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Author Topic: Smallhands - nearly 40 years and still tiny!  (Read 402548 times)

Radiofort

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1155 on: July 01, 2021, 09:38:19 pm »

Been busy for a while. Nice developement of events!
Wait, we lost a quarter of our populace, yet still have 44 living ?
That means we had 60 dwarves ! Someone tweaked the pop_cap maybe :/
Honestly, I don't think that maintaining pop cap is that much important anymore, as Smallhands already rushed it's purpose from "FPS-friendly fort for weak machines" through "necro-researching dwarven Black Mesa" to "just purely Armok-damn awesome". There's a lot of cool events and overbearings ahead, so we'll probably need every single dwarf on this fucking planet to complete some of them.
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StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1156 on: July 02, 2021, 09:36:06 am »

Got the save, now to see where DF was 'installed' on my hard-drive... been a while.
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recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1157 on: July 02, 2021, 11:38:47 am »

good luck strika!
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StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1158 on: July 04, 2021, 02:12:49 pm »

SmallHands, 177

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

Spring.

177.01.01

Zultan, captain of the guard, performs her duty: she notifies the overseer that a citizen named Morul is drowsy:


There’s no need to be alarmed: Morul is the latest victim of the fort, and has been babbling nonsense for at least a few months. I take it upon myself to resolve the matter in a permanent fashion: I lock the door to Morul’s prison cell.


Most citizens have some piece of tattered clothing, myself included. It would be trivial to throw it in the old atom smasher, but I’ll indulge in the world’s most pathetic vendetta: I want this garbage to burn!

And I found the perfect spot, too: in the old ballista room, someone has built a 3-levels tall drop on top of a tile of magma; presumably, for this exact purpose. There was no dump zone on top, though; the magic of paperwork establishes one, and then all citizens are issued orders to dump tattered clothes. Then I do the same myself; that was surprisingly satisfying!


As for the rest of the fort, we were ‘blessed’ with a giant pile of garbage from the last siege. Being part of a siege, it was marked as forbidden for access, and nobody has updated the records despite the entire year that has passed. Most of it is crude iron armor, the only armor that goblins know how to make. Between the low quality and the smears of ash that were once greenskins and traitors, no sane dwarf wants to wear it. It will be melted down to bars, and turned to steel.


Appreciating the Tall Bar and its frothy magma top. But are there some obvious shortcomings?

1. Pump #2 doesn’t have access; will it be powered from below/above?


2. Pumps #3 to #7 have the same (apparent?) design flaw: there’s a wall tile missing, allowing magma to seep between the pump and the wall:


Perhaps this isn’t a flaw: it’s possible that magma moves fast enough that it never has a chance to flow outside. Still, we’re one tired pump operator away from an entirely undesired magma flood, as opposed to the desired one that should come after the mug top is filled. With respect to the Tall Bar, a dedicated access stair will be made off to the right side, and all possible leaks will be plugged.

3. On the levels where pumps #8 #9 and #10 should have been, there is nothing; only the space for them, and some iron pump components; I hurry to re-issue orders of construction, making sure to specify gabbro blocks in addition to the iron corkscrews and pipes.


Despite not being the most technically-inclined dwarfette, I can at least draw inspiration from the other magma pump in SmallHands; the one that’s bringing the blood of the stone from the depths to the blighted surface. That one has a very clear “wall and gear assembly” structure, for as far down as can be seen. I shall endeavour to replicate it for the 10 pumps of the Tall Bar.


4. Pump #10 is of particular interest: was it supposed to be connected to a windmill? There is no record of such, but if it ever was, the wooden axle has definitely burnt when the magma was released.


5. And speaking of windmills! There are records of the fort having 4 windmills to power the stack; only 1 has survived:


Obviously the remainder will get built as well; but looking at this 11th level, I can’t help but think: was there supposed to be a pump in here as well? Was the Tall Bar intended to be double-frothy?

