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Author Topic: Realistic Immigration Challenge  (Read 1205 times)

Hotaru

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Realistic Immigration Challenge
« on: September 26, 2014, 02:52:58 am »

Has this been done? A challenge where you're only allowed to keep the labors migrants bring with them.

In real life, you don't have an overseer. You can't just tell immigrants what to do. Nor do they become legendary stonecrafters in a year if you tell them to. They instead come bringing whatever their skills are.

The challenge: play it out like in life. Your starting seven are only allowed the basic survival skills of farming, brewing, woodcutting/carpentry and mining. You are not allowed at any point to adjust dwarf labors, other than hauling and other labors without associated skills. If you want a smith, wait until one immigrates.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2014, 03:05:55 am by Hotaru »
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It is said knowledge is like a foul-smelling herb. It must be cooked well and thoroughly with experience to make it palatable. A young scholar's knowledge is therefore not only worthless but disgusting. -- In Dwarf Fortress you have another paradigm. Gather as much of that smelly herb as you can and toss it at your enemy, fracturing his skull through the +capybara man leather cap+.

Orange Wizard

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2014, 03:42:27 am »

Well, it depends on the government system. A dictator could quite easily declare X person must do Y job. Granted, that's beside the point, and you've just given me a fantastic idea for my next fortress.

I foresee many idlers and many, many military recruits.
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Koremu

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2014, 04:21:05 am »

You'd have to have some plan for dealing with kids when they grow up.

Perhaps kids are only allowed to learn a skill that another fortress dweller already has, as if they were learning Master & Apprentice style?
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Hotaru

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2014, 05:26:55 am »

You'd have to have some plan for dealing with kids when they grow up.

Perhaps kids are only allowed to learn a skill that another fortress dweller already has, as if they were learning Master & Apprentice style?

Ah yes. My forts rarely make it so far that you'd have a lot of children growing up, mostly due to boredom and FPS issues.

Here's three suggestions:

1. The reward model
  • Children that grow up in the fortress, unless already skilled, are allowed to enable and train in any one skill
  • Justification: makes it more meaningful for the player. Allows a fortress that has had bad migrant luck to compensate, even stabilize.
  • Disadvantage: doesn't "make sense" in realist terms.

2. The family lines model
  • Children that grow up in the fortress, unless already skilled, enable all skills that their parents have enabled, having ostensibly learned the basics from them
  • Justification: more realistic narrative for how dwarves learn skills. Still allows fortress to develop over time.
  • Disadvantage: labor intensive for the player, as you need to pay attention to any child's heritage and look up the parents' skills.

3. Dark ages realism
  • Children of peasants do not enable any skills. Children of farmers may enable farming skills. Children of craftsdwarves and skilled workers may apprentice any one craftsdwarf skill that is already present in the fortress. Children of nobles and administrators must be appointed to noble positions, replacing lower-class dwarves if possible, else enlist in the military or guard as captains if possible, else be freed of all labor (living off their heritage) and given a title. Regardless of their fate, children of nobles qualify as nobles. Children of military dwarves apply the rules of their parents' peacetime profession. If a dwarf has parents of two different social classes, choose one, except in case of any noble parentage, always apply the noble rule.
  • Justification: cool. Challenging. Gives strong narrative elements.
  • Disadvantage: complex rules, although somewhat less labor intensive. Leads to even more build-up of useless dwarves and haulers.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2014, 05:33:52 am by Hotaru »
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It is said knowledge is like a foul-smelling herb. It must be cooked well and thoroughly with experience to make it palatable. A young scholar's knowledge is therefore not only worthless but disgusting. -- In Dwarf Fortress you have another paradigm. Gather as much of that smelly herb as you can and toss it at your enemy, fracturing his skull through the +capybara man leather cap+.

Tacomagic

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2014, 08:17:14 am »

Has this been done? A challenge where you're only allowed to keep the labors migrants bring with them.

In real life, you don't have an overseer. You can't just tell immigrants what to do. Nor do they become legendary stonecrafters in a year if you tell them to. They instead come bringing whatever their skills are.

The challenge: play it out like in life. Your starting seven are only allowed the basic survival skills of farming, brewing, woodcutting/carpentry and mining. You are not allowed at any point to adjust dwarf labors, other than hauling and other labors without associated skills. If you want a smith, wait until one immigrates.

That's pretty much what I've been doing with the Skill Lock Challenege.

I made a few concessions beyond just skill locking, though.  Specifically:I allowed masters at their skill to take apprentices.
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ThrowerOfStones

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2014, 09:13:41 am »

I'm not really sure how it is unrealistic for dwarves to learn new skills. You can learn new skills in real life.
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Trollhammaren

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2014, 10:28:21 am »

I'm not really sure how it is unrealistic for dwarves to learn new skills. You can learn new skills in real life.

You can learn new skills, but becoming legendary takes a lifetime in one profession. You can learn to play piano chords easily, but you generally don't learn to be a great concert pianist if you didn't start young. Or if you do, you don't also learn to be a great blacksmith and a doctor in one life. Exceptions exist but are rare.

GavJ

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2014, 11:23:02 am »

You're giving dwarves "free" food and lodging and booze.

In reality, it simply isn't actually free, but comes with a demand of complete obedience to the overseer.

Which is I'd say reasonably accurate feudal government.
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Dwarf fortress in 50 words: You start with seven alcoholic, manic-depressive dwarves. You build a fortress in the wilderness where EVERYTHING tries to kill you, including your own dwarves. Usually, your chief imports are immigrants, beer, and optimism. Your chief exports are misery, limestone violins, forest fires, elf tallow soap, and carved kitten bone.

§k

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2014, 01:35:08 am »

A player-fort is the bermuda triangle in a df world. Your not part of the reality once you migrate to it.
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exdeathbr

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Re: Realistic Immigration Challenge
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2014, 07:07:23 am »

In my opinion should be the default on DF.

Df generate world, this include civilizations.
Years continue to progress.
After some amount of time some group (or just one guy) decide to migrate from their civilization because of reasons (and not just forced unrealistic migration to allow game to be played).
World generation will stop and will ask if player want to play with those guys, if they say no, world generation will continue until a new group decide to migrate from a civilization.
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