Dwarf Fortress - Page 6

Melfice · 12-10-2009, 06:35 AM

I've got a vague sense of what I'm doing now, but... mostly what I'm doing is building up to the point where I'm about to lay down my farm, to find out there's no suitable soil in the nearby region and abandoning my fortress for another location. =/

Frustrating, but surprisingly, it's interesting.

Loyal · 12-10-2009, 12:53 PM

When you're on the embark screen, look on the right to see what rock types it has. The ones with brown text are farm-suitable.

Alternatively, if/when you learn to operate pumps and water flow, you can try for irrigation, which will make any rock suitable for farming.

While we're on the subject of rocks, White is sedimentary rock, which is typically very nice for all the useful ores (lots of iron) and such it has,

Light grey is igneous intrusive, which has copper and other things, though you'll probably want some sediment to go with it as Iron is a bit rarer here, and copper sucks for weapons and armor.

Dark grey is igneous extrusive, which in addition to being mostly similar to igneous intrusive in terms of ores and such, usually indicates volcanic activity or at least a pool of magma underground somewhere.

You could also try Embarking with extra alcohol and importing all necessary plants via the three caravans that roll about.

Melfice · 12-10-2009, 01:37 PM

Yeah, I just figured it out.
Just got me an area with a nice amount of peat. Don't remember if I've got much in the way of sedimentary ground, but we'll see eventually if I can't get some iron-works set up.

Ryong · 12-10-2009, 03:54 PM

I have no idea what I'm doing, but I have, like, some stockpiles, a few workshops, some barracks and a dining room. I believe the barracks have been placed terribly, but I have no idea, really. Also, my farm needs water. There's a nearby lake. I hope I don't flood anything.

Edit: Okay, seriously, how do I cancel a job? I want a dwarf to start chopping at a different set of trees, but I've no idea how to tell him to stop chopping the initial set. I also don't know how to tell a dwarf to do a job he has no skills in, so, yeah.

Loyal · 12-10-2009, 05:55 PM

I found a couple of pretty useful guides for getting started. One of 'em includes a save file you can load.

EDIT: One of my miners, in a fey mood, went and made a bed... out of 3 pieces of shale. I'm tempted to make the asshole sleep on it for making me worry that I'd lose my best miner, but then I suppose I could just give it to a particularly bothersome noble.

Kerensky287 · 12-11-2009, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryong

I have no idea what I'm doing, but I have, like, some stockpiles, a few workshops, some barracks and a dining room. I believe the barracks have been placed terribly, but I have no idea, really. Also, my farm needs water. There's a nearby lake. I hope I don't flood anything.

Edit: Okay, seriously, how do I cancel a job? I want a dwarf to start chopping at a different set of trees, but I've no idea how to tell him to stop chopping the initial set. I also don't know how to tell a dwarf to do a job he has no skills in, so, yeah.

Best place to put a farm: Loam or some other kind of dirt. Rock sucks because then it needs watering. I've never actually irrigated a farm so I can't help you there.

To un-designate some trees, press D (for designate) then X (for "cancel designation") then select the trees you want to stop cutting.

To make a dwarf do a new job, press V (for "view") near the dwarf, center the cursor over it, press P (for preferences? dunno), then L (for labour) and then scroll down the menu and find the jobs you want. I generally have all my dudes on Masonry and Stone Engraving in addition to their normal jobs because I occasionally build huge towering structures with no warning.

Just a note for the new jobs thing: you need a Pick if you want a new dwarf to mine, and you need an Axe if you want a new dwarf to do woodcutting. Both can generally be traded at the Depot from a Dwarf or Human caravan, and both can be made at a Metalsmithing workshop.

I actually started a new game fairly recently. Found a totally ideal area - there's a Magma Pipe right nearby, with a flowing river, and it's built into a mountain with flux stones and ores out the yin yang. Of course then I had to muck it all up by opening a mountain-borne Aquifer into the Magma Pipe (and open air) by accident, so now I can't play the game without it lagging to 5fps.

EDIT: Also, I saw something earlier about starting a Let's Play DF thing (now vanished mysteriously!) and I think it'd be an awesome idea that I would support.

The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk · 12-11-2009, 05:26 AM

I just finished reading Boatmurdered. Holy fuck that was awesome. Gota be the funniest Let's Play ever done.

Now to return to my own fortress and get some work done.

Amake · 12-11-2009, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loyal

Each downward stairway has to have an up-stairway below it to match, and vice-versa. Up-down stairs, obviously, serve both at once, though you still need the apporpriate stair type on the next Z-level to make use of it.

Was it just me who got a flashback to that Ernie strip where Ernie talks to a carpenter about his broken stairs?

"Did you want one that goes up or down?"
"I want one that goes both ways. O_o"
"Oh, damn. That's not gonna be cheap."

So anyway, what's with the control scheme in this game? Why isn't everything right click like in Eve Online? The unlikely key presses is what puts me off, more than the graphics.

Ryong · 12-11-2009, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kerensky287

Best place to put a farm: Loam or some other kind of dirt. Rock sucks because then it needs watering. I've never actually irrigated a farm so I can't help you there.

Man, I had a farm of plump helmets underground and the farmer wouldn't grow anything, so I read some guides and they say it has to be muddy.

Melfice · 12-11-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryong

Man, I had a farm of plump helmets underground and the farmer wouldn't grow anything, so I read some guides and they say it has to be muddy.

Muddy or soil.
Soil, if you have it, is by far easiest.

EDIT: Not sure if this is a blessing or a curse, but so far, all I've been digging in is marble.
I've found at least one spot that MAY have some sand for me to build farms on, but so far, it's been marble all the way. I'ma get rich when the trade caravan comes along. XD
EDITED: Yes! Sand, indeed! Plus, I've run into some Microcline.

12-10-2009, 03:54 PM	#54
Ryong Professional Threadkiller Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brazil Posts: 3,798	I have no idea what I'm doing, but I have, like, some stockpiles, a few workshops, some barracks and a dining room. I believe the barracks have been placed terribly, but I have no idea, really. Also, my farm needs water. There's a nearby lake. I hope I don't flood anything. Edit: Okay, seriously, how do I cancel a job? I want a dwarf to start chopping at a different set of trees, but I've no idea how to tell him to stop chopping the initial set. I also don't know how to tell a dwarf to do a job he has no skills in, so, yeah. Last edited by Ryong; 12-10-2009 at 05:49 PM.

12-10-2009, 06:35 AM	#51
Melfice Vigilo - Confido Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 4,846	I've got a vague sense of what I'm doing now, but... mostly what I'm doing is building up to the point where I'm about to lay down my farm, to find out there's no suitable soil in the nearby region and abandoning my fortress for another location. =/ Frustrating, but surprisingly, it's interesting.

12-10-2009, 01:37 PM	#53
Melfice Vigilo - Confido Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 4,846	Yeah, I just figured it out. Just got me an area with a nice amount of peat. Don't remember if I've got much in the way of sedimentary ground, but we'll see eventually if I can't get some iron-works set up.