Dwarf Fortress

[Fowyr]

Just a fooling around, testing new mechanic. Little shits have 1000 prepared foods and a lot of booze. Time to study!

Looks like my fortress has its own Butt and Tits Crowd thread. I'm sure that that reading guy secretly into purring maggots.

It's a way to fuck yourself into long run. Now everyone is mechanic and diagnostician, so they get bad thoughts about rusty skills.

Research! just a job when dorf goes to library.

My knucklehead chemist (proficient in Chemistry, but constantly complaining about "dull life" and "lost martial prowess") for several years researched beaker. She found best day to start her period - socialize and pray in the temple. When fucking visiting scholar brought not one, but TWO books about beakers. Of course, when she finally got to work, he left fortress, taking his books with him (and one of the my books). Pretty sure that only way to separate him with these books was killing, though.
Scribing works fine.

 

[covr]

Please post more and more detailed impressions. I like them more than playing the game actually.

 

[Fowyr]

Do not saw that I had no place in my prepared foods stockpile, so high-quality quarry bushes' leaves stew [400] (Yes. 400 units.) that cost more than $250000 now exudes high-quality miasma.

Four years of Ponder! and Discuss!, but not a one breakthrough. How this dwarf science works? For shits and giggles, I need to make that smart gal that can't invent fucking beaker fortress glassworker.

My legendary bookbinder makes pigtail quires that cost more than $500.
Writing improves its cost further.
Then he binds it with sandstone covers and book now costs $50.
Oy vey!

Herbalist now carries significant haul with him instead of halting gathering to store every strawberry into food stockpile. Beyond awesome!

 

[Alienman]

Every time I play I get the fps death. It's a real shame. Takes all fun from it. It usually comes after I find the deep caverns. Then everyone freaks out and I get spammed with all kind of pathing issues.

 

[Bio Force Ape]

I'd like to change all animals to hetero only, but i have to write a script for that.

Why? Something like 10% of animals in nature are gay.

Spoiler

...And the other 90% are into bestiality.

 

[Fowyr]

Of Library and knowledge mechanic.
Version 0.1

1) Every dwarf (sapient creature, to be more precise) has knowledge in the form of "topics".
When he assigned to the library, has writing material and library does not have book on that topic, he writes it.
Case in point:
When human scholar stole book about foraging behavior, my dwarf wrote another one.
2) Dwarf has "ongoing" topic yet to learn. You can see it when he "ponders".
Case in point:
Progression of my astronomer:
Moon's Path/Tidal Height/Sun/Star Charts/Daylight and Season
3) When dwarf reads book - he learns that topic.
See aforementioned astronomer. I saw it myself. Ponder - finally reading proper book - change of ponder.
4) Thus "Ponder!" is useless per se. Probably it slightly trains relevant skill.
5) Discuss probably used as method of teaching one topic that knows one of dwarves to pondering dwarf. I yet to see it.
6)Thus "Discuss" when all discussants are ignorant of topic do not makes anything. It slightly trains relevant skills.
7) I yet to see real increase in knowledge skill. All of my scholars, save embarked proficient chemist and astronomer, are dabblers.

 

[Fowyr]

How to find topic's description. Press u - find pondering dwarf - press j for job's description.
Books deal in topic description, not the topic names.
For list of books press L - artifacts.
They are indeed considered artifacts and can't be dumped, for example, to transit them to another library. Copies can be easily moved around, though.

Strategy for maximizing knowledge (for my population cap 20):

1) Build a large library. 10x5 squares of space, coffers with 10-20 scrolls or quires, several bookcases.
2) Make everyone scholar (they still work as common dwarves) or make them scholars one by one.
Your aim is write down topics that they research and make them churn out book or two for topics that they know. If someone ponders topic that written book was about - it's already awesome. Make scribe to copy book or two.
3) Wait for visiting scholar. They sometimes write as many as four books while they stay. They sometimes steal last book that they read, but dwarfs should churn out another.
4)Compare researched topics to your new books. Make dwarf to read proper book.
Need tests. When common dwarf reads books it's written in green, scholar reads books in purple and with exclamation mark.
5)????????
6) Profit! Autism must flow!

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

This book/knowledge stuff could be pure gold down the line, although I expect it will be a while before we see it really emerge as an important addition to the game. What really tickles my imagination is all the possibilities once it's tightly interwoven with other parts of the game. For example, remember how in LotR, Gandalf left Frodo in the Shire to go to that old library in Gondor to look through the ancient scrolls and manuscripts to find out about the rings of power and their secrets? Imagine some version of that in DF down the line, where some evil threat emerges in the world, and your adventurer or fortress scholars search through ancient texts trying to get some important info about it. Or the flip side of that, imagine playing as an evil sorcerer, and spending your life searching out ancient dark texts to decipher long forgotten magical secrets written down eons ago by someone else. These kind of possibilities is what I love about DF.

