Dwarf Fortress Succession Game - call for interest

[Ronin Storm]

I've lead a couple fortresses, but some time during the second year they always start making my dwarves unhappy and that.

Smoothing and engraving walls and floors on their main dining room / meeting hall is a pretty good idea. Also, giving them their own allocated bedrooms (I do 2x2 with a bed to start, then a cabinet) helps. Statue gardens, too, make for an awesome outdoor meeting place but make sure archers can't just get up high and shoot down into your party place from above.

But don't fret about not being very good or whatever. Learning experience.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

I haven't really had the time to try DF out yet, and I'm still trying to figure out how you make it full screen rather than a pokey window.

 

[Ronin Storm]

I'm still trying to figure out how you make it full screen rather than a pokey window.

If you're using the graphical client, you should just be able to drag the edges of the window to make the window larger...?

 

[Zooggy]

Hoy,

If you're using the graphical client, you should just be able to drag the edges of the window to make the window larger...?

Or better yet, hit maximize.

Cheers,
J.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

I hit maximise and all that happens is the window gets bigger. The actual viewable game screen stays the same size but moves into the top left hand corner.

To clarify, I'm not currently using a graphical client.

 

[Ronin Storm]

I'm not currently using a graphical client.

Right, that's the problem. Why oh why aren't you using a graphical client?!

However, I believe you can customise this stuff in:

Dwarf Fortress\data\init\init.txt

 

[PsiSoldier]

I hit maximise and all that happens is the window gets bigger. The actual viewable game screen stays the same size but moves into the top left hand corner.

use this, you can find the init.txt file in \data\init

 

[Angelic]

Smoothing and engraving walls and floors on their main dining room / meeting hall is a pretty good idea. Also, giving them their own allocated bedrooms (I do 2x2 with a bed to start, then a cabinet) helps. Statue gardens, too, make for an awesome outdoor meeting place but make sure archers can't just get up high and shoot down into your party place from above.

But don't fret about not being very good or whatever. Learning experience.

I have the dining room smoothed and engraved, a number of bedrooms (smoothed, non-engraved) - although less than enough for all my dwarves (I've got like 50 now). I think the problem now is that I don't have a well and the dwarves have to drink just ale all year round. Problem with wells is feeding them water from the river without letting them flood your fortress.

After much designing I managed to create a long aqueduct, almost flood my storage hall, lead the water down a couple levels, not flood my dwarves in (levers+floodgates ftw) and I originally intended to use diagonal flow to negate the pressure and put well one level above the newly created deep-level reservoir, but in the excitement of levers and floodgates I forgot to make the diagonal dam and therefore almost flooded my fortress (again, thanks gods for levers and floodgates).

Long story short, I think it's the lack of wells but for now I haven't managed creating a functioning one yet.

 

[BiG D]

They're dwarves. The thought of drinking water DISGUSTS them. They want alcohol year round.

If you look at their thoughts, you should get a good idea what's wrong. If they're complaining about the same old drinks, you need to get them MORE VARIETIES of alcohol.

 

[Angelic]

They're dwarves. The thought of drinking water DISGUSTS them. They want alcohol year round.

If you look at their thoughts, you should get a good idea what's wrong. If they're complaining about the same old drinks, you need to get them MORE VARIETIES of alcohol.

I know about the first part According to their thoughts, however, they DO WANT a well. And who am I to disprove of such healthy attitude

More varieties of alcohol, eh? How do I do that? All I know is having a Still and making ale out of seeds (I believe) in it...

EDIT: Of course, DFwikiing "alcohol" provided me with a sufficient answer. I shall have to take a look at this. Picky dwarves... *grumbles*

 

[BiG D]

They specifically mention a well? Most dwarves will die of thirst before lowering themselves to drinking water.

Wells are mostly useful for hospitals, as injured dwarves need water.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Wells are mostly useful for hospitals, as injured dwarves need water.

Also, the same supply of water can be used for creating new subterranean farms. That said, I use the irrigation gallery approach for that and usually just from murky pools. Rivers are much too dangerous; potential for carp and all that.

 

[Angelic]

They specifically mention a well? Most dwarves will die of thirst before lowering themselves to drinking water.

Wells are mostly useful for hospitals, as injured dwarves need water.

I think I managed to get one or more of my dwarvses injured somehow, so that might be a reason, maybe. Not sure, really. I want a well anyway, for good measure.

Ronin, irrigation of subterranean farms is something I haven't gotten to yet So far I've merely used my ground level-1 and open-air farms...

 

[Nanor]

If you're having bother creating tunnels and channels for water to flow through, channel a small area and designate it is a pit/pond using the button. Hover over it after you've placed it and set it as a pond. Dwarves will use whatever buckets they have lying about to fill it up from various water sources.

I'm not sure if the water levels begin to fall but I doubt it would be by much. Oh, and make sure the area is small otherwise it will take forever to fill the pond.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Ronin, irrigation of subterranean farms is something I haven't gotten to yet

Oh man, you need to get that figured if you're using the current versions. Dwarf crops grow underground and most Dwarf alcohol is grown on subterranean farms. Trouble with alcohol variety? The problem may well be in here.

Good news, though, is that I will doubtless have operational farms by the time anyone else gets a chance to play with the fortress.

 

[BiG D]

Also, buckets. Make sure you have buckets. They can't fetch water for anyone without them.

 

[PsiSoldier]

my dwarves never seem to have a problem, only having one type of alcohol. then again, the 'meals' they eat are comprised of plump helmet wine + plump helmet wine, so i guess they'd be too drunk to complain

also waterfalls in meeting places. dwarves love their mist.

 

[Angelic]

Oh man, you need to get that figured if you're using the current versions. Dwarf crops grow underground and most Dwarf alcohol is grown on subterranean farms. Trouble with alcohol variety? The problem may well be in here.

Good news, though, is that I will doubtless have operational farms by the time anyone else gets a chance to play with the fortress.

I'm using the version provided with the tutorial, BUT I know I can have subterranean farms and I do - some. Some of them outside (for strawberries methinks).

Cheers Nanor, but fetching water in buckets seems just too plebeian to me, not elegant enough

Buckets, I has lots of them.

EDIT: Huzzah, I now have a working well! Still got at least one dehydrated dwarf, but if he's too stupid to actually get some booze from the stockpiles or drink from the well, sod him tbh. One thing, though - I've set my weapon traps to have some weapons in them (duh) but my tech-dwarves tell me they have no ammunition for them! How weird, since I only said I want swords and spears put in...?

 

[Zooggy]

Hoy,

On the subject of wells, given enough time, (andi you have 50 dwarves, that's enough time), dwarves start griping about the lack of wells because, aparently, they like to wash up every now and agan, like, say, every two years or so...

So, yeah, build a well.

Cheers,
J.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

I'm going to give this a bash today, using CaptnDuck's new youtube tutorials and his pre-made map.