Awesome. There's never too much Dorf Fort in the world. I'm very curious to see how this develops.
Also, I was rather surprised when you mentioned Conchmen were part of a mod, because that sounded like just the sort of insane anthropomorph that most forts have to deal with on a daily basis. Turtlemen! Olmmen! Ospreymen! Zombie Ospreymen!
I managed to build a nice Marble city sitting over the water.
That was until those bloody monkey things ran in, got knocked into the water and refused to drown. Causing the entire city unable to function.
God how I love Dwarf Fortress and it's Let's Plays. Every single one ends in disaster, and it is always hilarious and often foreseen.
Psychosocial said:
I will never seize to be baffled by the fact that competent lets players, like you from the looks of this, are the ones that don't get payed. Whereas the untalented hacks from Unskippable get to post their crap on the site.
Obviously the farm itself can't be built on the sea due to an inability to crate artificial islands, so it's one of the exceptions I make. I don't even use irrigation systems for farming though, since all my farming is done in the caverns. Much more simple, and all you need to worry about are Forgotten Beasts flying in and eating your farmers.
Psychosocial said:
I will never seize to be baffled by the fact that competent lets players, like you from the looks of this, are the ones that don't get payed. Whereas the untalented hacks from Unskippable get to post their crap on the site.
I don't claim to be better than anyone at Let's Plays, so when I say the following I'm not trying to boost my own ego; if I had to hazard a guess as to why people who let's play for a job may do worse, it's becuase they have deadlines to meet. When you just Let's Play as a hobby, you don't have to stress out about getting it done within a certain time limit. When you get paid to do it, it becomes like a job and you have to sacrifice quality to meet due dates.
To be honest though the idea of anyone getting paid to do a Le's Play seems strange, since they're something almost everyone can do if they dedicate enough time to it. Hence why I think Shamu Young could't get Spoiler Warning featured here on the Escapist.
I downloaded Dwarf Fortress once because it looked really awesome but I couldn't get the hang of what I was supposed to be doing, I just ended up with groups of dwarfs wanderering about and then me quitting.
Still want to work it out so i'll be reading this and hoping it gives me a couple of clues of how to even begin.
I kinda want Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft to combine forces one day to make a Minecraft compatible version, have the feeling i'd be able to get the hang of things better with a more visual game.
I downloaded Dwarf Fortress once because it looked really awesome but I couldn't get the hang of what I was supposed to be doing, I just ended up with groups of dwarfs wanderering about and then me quitting.
Still want to work it out so i'll be reading this and hoping it gives me a couple of clues of how to even begin.
I kinda want Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft to combine forces one day to make a Minecraft compatible version, have the feeling i'd be able to get the hang of things better with a more visual game.
Dwarf Fortress is a difficult game to get into. Like I mentioned in the OP, visiting the forums and wiki can make it easier to understand. Reading LPs can also help to since it gives you a step by step veiw of how a fortress progresses. The reason I got into Dwarf fortress was becuase I read the Boatmurdered LP.
Also while Dwarf Fortress having Minecraft visuals would be nice, it's about as realistic as it having the graphics of any modern game. Dwarf Fortress is designed in a way that means it has to be in ASCII format, or a replacement tileset. For example, procedualy generated creatures are a prominent feature in Dwarf Fortress. It would be incredibly difficult to make a game that could generate a 3D, fully animated model for each creature when there ar ebillions of possibilties.
I downloaded Dwarf Fortress once because it looked really awesome but I couldn't get the hang of what I was supposed to be doing, I just ended up with groups of dwarfs wanderering about and then me quitting.
Still want to work it out so i'll be reading this and hoping it gives me a couple of clues of how to even begin.
I kinda want Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft to combine forces one day to make a Minecraft compatible version, have the feeling i'd be able to get the hang of things better with a more visual game.
