Bay 12 Games Forum

It looks to me like the Core i3 and Core i5 just crank out a lot more clock cycles; also the A8 is the end of the line for the ill-fated FM1 (aka FML) socket design.  I'm building a new PC and have always used AMD, but I can't see any reason to buy one of their CPUs this time.  I use a Phenom II X3 (2.8 GHz) right now and get 40 FPS on a 3x3 embark with 100 dwarves.  If I don't limit the population to 100, My fort dies from sock poisoning very rapidly above 100 dwarves.

If you own an A8 or a Core i3/i5/i7, can you add to your comments a note with your typical embark size, population limit, and typical framerate at 80 dwarves?  Thanks. 

I was just informed in this thread that diagonal travel cost is not well-characterized, or at least not with any definite proof.  I am a little surprised that this result -- or lack of result -- isn't better understood.  I searched the forums for "manhattan" and "Chebyshev" and did not see any rigorous answer to the question.  Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to definitively pose the question using DF.

So far, the test case I envision goes something like this: a dwarf is caged or locked into a 1x1 cell behind a floodgate.  Two single-tile-wide tunnels are dug: one extends 21 tiles orthogonally; one runs 21 tiles diagonally.  A single tile of food storage is placed at the end of each tunnel and a plump helmet is placed on each stockpile.  The Enrichment Center is sealed off from the rest of the fortress.  When the dwarf indicates hunger, the lever is pulled and the dwarf is released, presumably to seek out the nearest food.

The experiment results may be documented and repeated by moving either of the stockpiles closer to the origin; for example, if a true Pythagorean distance is implemented, we'd expect 10 diagonal tiles to be roughly equidistant with 14 orthogonal tiles.

Has anyone already tried this?  Is my core assumption (dwarves always seek the nearest food) correct, or is there a better thing for a dwarf to seek?

Apparently on my embark there are a handful of human (?) adventurers.  So far, they're awesome -- they have copper armor and weapons, they kill badgers for me, and despite their superior armament, they seem to be sufficiently cowed by my numbers and architectural prowess that they're not attacking.  Did I luck out and get free guards, or will they eventually grow jealous of the heavily-laden trade wagons and attack? 

Also: other than a pair of chests and some low-rent copper weapons, these guys are pretty amateur hour.  When the goblins show up, they'll probably die valiantly, and I'd like to try to pay the debt of honor I owe them by building them some fortifications.  Will they be able to open doors if I build them a house?  Will my traps treat them as allies?

I love Stonesense, and wish it were compatible with 31.18, but I understand that free third-party software takes time, and hobbyist devs don't always have time.  But surely some developer has made a visualizer that works with 31.18?  I've built a fairly impressive fort and am dying to show it off to my wife in something other than 2-D MRI mode.  What do you use to visualize your 31.18 forts?

I have just completed - for the second time! - a 100+ Z-level pump stack intended to move boiling red magma from the magma sea to the surface, where I had intended to bathe my enemies in its glory.  The first time, I discovered a single non-magma-safe component at Z-40 or so, necessitating a rebuild of nearly half the stack.  The second time, for some unfathomable reason, the very lowest pump broke... and now my entire pump stack has come undone.  I'm seriously considering diverting a river into it just for something to do with that hollowed-out area, because I am damn sure not re-re-building all those pumps!

Is there a safer way to do this?  Perhaps a way to ensure that, say, every tenth pump is on a Stable Foundation? 

I have a squad of ten axedwarves wearing high-end iron gear and carrying nice iron axes.  I used Runesmith to make one of them a phenomenally good teacher, but after three years of training, most of the squad is still only one or two skill levels above Novice.  Is it really that difficult to train up?  Is the military training system broken?  I have 8 of the 10 dwarves sparring around the clock, so it's not a problem getting them to train... it just seems like they're not getting much benefit from it.

Do I need to build some Danger Room features into the barracks, like repeating spear-traps?

I was boring my main vertical shaft the other day when I had an Ender's Game moment and the whole field of play seemed to rotate in my head.  It hit me like a +rubber wood training hammer+ : The enemy's gate is down!  For everyone who played the old 2D version, does tunneling downward in DF2010 remind you of tunneling off to the right in DF2D?  The new caverns line up pretty nicely with the old cave river (great for farming and early irrigation) and the old chasm (nasty stuff in there).  The magma sea is right where a 2D player would expect the magma river.  And beyond that, well... there's FUN!

Anyone else find themselves building fortresses in 3-D that line up with the old 2-D flow as well?