Dwarven Fortress FOFC

[Godzilla Blitz]

Hear ye! Hear ye! Attention all glory-seeking dwarves! The king has commissioned a new mountain fortress to be built in the wilderness of our great land of Niruretur Ekir. By the force of that decree, I am hereby authorized to enlist five dwarves to venture forth into the wilds and carve said fortress out of the hard rock. That’s right, fellow dwarves! I said rock! And hard! You can dig in rock! For free! What a deal, eh! We will give you--without charge, I might add--all the tools you need, and will even guarantee that a trading caravan will visit you before the first winter sets in.

What more could you ask for? Yes, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! Just think of it, your own mountain paradise, with all the rock you can dig, all the beer you can brew, all the fresh meat, veggies, and fish you can find! Crystal clear blue rivers, gurgling brooks, spectacular sunsets! And each night you’ll sleep in your own private room, deep in the warm, cozy bowels of solid rock! A dwarven utopia of your very own.

And yes, there’s even more, my dwarven friends! You see, if you come on this adventure, your name will live forever in the annals of dwarven history. Your friends and family will hear of your tales for years to come! You will live a life of the rich and famous, the life you have always dreamed of.*

Sound too good to be true? Nope, it isn’t. But this adventure isn’t open to all, so act fast! We’ve only got five spots available, and they’ll go fast, I guarantee it. So if you want in, don’t dally. Post your name here and let me know! Don’t be shy, jump right up!

Oh, and one more thing: tell us what you’re good at, ok? We’re looking for one each of the following skills. If someone picks the one you want, feel free to take a different profession, but we can’t have two dwarves doing the same thing at first. That would be silly. I think.**

We need the following:
A stone crafter (taken, Coffee Warlord)
Two miners (taken, Sachmo and ntndeacon)
A carpenter (taken, Qwikshot)
A fisherdwarf (taken, Anxiety)

*Rare side effects of this adventure could be dismemberment, drowning, death by elephant, starvation, insanity, death by frogman, and other annoying unpleasantries. The king nor any of his minions are not repsonsible for adverse circumstances or outcomes. As always, consult with your doctor before beginning an adventure of this sort.

**Unless I screw up and designate two dwarves as miners. But I would never do that.

[Coffee Warlord]

The Stonecutters have selected Coffee Warlord as their designated Stone Crafter!

Attach the Stone of Triumph!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Ah, our first hero! Welcome aboard, Coffee Warlord, Novice Stonecrafter! Glad to have you with us!

[Coffee Warlord]

Who controls the British Crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We Do! We Do!

Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We Do! We Do!

Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?
We Do! We Do!

Who robs cavefish of their sight
Who rigs every Oscar night?
We Do! We Do!

[Godzilla Blitz]

That's the spirit! A positive attitude is crucial to success. I can see you've got a ton of potential! I can't wait to see what you can make out of rock.

[sachmo71]

A dwarven miner? How original! I will take that spot, please!

[Abe Sargent]

Fisher!

[Qwikshot]

Well if it was good for Jesus, it's good for me...I'll try the carpenter.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Ah, fantastic! Three more vict...I mean, heroes. Almost time to start on our way to our peaceful paradise in the mountains. We just need one more.

[ntndeacon]

Mason extraordinaire reporting for duty!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Ah, there we are! Great! Welcome aboard, ntndeacon!

Apparently there was a small miscommunication on my part. The king asked for two miners instead of a miner and a mason. I hope he doesn't kill me for this mistake, but I think we can get by if we make you a miner instead. Mining, masonry, pretty much the same, right?

Once we get going, we'll need your finer masonry skills, for sure, but for now, um, grab a pick, ok?

Well, it looks like we're all set to go. Ah, wait...what's this? Another missive from the king?

Ah, all praise the king! He has great news for you...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Your glorious king has decided to bestow upon you even more incredible favors. Yes, you’re welcome. He realized that a dwarven fortress can’t hope to have the um, “proper” environment with only five male dwarves. You need female dwarves! He is therefore going to provide you with two female dwarves of your choice.

So…who would you like? Choose wisely, the winters are long! You might be saying, “Huh, what do you mean?” Well, for example, we understand that Anna Kournikova would like to go with you. Or perhaps, Britney Spears is more to your liking? Well, anyway, it is of no concern to me, you just fire off a suggestion. Once we hear from you, we’ll round them up. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to be chosen for this adventure.

[Coffee Warlord]

The missive from the Stonecutters demands Natalie Portman be brought to Coffee Warlord's bedside immediately!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Oh, excellent choice! You'll have to earn her favors, though.

The Wood Crafter Natalie Portman joins our heroes!

[Coffee Warlord]

She can craft my wood any time. Heh. Heh. Heh.

[Godzilla Blitz]

She can craft my wood any time. Heh. Heh. Heh.

Har! Good one! Good to see that all those rumors about dwarves having a good sense of humor are true. :)

[sachmo71]

scarlett johansson would make a fine partner, even without the beard!

[AStott]

Ah good, I was wondering how long it'd take you to start up a dynasty here after you got hooked up over on the OO forum... :)

Sign me up for your next open slot (I don't really care what role).

[Godzilla Blitz]

What a fine choice!

Peasant Scarlett Johansson, Novice Wood Cutter, joins our band of merry dwarves!

We'll be making final preparations, then, and be on our way shortly!

[Godzilla Blitz]

The stout dwarves of FOFC prepare for their journey to the untamed wilderness region of, um, somewhere. This wilderness region is temperate, heavily forested, and has moderate amounts of other vegetation. Very safe, I assure you.

We have been chosen by the king to forge a new fortress in the wilds, one that will bring glory to the dwarven race! By decree of the king, this fortress shall be called Vaboksat! Not sure what that means either, but…

Onward, short heroes!

Our initial seven:
CoffeeWarlord, Craftsdwarf
Novice Stone Crafter
Sachmo, Miner
Novice Miner
Anxiety, Fisherdwarf
Novice Fisher
Qwikshot, Carpenter
Novice Carpenter
ntndeacon, Miner
Novice Miner
Natalie Portman, Craftsdwarf
Novice Wood Crafter
Scarlett Johansson, Peasant
Novice Wood Cutter

Besides the clothes we have on our backs, a couple of horse- and mule-drawn wagons pull two wagons full of our ample supplies. With this treasure trove of goods, you’ll build your paradise:

2 iron picks
2 iron battle axes
5 plump helmet spawn
6 pig tail seeds
48 chunks of groundhog meat (Yummy!)
26 plump helmet*

Also traveling with us are two dogs and two cats.

With this, we’ll carve our existence into the mountains and make a fortress worthy of dwarven lore! Onward, short dwarves! Our destiny awaits.

*No, don’t ask. I have no idea what the helmet is. All I know is we’ve got some in a bag on the wagons. I don’t know if we eat it, plant it, or kill things with it. I think it’s pretty important stuff, so I better figure out what it is soon, though.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Ah good, I was wondering how long it'd take you to start up a dynasty here after you got hooked up over on the OO forum... :)

Sign me up for your next open slot (I don't really care what role).

Yes, yes, by all means. Welcome! I hear that there are wandering dwarves out in the wilds that sometimes stop by before winter arrives. We'll put you down as the first male dwarf to arrive.

That's assuming we survive that long, which is a real longshot given that I have no clue what I'm doing.

Oops. Said too much, said too much.

[NevStar]

26 plump helmet*

*No, don’t ask. I have no idea what the helmet is. All I know is we’ve got some in a bag on the wagons. I don’t know if we eat it, plant it, or kill things with it. I think it’s pretty important stuff, so I better figure out what it is soon, though.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/musicforhumanrights/artists/images/artist_helmet.jpg

[Godzilla Blitz]

http://www.amnestyusa.org/musicforhumanrights/artists/images/artist_helmet.jpg

Ah, that's a definite possibility, but we've got a bag full of something like 26 of them, and they are plump. He doesn't look plump. :)

[Godzilla Blitz]

After several days of arduous travel, our dwarves arrive at the foot of the massive mountain that will become our fortress. Our overall goal will be to survive the first winter. It is now spring, which gives us a few months to get busy and get ready for long, dark days that lurk a few months in the future. There is much to do, and so many adventures in store for our heroes!