 

[Fowyr]

This book/knowledge stuff could be pure gold down the line, although I expect it will be a while before we see it really emerge as an important addition to the game.

Yup. Stuff is really titillating. Do you remember the only thing that made kiln in older versions? Pearlash. Compare it with modern pottery.

Or the flip side of that, imagine playing as an evil sorcerer, and spending your life searching out ancient dark texts to decipher long forgotten magical secrets written down eons ago by someone else.

You already can search the word for dark books and make yourself necromancer. I wonder that future will bring.

 

[Balor]

Four years of Ponder! and Discuss!, but not a one breakthrough.

Given how Codexian DF is, you can hardly expect anything in less than ten years. But when it comes, it does deliver!

 

[Fowyr]

Given how Codexian DF

It's beyond Codexian. Bay12 forums have many glorious projects:


http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=91093.0

Dwarven... "Child Care"

It's like regular childcare, except with more dogs, and less care. The idea is simple, but will take some finesse to perform.
1) Construct a box. It should be 3x3, leaving a 1 tile center free. The walls should be wall grates and the corners should be actual wall. Alternatively, perhaps ideally, the center tile could be a floor grate (not a hatch). The roof should be either a floor grate or a hatch.
2) Place a child into the box. Creative abuse of levers, wall deconstructions, and hatches can be used.
3) Place 12 years worth of ☼Dwarven Syrup Roast☼ and assorted booze into the box, by "dumping" it onto the roof and then opening the roof via lever, causing the items to fall down. For this reason, the floor would need to be solid to accommodate a food stockpile.
4) Place a female dog in the box.
5) Wait 12 years to unleash disaster.

The premise is fairly simple. Animals enclosed in a tight space will lash out randomly, often attacking a dwarf in the same tile. This extends over time to create a biological danger room, where the dwarven children are subjected to 12 years of consistent dog biting, scratching, and watching the dogs kill each other, quickly leveling up the child to legendary dodger, perhaps wrestler/kicker/biter/etc if the dwarf manages to counterattack. Not sure if a dwarf will counterattack an animal. The child will eat the food from the floor that he's been staring at for the past 12 years, and will ideally be comforted by some lovely mist falling right beside him. Once the years have passed, and the child grows into a scarred, hardened, tough-as-steel dwarf (don't forget agility, endurance, etc) who doesn't care about anything. Or, keep the lid closed, and throw in a weapon and shield, and replace the dogs with goblins.

The only issue is trying to get the child to survive without going berzerk. But then again, that might just turn into training for the other caged children, right?

Greetings and salutations fellow dwarfs I have come for some advice. You see in my latest siege I captured 3 Goblins while the cowards were running away, now that they our in my possession I think it is time for some revenge. Now usually I would allow such vile creatures a quick death but this siege had been particularly devastating. And now I want to create some personal hell's for these goblins and most of all I DON'T WANT THEM TO DIE. One of these goblins killed the queen, One of these goblins killed my favorite Axe lord, and One of these goblins killed my legendary smith and now i want these creatures to suffer. I want them to writhe in agony and pain and for that pain to never stop! Not only that I want each of them to have their own ironic punishment for killing such valued members of my fort. So that is why i have come here, how do I best punish each individual goblin with their own individual hell?

Et cetera, et cetera.

 

[Incantatar]

I'd like to change all animals to hetero only, but i have to write a script for that.

Why? Something like 10% of animals in nature are gay.

Wrong. Occurrences of homosexual behavior and being a straight up and strict animal faggot are two different things. I can't find statistics for the latter at all. Show me any if they exist in domestic animals.

 

[Balor]

Occurrences of homosexual behavior and being a straight up and strict animal faggot are two different things.

I guess that is because animals don't care much about being labelled a 'faggot' and hence falling into 'ingroup/outgroup' thinktrap. But that mostly apply to bi.
How rare are those individuals that don't get aroused by hetero at all? I suspect rarer than 10%.

 

[Fowyr]

According to librul logic, male bedbugs are 100% gay, when in reality they just rape every other bedbug that they see.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

According to librul logic, male bedbugs are 100% gay, when in reality they just rape every other bedbug that they see.

Obligatory

 

[Fowyr]

Non-native scholars (both visiting and residents) are bugged.
If you delete "their" library they become complete useless persons that stay all day doing "research!", i.e. trying to find way to non-existent library. And they do not leave. Ever.
"Hey, why these dwarves install cage with giant toad in our library?"
"Dunno, lol. Look, they lock the door."
"Run!"
"CROAK, CROAK."

Their death is on you, Toady!

Returning scholars return with stolen books.

