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Topics - SquashMonster

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DF Dwarf Mode Discussion / Ghosts as decorations

« on: July 16, 2012, 08:34:21 pm »

I discovered a very interesting bug.

Apparently, if you dig out the area underneath a ghost, they will float there forever, stuck. I think it has something to do with how ghosts are flying but still think they're walking. I accidentally got a ghostly glassmaker stuck above the ditch I'm going to use for dwarf-cleaning. He hasn't moved a single tile in two whole seasons, I'm pretty sure that he's legitimately trapped there. To clarify, both his tile and all the ones adjacent to him are channelled out.

So that's fact one. Fact two is that my fortress is crawling with ghosts.

I would like to change the entrance of my fortress to be a bridge, and line it with trapped ghosts. If I put 2-tile catwalks on the edges of the bridge, and deconstruct the tiles when ghosts are on the end points, they should be trapped there as permanent floating spooky decorations. Does anyone know a way to lure the ghosts into position, to make this feasible?

DF Gameplay Questions / Is DF Deterministic?

« on: December 04, 2007, 09:38:00 pm »

A rather odd question, but does anybody know if DF is deterministic? What I mean is, given the same seed, starting location, and same dwarves, will two people who run the game and perform exactly the same steps at exactly the same number of steps into the game get exactly the same result?

How about if they differed a little? How much would it take before something like having different sieges or immigrants happened?

DF Suggestions / Location selection suggestions.

« on: November 30, 2007, 12:36:00 pm »

I noticed a few things that could be improved about the location selection interface at the start of a game. So here they are.

1) Sometimes, desirable features straddle the line between two tiles on the regional map. This prevents you from settling somewhere that has both of these features. Perhaps moving the settlement area on the local map to the edge of the map can scroll the regional map by a partial region? Moving the regional map the normal way would realign it to the grid, so you don't get lost by the world shifting.

2) Sometimes, you find a really good location that isn't quite what you're looking for at the moment. Perhaps you want to make a glass fortress but you find a region with magma, water, and trees but no sand. It would be nice to be able to mark such locations. Press a key, enter a description. Press another key, you get a list of the areas you've marked off and can scroll through them. As an added bonus, if the saved areas are stored in a separate file, players can share their lists for given seeds.

3) It seems that the world map tiles are each based on a single tile of the regional map. This leads to lots of regions that are predominantly one tile but show as a different one on the world map. A simple fix would be to take a sampling of the region tiles and make the world map tile be the most common one.

DF Suggestions / Yet another version of steam.

« on: November 27, 2007, 03:03:00 am »

I know steam has been mentioned before, so my apologies if this seems too much like somebody else's ideas.

I've heard lots of people suggest that steam should be capable of making all sorts of complicated machinery, like steam-powered trolleys and steam shovels and what-have-you. This, to me, seems too technologically advanced. Save it for Gnome Fortress. On the other hand, I have seen a lot of people say that any form of steam power should be off-limits. That seems a bit excessive.

So, here is my take on how steam power should work.

We need four new buildings, with a fifth optional one:
1 - pipe sections. These exist now, but need to be made possible to build as their own building. Pipe sections link with one another and with pumps. Fluids connected to an open pipe section will flow into them, but can only be sent up with the aid of a pump. Magma pipes do not power magma buildings.
2 - valves. These act as pipe sections, but can be levered on and off.
3 - boilers. These require a water source, either by pipe or by having water flow through them. They also require a heat source. All valid heat sources for forges (charcoal, magma, ect) apply to boilers. They come with a valve. Whenever properly set up, this valve will produce steam if on.
4 - turbines. These require a steam pipe connected to them. A turbine vents unfocused steam (the kind of steam you see in the current game), which is dangerous. On the other hand, they produce twice as much power as a water wheel.
5 - optional: steam cannons. These require a steam pipe connected to them. They work exactly like a ballista, but vent unfocused steam and use rocks as their projectiles.

Ways to make steam:
- Use a boiler. Boilers turn a heat source and water source into steam.
- Pipe water through magma. A water pipe in a magma-filled square should produce steam in the pipe.

Uses for steam pipes:
- Power machinery. Steam is harder to set up than water and has a dangerous side effect, but produces more power.
- Vent steam. A pipe carrying steam that ends without a closed valve produces steam on the other end. This hurts things that touch it.
- Steam cannon. Steam cannons shoot in the ballista's mighty straight line, and use the catapult's easily obtained ammunition. In exchange, you need to provide it with steam power, and it vents steam.

Uses for magma pipes:
- Heat rooms. Sleeping in a room with a magma pipe can produce a happy thought.
- Move magma. Pipes make it a little easier to move fluids. Putting magma where you want it is always useful.
- Produce steam. A magma pipe running through a water-filled square should create a lot of steam outside the pipe. This can make an old-fashioned steam trap.

Most uses of steam come through the steam turbine. This means it can only do as much as water already can do, which should appease those worrying about increasing the technology level.