Time to get to work!

(I’ll be back later today with an update!)

[Blade6119]

WTF, Godzilla is doing a dynasty and im not in it? Who will die then? This does not bode well, your screwing with destiny!!

:p

[Neon_Chaos]

Good luck! (you'll need it.)

[ntndeacon]

wow what a nice set of pick axes you are carrying Miss Johansson.

[Kodos]

A Godzilla Blitz dynasty? WOOT!

[Raven Hawk]

Yay for GB Die-Nasty!

[Coffee Warlord]

The first stone shall be carved in the likeness of Blade, so that, when danger strikes, the stone will be the first one attacked. It shall confuse our enemies!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Here we go. Sorry so slow, but I'm learning as I go along...

Don't get too excited by this dynasty. I'm not sure our heroes will last that long. I'm pretty clueless with this game. Took me a hour to figure out how to set up a barracks.

(I'll reply to people's posts above in a little while. Got to run off to take my son to a piano lesson now.)

We Start Digging, and Other Stuff
Well, everyone kind of stands around wondering what to do for a while, staring at the mountain. After a bit, Anxiety notices a river off to the west, and heads off to try his hand at fishing. We also designate him as our fish cleaner, which hopefully he can learn how to do with some success.

We map out a plan for hacking out some rooms from the mountain. We also designate some trees for chopping down. Then we set up stockpile areas for our wood, stone, and refuse.

Almost immediately, Sachmo and ntndeacon start digging away at the mountain face with their picks. Scarlett starts chopping down trees. We are underway!

We’re going to need someone to do some masonry work as well, so we designate CoffeeWarlord as our mason. Let’s hope he can figure it out pretty quickly.

After a bit, we get some nice acacia wood and some hardy granite from our excavation endeavors. We set up plans for a carpentry workshop and a stone workshop. Coffee jumps to the task of building the masonry workshop and Qwikshot starts building the carpentry workshop.

With that everyone is busy and the site hums with activity.

After a bit, the crude workshops are complete. We set the masonry workshop to produce stone blocks, stone thrones, and stone tables. The carpentry workshop will give us our beds, bucket, and barrels.

Away from our fortress, Anxiety finds that the river is barren of fish. Argh. He wanders a bit to the southwest of the river, where he finds a small pond. He immediately starts catching turtles. Way to go, Anxiety. To the northwest of him is a pack of warthogs. They seem to be staying where they are for the moment. Hope they’re friendly warthogs.

Back at the fortress, Sachmo and ntndeacon continue drilling deeper into the rockface. They dig like they are possessed, and before long we’ve got a main area with six rooms off to the sides. We make one the barracks, another we use for food storage, and one more we make into the carpentry woodshop.

Once we get a few more tables and thrones, we’ll set up our dining hall and then get going on building a well for water. Shortly, we’ll also need to have one of our brave miners dig east in search of the underwater river.

Meanwhile, back at the pond, three lions approach Anxiety. He hightails it to the east side of the river and waits while the lions eat up the turtles he caught. Fortunately, he was able to cart some of them back to our food storage room, but these too meet a useless fate: before we can get them into barrels, our cats eat them all up. Oh, well, another productive day at work for Anxiety. Determined, he heads back toward the pond once the lions have left, only to collapse from exhaustion and stress by the side of the river.

Elsewhere, CoffeeWarlord is now a “Dabbling Mason”, which means that he is taking forever to get our tables and thrones done. Come on, Coffee, pick up the pace! We need a place to eat!

Qwikshot, on the other hand, is a model of efficiency, as he cranks out beds and barrels at a furious pace. He devours all the trees Scarlett Johansson can chop down. Maybe he’s just trying to impress her.

Without a crafting workshop set up yet, Natalie Portman spends her day organizing our supplies, carting around the stone and food, and setting up the beds in the barracks.

Gradually, our dwarfs tire out, and one by one they stumble into the barracks and crash, each to their own bed for the moment. Except of course for Anxiety, who is out by the river sleeping by himself.

All in all, a great start! No one died!

[Qwikshot]

WOOT!

[ntndeacon]

Hi HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Hi Ho Hi Ho Hi Ms Johansson.

[Raven Hawk]

If the cats are eating the turtles, perhaps the cats are the next on the menu for the hungry dwarves.

[Abe Sargent]

Turtle Power!

In other news: STOP MAKING ME WANT TO TRY OUT NEW GAMES. That is all.

[Coffee Warlord]

Do NOT irritate the master craftsman.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Blade6119: We'll have to figure out a way to get you in this. There are apparently so many interesting ways to die in this game, and I bet you could find a real winner.

Neon_Chaos: Thanks! I think we'll actually need a lot more than good luck. I think we'll need divine intervention.

ntndeacon: Scarlett is a very impressive worker. Even as the others sleep, she's still out there chopping down trees. Matter of fact, Anxiety is asleep only a little ways away from her, but she just keeps on chopping trees down, oblivious to his needs. She's pretty much cleared the whole section from the mountain to the river all by herself.

Kodos: I think it's going to be a very short dynasty, and I'm not sure yet how well the game will work to create a good dynasty, but we'll give it a shot.

RavenHawk: Yes, yes, that is likely a much more appropriate name: Die-Nasty. I like it!

CoffeeWarlord: In all seriousness, there is a sculpture skill. Apparently it makes dwarfs happy to have stone sculptures in their living quarters.

RavenHawk: The funny thing about the cats eating the turtles was that Natalie kept bringing barrels in to store the turtles, but by the time she'd get there with the barrel, the turtles would be gone. I'd get a little message that "Natalie has cancelled her task because the object could not be found." I could just see her wandering around, going "Ok, I know I left that raw turtle around her somewhere."

Ok, so maybe it's not that funny.

But yes, we can butcher the cats and the dogs and horses and mules in dire circumstances.

Anxiety: It's really early as far as how much time I've spent with the game, I'm still trying to figure the game out, and the learning curve/interface issues are substantial, but even with all that, this game feels like it could be one of my favorite games ever. It's way too early to tell, and I may hate it in about five hours, but it's got an amazing complexity to it that looks like it will generate some funny and entertaining outcomes. And it definitely makes you think.

Coffee: Master Craftsman? You're turning delusional. You're a dabbling mason. Don't get overconfident or you'll chop your hand off.

[Peregrine]

This is going to be funny, way to go dwarves!

[Neon_Chaos]

GB: I have dibs on any migrants! :)

[Coffee Warlord]

You will be SILENT.

I am a surpreme craftsman, and all dwarves should bring me ale and whores as tribute to my stone working glory.

HI HO, Bitches!

[ntndeacon]

We will give you a pick in the eye so you won't be taking our ale and whores. besides I have heard stone workers make a good dinner!

[Coffee Warlord]

We will give you a pick in the eye so you won't be taking our ale and whores. besides I have heard stone workers make a good dinner!

Don't MAKE me attach the Stone of DOOM.

[gi]

Don't MAKE me attach the Stone of DOOM.

going Munchkin on 'em now? :)

[Abe Sargent]

*No, don’t ask. I have no idea what the helmet is. All I know is we’ve got some in a bag on the wagons. I don’t know if we eat it, plant it, or kill things with it. I think it’s pretty important stuff, so I better figure out what it is soon, though.


From the Dwarf Fortress wiki:

Considered to be the standard food type. Plump helmets can be eaten as is by your dwarves, or combined with another foodtype to be cooked and eaten. Plump helmets can also be used by a brewer to create dwarven wine. Note that if you cook plump helmets, you will lose their seeds, while brewed plump helmets still leave seeds behind. Plump helmets eaten raw by your dwarves will leave their seeds behind as well. Plump helmet seeds are called plump helmet spawns. The amount of plump helmets gained per seed planted depends on the skill of the farmer. Most will grow nothing but plump helmets for the first few years of their fortress.