Dwarf Fortress is a difficult game to get into. Like I mentioned in the OP, visiting the forums and wiki can make it easier to understand. Reading LPs can also help to since it gives you a step by step veiw of how a fortress progresses. The reason I got into Dwarf fortress was becuase I read the Boatmurdered LP.
Also while Dwarf Fortress having Minecraft visuals would be nice, it's about as realistic as it having the graphics of any modern game. Dwarf Fortress is designed in a way that means it has to be in ASCII format, or a replacement tileset. For example, procedualy generated creatures are a prominent feature in Dwarf Fortress. It would be incredibly difficult to make a game that could generate a 3D, fully animated model for each creature when there ar ebillions of possibilties.
Well, things seem to have settled down. Everyone's keeping to themselves, but at least work is getting done. Goden doesn't seem to be angry with me anymore. Or she just took all her rage and bottled it up inside her. I'm really hoping it's the former. I noticed that one of the earth golems we brought from the mountainhomes has been following me around everywhere, almost like it was stalking me. At first I was worried this was going to turn into one of those horror stories where the merchants enter the fort and all they find is an earth golem sitting on top of a pile of dwarf corpses. Then Zuntir told me that when earth golems find a person they like, they follow them forever, faithfully serving them until death. That means that rather than crushing my head, this earth golem instead wants to be my new friend! That's so cool! I have decided to name it Lorbam, after one of the old generals of the Relieved Craft. I think it likes the name, but it's kind of hard to tell, since it doesn't have a face.
Kraken's notes: Earth Golems are creatures I added to the game to basically serve as dwarven bodyguards. They're big, durable, and strong. They can even build skills over time, albeit at a slow rate. They serve as good war animals or civilian protection, as they can fend off most wild animals by themselves. The disadvantage of bringing them along on embark is that they cost a lot of points, can't be butchered for food, and don't reproduce. So they're a costly investment that really only benefits you in dangerous areas.
17th Slate, 1051, Mid-Spring
Work work work work. That's all we've been doing for the past month, and it still feels like everything is going way to slow! I'm even helping Ushrir with the mining (she doesn't seem happy with this for some reason), and it still is taking forever to get even the basic parts of the fortress built. On top of all this, Momuz is already bothering me about fortress defense. He thinks that we're unsafe, that something is going to come and wipe us out when we least expect it. Sure we haven't dug a defensive perimeter yet, but why bother? The most threatening thing we've seen were two zombie conchmen, and all they did was bother everyone with the smell of spoiled seafood before wandering back into the ocean.
What we really need are some more hands to work with. Even with all seven of us working around the clock (though I'm starting to wonder if Thob's fishing actually qualifies as work), things still feel too slow. But I don't think there's any chance of migrants showing up any time soon. If only I could get Lorbam to help us. Shame whenever I try to get him to build something he just ends up smashing it. But I still love him!
19th Slate, 1051, Mid-Spring
I was sitting on the beach today whilst enjoying a nice drink, admiring the sight of the waves crashing against the shoreline. This place has a bad reputation, but it's so peaceful out here. I can just sit down, gaze out at the sea, and become lost in my thoughts.
Then Dishmab started running in circles and screaming. Momuz quickly emerged from the mines and pulled out his axe, searching for the source of the scream. Apparently he thought it was a siren. I don't blame him either, since Dishmab nearly shattered my ear drums! She then began babbling something about land demons coming to devour her flesh. It was hard to tell from her crazed words, but it was clear she had seen something that terrified her. Momuz looked around, but he couldn't seem to identify any threats.
Momuz: "I swear to Zalis, if she doesn't stop screaming I'm going to shove a sock in her mouth."
Stinthad: "Calm down Dishmab! What exactly did you see?"
Dishmab: "THERE! BEHIND THE TREES! HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THEM?!?"
Stinthad: "..........those are warthogs."
Kraken's notes: Despite what the description might suggest, warthogs are pretty much harmless. They will try to run away from your dwarves rather than fight them. The worst they can do is freak out your workers and clog up cage traps you were saving for more important creatures.