At least the operation instructions have been clear enough: go to the Tall Bar, pull the east lever to fill the top of the bar with magma, pull the west lever to make that magma flow!

Apropos of nothing: “pull the east lever to fill the top of the bar with magma” has got to be one of the most stereotypically dwarven sentences I have ever written. I have no regrets. None whatsoever. Years ago I would have, but I’ve lived here for a decade; SmallHands changes you!

Regardless; my next focus is in the smithy; there’s much iron crap to melt, and very little coal and flux to turn it into steel. The quantum stockpile for miserable metal paraphernalia has been destroyed, at some point or another; now it’s been reinstated, and a large stockpile for flux stone joins it as well.


Some flux stone from out of the way is marked for digging. All trees are being marked for cutting, both in the third cavern, and in the ‘surface’ tree farm that I have dug out in my first mandate. Wasn’t I clever? Wasn’t I, oh naysayers of mine?!?

If the existing number of logs is still insufficient, I’ll organize a logging force from the dwarves already afflicted by the fever; these can cut out all trees in the goop area, and bring them over in the fort, after thorough washing of course.

And it’s almost not even notable that we have acquired a bunch of new guests:


Unfortunately for them, they’ve arrived in the east, straight in the ‘goop zone’. They are completely isolated, have been immediately infested by the cursed fever, and the greatest impact they’ve had so far is to shoot a giant black bird over our passable territory. Thanks for the meat, I suppose.


Any half-formed ideas to send the army against them were immediately dismissed: the risk of smearing our soldiers with the damnable goo is far too high. The greenskins can sit at the foot of the necro tower, and maybe haul some goop back to their revolting dark pit. It’s nothing less than they deserve.

That should be the preliminary plotting done, now there’s nothing left but labor.

177.02.17 Morul has finally perished. May he find peace.

177.03.05 The 'melt pile' has been suspended; while there's still plenty of metal crap to move to it, hauling all of them is taking too much of our time. We'll take a break; coal and flux are our primary bottleneck anyway, not iron bars.

On a related subject, the goblins also have copper, and we have remarkable amounts of cassiterite. Perhaps we can supplement our lack of steel with some bronze? I do believe it's only slightly less effective than steel, and more effective than iron anyway.

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

OOC: Spring has almost passed, entirely with fort maintenance. Once I get some feedback, I'll figure out how to alter the pump stack on the side of the Tall Bar.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2021, 04:34:54 am by StrikaAmaru »
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recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1159 on: July 04, 2021, 04:43:08 pm »

An amazing first post and damn, high praise for the magma owo and from Malfoy no less. I'll try and clarify the design of these things

1. All of the pump stack is powered from the pump above where teh windmills were supposed to connect to a gear assembly and from there the towers thereby eliminating the need for axle/gear machinery
Pump #2 specifically was the original site of the staircase before I realised the security flaw and started building from the top instead.

2. The pumps were built in such a way as the magma flows upwards in one single tick eliminating most leakage apart from the machinery pump which did leak after a replacement order was forgotten to be issued for the part of the wall that was missing. Each pump was to have an access port with two spaces and an up/down staircase with the pumps nearest the ground having an additional wall to avoid climbers.

Unfortuantely, due to time pressures, the access ports (which were to have two floodgates each) were not completed and the walls weren't filled in as quickly as hoped

3. The access to the pump stack was by a staircase under the windmills which led across to the 1st pump below the machinery. This was a safety precaution to avoid magma leaking onto workers. 8 9 and 10 were broken due to an oversight regarding magma proof mechanisms and were not replaced by the last overseer.

4. It was connected to 5 windmills though it seems I neglected to include a drawing of the full mechanisms



5. I also forgot to get this diagram of the windmills working. Each windmill was on top of a gear assembly
« Last Edit: July 04, 2021, 04:45:12 pm by recon1o6 »
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StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1160 on: July 05, 2021, 01:41:35 am »

Thanks, Recon! this will be a great help when rebuilding.
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King Zultan

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1161 on: July 05, 2021, 03:43:05 am »

Soon the magma will flow once more!
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delphonso

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1162 on: July 06, 2021, 01:57:57 am »

Great update, Strika! The Tall Bar shall bubble ever onward.

StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1163 on: July 09, 2021, 04:33:00 am »

177.04.15 The human caravan has arrived, alongside a diplomat - the Keeper of the Seal. Oddly, an elven diplomat has arrived as well; nobody knows if she’s been hiding on the map for the entirety of spring, or if she’s really just arrived three months late. She’s used her longer stride to reach the baron’s quarters ahead of the human, and started blustering about their beloved trees. She must have caught the baron in a good mood, because she did get her agreement of 162 trees.

The human diplomat arrived just as the obnoxious elf was leaving; she took the scenic route through SmallHands, then she made some small chat and said her official goodbyes. Then she went to the catacombs to pay her respects to the dead. I ask the military to covertly follow her, just in case she turns out to be some necromancer.

177.05.01 We trade with the human caravan; pickings are spectacularly small. We get a few bars, some unusual booze, and a few books in exchange for worn clothes. The trade barely reaches 3000 dorfbucks. One positive conclusion emerges from this trade, though: we have plenty of clothes stashed in bins, so any worries on that front can be put to rest.

177.05.05 Four adult dwarves have arrived as migrants, and we are now 46. Two of them are accomplished in their skills (farmer and potash maker), but there’s little work for them in SmallHands. At least the potash maker, Zan PolishedManor, is an adequate ambusher, so she’s recruited as the latest member of The Swamp Hunters.

(ooc: a level 10 potash maker got recruited because of her level 2 ambush skill; also removed from all tasks so she can train a bit).

Since the fort’s basic survival is covered, I decide to focus on The Tall Bar. Some construction designations are made for an enclosed ladder access, and the windmill complex is rebuilt; with 6 windmills instead of the original 5, it will be a bit overpowered. But better more power than less.



In the meantime, I’m testing the levers, and find out the “magma fill” one is not connected to anything. This cements my intent to put the magma fill on the second level of the frothy top.


'Magma release' is fully functional: all 15 floodgates on the lower level opened without any problem, and a cursory look shows all of them having only magma-safe components.
 

The underground magma pump is a bit more puzzling: there is one gear marked “main disconnect”, but there is no lever to manipulate it.


Controls for this stack consist of 4 levers, the leftmost of which is labeled as ‘startup’… among other things.


I pull it, and the water reactor slowly grinds to life. The channel with magma gets filled to full capacity, which sounds like a successful test. The reactor gets shut down again, until it’s time to fill the reservoir.

(ooc: holy fuck, the reactor completely murders FPS. As in, 1-2; slideshow mode. Dwarven movement ends up in a strange pattern where an individual ‘sits still’ for a few seconds, then rapidly moves some 10 tiles; then stands still again. I’m genuinely curious if this is how other people’s computers react too).

177.06.14 The windmills are completed; I indulged a bit and made each of them from a different wood color.


There’s a new lever added below the froth, which can disconnect the windmills from the pump stack:




I strongly recommend you keep the upper stack unpowered when the lower one is unpowered too; besides mechanical concerns, if it runs alone it can empty the magma channels dug underground through the aquifer, and that causes a chance of an obsidian blockage. So what I’m getting at: start underground stack, start aboveground stack, wait for reservoir to fill, shut down aboveground stack, shut down underground stack.

177.07.24 Success!


27th:


(ooc: The stack was shut down around 08-01; the whole fill op took around 20 real-life minutes, I really can’t stress enough that running the Engine is going to crater your FPS).

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

“Hey Salmeuk”?

“Yes?”

“Why did you indulge that idiot elf about the tree cap?

“Because it amused me”.

“...”

“Malfoy. Are there 162 trees in the entirety of SmallHands? On the surface, in the third cave, in the second cave, and in the first cave where Buqui still fries everything it sees? Hell, do we even have half of that”?