[kingfc22]

I LOVE GB DYNASTIES!!!! Woot.


Please include me. Please!!!!!!!!! :)

[Neon_Chaos]

GB: dig for the river inside the mountain, just head east... when you hit it, build a small room beside it so that when the river floods, you get muddy floors. when the floor is muddy, you can build a farming plot on it, and plant the seeds. food is very important come the winter.

[Godzilla Blitz]

(Quick note: As I've mentioned a few times, I still figuring this game out, and one part of that is how to best chronicle our adventures. I just realized that the game seems to progress through about two day cycles each season, so I'm going to adjust my writing style a bit to make seasonal posts.)

Year 1051, Spring: In Search of Water!

We have some advancements to acknowledge! Ntndeacon and Sachmo have lost their “novice” tags, and are now full fledged miners. Way to go, dwarfs! Dig, dig, dig. No one else makes any advances for the moment.

Well, that was quite a productive beginning, but there is still much to be done. It’s now mid-spring, and we have to make some progress on becoming self-sufficient. Our next goals are to find the subterranean river in the mountain, get some crops planted, start making some crafts to sell to the caravan, and get our main hall dug out and set up with a well and tables and chairs.

We get busy. Natalie Portman, who spent the early portion of our adventure just toting stuff around, gets set up at a stone crafting station and starts making toys, mugs, and instruments. She’s quite creative, as she makes marvels such as a slate harp and felsite toy hammer. Normally, this should be something that CoffeeWarlord is doing, as by trade Natalie’s a wood crafter, but since Coffee Warlord is still backlogged at his masonry job, Natalie had to fill in.

Sachmo and ntndeacon get busy digging our dining hall, which will serve as the home for our well and our main social area. We’ll also have them dig a large storage area for all the goods we’re making.

Anxiety, who had so little success with his fishing endeavors, gets taken off that job and is our designated porter for this portion of our adventure. We need all the help we can get speeding up our progress inside the mountain.

CoffeeWarlord gets back to his stone masonry. He is still trying to finish those damn thrones and tables.

And since Scarlett busted her butt cutting down all the trees, we’ve got plenty of wood for the moment. She too, will come into the mountain to help with transporting stuff.

Qwikshot, who blazed through the creation of our beds, is now set to making barrels for storing food and various objects. We’ll stop those damn cats from eating our turtles again.

We get busy…

The construction of the dining hall goes very quickly, kind of. Sachmo and ntndeacon excavate like dwarfs possessed. Anxiety takes a break from hauling stuff around and gets our well built and working. But we’re still waiting for the chairs and tables. Everything’s done, but we only have five tables and three chairs.

With the main hall for the most part done, Sachmo heads over and starts digging the tunnel through the mountain that will aim to hit the underground river. This is treacherous work, and he needs to be ready to run at any moment. Ntndeacon starts digging a large storage area. Everyone else sticks to their tasks, and except for the discovery of some ore and silver, things are relatively quiet.

But as spring draws to a close, we still haven’t hit the river, and winter is one season closer…

[Godzilla Blitz]

Peregrine: I'm interested to see how this will turn out. I haven't quite figured out yet how to best tell the story, but I think it does have the potential to turn out pretty funny. Funny stuff happens in the game, as far as I can tell.

Neon_Chaos: AStott called first dibs, but you can be second in line.

CoffeeWarlord: Ale and whores? Maybe that explains your pokey pace. You are so slow. It takes you weeks just to make a chair.

Anxiety: Ah, that would explain why the plump helmets are disappearing. Apparently we're eating them.

kingfc22: Thanks, but this one feels more like an alpha dynasty. Still trying to get a handle on things.

Neon_Chaos: Thanks! Yes, I've been reading a bit about the farming, but I'm not sure I understand all the details of the floodgates and such. We'll see. I hope we can get some crops to harvest before the winter sets in, or we may have biggie problemo. We can draw lots to see who gets eaten first.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Announcement

Dwarfs, we need a new female member name. And this should be a strong female. Mighty strong.

Who shall it be?

[tanglewood]

Lucy Lawless aka Xena.

[tanglewood]

dola

Good dynasty. I'm off to try out this game myself now.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Lucy Lawless aka Xena.

Har! Good one! Xena it is.

*gets back to writing*

[Abe Sargent]

Feh, I would've chosen Lynda Carter.....

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1051, Summer: The Incompetents, Part I

By early Summer, Sachmo is deep within the mountain, digging with an intensity driven by the thought of oncoming winter. Finally, in late June, he hits water! Fortunately, the river does not overflow immediately, and Sachmo hurries off to begin another digging job in another section of our expanding fortress.

Our next task is to set up a farm next to the river, but this is a complex task involving floodgates and control rooms and such. But there is no alternative, so we get busy. Our lives depend on it.

Sachmo and ntndeacon are called to the river again and start excavating a large farming room and a control room for the levers. Anxiety starts working on some mechanisms for the floodgates, which we had CoffeeWarlord build already in the spring. We realize we need a door for the control room, which we set CoffeeWarlord to making. To do this we have to interrupt his throne making, which still proceeds at a snail’s pace.

In the meantime, Natalie continue to make goods that we can sell, Scarlett begins hacking away at a new section of the forest, and Qwikshot gets back to making even more barrels for storage.

While this plan sounded good on paper, it had one problem: CoffeeWarlord. Coffee, for whatever reason, didn’t see fit to get back to work on the control room door. He sleeps all the time, then gets up and starts hauling stones back and forth through the mountain. Then he hangs out “on break” with Natalie Portman in the dining room for hours on end! Argh. Frustrated, we ask Qwikshot to try his hand at the masonry table. He gets right to it, and shortly we have a nice door, but by now most of the summer had gone by. Right after we get the door done, Coffee gets up and builds…a door. Gee, thanks, there, partner! Just in time!

Things go from bad to worse. Sachmo puts the floodgate in the wrong place, which blocks off the access to the river. We’ve got to dig around it, which delays us even more, because Sachmo and ntndeacon are off digging at the other end of the fortress, and by the time we get them back to the river they are too exhausted to continue and have to catch up on sleep. To top it off, while they are sleeping, we suffer two massive cave-ins. Sachmo and ntndeacon dug some rooms too large! The first is disastrous, as it is in--yes, you guessed it--the farming room. The second hits a currently unused storage area. Fortunately, no one was in either room when the collapses occur, but we’ve got to clear the damn farming room before we can resume trying to get the floodgates installed and working.

The end result of this incompetence is that early and mid-summer come and go and we still don’t have any seeds planted, nor do we have the floodgate properly installed, nor do we have the lever mechanism in place. However, little did we realize that our seven-member fortress would be in for a change…

One late August day, a stocky figure with long dark hair comes wading through the river to our west and approaches our fortress. As she draws near, we can see she is carrying a big ass anvil with her, and is one mighty woman. She introduces herself as Xena and tells us she was sent by the king to help us out. She claims she’s a novice metalsmith, metalcrafter, and furnace operator. And with that, Xena becomes the eighth member of our merry band of dwarfs! Not one to mess with, dwarves! Welcome to the family!

But back to our heroes’ endeavors to getting our farm up and running….

Once Sachmo and ntndeacon recover from their exhaustion they get busy clearing up the cave-in. Once that is done, we set a new floodgate in place. On the very last day of summer, we hook up the levers, get set, and pull the switch…

Nothing happens. The room doesn’t flood. Damn it. Maybe we need a channel? Who knows. As our dwarfs stand on the barren farming plot, fidget nervously, and wonder what to do, summer comes to a close…

With the autumn chill setting in and winter around the corner, big, dark questions lurk ahead of us. Do we have enough food to survive the winter? Can we somehow get a farm up and running in the fall for one quick harvest? If we can’t do that, how much food can we trade for with all the stone toys, mugs, and instruments that Natalie has made? If that’s not enough, do we start butchering the horses? The dogs? The cats? CoffeeWarlord?

