Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 ... 11 12 [13] 14 15 ... 109

Author Topic: Smallhands - nearly 40 years and still tiny!  (Read 402589 times)

Salmeuk

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #180 on: March 26, 2020, 07:14:56 pm »

This fort handled the zombie apocalypse better than most of the forts I've read about.
Well, the doors around the main stairwell and the abundance elsewhere were really the saving grace of the fort; I don’t think it could have survived without them.

I'd like to take credit for that, thank you. . further proof you cannot over-door a fortress.

She has a bit of a tragic backstory. Enthep was a soldier for the Confederations of Searing and spent most of her adult life fighting in campaigns against the fort of Cactushexes. She and her childhood friend Oma Empiresbright became lovers when she was 14. Oma was the general of their nation and it was his influence that lead to her becoming a soldier. Unbeknownst to Enthep, Oma had been corrupted by one of the necromancers and was working for them in secret. He used his position and his lover's trust to rope Enthep into their schemes. However, this caused friction between them and the pair broke up a few years later. Just two years after that, Enthep, who had fought in dozens of battles at this point, was killed, while surrounded by her fellow soldiers, by an insignificant goblin whose only other kill was a dog. Was it simply bad luck, or something more sinister? All we know is that her body somehow came into the possession of the master necromancer, Ushrir Summitpalace. He was the one who resurrected her in her current ghoulish form, and made her a lieutenant in his armies.

I love how DF generates backstories that are that both tragic and banal and the same time.

Also, remember the second forgotten beast in my turn that ended up killing itself? How I mentioned that everybody that came to the fortress under my rule seemed to lack the will to live, or at least a basic survival instinct?
Well I took a look at it in legends...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I swear, at this point I feel like the game is just messing with me...

As near as I can tell this fortress was cursed from the start!
Logged

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #181 on: March 26, 2020, 09:41:54 pm »

We were sent by the Queen into this forsaken land - the desert of furs, plain of black sand, bordering accursed marshes. But even here dwarves prevailed! Thanks to heroic deeds of Nogood and Salmeuk Smallhands survived! And Laterigrade. And so many others.

But we will not only survive! We will not let necromancers to turn us into mindless beasts! This place will be famous as a place where we dwarves not only resisted but also flourished!

Though, for now, hauling piles of bodies is more important than filling bookshelves of our new library.

Location of crypt so close to surface with regular visits from necromancers seems to not be optimal. But construction already started and being grumpy now is a bit late. And we really should put valiant dwarves into proper graves. Rather than letting them rot in a refuse heap.

The surface is filled with undead, goblins, undead goblins. Caverns filled with forgotten beasts, coming and going. Aztong and Amxu. Now they are replaced by Pelese Soakedmuck - a crocodile with poisonous gas. And Buqui the Shadows of Vise alligator with fire breath.

Now we see that previous visitors were peaceful and harmless. Even siege on the surface was scared by their appearance and finally left.


(nothing really interesting happened for now - for over half of year dwarves were installing coffins and carrying bodies)
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 05:39:43 am by mko »
Logged

Laterigrade

  • Bay Watcher
  • Is that a crab with
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #182 on: March 27, 2020, 01:49:55 am »

Thanks to heroic deeds of Nogood and Salmeuk Smallhands survived!
Forgotten so soon after my death  :(

Jokes aside, thanks for the update mko!
Logged
and the quadriplegic toothless vampire killed me effortlessly after that
bool IsARealBoy = false
dropping clothes to pick up armor and then dropping armor to pick up clothes like some sort of cyclical forever-striptease
if a year passes, add one to age; social experiment

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #183 on: March 27, 2020, 05:29:00 am »

Thanks to heroic deeds of Nogood and Salmeuk Smallhands survived!
Forgotten so soon after my death  :(

Jokes aside, thanks for the update mko!
Dammit, I was going for "not-as-smart-as-he-thinks-to-be" but that got lost in rewrite.

BTW, if you see any grammar/writing issues: please tell me.

EDIT: sort-of-added
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 12:47:01 pm by mko »
Logged

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #184 on: March 27, 2020, 12:59:02 pm »

But it appears that our location is famous for being dangerous, merchants prefer to lie rather than to visit us.



But we will work together, even if cowardly merchants are scared to even enter our fort. Many improvements were achieved. Our duty to the dead is in large part complete and dead bodies were almost all moved into graces. Fields will be now active for the entire year rather than a small part of it. And tree farm, just under surface will be a complete success and will solve our lack of wood!

Standing orders to produce daily necessities were issued: crutches, beds, mechanisms, blocks, coffers, wheelbarrows, mugs, paper... And coffins. Forgotten beasts block the second layer of caverns, but closeable access tunnel was constructed to get us ready to retake them.