And Salmeuk is staring at me while grinning, the cheeky shit, because we both know the answer:

“There are maybe 300-350 trees total, but most of them are in the caverns where we’d have to fight forgotten beasts to get to them. Plus, the tree farm and the third cavern got clear cut during spring and aren’t included in the cap”.

Now it’s my turn to stare; disparagingly tho.

“And this amuses you”?

“Yes, it does”, he answered without any hesitation. ”It amuses me that she thinks she’s any sort of diplomat. It amuses me that we’re ‘negotiating’ up and up and up, and that she’s giving us far more than we can use, while she thinks she’s winning. It amuses me that she thinks she’s limiting and hampering us. It amuses me just how badly she keeps failing.

I take a long drag of my beer. “Yeah, that is kinda funny”.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2021, 06:07:10 am by StrikaAmaru »
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recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1164 on: July 09, 2021, 11:31:25 am »

Journal of the Tavern Keeper 28th of Galena 177

After a small break of a year, the Frothy Fire has been refilled! MWUHAHAHAHA! SMALLHANDS WILL BE THE LIGHT IN THE GOBLIN FILLED ABYSS

As much as I hated Malfoy over the years for her callous murder, undwarvenly experiments and knocking down some of my previous stockpile walls, she's become my 4th favourite member of the fort. Hearing and then seeing the might of the earth swell and flow onto the roof of my tavern once more made me a very happy Tavern Keeper.

She even looked at my original plans and instead of ripping them to bits like she did her patients a few years ago, she instead approved and even sought out my council in fixing it. Even more shockingly, she improved upon them and most unusual of all, listened!

An overseer listening to another's instructions on their megaproject? Unheard of!


It is a pity I didn't get round to making that statue order to celebrate
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StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1165 on: July 10, 2021, 10:44:10 am »

Autumn & Winter

Last month we finished the Tall Bar pump stack and filled the magma reservoir, which understandably eclipsed all other events. I should probably mention, then, that we also traded with the dwarven caravan, but it was even worse than the human caravan: we only barely purchased 2,000 ☼ worth of knick-knacks, in exchange for some 9,000 ☼ of rags from the bins with finished goods.

This leaves me with five more months of rule, and a choice of project of my own. I choose to create a cistern that can flood the tree farm, since all that tree cutting is eventually damaging the soil layer.

That, and to clean up the surface. Given our reduced numbers, that counts as a project on its own.

177.08.26 A migrant has arrived; one Urist, accomplished animal caretaker and adept woodburner.

On the same day, SmallHands’ military received a terrible, if indirect, blow: our legendary armorsmith, Sodel PonderTreaty, was found to be feverish. As such, he was immediately removed from armorsmithing. His replacement is none other than Recon himself, who’s a competent armorsmith. Recon was removed from all other jobs, and sent to hone his skills on the fort’s plentiful reserves of copper.

In absolute terms, Bluarian is a slightly better armorsmith, being skilled; but he is also the fort’s best weaponsmith (master, at that) and I am hesitant to put all my eggs in one basket. Strange moods are not an issue; both Recon and Bluarian have had theirs.

177.09.24 The cistern for flooding the tree farm has been completed; it’s a three-level affair, and I hope the pressure will compensate for the large area that needs to be irrigated.




It’s sealed by one of our green glass floodgates; the lever to control it is above the farm itself, sat right next to the wall guarding the 4-story drop to ground level.


177.09.26 All outdoor access is restricted. Should we happen to get some invaders, the top of the Tall Bar may become empty once more.

(Oh please show up, you utter wastes of flesh… DimpleSteal has 6,000 greenskins, DoorEnded has 4,000; we cannot win a straight fight with them).

177.10.07 No invasion attempt was made; best drop the bridge, and carry on with clearing the surface.

177.11.14 Did you know somebody brought us a really shitty artifact sword? Made of wood? Its existence became apparent as the cleaning of the surface progressed; being an artifact, nobody would touch it for dumping. Here it is, about 20 tiles from the outer gate:



Just to get the stupid thing indoors, a new stockpile is defined, somewhere in the bowels of SmallHands; it only accepts artifacts, and is labeled as such:


177.12.01 The surface is clean:


And with this out of the way, I declare the remaining month as time off. All job assignments will be temporarily suspended, let us drink and be merry.