So many questions, answers coming…

[mrsimperless]

My understanding of flooding a room is that you actually need two floodgates for it to work. You need to create a small channel leading from the farming area to the river. Put one floodgate seperating the farming room and the channel. Put the other one seperating the channel from the river. You hook them up to the same switch and then when you pull the lever it is supposed to flood. Don't ask me why you need two of them, I don't completely get it. Of course, I've never tried this either and it may not even work.

Good luck!

[mrsimperless]

Dola.

Don't forget to make sure the door to your farming room is closed when you flood it! ;)

[Abe Sargent]

Sir, I'd recommend that you send me back to fishing, in the hopes that I can get us some extra food.

[Neon_Chaos]

My understanding of flooding a room is that you actually need two floodgates for it to work. You need to create a small channel leading from the farming area to the river. Put one floodgate seperating the farming room and the channel. Put the other one seperating the channel from the river. You hook them up to the same switch and then when you pull the lever it is supposed to flood. Don't ask me why you need two of them, I don't completely get it. Of course, I've never tried this either and it may not even work.

Good luck!

Dola.

One floodgate to pull the water into the channel, and another floodgate to pull the water out of the channel and into the room.

REMEMBER TO HAVE THE DOORS INTO THE ROOM LOCKED!

[Coffee Warlord]

Ahem. I know my priorities.

Doors < Natalie.

[sachmo71]

7x7 is the max room size...without supports. Also, you can build the farm right next to the river and avoid the whole canal thing.

[mrsimperless]

7x7 is the max room size...without supports. Also, you can build the farm right next to the river and avoid the whole canal thing.

My understanding was that 7X7 was NOT safe. You need to avoid 7x7's and keep a support or some rock there to avoid it. At least that's what I've been doing in the "convention center". =)

[Neon_Chaos]

6 x anything is the borderline.

but you can create a 13x13 room with a lone unmined pillar in the middle as safe.

[mrsimperless]

Yeah, what Neon said. =D

Here's a screenshot of my convention center. That's what I meant to say at least. I keep supports in to keep 7X7 from happening. I haven't had any rumblings of cave-ins whatsoever, so it seems safe.

Best of luck GB!

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7127/gbpostpd3.jpg

[sachmo71]

My understanding was that 7X7 was NOT safe. You need to avoid 7x7's and keep a support or some rock there to avoid it. At least that's what I've been doing in the "convention center". =)

Yes, you are correct. I misread it. Thanks.

[Neon_Chaos]

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/856/opkw8.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://www.imageshack.us/)

Here's my general design, just to show how I implemented the 13x 13 concept...seperate rooms, 13x13. A general workshop area, foodstuff reserve, finished goods, ore, crystals, rocks... I also have more rooms full of bars, furniture... etc.

[mrsimperless]

Here's my general design, just to show how I implemented the 13x 13 concept...seperate rooms, 13x13. A general workshop area, foodstuff reserve, finished goods, ore, crystals, rocks... I also have more rooms full of bars, furniture... etc.

That is a mess, sir. A bloody mess. I love it =D

So where's the neon dynasty? I wanna see some Filipino dwarves.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Autumn: The Incompetents, Part II

Well, one of our cats has given birth to kittens! How cute. Anyone know how many calories are in a kitten? There are three of them running around. Our main hall is like a zoo, as our assortment of dogs, horses, cats, and donkeys seem to like it in there, and at any given moment there are a half dozen animals wandering around the room.

Perhaps the kittens bring us good fortune, for our luck turns as the leaves begin to turn color. A couple of days after the kittens are born, the mountain shakes with a deafening roar and water surges onto our farming plots! Within a day or two it resides, and we have a fine layer of farming mud on top of our rock floor! Success! We quickly designate the area as a farming plot, and decide to plant our plump helmet, which apparently gives us the best return on food.

The very next day we spot the trading caravan arriving from the west! This is both good news and bad news. Good in that we can now trade the mountain of trinkets that Natalie Portman has made through the summer. Bad in that we don’t have a trading depot built yet and haven’t moved the goods into the depot. Yikes.

Fortunately, ntndeacon comes to the rescue. He drops his pickaxe and starts whipping together a trading depot out of pumice blocks. He frantically builds the depot as the caravan slowly fords the river and makes its way over bumpy ground to our fortress. Ntndeacon gets the job done, though. As he is driving the last nail into the depot, the caravan pulls up. With that, nearly all our dwarves spend the next few days scrambling to move the ton of trinkets from the fortress to the depot. It’s a hectic couple of weeks, but when all is said and done, we’ve traded away everything that Natalie made for some giant bat meat provisions, some elephant meat, some giant mole meat, and some cave fish. We also get some animal hides and other sundries that I have no clue what to do with.

In the midst of this busy time, we have more additions to the fortress. Our horse gives birth to two foals, and one of our dogs gives birth to two puppies.

Finally, we wrap up the trading and turn our attention back to our farm. D’oh! We forgot to plant the helmet! We were so busy trading for food that we only planted two measly sections of helmet. Argh! We get almost everyone into the act as we race to get some seeds in the ground before it hardens for winter. Damn it, this is not good!

And to make matters worse, while we do that, our cats get into our food storage room before we can barrel up the newly acquired food. Scat! We lose some of our precious fish and meat before Sachmo can install a door on the room and make it pet-proof.

During this blinding frenzy of activity, the clear lines between jobs fade away and everyone has been pitching in at the most pressing emergency. Through the mid and late fall, this continues as we work at a breakneck pace to get a bunch of helmet planted. As we draw into late fall, things seem to settle down a bit and order starts to take hold again.

With mining operations slowed down, Sachmo has spent much of his time with Qwikshot and Scarlett Johansson down at the helmet farms. Ntndeacon, who has grown tremendously in strength, has started excavating individual bedrooms on the north side of our fortress. CoffeeWarlord--perhaps because Natalie Portman no longer takes breaks with him--has become more proficient at masonry and is cranking out doors at a reasonable pace. Natalie goes back to spending most of her time alone, crafting toys, mugs, and instruments. Xena and Anxiety have been busy porting in the trade goods and toting stuff around the fortress as we sort out items and living spaces.

In the final month of fall, we make quite a bit of progress on getting individual bedrooms set up. Before the end of the final month, we have two finished, with doors and beds installed. We give Natalie Portman--whose energetic stonework earned us the large portion of meat that may save the fortress this winter--the largest bedroom. The second bedroom goes to Scarlett Johansson, who so often was out chopping down trees while the rest of the dwarfs slept peacefully.

As fall draws to a close, we see the precious helmet seeds sprout into edible helmet, but unfortunately, most of our dwarfs were busying catching up on sleep or eating when this happens. Only CoffeeWarlord was astute enough to realize the importance of getting the plants out of the ground before it froze. He manages to get three plants up before the ground hardens. All the remaining helmet dies. Yes, as an exclamation point to our incompetence, nearly 80% of our helmet crop freezes into inedible husks.

As we head into winter, where supposedly dwarfs eat more vigorously, we’ll have the following provisions to survive on:

Meat: 37
Fish: 4
Plant: 8

Once again, questions abound. Do we have enough food? Will our dwarves slowly starve inside their rock fortress? Will we ever see the spring?

Our dwarfs get set for the long, hard winter ahead…

[Godzilla Blitz]

Anxiety: We can make the next hardy dwarf Lynda Carter. If we ever get another hardy female dwarf, that is.

mrsimperless: Thanks for the tips on the floodgates. I was reading that it often works with one, but sometimes you need two. I was hoping for some luck with one floodgate, because we were so short on time.

Anxiety: Yeah, in retrospect we probably should have sent you fishing. I've still got to figure out what the steps are for processing fish. I think we need to clean it at a fishery, perhaps. Got to build us one of those.