At this point Momuz really did just shove a sock in her mouth before wandering back into the mines to pick up a stone. Then Dishmab passed out, probably from exhaustion. I think she's fine though. Well physically I mean. Mentally she's a train wreck. She's spent the entirety of this expedition crying, screaming, passing out, running away, or doing a combination of the above. I don't know what it is that makes her such a nervous wreck, but it's starting to bother the other dwarves a lot. I'm not sure if Momuz can be trusted around her without doing something....stupid.
Good thing I have the admiration and respect of everyone in Reveredtour, or I'd have worry about my own safety.
20th Slate, 1051, Mid-Spring
Dishmab still won't shut up about the warthogs. I don't know why, but she's horrified by them. Anytime they get even remotely close to her she will freak out. We could try and find the source of her mental disorder through intense therapy sessions, but we don't have time for that. So instead I'm just going to have Momuz preform a far simpler task.
The poor critters don't really deserve it, but it's not like we have much of a choice. It's either this or spend the next month with blood coming out of our ears. Besides, Momuz needs something to unload his aggression onto. I was getting worried he was going to try attacking those adorable little hippos! Oh, and Dishmab. Both are equally bad.
What followed was a chorus of drunken screaming and distressed squeals as Momuz chased the warthogs all across the wastes. The little things can run surprisingly fast. Unfortunately for them, not fast enough.
Oh, it was horrifying to watch him rip apart those innocent little warthogs! Not only is he brutal, but his war beasts are just as bad. His octopre dug their hooks into the warthogs flesh, tearing off chunks of it. One of them had almost all of its skin peeled off before a war earth golem came over and smashed its skull like a grapefruit. Eventually all of the warthogs were either fleeing into the distance in terror or bleeding out in front of the fort. Momuz came back in, stained with warthog blood and brains, and looked quite pleased with himself. Dishmab was also overjoyed to hear that the warthogs were no longer outside. I guess the only downside to this is that everything smells like rotting boar now.
At least work can resume now. But we've been here for almost 3 months and still haven't made what I would consider to be significant progress. I'm going to have to reconsider our current priorities tonight. In the meantime, I think I'll just go for a walk out on the beach with Lorbam. It's kind of adorable the way he plods through the wet sand.
Interesting, but could you do a little pointer on the big maps to determine what each thing is? It's sort of difficult for me to tell, and I'd consider myself a Dwarf Fortress skilled amateur.
Equally, what did you use to create the Golem and why does it attack with an orb?
Interesting, but could you do a little pointer on the big maps to determine what each thing is? It's sort of difficult for me to tell, and I'd consider myself a Dwarf Fortress skilled amateur.
Not sure what you mean by what did I use. As for why it attacks with an orb........I don't remember why I did that. It was made to do more damage than a regular fist, but I'm not sure why I was compelled to make it an orb.
Not sure what you mean by what did I use. As for why it attacks with an orb........I don't remember why I did that. It was made to do more damage than a regular fist, but I'm not sure why I was compelled to make it an orb.
I've always wanted to play DorfFortress because of all the silly/epic tales that people recall from their experiences with the game. But my computer hates it, for some reason. :/
Then Zuntir told me that when earth golems find a person they like, they follow them forever, faithfully serving them until death. That means that rather than crushing my head, this earth golem instead wants to be my new friend! That's so cool! I have decided to name it Lorbam, after one of the old generals of the Relieved Craft. I think it likes the name, but it's kind of hard to tell, since it doesn't have a face.
At this point Momuz really did just shove a sock in her mouth before wandering back into the mines to pick up a stone. Then Dishmab passed out, probably from exhaustion. I think she's fine though. Well physically I mean. Mentally she's a train wreck. She's spent the entirety of this expedition crying, screaming, passing out, running away, or doing a combination of the above.
...And there's Dwarf Fortress in a nutshell. Things look like they're progressing nicely. I have the same problem with wildlife: warthogs, hoary marmots, and deer. I swear, the bastards are in league with the elves to cripples fortresses across the multiverse.