Well, except for a few farmers; I have a curiosity, and at last there’s enough time to explore it. You see, the aboveground farming area is spectacularly limited. Not in terms of space, we could make enough farms to feed DimpleSteal itself, if we so desired. No, it’s limited in terms of what plants can be seeded:


The goop zone, however, is in a different biome, so it would stand to reason it has different plants it can grow. So, I’ve asked farmers to build a small farm plot in the only zone that’s shielded from the damnable goo -- the footprint of the tower:


Sure enough, far more could be grown here. And hey, for a few of them we even have seeds!


I won’t order any planting, so be easy; this was a simple curiosity. We have alcohol for the next 2 years at least, and unprocessed plants for probably the same time. More accurately: about 1,200 thread plants to process, ~2,500 various brewables, and some 1,500 dye plants; mostly dimple cups, but a few hide root tubers too. No, we don’t need any more plants; we need millers, plant processors, and dyers.


177.12.21 While everyone is still in dulci jubilo, the next year is looming; I order the outer gate closed. And then I go off to get properly drunk.

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

Here’s the save, on the 25th of Opal.

All dwarves are still unassigned from all jobs (except some hauling) and socializing their beards off. The 13 dorfs who are afflicted by fever have their Alchemy turned on. Recon, fortress armorer, went from level 3 all the way to level 7; then the party started. The surface is clean, the gate is closed, and raws got reverted from Phoebus to vanilla. Enjoy!

And before I forget: a StoneSense shot of the surface:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Salmeuk

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1166 on: July 10, 2021, 01:52:47 pm »

Huh. That screenshot revealed something to me. I guess I never finished putting up those iron statues of every overseer since the beginning.
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recon1o6

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1167 on: July 10, 2021, 06:56:02 pm »

I know I had a statue taken down due to it being a duplicate (mko has only the one reign so far)

and damn, another smith lost to the goo. Recon at this point is gonna be legendary in at least 5 skills. Dyeing, Clothier, Tactics, Crossbowship and soon armoursmithing

it appears the goblins transferred 3000 greenskins to Doorended. Dimplesteal has usually been at 9000-11000

The tallbar is no longer a mug, but a mug underneath an ale tap. fitting


a quiet but very productive turn strika, a pleasure to read. Thank you!
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Radiofort

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1168 on: July 11, 2021, 08:09:42 pm »

Sorry, folks, I'm too busy looking for a new job and have to skip this time.
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StrikaAmaru

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Re: Smallhands - it's like a tiny home but filled with ghouls
« Reply #1169 on: July 12, 2021, 02:01:18 am »

By the way, I'd like a(nother) spot on the overseer list. I have some ideas now.

One of which requires community permission: would you agree with sending a squad to occupy one of the smaller goblin holdings? The last time I did this(not in SmallHands; it was in Sil Kodor), the Dark Pit responded by sending 1,000+ goblins to retake it. It's the best way (I know of) to split Dimplesteal's forces.

The squad's going to be made primarily from the unnamed fevered dwarves; most of them are already military. But if any named dwarves volunteer, they're in.

Recon at this point is gonna be legendary in at least 5 skills. Dyeing, Clothier, Tactics, Crossbowship and soon armoursmithing

The perks of living in a fort with 44 adults, 13 of which are practically incapable of skilled labor.

... Aw shit, Recon is in the military, isn't he? I never did make him a civilian.

[Edit: a small warning to the next overseer (probably Bluarian): the main gate is closed, but the fort isn't sealed; the ancient trap corridor from under the surface is a perfectly usable way out, if an extremely long one]
« Last Edit: July 14, 2021, 04:15:29 am by StrikaAmaru »
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