Neon_Chaos: We'll work on that floodgate setup for the spring, if we're still alive. I'm hoping that it will work this time, as we'll need some food pretty fast.

Coffee: Doors < Natalie < Staying Alive! Might be worth it, I'll give you that much. But it appears as if she isn't interested anymore. She doesn't go near you now.

Sachmo, Neon, mrsimperless: Thanks for the tips on the room size/design. Believe it or not, I acutally knew about the 7x7 being too large when I started, and I've got a few rooms with supports in them to prevent cave-ins. I just got excited and forgot in the excitement of finding the river.

[Abe Sargent]

I think my fisher can fish the cave river during winter

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1051, Winter: The Dwindling Refrigerator…

Well, with little to do with regards to the food situation except hope for the best, our dwarfs do their best to push away the fear and keep busy over the cold days and dark nights.

Sachmo and ntndeacon, both of whom are becoming highly proficient digging machines, make rapid progress with some of the expansion projects we set up for the winter months. By mid-winter, the entire bedroom complex is cleared out and work begins on a blacksmithing area, an expansion to our dining hall, and several expanded storage rooms.

We start work on a furnace, forge, and smelter for Xena. We’ve had a peaceful existence so far, but one would think that at some point nasties will come knocking, and we are woefully unprepared to defend ourselves. We’ll want to get her anvil in use as soon as we can.

With the fishing shut down for the winter, we build a still and kitchen for Anxiety to see if he can turn some of our plump helmet into wine, and cook up something for us to eat other than raw groundhog meat.

Coffee, Natalie, Qwikshot, and Scarlett continue at their basic jobs. Scarlett gets out and starts obliterating a new section of the forest. Qwikshot makes beds for the bedding complex, a storage bin for the fine crafts, and more barrels for general storage. Natalie starts cranking out more toys. Coffee builds another floodgate and then gets to work on building a supply of doors.

The fortress bustles with activity as our dwarfs work away diligently.

As winter drags on, it appears that our food situation is going to be ok for the winter. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be ok, as it looks like we’ll start the spring with just a little food.

Things actually turn out fairly well for us this season. Anxiety makes some fine batches of wine from the plump helmet, and this greatly improves morale in the fortress. By the time we get to late winter, all our digging projects are complete and work begins on building a road from our fortress.

Shortly after that, our bedding complex is complete. Each of our dwarfs has their own room now, and this too boosts morale. Except for Coffee Warlord, who can no longer sleep in the same room as Natalie.

We also get a second floodgate and a channel installed on the farming plot, get Xena’s blacksmith area complete, and complete nearly a total reorganization of our storehouses.

As the snow begins to melt to start our second year, the fortress is in excellent condition, except for one small detail: we’re desperately low on food. We have only 16 meat provisions and 5 wine provisions left. We’ll need to take ferocious measures to rectify this situation in the spring. One big step forward would be to have the floodgate system correctly installed, as that would allow us to get a head start on spring planting.

The birds begin to chirp outside our fortress, and the second year begins….

Before we continue our story, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at our fortress and get an update on our dwarfs’ current skills.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I think my fisher can fish the cave river during winter

You know, I didn't think of this when I played the winter round, but I believe you are correct. That would have been helpful for us. Every little bit would be helpful.

[Godzilla Blitz]

The Fortress Vaboskat, Spring 1052

Overview

Our Dwarfs

CoffeeWarlord, Mason
Mason Novice Stone Crafter
Dabbling Grower

Sachmo, Miner (Agile, Tough)
Taleted Miner Dabbling Mason
Dabbling Grower

Anxiety, Fisherdwarf
Fisherdwarf Dabbling Building Designer
Dabbling Mechanic Dabbling Grower
Dabbling Brewer Dabbling Cook
Dabbling Mason

Qwikshot, Carpenter
Carpenter Dabbling Mason
Dabbling Grower

ntndeacon, Miner (Agile, Strong)
Adept Miner Dabbling Building Designer
Dabbling Mason

Natalie Portman, Craftsdwarf
Novice Wood Crafter Novice Stone Crafter
Dabbling Mason

Scarlett Johansson, Peasant
Wood Cutter Dabbling Grower

Xena, Metalsmith
Novice Metalsmith Novice Metal Crafter
Novice Furnace Operator Dabbling Wood Burner
Dabbling Grower Dabbling Mason


CoffeeWarlord’s title changes to reflect his new skill as a mason. Although he took a lot of flack for his performance in the fall and spring, once he got better at masonry, he has done solid work. Anxiety is a jack-of-all-traits, and did an admirable job of filling in where needed. Both our miners, Sachmo and ntndeacon, have developed well, and they have added other traits (srong, agile, etc.) during the course of the past year. Qwikshot and Scarlett have lost their “novice” tags at carpentry and wood cutting, respectively. Xena and Natalie are the only two dwarfs whose highest abilities rank at the “novice” level.

Our Floorplan

Here’s a look at our floorplan as we head into spring. Major areas are noted:

http://home.comcast.net/~mwsmart/dwarffortress1052ns3.jpg

[Godzilla Blitz]

Whoa, things are a changing...

I've got AStott and Neon_Chaos in line for the next dwarfs, but we need one more as well.

And you'll like this...

We need eight more female names! I'll take Lynda Carter as one, and that leaves seven more. Any suggestions are fine. I'll pick names off of Kodos' Hot or Not list if we run short of suggestions.

[gi]

I'll sign up

[gi]

I'm still in love with Kaylee from Firefly, so if you have anything that needs fix'n, I'll nominate Kaylee as a name.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Welcome, gi! You're in.

And Kaylee can be one of our new female dwarfs. I think there was a mechanic in the bunch. That should work for her.

[Abe Sargent]

Female names? Can I suggest another?

Sarah Michelle Gellar

[Fonzie]

Good stuff as usual, GB! I'll volunteer for the next male dwarf that becomes available!

Oh, and for female names I've always liked Nancy Pelosi. ;)

Jessica Alba works just as well, though. Of course, if Fonzie becomes a dwarf name I think we must have a dwarf named Pinky Tuscadero.

[sachmo71]

Where is the lever room for controlling the floodgates, GB?
And another woman who should join us would be Elisha Cuthbert.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Great suggestions on the women! I'm going to add the next two hottest women from Kodos' Hot or Not polls, and we'll be back on our way. That gives us:

1. Lynda Carter
2. Sarah Michelle Gellar
3. Nancy Pelosi
4. Jessica Alba
5. Elisha Cuthbert
6. Kaylee
7. Anna Kournikova
8. Kate Beckinsale

Fonzie: Thanks, and I'll add you to the list.

Sachmo: The control room is supposed to be the small room to the southwest of the farming room, but I screwed up when I placed the lever and couldn't figure out how to undo it. The lever sits near the southeast corner of the square room that is just inside the entrance to the fortress. It is really far away from the farming room. I'm wondering if that's why it hasn't worked yet.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Eek. More immigrants! Even with Fonzie in and Pinky Tuscadero in, we need another two female names and one more male volunteer...

But you may not last long...only the brave should apply.

[mrsimperless]

Add my name to the list.

And good luck feeding all those extra mouths! I'm still only at 8 dwarves, but I'm sure that will increase once winter comes to a close.

[ntndeacon]

how bout Uma?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Great! Welcome, mrsimperless! We'll need your experience.

ntndeacon: Uma? Yuck. But ok, whatever the masses desire! Uma Thurman will join us as well. Come to think of it, she might make a good warrior.

I'm going to drive on, so I'll add in the next female name from Kodos' list of beauties to fill the last spot:

Salma Hayek

[ntndeacon]

well Sharapova wouldn't be a bad one to see either when it comes up again.

[Godzilla Blitz]

dola...

Would either AStott or Fonzie like to volunteer to be a hunter? I understand that the job is a bit dangerous, but I think we need to take the risk.

ntndeacon: Ah, Sharapova will work for the next one. Good one. She and Anna can do battle with tennis rackets.

