Bay 12 Games Forum

Complete your turn within one week.

It's almost been a month. . .

for the sake of our waning interest, slap it out tonight?

Quote from: Salmeuk on December 11, 2014, 07:40:10 am

Fixed. Also, I don't play much adventure and I am thoroughly confused at who exactly I killed: When I first tried to talk to him his title was Deity, but after I killed him he was shown and described as a Planter. A living god?

Sounds like a bug to me. I don't suppose you have a save from before you killed him?

I only played for  less than an in-game day, so if you were to download the original save and try to retrace my steps you might encounter him again.

I awoke in a strange house that I had never seen before. It smelled of dirt. I could not recall how I arrived at this place, who my father was or the last meal I had eaten - all I seemed to know was how to stab throats, block arrows and dodge strikes. I felt compelled not to learn about my past but to carve a new history. A history that I, the man laying in the trampled soil of this dirty abode, would know firsthand.


I stood from my place on the ground and hailed the most important looking person in the room. His name was Epxa Sathrasuque, and he introduced himself as a general administrator for this hamlet. Rather than inquire about my current lack of memory, I simply asked about the surrounding topography. Perhaps I could find my future as an adventurer.

He summarized the lay of the land, but made a specific note of one location, "Beachwane." Apparently a goblin by the name of Xuspgas Wickedtold had holed up there. I was about to inquire whether any bounties had been placed on the creatures head when a well-built but slightly drunk Dwarf interjected.

"A sprawling criminal organization has left our people living in fear. They have a town called Datevises somewhere in The Plains of Tenderness." This was immediately more interesting and I inquired what the dwarf planned to do about it. He didn't hear my question and continued to ramble.

"Datevises is a short walk to the north. In the summer of 14 the human Luki was shot and killed by the elf Cimanthi. He was shot in Datevises." Apparently this dwarf had been close to Luki and was out for blood. I seized upon his drunken state and encouraged him to seek vengeance, telling him I would help as best I could.

He agreed, and we were off.


As we left the threshold we passed a bountiful patch of bitter melons. To the south I could see great masses of white webs, and being unsure what beast left them I was glad we were traveling north.

On the way out, my dwarf companion informed me this place was called Tuftednestled, or Thuthurarses. We traveled past the farms and across a short bridge, and sure enough not two hours had passed before the outer clearings of Datevises appeared.

I was wary but confident; the walking had awoken my inner spirit. As we traveled into town, expecting lawlessness and rot, I found quite the opposite. The first dwarf we met was a priest selling copious amounts of fine cloth, and just beyond his store were fields filled with fruit-pickers and farmers. Somewhat surprising to me was that the farmers were all dwarves - apparently they had abandoned their usual inclinations towards caves and decided to live upon the surface.



A great, green castle loomed above the ridgeline to the north. Whomever resided there would surely know what my drunken friend had been rambling about so passionately.



As we rounded the corner of the keep we saw a woman standing in the doorway. Something was off about her - she seemed oddly tranquil for the ruler of a busy village. I greeted her, but received no reply.



A strange, outside thought suddenly entered my mind. "This woman is The Last Will. She is a god." Confused, I attempted to ask about the criminal organization my dwarf friend had mentioned. The nameless dwarf did not acknowledge I had even spoken. A boiling rage filled me - I had recalled one thing about my shrouded past.

I never let anyone dismiss my presence.

I hefted my spear onto my shoulder and attacked. She heard the whistling of my spear-tip and drew a small blade, but not before I had pierced her abdomen. I landed a second strike, higher up this time, and the silent woman fell to the ground. My dwarf companion was confused and attempted a swing, cutting the face of the fallen woman. Her last breath passed from her body as she lay still. I wasn't sure just what I had done but it had felt right.



The great, green castle was utterly empty except for the woman we had killed. It was at this point I had a great thought - if there was no King for this Castle, and no Army for that absent King, then who was to prevent Me from laying claim? I knew it then as I know it now that this would be my history: I would become a king!



The save: http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=10225

Rule #1: You must always claim a site as an adventurer.
It can be any site, large or small, and you must try to spread the word about your claim.

Damn, I liked the drawing

Dragon attacks go one of two ways: complete destruction of your undefended fortress, or a rather anti-climactic and sudden death at the hands of some ordinary device / dwarf.

A secondary condition is that if Salmeuk's dwarf is still alive (Considering this is Doomforests there is a slim chance of that being the case) that he also be drafted into the military. In fact, draft all the overseers who's mismanagement has left us in such a horrible position military wise into the same squad. Arming and training them is optional, depending on if whoever's currently in charge wants them to be productive or if they believe their comedic deaths will raise moral.

I think I died somewhere on page 4. . .

Ah, here we go:

Almost as if it was like water, flowing down a stone, Sut, Guardian of the Pit slithered up the stone staircase with the speed of a flying bolt. Immediately, she seized a nearby woodcutter, Salmeuk, and leaps upon him, wrestling him to the ground. He thrashed and fought, but with vicious efficiency, she began breaking his limbs one by one with her thin wings. His screams echoed through the halls, but she showed no mercy. The one final strike that tore off his head was not a graceful one.

Was that gruesome enough? Can my dwarf rest in peace?

Could you ride a giant flying squirrel? I would certainly like to try. Just hitch on a saddle and find a cliff. . .

I remember being influenced by a particular DFMA upload many years back. My personal philosophy regarding fortress design is that constraints are beautiful - and even more beautiful are the times you break them!

Those constraints come from the shape of the earth that I dig.

From the subjective rules I place upon my design.

From the narrative that a Fortress represents.

From the characters that I roleplay.

And from the bugs, artifacts and strange interactions that the game contains.

I used to find symmetry appealing but more and more I enjoy organic, open spaces. Curves and multi z-level rooms are my favorite ways to give a fortress an epic, lifelike feeling.

Some examples (sorry if the images are too large):


I will plug my DFMA profile. I create lots of Points of Interest so you can navigate the mazes that are my fortresses, and for the most part each fortress is experimental in one way or another. DFMA doesn't get enough traffic in general - there are tons of brilliant designs posted there without comment.
http://mkv25.net/dfma/browseby.php?author=Salmeuk

I will also give some tips for people interested in making their fortresses look nicer.

1. Pay attention to the black space you create. A 3-tile wide space in between rooms will create a single line of black, unseen earth that can frame your rooms.

2. While a single, massive farm plot might be more efficient, taking time to set up smaller plots can lead to a greater sense of reality. And it's so pretty when your crops are growing!

3. Smooth early. While not at all necessary, smoothing gives me a feeling of completion and encourages me to spend time on beautiful designs.

4. Work in small sections. Never designate your entire fortress at once (well, never say never but it never works out for me). Beyond giving your miners a break, this lets you take time to consider the perfect addition to what you already have.

5. Lastly, work freely. I used to get designators-block and worry about this or that design, and I would end up abandoning fortresses because they ended up imperfect or incomplete. Giving yourself the freedom to make mistakes lets you be truly creative (this goes for everything in life, by the way )!

Ultimately, the game that is Dwarf Fortress isn't very good as it stands - various bugs and incomplete mechanics prevent you from truly experiencing the story that would be a growing fortress. That being said, Dwarf Fortress is the best creative outlet I know of. Letting go of the need for logical consistency and objective design limitations can really breathe life into your forts.

I can go into more detail here, but the just of it is that you shouldn't limit yourself based on the logic of the game, but instead limit yourself based on your own, arbitrary humanity. This is a game about stories and characters, grand narratives and epic events - not a game about objective efficiency or perfectionism. Let yourself go, my friends!