And merchants? To hell with them, we can survive alone! Some are telling me that I should be more polite toward visitors, but after this disrespect, they do not deserve a proper reply.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And my approach was rewarded by the appearance of new migrants that were not so easily scared. Even an experienced armorsmith was interested in becoming part of Smallhands! She proposed a solution to our lack of wood. Dig deeper, and use magma. We were unfamiliar with this kind of project so it takes far longer than expected. Ans I can see why high master armorsmith ended in our not-so-prestigious (for now!) fortress. I prefer to focus on that she has no trouble with cramped bedroom, and she is just a bit unfriendly. Not angry, just a bit too focused on her goal.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)


-----

I needed far too much time to notice that trade depot is marked as forbidden. What first caused wagon to bypass our location and later left me scratching my head what is wrong and trying many different things.  And once fixed broker continues a traditional dance of "eat", "no job", "sleep", "no job", "drink". To make it more embarrassing I dwarved myself as this broker/manager/wannabe scholar. Though there is still no spare hauling capacity, as hauling bodies is not completed.

At least I added hind to wiki what may be going wrong like I added documentation about echidna bug - see https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Special:Contributions/Mko

And fort now seems now far more alive with temples, praying, various activities. Far more than in pre-tavern version that I played.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 01:20:11 pm by mko »
Logged

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #185 on: March 27, 2020, 01:57:19 pm »

This year was exhausting. And that was even with being probably the luckiest leader. It concluded with a strong growth of our population, without even a single death. I had far more ambitious plans. Tree farm that is sadly too small to really matter, but library seems to be a promising project. And third layer of caverns was reached.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But I will leave exploring it to next overseer. Similarly to my broker and manager duties.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And I have a plan to improve our life here by inventing a more reliable pulley system organization. It may take long time but I will complete this project!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

----------------------------------------

I think that we are securely locked in. Work orders may be quite messy, I let dwarves to try new experience (AKA setup good strange moods).

shift + F7 gets you to location of magma. Starting armor/weapon crafting there is likely a good idea (or pumping magma to the surface?).
We are running out of wood. I tried to start magma forges but have not managed to complete this project. Channels, fortification filters should be ready. But there are some gems/rocks there that should be hauled away.

shift + F8 goes to my pet project, library. I would appreciate if at least my dwarf could be kept as scholar, maybe with someone to accompany him. Note "needs" tab in dwarf therapist - column "think abstractly" (second from the right side). I assigned to scholars dwarves with clear need to be them.

Corpses on surface are not collected, I have not figured out how to check whatever vile goo is currently raining.

We also really should have soap in our hospital.

We need to produce more clothes some dwarves have clothes that are failing apart

And other less critical projects: improving housing, reenabling smoothing labors, removing zombie murdercamels, proper dining room, eliminate upper hospital, increase military...

I also made preparations to drop creatures into caverns, to fight with forgotten beasts for us. And empty cages. Pit locations have hotkeys shift + F1, shift + F2.Drop into caverns needs to be channeled, pit zone created and closing bridges tested.

-----------------------------------------

I'm chomping at the bit to play.

Save: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=14970

(note, save got noticeable smaller - uncompressed dropped from 11 to 8 MB, compared to the initial, and mid-year saves. Should I be worried? I noticed this during uploading, game played fine.)

I also want to play again!
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 02:11:02 pm by mko »
Logged

delphonso

  • Bay Watcher
  • menaces with spikes of pine
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #186 on: March 27, 2020, 08:58:43 pm »

Save seems alright. I loaded it up and tried to figure out where and what everything is. Still not totally sure. The tree farms are a nice addition - with the cavern and the farms you built, we might be able to keep ourselves good on wood. If I'm right, there's a bug that says underground trees only grow 1 z-level up, so all of this is helpful as you really only get one log per tree.

Christ, these are some nasty forgotten beasts... My usual strategy is to build fortifications and shoot them to death slowly - but with poisonous breath and fire, that's not an option...

Well done with a nice stable turn, mko - pretty damn fast! I'll get started soon. I noticed we have 150 pig-tail seeds, so cloth might be something we can manage. We also have...250 eggs.

My goals: fix labors, build a special something, increase military outfit.

auzewasright

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #187 on: March 27, 2020, 09:12:49 pm »

Save seems alright. I loaded it up and tried to figure out where and what everything is.
I downloaded the save and it seems to be buried in multiple folders (Smallhands-after-mko -> Desktop (folder name, not actual desktop)-> Dwarf fortress-> ??? -> actual save folder).
Edit:

Christ, these are some nasty forgotten beasts... My usual strategy is to build fortifications and shoot them to death slowly - but with poisonous breath and fire, that's not an option...

Well done with a nice stable turn, mko - pretty damn fast! I'll get started soon. I noticed we have 150 pig-tail seeds, so cloth might be something we can manage. We also have...250 eggs.