Are you going to do anything interesting with the underground farms? I'm partial to making a burrow for some agricultural slums myself, or at least a fancy entrance to the underground with traps and guard posts.
One final note for the person who had mentioned Minecraft: perhaps it won't help you learn to actually play Dwarf Fortresss, but there is a utility to convert Dwarf Fortress maps into a playable area in Minecraft. I've never used it myself though, so I'm not sure how exciting that information really is, but it couldn't hurt to check it out.
Not sure what you mean by what did I use. As for why it attacks with an orb........I don't remember why I did that. It was made to do more damage than a regular fist, but I'm not sure why I was compelled to make it an orb.
Oh, I see what you mean. Well there isn't any modding program available for Dwarf Fortress, if that's the impression you got. All my editing is done through manually editing the txt.files in the raws folder.
LogicNProportion said:
I've always wanted to play DorfFortress because of all the silly/epic tales that people recall from their experiences with the game. But my computer hates it, for some reason. :/
Dwarf Fortress hates a lot of computers. The primitive graphics hide the fact that it's ridiculously complex. The game is keeping track of a ton of different things all at once, such as pathing for each dwarf, moods, creature pathing, combat, water depth, water flow, syndrome spread, air flow, bleed out, miasma spread, possible interactions by each dwarf with each object on the map, etc. When you have a game tracking all this stuff, it consumes a ton of processing power. Of course there's also the fact that Dwarf Fortress is poorly optimized.
Chal said:
...And there's Dwarf Fortress in a nutshell. Things look like they're progressing nicely. I have the same problem with wildlife: warthogs, hoary marmots, and deer. I swear, the bastards are in league with the elves to cripples fortresses across the multiverse.
Yeah, the events of this update were mainly based around you typical job interruption spam whenever any creatures gets within 10 yards of your dwarves. In some cases it makes sense, others not so much. Dwarves will respond to the approach of a hungry grizzly bear the same way they treat a confused little groundhog.
Also for the longest time I thought hoary marmots were some kind of weird bird. I have no clue why, when they are actually adorable little squirrels.
Are you going to do anything interesting with the underground farms? I'm partial to making a burrow for some agricultural slums myself, or at least a fancy entrance to the underground with traps and guard posts.
I don't have any plans for anything special with the underground farms. That's one of the things I definitely don't want to mess up or it could easily get everyone killed. Typically I just wall off one section of the caverns, carve a quick path to it, and then set up farms in it. However, I also carve out an additional path into the caverns themselves from elsewhere in the fortress. Walling the caverns off completley just makes me feel like I'm ignoring a big part of the game.
Well this seems pretty interesting I'll have to keep an eye on it and read it some time.
I got Dwarf Fortress, but being a noob to it I have no idea what to do with anything. I try to figure it out little by little, so perhaps this might give me some tips as to how to play and what some common things to do are.
I got Dwarf Fortress, but being a noob to it I have no idea what to do with anything. I try to figure it out little by little, so perhaps this might give me some tips as to how to play and what some common things to do are.
Reading an LP can certainly help you to understand the game since it gives you a general idea of how it progresses. However, I highly recommend using the forums and wiki as learning resources. Most of the people on the Dwarf Fortress forums remember how hard it is to learn how to play this game, so they're usually very helpful regardless of what question you are asking.
For some reason my school had a short day today, so I'll definetly put up an update later.
I've had to make a lot of difficult decisions lately. Well, not really. Just one. And it wasn't that hard actually. I guess I just thought it was difficult because the end result wasn't exactly what I would call pleasant. In an attempt to speed up the building process, I reassigned Thob to masonry. I figured it's more important to have a fortress rather than some piles of flopping fish. That last line in particular made her pretty mad. She's doing the work though, albeit with a grudge. It's not like it's my fault! We all have to make sacrifices, and fishing just isn't a skill we need right now. So unless she finds a way to catch hippos, she's on building duty until further notice.