[Fonzie]

I'm always up for a good hunt. Danger means nothing to me.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I'm always up for a good hunt. Danger means nothing to me.

Way to go there, Fonzie. You are the man!

You'll also be closer to Pinky, by the way.

[Fonzie]

Way to go there, Fonzie. You are the man!

You'll also be closer to Pinky, by the way.

That's hot.

[fantastic flying froggies]

I would like to join the tribe whenever possible.

And if you ever need a female cook, I would like to nominate Roseanne...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Fonzie: Oof. I just looked up Nancy Pelosi. That's some kind of nasty, especially when I imagine her as a dwarf. *shudder*

Fantastic Flying Froggies: Hey there! Sure thing. Welcome. I'll add you to the list.

[Coffee Warlord]

This mason work is so beneath me. I want ART! I want to construct things that others will loook upon and immediately weep in joy! I want the dwarves to raise their mugs to my work and toast the badassness of it!

I want Natalie back in my bed!

[AStott]

Thank goodness for Fonzie. I have no desire to be a hunter.

[Airhog]

Sign me up. Ole Stoutbottom is ready to do the job

[Fonzie]

Fonzie: Oof. I just looked up Nancy Pelosi. That's some kind of nasty, especially when I imagine her as a dwarf. *shudder*

On the plus side, you don't really have to stretch your imagination too far!

[Raven Hawk]

I'll stand in line also if you need more dwarves. I'm enjoying the read, keep up the good work, GB!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1052, Spring: Operation Survival

With great trepidation, we pull the lever on the farming plot. If it works, we can get a headstart on the planting, and given our dire need of food, this could be critical. We crank away…

…and water fills the farming room! It worked! We pull the lever again, the water drains out, and we are left with a perfect muddy surface to work with for farming. With that, we assign nearly everyone to start preparing the ground and planting seeds.

Unfortunately, our dwarfs must have been stressed by the whole lever situation, because they all promptly go off to sleep for a few days. Half a month goes by before they start moving their butts down to the farming field and start planting. Another unfortunate situation here is that none of our dwarfs has farming expertise. The work goes slowly, and the dwarfs are sloppy planters. It takes a half the spring before even half the plots are planted with helmet. Our first plot however, produces a plant, but it’s only one provision. Argh. Two months in to the spring, and we are down to 8 meat provisions and 1 helmet provision. Grow! Grow! Grow!

And then, the totally unexpected happens…

11 more dwarfts show up to join our fortress. Oh, shit. Eight females, three males, and a dog make their way towards us in the latter part of spring. With only nine provisions left, I hope they don’t get hungry for a while.

Before they even arrive at the fortress, five more immigrants make their way out of the western forest towards us. Oh no. I have a bad feeling about this. Two males and three more females. This makes 16 immigrants and 16 more mouths to feed. We will need to get some food fast.

With the frenzied pace of planting going on in the farming room, there isn’t much time for introductions, but here’s a quick look at our new members and their professions:


Lynda Carter, Miner
AStott, Miner
Fonzie, Miner
Anna Kournikova, Carpenter
Mrsimperless, Carpenter
Neon Chaos, Carpenter
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mason
Gi, Trapper
Pinky Tuscadero, Trapper
Jessica Alba, Craftsdwarf
Nancy Pelosi, Fisherdwarf
Kaylee, Mechanic
Elisha Cuthbert, Peasant
Kate Beckinsale, Peasant
Selma Hayek, Peasant
Uma Thurman, Peasant

Unfortunately, we do not get any experienced farmers in the bunch, but two experienced trappers and another fisherdwarf are big plusses on the food end of things. Sarah Michelle Gellar is also interesting as she is a novice engraver. With all these bodies around, we might be able to put her to work beautifying the fortress. Jessica Alba is also talented: a novice glassmaker, stone crafter, and leatherworker. Four of our newcomers, Elisha Cuthbert, Kate Beckinsale, Selma Hayek, and Uma Thurman, come to us with no skills whatsoever.

The addition of so many new dwarfs sure changes the situation quickly. In addition to feeding 24 mouths instead of simply eight, we’ll need to make bedding, tables, chairs, and rooms for all our new inhabitants. We’ll also need a lot more space for new workshops, bedrooms, and farms. We should probably get some weapons and armor in production as soon as possible, too. So many things to do. We establish a plan, called Operation Survival, that is designed to concentrate on both getting enough food for our new numbers and rapidly expanding our fortress living quarters. We take quick stock of the situation and designate work as follows:

Sachmo, ntndeacon: Mining the new areas needed to accommodate our new community
Natalie Portman: Stone Crafting for the fall trading caravan
Coffee Warlord: Building the new doors, tables, and thrones
Xena: Figuring out how to make weapons.
Scarlet Johansson, mrsimperless: Cutting wood for the new beds and additional storage
Qwikshot, Neon Chaos: Building the beds, storage bins, and other wooden products we’ll need.
Lynda Carter, AStott: Farming in the short term. Long term either animal training or military service.
Fonzie: Hunting for food for the short term
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Engraving the walls of the dining hall. The help to morale might make a difference?
Gi, Pinky: Trapping for food.
Jessica Alba: Leatherworking
Anxiety: Fishing
Nancy Pelosi: Cleaning the fish Anxiety catches
Kaylee: Mechanic
Elisha Cuthbert, Kate Beckinsale: Farming/Cooking/Brewing
Selma Hayek, Uma Thurman: Farming, for ever
Anna Kournikova: hauling stuff around for now

And with that, the fortress hums with activity. We keep a close eye on our food situation as the spring moves forward. Providing immediate hope are the actions of Gi, Pinky, and Fonzie, who hunt a bonobo pack and a warthog pack and make several quick kills. Shortly they are each hauling back carcasses for butchering. We have Qwikshot set up a butchery and pull Fonzie off of hunting duty to make him our full-time butcher. Likewise, Anxiety starts pulling fish out of the river, and Nancy Pelosi starts processing them into food. And just in case you didn't know what a bonobo was:

http://www.dickran.net/img/bonobo.jpg
Makes a great soup

A few days later, with our new farmers swarming over the helmet plots, we begin a solid harvest of helmet. Things go well enough here that we can shift AStott over to full-time brewing, as we have no alcoholic beverages at the moment.

By late spring, it looks as if we may have pulled through on our food shortage: as our dwarfs start to consume meals, we have 13 provisions of meat, 5 provisions of fish, and 19 provisions of helmet. Excellent work, dwarfs! We aren’t safe yet, but we’re getting there.

Elsewhere, things move on fairly well. Sachmo and ntndeacon dig out another farming plot and begin excavating more future bedrooms to the north. CoffeeWarlord and Qwikshot start pumping out doors and beds and tables for the new members. Scarlet and mrsimperless hack down tree after tree. Natalie keeps cranking out goods to sell.

In the blacksmithing, Xena makes stuttering progress. Apparently we have the materials to smelt silver, which in turn can give us silver weapons. However, Xena makes a number of mistakes in learning her skill, and by the end of summer we have little more than some silver bars to show for her efforts.

Interestingly, Sarah Gellar, who was detailing a storage room to build up her skills before starting in on the main hall, goes into a strange mood one day. She stops detailing the storage room, runs into Natalie’s stone crafting shop, kicks her off the workshop, and starts making something strange. A few days later it is done. She has made something called Atolgast Alud Eges, which is some kind of Moonstone earring. Outside of the fact that it probably goes on someone’s ears, we have no idea what to do with this. Sarah will definitely be one to keep an eye on, however.

Things run smoothly for next few weeks, with the exception that we don’t get any beds made. Our carpenters were running a backlog of orders, and just got around to it as the spring comes to a close. Our newly arrived immigrants, with the exception of Fonzie, Sarah Gellar, and Jessica Alba, have to spend their nights on the floor in the barracks.

