Let's Play Dwarf Fortress: Syndrome Conundrum

[Rabid Toilet]

Pleasantly surprised you're still alive. I thought you were done for after that disaster with the goblins. Oh me of little faith.

 

[JouleZeath]

A while ago I had a fortress that started with all workers being female, except for the leader and militia commander. Buuurn feminists!

Starting band all females except the leader(lucky bastard),then came along a migrant wave of 3 females and a male mason
The leader then died when he fell through the ice into a pond
He was misteriously surrounded by walls when he fell in and his death was immediately ruled an "accident"

Also,nice to see you're getting thru this,it'll take more that just a few dozen goblins and a couple of FBs to bring down ReveredTour
I am also sad to see Momuz go since he was my second favorite,make sure to give him a proper burial to remember him by

 

[boholikeu]

As much fun as this game looks, I vowed I would never get into it until the user-friendliness update comes out.

Yes, I realize that's last on his list of things to do. Shame, since he could have a much bigger audience.

The problem with that is that that's where all the bugs and the complaints usually come in. If you're working with a unintuitive, tough system then you know that all the people coming in want it to work, and will provide good feedback.

If it's all shiny and pretty, it will just be moans about "WHY CAN'T I CHOOSE TO HAVE ALL MALE DWARVES? MY BEST COOK IS A WOMAN, THAT@S SEXIST!" etc.

Clunky works for me. Try it.

Somehow I... don't think that's the best reason not to optimize your game's UI... =)

Besides, when he finally does change the horrible menu system, I can totally see older fans making similarly asinine complaints: "zomg where is the 'designations menu'?!"

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Somehow I... don't think that's the best reason not to optimize your game's UI... =)

Probably the same reason Notch isn't adding a tutorial to Minecraft either.

Besides, when he finally does change the horrible menu system, I can totally see older fans making similarly asinine complaints: "zomg where is the 'designations menu'?!"

By that time, Toady One will have recreated life - or one of the modders will have developed a Dwarven LHC and destroyed the internet, so I wouldn't worry about it

 

[randomID]

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here:
"Huge Success"
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture Science.Dwarf Fortress. We do what we must, because we can,
For the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
You just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake liquor.
And the science industry gets done, and you make a neat gun axe
for the people who are still alive.

 

[Internet Kraken]

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here:
"Huge Success"
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture Science.Dwarf Fortress. We do what we must, because we can,
For the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
You just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake liquor.
And the science industry gets done, and you make a neat gun axe
for the people who are still alive.

Not to be rude, but please don't make bad Portal references in my thread because everytime I hear that song I want to bang my head against the wall.

Yes, I realize that's last on his list of things to do. Shame, since he could have a much bigger audience.

See this is one of the things that makes you realize how much the development of Dwarf Fortress differs from other games. It's not something being made by Toady to get him his own foothold in the industry, like Notch and Minecraft. This is his pet project, something he would be making regardless of if it gave him a profit. Which means he does whatever he wants with the game at the moment rather than what would attract more people to it, like improving the horrible interface.

 

[aTolyK]

....
shit.
....
body count and survivors?

 

[Cowabungaa]

The fortress is still incredibly unstable, but now that the goblins are gone I managed to get some control over it. A limited amount of work is now underway with the single goal of boosting the defenses of Reveredtour. However, after several days I still had not seen Stinthad, so I went looking for her. She was in her room, stuffing a few things into a bag with a gloomy look on her face.

Goden: "Stinthad, what are you doing? You need to get back to work."
Stinthad: "I don't think so..."
Goden: "And why is that?"
Stinthad: "I've decided that it would just be best for me to...leave."
Goden: "What?"
Stinthad: "I fucked everything up! I couldn't do anything right! Everyone who died here died because of me! Reveredtour would be better in your hands. I can't stay here knowing that I ruined so many lives..."
Goden: "You're serious?"
Stinthad: "After Momuz went insane...I just can't stand this anymore. Yes, I'm serious. I should have listened to everyone when they said I would fail in the first place. You were right; I'm not cut out for this."
Goden: "Look...I know things have been horrible here lately. But this is something you can overcome. At first you were a downright awful leader, but you've...improved."
Stinthad: "Improved? Everyone is dying! How is that an improvement?!?"
Goden: "Well if your management skills were the same as they were when we first came here everyone would already be dead. But you made decisions that have saved Reveredtour. And I'd be lying if I said every decision I made was perfect. So while I can't say you've done everything right, nobody has. Overall I'd say your still capable of saving Reveredtour, if you try."
Stinthad: "I didn't think you had any confidence in me..."
Goden: "I didn't, at least not until recently. But I came to a realization; if we work together, we can save this fort. You can be foolish at times, but so can I. If we both truly cooperate, we can accomplish things we wouldn't have been able to do alone."
Stinthad: "You really mean that?"
Goden: "Yes, I do."
Stinthad: "Well...how many dwarves are in the hospital?"
Goden: "A lot."
Stinthad: "I...I guess I better go help them."
Goden: "Good. You do that."
Stinthad: "Goden, thank you so much! You're a true friend!"