My goals: fix labors, build a special something, increase military outfit.
For the forgotten beasts, just hand over the turn to me and watch them die (do NOT do this). It seems we don't have any actual material for the scholars to write books on, so maybe start producing those.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 09:21:50 pm by auzewasright »
Logged
On a fun note, all of the beds just starting disintegrating
By the way, it (my name) is pronounced "ah-zee".

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #188 on: March 27, 2020, 09:17:42 pm »

Save seems alright. I loaded it up and tried to figure out where and what everything is.
I downloaded the save and it seems to be buried in multiple folders (Smallhands-after-mko -> Desktop (folder name, not actual desktop)-> Dwarf fortress-> ??? -> actual save folder).
Ops, sorry. Apparently rar decided to record entire folder structure. Fortunately nothing sensitive is there.


Save seems alright. I loaded it up and tried to figure out where and what everything is. Still not totally sure. The tree farms are a nice addition - with the cavern and the farms you built, we might be able to keep ourselves good on wood. If I'm right, there's a bug that says underground trees only grow 1 z-level up, so all of this is helpful as you really only get one log per tree.
So emptying space for trees to grow up was 100% pointless. At least I have not wasted time to do the same in walled of section of caverns.

Christ, these are some nasty forgotten beasts... My usual strategy is to build fortifications and shoot them to death slowly - but with poisonous breath and fire, that's not an option...
Result of process "new FB comes in, fights with current resident, stronger wins". At this rate we may end Age of Myth in this world. Maybe dropping army of caged zombies will work, that is why I prepared pits. And the third level may be viable for taking.

And occasional fire across cavern and !!cavern residents!! are quite interesting. Also, I learned that burning units have special display in unit list.

Well done with a nice stable turn, mko - pretty damn fast!
:) At least I was fast and fortress survived and even grown a bit!
« Last Edit: March 27, 2020, 09:28:13 pm by mko »
Logged

auzewasright

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #189 on: March 27, 2020, 09:28:01 pm »


Christ, these are some nasty forgotten beasts... My usual strategy is to build fortifications and shoot them to death slowly - but with poisonous breath and fire, that's not an option...
Result of process "new FB comes in, fights with current resident, stronger wins". Maybe dropping army of caged zombies will work, that is why I preapared pits.
Remember that if all else fails, just restore these lines back to vanilla:
We have one caged echidna, and Laterigrade's labyrinth has a few more. Drop them in and enjoy the show: Whoever loses, we win.
Logged
On a fun note, all of the beds just starting disintegrating
By the way, it (my name) is pronounced "ah-zee".

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #190 on: March 27, 2020, 09:29:27 pm »

Fire is (according to bug report notes) one of few things that will destroy bugged zombie echidnas.


BTW, Laterigrade's labyrinth was unbelievably confusing. Big part seemed to be a dead end without entrance from outside.
Logged

auzewasright

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #191 on: March 27, 2020, 09:37:45 pm »

Fire is (according to bug report notes) one of few things that will destroy bugged zombie echidnas.
Whoever loses, we win.

Obviously that is for when we run out of things to throw at it, if only because catching the echidnas after releasing them is a pain, and we only have so many until the next horde arrives.
Logged
On a fun note, all of the beds just starting disintegrating
By the way, it (my name) is pronounced "ah-zee".

delphonso

  • Bay Watcher
  • menaces with spikes of pine
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #192 on: March 27, 2020, 09:44:39 pm »

I spent a while trying to remember what 'kolejka' is in Polish. I knew it wasn't downloads or the usual files...

The cavern is chocked full of corpses. The surface too... Might be beneficial to drop a necromancer down there instead. But that risks undead FBs.

Trees need 2z-levels total, that's why normal forts don't get trees after piercing the cavern, as farms are almost always 1 level. So definitely not a total waste of time.

I'm going to use this labyrinth for something, I guess.

mko

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #193 on: March 27, 2020, 10:12:32 pm »

I spent a while trying to remember what 'kolejka' is in Polish. I knew it wasn't downloads or the usual files...
kolejka = queue (folder on my desktop with lower priority files)

The cavern is chocked full of corpses. The surface too... Might be beneficial to drop a necromancer down there instead. But that risks undead FBs.
Ooo, you can have undead FB?

Hopefully zombies will kill FB, and then zombies can be disposed with ranged weapons (I assume that this is the plan?).
Logged

delphonso

  • Bay Watcher
  • menaces with spikes of pine
    • View Profile
Re: Smallhands - a small fort for small computers (small overseers wanted!)
« Reply #194 on: March 27, 2020, 10:29:48 pm »

Ranged weapons do little against undead - piercing doesn't do much if they can't feel pain or bleed out. Blunt or chopping will be needed. Perhaps some weapon traps can help us out here...

Not sure. I still haven't decided if I'll take the caverns or the surface.
Pages: 1 ... 11 12 [13] 14 15 ... 109