Speaking of sleeping, that barracks is pretty crowded, and well, some suspicious sleeping arrangements are noticeable. Mrsimperless is sleeping beside Selma Hayek. Uma Thurman is apparently spending nights on top of Elisha Cuthbert. The big winner, however, may be AStott, who sleeps beside both Lynda Carter and Jessica Alba. These arrangements, outside the the Uma/Elisha one, may just be from a lack of space. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the individual bedrooms get finished.

Late in the spring, there is some strangeness however. A strange purple miasma cloud invades our main hall and our stone crafting/ore storage area. In both cases, the miasma doesn’t seem to do any damage, and evaporates after a few days. Bizarre. It does seem to make our dwarfs unhappy, however.

And with that, summer arrives. Operation Survival ends with 24 meat provisions, 2 fish provisions, 35 helmet provisions, and 11 wine provisions safely tucked in our food warehouse. We may have turned the corner here. Good job, dwarfs!

[Godzilla Blitz]

Coffee: Natalie was never in your bed to begin with. You've got to get out of the fortress more. And you are making art! The dwarfs just don't toast it, they plop their butts down on it. But I'm afraid your chance for art may be over. Something incredible has happened to Sarah Gellar.

AStott: Brewing good for now? All hail the dwarf brewmeister!

Fonzie: Yeah, that's true. Doesn't take much imagination at all. I actually stumbled onto a bikini picture of her that was downright frightening. She might be useful if we need to scare off lizardmen.

RavenHawk, Airhog: Welcome aboard, I'll add your name to the list! Glad you like it.

[gi]

emmm...monkey...drool.....

[Abe Sargent]

Yay for the fisher whos fishin it up!

I don't like my cleaning partner :(

[Fonzie]

Yay for the fisher whos fishin it up!

I don't like my cleaning partner :(

I'd keep that to yourself, lest you find your "budget" has been "misappropriated."

[Qwikshot]

Working with wood, Qwikshot is working with wood...

[Neon_Chaos]

Migrant Trappers are a big help in the early game. It's a good thing you got two! That's like 20-40 meat every season, including Winter... depending on how hostile the environment is.

Do you have a 'refuse' stockpile outside the cave? If not, then some rotting thing was left inside the cave and caused the Miasma.

[mrsimperless]

GB, if you get a minute could you describe how you did the floodgates and maybe post a screenshot of it? Did you have to build a trench for the water, or does it just flow through normal space? I'm stuck on this right now.

[fantastic flying froggies]

The Fortress Vaboskat, Spring 1052
Our Floorplan

Here’s a look at our floorplan as we head into spring. Major areas are noted:

http://home.comcast.net/~mwsmart/dwarffortress1052ns3.jpg

My girlfriend walked in the room as I was staring at this screenshot, looked at it and asked me wtf it was, if I'd been hit by a virus attack or something?

I started explaining to her it was a fortress dug by some dwarves under the mountain, but then gave up as I realised how hopeless it was... :)

We really are a bunch of geeks to play such games! :D

[AStott]

Sleeping arrangements just due to overcrowding? Yeah... you just keep thinking that... :D

Brewing is ok for now (since it is a big need), but I'm thinking the military life is calling out to me...

Any chance you could post my information page? (You know, the one with the likes/dislikes etc.)

[mrsimperless]

Things are looking good! You sure didn't get much room to work with before hitting that river.

[Neon_Chaos]

Things are looking good! You sure didn't get much room to work with before hitting that river.

The way floodgates work in the game right now is a bit buggy.

land/farming plot <-> X________X river

The water is sucked into the channel from the river, and then diverted from the channel into the land through 2 floodgates. Without both, the system won't work.

And this also means that you can accidentally flood the entire cave AND the outside world by flicking a floodgate system into an open space.

[Abe Sargent]

My farming plot is right beside the cave river with a one space wide path betwen the room and the river. I placed a floodgate in that space and then one beside it which is beside the river. Then I place a door on all entrances into the farming room and pull the lever.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Year 1052, Summer: Steady as She Goes

Well, with enough food in the storehouse for the short term, we can focus on our next level of concerns. First, we need living quarters for our new dwarfs. Second, we need weapons. Third, I think it’s time we trained up the dogs of war. This wilderness is likely to get scary.

To drive home this point, Gi comes in one day with a noticeable limp after a hunting expedition. When asked for details, Gi mentions that he ran into a Jaguar in the woods. The jaguar is dead, but Gi has suffered an injury to his upper right leg. Pinky, as well, hurt her right ear while hunting warthogs. If we train up some hunting and war dogs, we can keep our dwarfs out in the wilderness safer. For the time being, we’ll make Gi our animal trainer so he can heal that leg of his.

http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/Pictures/jaguar.gif
Gi killed one of these with his bare hands

In another interesting development, Sarah Gellar has rocketed up to the status of legendary engraver. Apparently she had incredible talent that blossomed when she freaked out in the spring. She also has become incredibly tough and very strong. This is one female elf to keep an eye on, that’s for sure.

http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/television/buffy/13.jpg
Legendary Engraver

For the most part, however, the summer moves along calmly. We begin to expand across the river, as Sachmo and ntndeacon build a bridge across and start striking towards the east in search of the magma river.

Food production continues at a brisk pace. Pinky brings in a lot of meat, Anxiety brings in some fish, and our farmers efficiently work the helmet farms.

Xena has some success with the forge, as she completes a handful of weapons, I think. I’m having a bit of difficulty finding them at the moment, but they must be around here somewhere.

A trading caravan arrives and we trade more trinkets for a variety of food.

Our living quarters expand, and by late summer the only dwarf without their own bedroom is Nancy Pelosi. We give our hunters, Gi and Pinky, the best of the new quarters, with high quality doors and beds. Their precarious jobs merit the bonus.

About the only excitement of the summer is provided by Anxiety, who went down to the river to fish and got stuck behind a floodgate that a dwarf installed while Anxiety was fishing. Anxiety yelled for days before ntndeacon finally cut a tunnel around the floodgate to free the trapped dwarf.

And with that event, summer fades into fall…

[Godzilla Blitz]

Anxiety: Yeah, I agree. Your fishing partner may just need to have an accident. I think there is a tiger roaming around the wilderness. Maybe we can send her to kill it. Barehanded.

Qwikshot: I'm not quite sure what's going on with you, though. I think you may be bored with your job. You never seem to be at your workshop anymore. You're always out walking around in the woods.

Neon_Chaos: Yeah, our trappers rock. Dangerous life, though. We're starting to see bigger wildlife out there. Thanks for the tip on the miasma. I did have a refuse pile outside, but it was full. I expanded it a bit and the problem seems to be going away.

mrsimperless: Did you figure out the floodgates yet? Seems like you got a lot of help from others here already. If you need any more, you can see my setup on the existing screenshot. Two rows above the 'min' in my 'farming plot', you can see the X_X that shows my floodgate arrangement.

AStott: Nancy Pelosi was in the same room with you. Isn't that enough to make you want your own bedroom?

I'll try to post a screenshot of your likes at some point soon. Come to think of it, I may just retype the info, though, as it's probably faster.

mrsimperless: My river is close to my cliff face? This is my first start, so I've only played this one fortress.

fantastic: Good humor with explaining that screen shot. My wife doesn't even ask anymore. "Fun?" she asks? "Yup." I say. "They're my dwarfs." It's a testament to the strangeness of the games I like that my wife just takes that comment in stride. She did comment on the music, though. "Wow. That's dark."

I should have another update going up tomorrow. I'm a bit stuck now, though, in trying to find all the weapons that Xena made, and the military aspect of the game (making squads, etc.) has got me confused, so it might take me a bit of time to figure things out.

[thealmighty]

What is the magma river for?

[Godzilla Blitz]

What is the magma river for?

I have no idea.

Honestly. :)

[thealmighty]

Well, when you do find it, I suggest not letting the dwarves use it as a hot tub.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Well, when you do find it, I suggest not letting the dwarves use it as a hot tub.

Point taken. But you never know what the little buggers will do. I just give them directions. Whether they follow them or not is another question. I do wonder what happens to the first dwarf that finds the magma.