Read that while this plays:
Epic or what?

Most of the soldiers recognized my choices as being proper and logical, but a few wondered why Cowabunga was leading the Steamy Tours when he is missing an arm. While that is definitely an issue, it doesn't change the fact that he still has the most fighting experience out of all the Steamy Tours.

Aaaaawesooooome! Now make him pick up a 2-handed axe and he'll be just as awesome as Rom of the Bronzebeards. Without the heroic sacrifice, thank you very much. I prefer to stay alive.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

This thread got me to try Dwarf Fortress Then I couldn't figure out how to dig into the dirt. Then the complete newbie guide (Thank you to whoever wrote that) got me to try it again. Now I at least I sort of know what I'm doing, but I always get overwhelmed when I get too many migrants, I don't know what to do with them all, and I feel a little bad sending master cheese makers into the military and wasting their skills. Plus the whole process of making mud indoors is so convoluted I'm thinking I might go back to the complete newbie's version. Why there isn't an option to just pour the water right on the ground is just silly.

 

[max w. antilles]

I'd loved to be dwarfed

 

[randomID]

Not to be rude, but please don't make bad Portal references in my thread because everytime I hear that song I want to bang my head against the wall.

I am sorry to hear, that you appear to neither share my humour nor my appreciation for that song. I ensure you, that I will give my best to abstain from further references to that song.

 

[Rabid Toilet]

anc[is]This thread got me to try Dwarf Fortress Then I couldn't figure out how to dig into the dirt. Then the complete newbie guide (Thank you to whoever wrote that) got me to try it again. Now I at least I sort of know what I'm doing, but I always get overwhelmed when I get too many migrants, I don't know what to do with them all, and I feel a little bad sending master cheese makers into the military and wasting their skills. Plus the whole process of making mud indoors is so convoluted I'm thinking I might go back to the complete newbie's version. Why there isn't an option to just pour the water right on the ground is just silly.

Same here, I've always been meaning to try this game out, but the learning cliff was too intimidating. This thread was awesome enough to make me brace myself and dive in.

Trying to farm indoors is indeed far harder than it should be. It took me a while to realize that Toady had changed it from the version in the newbie guide. Fortunately, my setup allows me to easily add new plots of farmland to my existing farm if I need to expand. I just channel out the ceiling and drop some more water in where I want it.

For the migrant problem, try limiting your population cap to a smaller number. Then you only have to worry about babies being born increasing your number of dwarves.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

anc[is]Why there isn't an option to just pour the water right on the ground is just silly.

There is, but you have to do it roundabout ways.

Let's say you have a farm on level 142, 3x3 is usually enough for a starting farm.
Above, on 143, you dig a 5x5 room, and directly over the farm, you dig a 3x3 channel. Draw a zone over it and designate it as a pond.

Your water-carrying dwarf will then get a bucket of water, throw it into the "pond", and create mud below it.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

anc[is]Why there isn't an option to just pour the water right on the ground is just silly.

There is, but you have to do it roundabout ways.

Let's say you have a farm on level 142, 3x3 is usually enough for a starting farm.
Above, on 143, you dig a 5x5 room, and directly over the farm, you dig a 3x3 channel. Draw a zone over it and designate it as a pond.

Your water-carrying dwarf will then get a bucket of water, throw it into the "pond", and create mud below it.

As I said, convoluted. Then you're left with a big hole in your ceiling that can make it technically outside and can only be plugged with floor that doesn't match. yea I'm ocd

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

anc[is]

anc[is]Why there isn't an option to just pour the water right on the ground is just silly.

There is, but you have to do it roundabout ways.

Let's say you have a farm on level 142, 3x3 is usually enough for a starting farm.
Above, on 143, you dig a 5x5 room, and directly over the farm, you dig a 3x3 channel. Draw a zone over it and designate it as a pond.

Your water-carrying dwarf will then get a bucket of water, throw it into the "pond", and create mud below it.

As I said, convoluted. Then you're left with a big hole in your ceiling that can make it technically outside and can only be plugged with floor that doesn't match. yea I'm ocd

Cover it over. Or just leave it. You've got bigger Forgotten things to be worrying about than pure aesthetics.

 

[Double A]

anc[is]This thread got me to try Dwarf Fortress Then I couldn't figure out how to dig into the dirt. Then the complete newbie guide (Thank you to whoever wrote that) got me to try it again. Now I at least I sort of know what I'm doing, but I always get overwhelmed when I get too many migrants, I don't know what to do with them all, and I feel a little bad sending master cheese makers into the military and wasting their skills. Plus the whole process of making mud indoors is so convoluted I'm thinking I might go back to the complete newbie's version. Why there isn't an option to just pour the water right on the ground is just silly.