Wait, maybe she can catch hippos. That would be really cool!
10th Felsite, 1051, Late Spring
Nope, she can't catch hippos.
26th Felsite, 1051, Late Spring
Wow! I was digging deeper with Ushrir, looking for more pretty stones to build the fort with, when suddenly we created a passage into a cavern!
Some people say that the caverns stretch all across the realm. I thought it was an exaggeration, but maybe it's not if they reach all the way out here. The area we broke through is really high up though. I almost fell through the hole! Luckily, Lorbam managed to grab my arm before I fell. I think Ushrir tried to as well, but she just ended up pushing me instead.
28th Felsite, 1051, Late Spring
I've been peering through the hole we pierced in the cavern layer. Momuz says we should cover it up, but I can't figure out why. Sometimes I think he sees danger where there is none. Maybe that's just an effect of being raised in the military. Anyway, something I noticed was that there were some cute little ooze pods scuttling about on the cavern floor.
Kraken's notes: Ooze pods, like many of the creatures that live in the first cavern layer, are basically harmless. They won't seek to attack dwarves and will instead flee from them. They can't move very fast though, so odds are if something is trying to kill them they're dead. They do have the ability to spit out globs of ooze though, giving them a ranged attack, which very few creatures have. So you could potentially place one behind fortifications or on a ledge and have it attack targets without exposing itself to danger. Though any foe with their own ranged attack will probably be capable of taking them out.
Bim Rithrisen's book on the creatures of the underground was required reading back in the mountainhomes. I sort of skimmed through it, but I do remember it saying that ooze pods can only survive in areas where the soil is damp and rich with nutrients. That means that this would be a great place to set up a farm! At least, I think it will be. It will take some time to carve a path down to the cavern floor, but once there we can set up a farming area with minimal effort. Assuming Dishmab doesn't pass out at the thought of entering the caverns.
5th Hematite, 1051, Early Summer
Well, spring has finished its transition into summer, but you wouldn't be able to tell without a calendar. Out here in the wastes things barely seem to change no matter how many days creep by. Same heat, same weather, same smell of rotting fish. The only indication of time past is the progress of Reveredtour. Speaking of which, I do believe it has picked up over the past few days. We finished building an area I would consider suitable for a food stockpile. I've also ordered room to be made for a trading depot, as we only have a few months before the dwarven caravans hopefully arrive.
Still haven't managed to make our way to the cavern floor though. Digging through all this stone is hard work. But I have the feeling that we're getting close.
11th Hematite, 1051, Early Summer
Success! We have established a foothold on the cavern floor. Well, sort of. This cavern is kind of weird. It's got a lot of hills and slopes going through it, with almost no flat areas. What we managed to find is about as close as we're going to get to a smooth surface, so it will have to make due.
Shocking no one, Dishmab freaked out when she found out she was going to be farming in the caverns. So we're going to have to make the caverns "safe" or else she won't get any work done. This means spending the next few days sealing this area off from the rest of the caverns so those terrifying ooze pods don't come and brush up against her leg.
12th Hematite, 1051, Early Summer
Momuz came up to me this morning with some kind of document. I'd seen him talking with Goden for the past few weeks, and I guess it was about this. He then proceeded to show me some potential fortress defense plan.
(Momuz's diagram kind of sucks, but I won't tell him that)
I told them I was flattered that they recognized my superior tactical knowledge and came to me for advice. Goden then said that they were only showing me this because they needed my stamp of approval to actually begin work on it. It's okay though, I know she's just jealous. I won't hold that against her.
But I'm really not sure what to think of this H.F.S. I'm tempted to implement it if only to give myself an excuse to catch those adorable little hippos, but I'm not sure if subsequently trapping them in a moat is a good idea. Plus this could be dangerous to build. Maybe I'll ask some of the other dwarves what they think about it. In the meantime, Momuz and Goden will have to put this aside. We need to focus on sealing off the caverns anyways so Dishmab stops having panic attacks.
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