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Author Topic: Where should my fortress go from now  (Read 1110 times)

Aichuk

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Where should my fortress go from now
« on: October 26, 2012, 08:44:08 am »

Hello guys. I'm new to Dwarf Fortress. I made a few fortresses now with most of my dwarves starving and dehydrating. So in a new fortress I finally realized my mistakes and could do the basic stuff. I have a surplus of food with more coming in, I've got a legendary craftsdwarf and a legendary engraver. I have a wealth of around 121000 (is that poor?) and a population of 138. I created a bedroom floor and have a legendary diningroom and kitchen and many farms and traps blah blah blah. So I've only mined upto level 122 and 3 years have passed in-game. Should I be mining even faster? And I have no metal production after 3 years because I can't find any metal ore. I've been looking around the sediment layer but all I find is damn gypsum and siltstone. And another frustrating thing is that I'm not being attacked! I don't care if I lose to a huge goblin raid but nobody is attacking me! I have a military of 11 dwarves who are experts and legendary wrestlers/dodgers/sword/axe/armor-user/fighter and they have only killed the occasional thief and some snailmen (because I made them). Now, I'm a newb so can anyone give me advice on how to proceed. Oh and also, DF is an awesome game and I can't believe I had it for so long and didn't play it.
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Jase

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2012, 09:01:24 am »

Do you get Caravans? If not, then is suppose, you embarked on an island. If it's that the case, then you will never get any Sieges or Caravans, because you have no connection to the main land.
That, or you have simply no Goblins and Necromancer in your neighborhood. In both cases for more !!fun!!, strike the earth deeper.
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Aichuk

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2012, 09:06:11 am »

No, I get caravans coming to trade with me. And I occasionally get the goblin thief. Oh, and can u tell me where to obtain metal cuz I want a metal industry.
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hermes

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2012, 09:07:29 am »

Welcome!  Sounds like things are going well.  On metals and invaders, these are things that are important to check when you embark - where it'll tell you if there are any metals and their rough location, and what civilizations can reach your fortress.  But don't worry, you can trade for metal by having your craftsdwarf churn out lots of toys and rock goods.  The more wealth your fortress creates, the more it will attract the crows.  Try to increase the size of your military and equip everyone in and with metal.
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I've been working on this type of thing...

Ruhn

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2012, 09:14:13 am »

Dig Deeper sounds like good advice.  I suggest starting from an underground gatehouse system, or above ground outside your fortress entrance.

GiglameshDespair

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2012, 10:33:55 am »

Dig down into the cavern layers: that reveals a lot of space, so you may see veins of ore or even lava. In the caverns lurk dangerous beasts, and the deeper you go the more deadly they get. If nothing else, dig down to the magma sea and find candy or a clown car.
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StLeibowitz

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2012, 10:41:22 am »

When in doubt, invade hell and divert a river into it for fun. Or build a giant statue of Armok out of elf soap. Basically, set a ridiculous goal and try to achieve it; megaprojects are always a good idea!

On the lack of metal, it happens sometimes. The best thing to do in such a case would be to find some lava and start up an obsidian farm for swords, though in conjunction with the aforementioned megaprojects the magma sea might eliminate any need for metals completely (read Boatmurdered for some inspiration, if you haven't already.) Barring lava, enough cage traps stops practically anything from the surface.
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0cu

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2012, 10:54:40 am »

1. Create more wealth
2. Let some goblins escape
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!! (aka Ambushes and Sieges)

Goblins will always come sooner or later. My latest fort started seeing sieges at about 600k wealth. You could also just rob the elven caravan so they will siege you sooner or later.
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Berossus

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2012, 12:00:25 pm »

121.000 wealth is basically nothing i think, thats likely the reason youre not getting sieges.
Get rich, then slaughtered  ;)
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thegoatgod_pan

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2012, 02:36:21 am »

121.000 wealth is basically nothing i think, thats likely the reason youre not getting sieges.
Get rich, then slaughtered  ;)

This.  A single candy artifact is often worth more than 120,000. Three years in you are in your first boom phase, a few legendaries have appeared, life is nice. Expect something absolutely horrible to be on the horizon. If you dig into a cavern, expect something horrible around the corner :)
« Last Edit: October 27, 2012, 02:39:41 am by thegoatgod_pan »
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AutomataKittay

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Re: Where should my fortress go from now
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2012, 07:33:18 am »

121.000 wealth is basically nothing i think, thats likely the reason youre not getting sieges.
Get rich, then slaughtered  ;)

This.  A single candy artifact is often worth more than 120,000. Three years in you are in your first boom phase, a few legendaries have appeared, life is nice. Expect something absolutely horrible to be on the horizon. If you dig into a cavern, expect something horrible around the corner :)

Even non-artifact fortress ( I plays with artifacts off ) can hit more than 120,000 in less than a year if I keeps busy, particularly with cloth stuffs. From there on it's pretty much explosive until industrial capacity hits it's limit ( either in planting, processing, or clothier's output ). Having a million a year by end of five or six year occasionally happens if I'm keeping busy :D

Raw start fortress, starting from ores and some wood instead of tools with other supplies, takes a year or two longer to set up but the idea's there.
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