... there is.

You need two layers of dirt. Channel in the top layer so you have a farm on the bottom (no sunlight). Then designate it as a pond. You might want to leave some dirt up so you don't have to build as much scaffolding.

All in all, it's actually more complicated if you try anything wider than 2 (any length).

 

[Smiles]

The fortress is still incredibly unstable, but now that the goblins are gone I managed to get some control over it. A limited amount of work is now underway with the single goal of boosting the defenses of Reveredtour. However, after several days I still had not seen Stinthad, so I went looking for her. She was in her room, stuffing a few things into a bag with a gloomy look on her face.

Goden: "Stinthad, what are you doing? You need to get back to work."
Stinthad: "I don't think so..."
Goden: "And why is that?"
Stinthad: "I've decided that it would just be best for me to...leave."
Goden: "What?"
Stinthad: "I fucked everything up! I couldn't do anything right! Everyone who died here died because of me! Reveredtour would be better in your hands. I can't stay here knowing that I ruined so many lives..."
Goden: "You're serious?"
Stinthad: "After Momuz went insane...I just can't stand this anymore. Yes, I'm serious. I should have listened to everyone when they said I would fail in the first place. You were right; I'm not cut out for this."
Goden: "Look...I know things have been horrible here lately. But this is something you can overcome. At first you were a downright awful leader, but you've...improved."
Stinthad: "Improved? Everyone is dying! How is that an improvement?!?"
Goden: "Well if your management skills were the same as they were when we first came here everyone would already be dead. But you made decisions that have saved Reveredtour. And I'd be lying if I said every decision I made was perfect. So while I can't say you've done everything right, nobody has. Overall I'd say your still capable of saving Reveredtour, if you try."
Stinthad: "I didn't think you had any confidence in me..."
Goden: "I didn't, at least not until recently. But I came to a realization; if we work together, we can save this fort. You can be foolish at times, but so can I. If we both truly cooperate, we can accomplish things we wouldn't have been able to do alone."
Stinthad: "You really mean that?"
Goden: "Yes, I do."
Stinthad: "Well...how many dwarves are in the hospital?"
Goden: "A lot."
Stinthad: "I...I guess I better go help them."
Goden: "Good. You do that."
Stinthad: "Goden, thank you so much! You're a true friend!"

Read that while this plays:
Epic or what?

Most of the soldiers recognized my choices as being proper and logical, but a few wondered why Cowabunga was leading the Steamy Tours when he is missing an arm. While that is definitely an issue, it doesn't change the fact that he still has the most fighting experience out of all the Steamy Tours.

Aaaaawesooooome! Now make him pick up a 2-handed axe and he'll be just as awesome as Rom of the Bronzebeards. Without the heroic sacrifice, thank you very much. I prefer to stay alive.

oh man that was so inspirational.

hey I love your LP so far, it is awesome and perhaps one day I will try dwarf fortress because of it.

May I be dwarfified?

also thank you for the link to boatmurdered that was hilarious, and gave me an awesome idea for a character in pathfinder...

actually I like some of your characters too...

 

[chaosfact]

Has a reason ever been given why you can't just put water in a bucket, and then pour that on the ground?

 

[Internet Kraken]

Has a reason ever been given why you can't just put water in a bucket, and then pour that on the ground?

Because this is Dwarf Fortress and a lot of simple and logical things are not in the game. On the list of things Toady and Threetoe want to do, improving how liquids are handled is probably pretty low on it. I imagine a feature like that won't get in for a long time, probably not until water is not the only liquid in the game. Currently other liquids such as booze and blood can only manifest as splotches and splatters, which is why you can't make a moat of alcohol.

Really though, I wouldn't even bother with irrigation farming. Just use the caverns and never have to bother with it.

 

[boholikeu]

Somehow I... don't think that's the best reason not to optimize your game's UI... =)

Probably the same reason Notch isn't adding a tutorial to Minecraft either.

Minecraft's a bit different though. While it could use a tutorial, it's interface is much better and the game is playable once you understand a few basics.

The "basics" in DF are a lot less intuitive, and even if you know what you want to do you are hampered by the horrible organization of the menu system.

See this is one of the things that makes you realize how much the development of Dwarf Fortress differs from other games. It's not something being made by Toady to get him his own foothold in the industry, like Notch and Minecraft. This is his pet project, something he would be making regardless of if it gave him a profit. Which means he does whatever he wants with the game at the moment rather than what would attract more people to it, like improving the horrible interface.

Surely he wants to share this game with other people, or he would never have released it to the public.

Anyway, I realize it's his game, and he can do what he wants with it, but that's not going to stop me about complaining about the UI. It's like if someone wrote a brilliant book in their own (horrible) handwriting, and then refused to type it out until they were completely done (even though the story is already amazing).