to a lever. You should also be able to reverse-designate from the item to a lever, also clicked on.

Designations UI:

-No comment on woodcutting as the new release has not come out yet.

-Mining, Cleaning, and Smoothing should have a click and drag option, and it should be possible to drag out a rectangle or oval. Right-click in "designate mining" should erase selection.

-When designating an engraving you should have some control over what gets engraved. Options can be "Engravings determined by owner", "Engravings determined by artisan", "Engraving set by player" (have a selection of choices to be set somehow). "Engravings determined by artisan" causes engravings to be determined as they are now.

Military UI:
-Can select military squads or dwarves by left-click or left-click and drag. Else have a military screen with hotkeyed squads you can switch between in addition to the current methods.
-Right click to move (individual dwarf or squad).
-Formation-setting and attack orders. These should not be absolute, and can be affected by the skill of the militia captain or by dwarves going into a martial trance.

How are those mole dogs getting in the fortress? 

A trapped entrance won't be useable for traders. Just make it sealable so the cages can be harvested, and pit a pet in it to lure the baddies while keeping the inside access closed.

There's the open entrance in the first cavern layer. It was open since my turn started, the entrance goes straight into the main stairwell. I fortified the cavern somewhat but I think I need to wall the area off completely.

The mole dogs are getting in despite the wood-cutting going on right outside the entrance.

The trapped entrance is a second entrance on the opposite side of the fortress from the main entrance.