Though I think about installing anti-theft system. Basically, scaring monster that causes them to drop booksies. On the other hand, my morons usually quickly write another book on that topic.

 

[Fowyr]

Visiting scholar John Doe ponders Migratory Patterns.
Hey, John, I forbid every book in my library except book that you need.
John reads book, starts to ponder Autobiographical Adventure.
My Urist visits library, ponders bandages, then they discuss!! them for some time.
John starts to ponder Disease and Fouled Water, i.e. medical topic.
Thus discuss indeed raises skill.

Got infestation of trogs on catwalk over 7/7 water to grand staircase through aquifer. They ignored dwarves for some time (probably because one of them got inside cage trap), but then started attacking. Military captain harked to beautiful poetry ("Rubies are red, adamantine is blue, elves are faggots, you know, it's true.") and human mercenary slept. Closed doors to main fortress, but one of my dwarves was separated, so I got him to forge -steel sword- and kill all fuckers.

That cavern section is walled off, but trogs apparently climbed walls or climbed over cavern fungiwoods' branches. So I chopped down all fungiwood. In a short time I got visiting elf diplomat. "Trees are precious! Chop some more and it means war!" Fucking idiot. Can't differentiate between vascular plants and mushrooms.

Human caravan constantly try to sell me useless book "Offering for a Hamlet" for many years. Strange, my previous fortress sometimes could buy real books from human caravan. I need to offer them some copies of books from my library, probably knowledge would spread.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

 

[Borelli]

If DF had that graphics it would be so awesome.
Love the giant dwarf statue with a "i have just woken up" face (next to the waterfall).

 

[Fowyr]

Finally got master-apprentice pair. Master is my ex-military dwarf with a good Teacher skill, apprentice is resident human scholar. Master can teach!!! topic to apprentice (her action is Learn!).
Saw another pair - apprentice is resident human scholar, master is visiting human scholar.

There is a bug. Some of scholars have books on unknown to my library topics (and I'm sure that one of them got in possession of my book) but, because they are displayed on "artifact" list, they do not write another book on this topic.
I'm considering installing a lot of cage traps inside tavern and assigning tavern keeper. Tavern keepers are constantly serve booze, so humans become stunned or lose consciousness. Probably I can make their items my own when they are caged.
If not, bedroom troll is a best Christmas gift.

BTW, "broken" scholars started working again in season or two.

Overall, library mechanic is very fun, but still needs a lot of work.

 

[Borelli]

So ... all these scholars, libraries and research, what does it do? Are books just for selling or is there a "tech tree"?

 

[Fowyr]

So ... all these scholars, libraries and research, what does it do?

Ultimately, just nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Are books just for selling or is there a "tech tree"?

There are several groups of knowledge, associated with skills. Person with highest chemistry skill will ponder chemistry topics and so on. No tech tree. There are 10-15 "topics" in knowledge area, when dwarf learns all from that area (or changes his highest knowledge skill) - he starts pondering another group of topics.

EDIT: Got a Forgotten Beast from lower levels in my library. There was a lot of fire, charred bodies and ash.

 

[Fowyr]

Also:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=154973.15

I would like to agree, but it's practically impossible to play without the Wiki. The game itself doesn't provide any information, it took me forever to realize that magnetite was actually iron. Not to mention having to guess what "Process Plants", "Process Plants (vial)", "Process Plants (Barrel)" and "Process plant to bag" actually do (Farmer's Workshop)...

Youths these days...
I played first time without any wikies, I only knew basic layout - river - chasm - magma.

Also what the fuck? Everyone know about magnetite.

This guy gets it! Toady is trying something really crazy with DF. I mean, you don't have to understand the motivation and development of Dwarf Fortress in order to enjoy it, but to fully appreciate it you should take a look at past dev logs, goals, and DF talks. This game is more than a video game, at least as our society chooses to define video games. To be a willing player of Dwarf Fortress is to become involved in the story of your dwarfs! There is nothing more satisfying than becoming engrossed in the tale of one of your haulers, only to have a siege break against your walls and to see that hauler meet his end at the iron blade of a goblin swordsman.

 

[Fowyr]

From bay12:

Oh neat!
I just got a message in my alerts saying "Urist mcscholar has discovered the foraging behaviour and diet of creatures!"
In his thoughts, she has a "she feels satisfied after making a breakthrough considering the foraging behaviour and diet of creatures. In the last season, she was content after pondering foraging behaviour."

Looks like pondering can lead to breakthroughs.

The dwarf in question is an adequate tracker (she was a hunter briefly, before becoming a scholar). All her other academic skills are only dabbling.

So ponder is not useless after all!

 

[hello friend]

So pondering has a chance of increasing happiness? Was there any change in tracker skill pre/post-breakthrough?