Bay 12 Games Forum

DF got its steam release with a whole new default graphics tileset and shortly afterwards had an ASCII 'classic' tileset addition implemented. I, personally prefer the ASCII for a variety of reasons, performance notwithstanding. This left me wondering, though...

What graphics do the current DF players prefer?
Do you prefer to use a tileset or ASCII graphics?

In the nobles list, appointable by yourself,

Where the object was not to tell jokes, but rather faff about all day perform physical comedy, as-per certain medieval jesters,

What would the dwarves who occupied that position do differently?

I cannot leave the travel screen.

I can enter it normally using "T", but pressing "T" again or using ">" does not let me leave.

It is terrible.  Seemingly the only way I can leave is by being attacked.

There are plenty of general story threads, but now how about a horror story thread-

Tell us tales of some of the most terrifying and gruesome things to occur within your fortresses. Send chills down spines.

I'll start-

In one of my most well-developed fortresses, deep within, in the hospital,
a reacher crawled out of the well in the center of the hospital, and strangled the three dwarves resting in the hospital beds, one-by-one.
Dwarves could hear their screams echoing down the long stone hallway leading to the hospital.

I want to know, because I keep trying multiple ways to go about giving my dwarves rooms. Mostly they fail, because there always end up being far too many rooms to dream of finishing, and I always try to fill each and every one with high-quality furniture.

Also the style of the room. Is it a 2x2 closet or bigger?

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv350/Doughnut189/LaVeillee.png -This was my last attempt at giving my dwarves rooms, but I gave up and just used those for nobles. The general design was that each dwarf got three rooms- a bedroom, dining room, and study.

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv350/Doughnut189/returniwilltooldbrazil.png -This is the design I default to when my population becomes hopelessly large. It is fairly space-efficient, is aesthetically pleasing enough to satisfy me, and holds one bed, one dresser, and a chair. I found the design on the wiki one day and liked it.

So in one of my old fortresses that I had (well not that old, current version), many mysterious deaths occurred around and about the fortress, but I never found out what caused the deaths. I kept a log, but forgot about it, and just remembered it again.

I am hoping that one of you might be able to figure out what caused my dwarves to ded

MYSTERIOUS DEATH LOG:

...after the second mysterious death, I have decided to keep a log to better understand the cause(s) of these grim happenings.

26th Granite, 271-
Brueck Weltseite, Fisherdwarf has bled to death.
DETAILS: Much like last time, he was found in a large pool of his own blood, having bled to death with a trail of his own blood leading towards nowhere in particular and then stopping. There are no clues as to who or what killed him.
NOTES: Somewhat far from the fortress, in an area he had no need to be in.

21st Hematite, 271-
Procellana Ventussono, an Elven Merchant was found dead near the trade post.  The elves had recently packed up and left to go trade elsewhere, but, oddly, one Elven corpse remains.  I cannot see what killed it, or why the other merchants did not help. It simply lies in a small pool of blood near the trade post. There are no hints as to what may have done it.
NOTES: Give the Elves a good deal next season, as to deter hostilities.

8th Galena, 272-
Mekhokh Meskherhesfer, Mechanic has bled to death.
DETAILS: Same as the rest. Found having bled to death at the end of a trail of his own blood about 10 squares long.
NOTES: I was really hoping whatever was doing this had gone away. It's been over a year since the last incident. The corpse had a water covering on it, yet was not near water. No blood trail, or blood in/leading to any water source.

6th Galena, 272-
A pool of blood belonging to a dwarf of an unfamiliar name (probably a trader) with a bloody battle axe lying in it has been discovered. Given the fact that the pool contains a battle axe, and the fact that no dwarves in the fortress have it, this reinforces my opinion that it was a trader. What is worrysome, however, is that NO corpse is present, or nearby. There is only ONE puddle of blood, with an axe lying in it. The axe further worries me, because it gives me the idea that the trader was a warrior, guarding the caravan. I shudder to think what could kill a warrior, dispose of it's corpse, and do all of this without bloodying more than one tile.
NOTES: All of the deaths of this sort have been concentrated near the enterance to the fortress.

10th Felsite, 274-
DETAILS: Today major strides were made in finding a culprit.  Two dwarves were killed within close proximity to one another, but another one was still living and could be examined before their death from blood loss. The dwarf was bleeding all over, as expected, but, interestingly enough, most, if not all of the bleeding body parts were melted as well. Considering the nature of the incidents, could a dragon be responsible?
NOTES: Build more sarcophagi

11th Felsite, 274-
Large number of dwarves injured in aformentioned attack. Many dead. Will see how things continue. X8X X9X X10X 11 dead from single, quite short attack, and counting.
NOTES: Syndrome?

-Due to the nature of the incidents, this log will now keep track of all important events in the fortress, to better understand the incidents.

17th Felsite, 274-
Fortress on verge of tantrum spiral due to previous slaughter. Elven caravan just arrived. Will buy best booze.
...
Siege shortly after arrival of elven caravan. Will do best to hold off- provided no dwarves tantrum the defense system should deal with them.
...
Elven merchants slaughtered by the same thing causing the other deaths. Killed right in front of my eyes and I could not see what did it. Killed one water buffalo and two elves. Hope elves do not declare war.

18th Felsite, 274-
Sudden troll rampage unrelated to siege. Large group running directly towards fortress.

28th Felsite, 274-
Siege defeated, but at a price. 16 dead, and minor tantrum spiral occuring.

1st Hemetite, 274-
Trolls somehow escaped trap system after being underwater for several days. Broke down door. Rampaging in fortress. Tantrum spiral. All miserable. Sealing myself off in archives.