I'm guessing, though, that the river has something to do with forging weapons? Maybe iron/steel?

[Fonzie]

I'm guessing, though, that the river has something to do with forging weapons? Maybe iron/steel?

Perhaps its magical powers will turn Nancy Pelosi into an attractive young waif?

There's only one way to find out...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Perhaps its magical powers will turn Nancy Pelosi into an attractive young waif?

There's only one way to find out...

She looks like she's already fallen in to a magma pool.

[gi]

That’s right! Bare hands! Prickly little beasts, mightily tasty though. The dog lover in me is excited about my new job. I'm assuming I only have a skill of 5 at the moment.

Meanwhile...in the GI game....

I'm still trying to get this floodgate farming system to work. I think I have it setup correctly, just waiting for the mechanisms to be installed and then we test. Bugger of a system.

[Toddiec]

I didn't want to let this fall to far off the main page. I am eagerly awaiting the next post! This dynasty is helping me figure out some great starting strategies so keep it up!

Toddiec

[sachmo71]

I wanted to make sure everyone saw that the last version of the game was put out on 9/2?

[Godzilla Blitz]

I didn't want to let this fall to far off the main page. I am eagerly awaiting the next post! This dynasty is helping me figure out some great starting strategies so keep it up!

Toddiec


Yup, sorry about yesterday. Got caught up with the opening of football season. I'll likely have an update up late this evening. A bit busy with work this afternoon. Still plugging away...

[Kodos]

If you need a new dwarf sometime, please sign me up. :)

[Toddiec]

No problem at all. I didn't mean that in a "hey, I'm a jerk and selfishly want GB to spend his every waking moment posting to this dynasty", but more in a "I am showing my appreciation for a job well done without applying undo pressure". :) Real life comes first.

Oh, and add me to the list of dwarf applicants after Kodos if you would. Thanks!

[Warhammer]

Add me to the list of eager dwarves as well.

[TonyR]

Great reading GB!
If ya need an extra dwarf, sign me up.

[WVUFAN]

I'd love to be one of the merry dwarves. Could you sign me up for the waiting list?

[Neon_Chaos]

new version as of sept. 08.

www.bay12games.com/dwarves

[Godzilla Blitz]

Well, sorry for the delay everyone, but work/life kind of got busy for a few days. Back at it now. I'm playing the autumn session now and should be able to write it up sometime tomorrow, Monday at the latest. As you get more dwarfs, the game gets more complicated, and between trying to learn the game, play the game decently, and take notes to keep track of events, it looks like it's going to take a bit longer to get updates posted.

One other thing I'm starting to notice is that it does look as if some dwarfs are going to lead relatively quiet roles, while other dwarfs get into the more interesting adventures. I'll try to balance out the writing as much as I can, but there is only so much I can say about someone who works planting seeds/harvesting helmet for a full season. With us over 20 dwarfs now, writing about every dwarf each season might be a bit tricky to do. We'll see, though. I'm still getting a feel for both the game and how to write about it.

Some quick replies...

Gi: Unfortunately, circumstances forced us to call you back to the wilderness. Your dog training stint was shortlived.

Kodos: Welcome! Yes, of course we'll add you to the list. Perhaps you can rise to the rank of fearless leader, just like the good old days.

Toddiec: No problem at all. I didn't think your post sounded pushy at all. We'll add you to the list as well! Welcome!

Warhammer, WVUFan: Welcome! I'll get you right on the list.

TonyR: Thanks! You're on the list as well.

Neon, Sachmo: It's great to see how quickly the guy puts out new updates. I'm still on my original version, but will likely update at some point in the near future.

[Qwikshot]

Borscht

[Bee]

Well, sorry for the delay everyone, but work/life kind of got busy for a few days. Back at it now. I'm playing the autumn session now and should be able to write it up sometime tomorrow, Monday at the latest. As you get more dwarfs, the game gets more complicated, and between trying to learn the game, play the game decently, and take notes to keep track of events, it looks like it's going to take a bit longer to get updates posted.

One other thing I'm starting to notice is that it does look as if some dwarfs are going to lead relatively quiet roles, while other dwarfs get into the more interesting adventures. I'll try to balance out the writing as much as I can, but there is only so much I can say about someone who works planting seeds/harvesting helmet for a full season. With us over 20 dwarfs now, writing about every dwarf each season might be a bit tricky to do. We'll see, though. I'm still getting a feel for both the game and how to write about it.

Some quick replies...

Gi: Unfortunately, circumstances forced us to call you back to the wilderness. Your dog training stint was shortlived.

Kodos: Welcome! Yes, of course we'll add you to the list. Perhaps you can rise to the rank of fearless leader, just like the good old days.

Toddiec: No problem at all. I didn't think your post sounded pushy at all. We'll add you to the list as well! Welcome!

Warhammer, WVUFan: Welcome! I'll get you right on the list.

TonyR: Thanks! You're on the list as well.

Neon, Sachmo: It's great to see how quickly the guy puts out new updates. I'm still on my original version, but will likely update at some point in the near future.

You better have a good reason for missing the deadline!!!

;)

Seriously, looking forward to the next update. I even gave the game another shot because of this dynasty (gave up after 10 minutes but still...).

[gi]

I'm feeling a little of Godzilla Blitz's pain. Had 7 dwarfs going into Spring after surviving my first winter. 20 immigrants now show up....causing me to expand the bedroom area at the very least...

[Vince]

Thumbsup, GB. Another great dynasty in the works :)

[Kodos]

When do the Sectoids show up?

[Raven Hawk]

Lol, you got me playing this god forsaken game and now I'm hooked. We had a Snakeman ambush during our first winter which killed my best Mason and maimed my best Grower. Someday we'll get those floodgates working . . .

[Fonzie]

Lol, you got me playing this god forsaken game and now I'm hooked. We had a Snakeman ambush during our first winter which killed my best Mason and maimed my best Grower. Someday we'll get those floodgates working . . .

Same thing happened to me, but the bastards didn't even wait until the first winter to strike. They attacked in autumn and took out three dwarves. And then, before the first caravan even arrived, we were finished off by lizardmen. Pretty harsh beginning to a game. :(

[Celeval]

I'm up and going in the second summer with a little over 30 dwarves now... there are horses everywhere, and I don't know what to do. Seriously. They all like hanging out at the well.

[Raven Hawk]

Same thing happened to me, but the bastards didn't even wait until the first winter to strike. They attacked in autumn and took out three dwarves. And then, before the first caravan even arrived, we were finished off by lizardmen. Pretty harsh beginning to a game. :(

Methinks that the snakemen ambush you from the Well if you built one. I lost three to them also, but one of them was a peasant, so I wasn't too distraught. I now have a Recruit who walks his beat past the well. All I know is combat scares the shit out of me. When the snakes arrived I pretty much let them attack everybody until somebody beat them down. Cull the weak from the heard . . . I have no clue what I'm doing when things attack. But I do have a shitload of crossbows laying around somewhere!

[Fonzie]

I'm up and going in the second summer with a little over 30 dwarves now... there are horses everywhere, and I don't know what to do. Seriously. They all like hanging out at the well.

You can set them up to be butchered via the "Z" key menu (units? I forget) - then select "animals."

[gi]

You can set them up to be butchered via the "Z" key menu (units? I forget) - then select "animals."

Besides food, any other purpose for them at this point?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Eek! Sorry, dwarfs! Real life has intruded on our fortress adventure. I have a grant application due Friday that I didn't think I was going to have to write. I'll do my best to get back to this as soon as I can.

[Fonzie]

Besides food, any other purpose for them at this point?

I don't know if there are any long-term uses for them, as I've yet to complete even a full year before my poor dwarf colony gets destroyed (*#$%^@#! lizardmen!). One tutorial I read recommended butchering them for meat right away, as they were otherwise "useless" (their term, not mine). If there is a long-term use for them I'd assume there will also be other ways of gathering new livestock later.

[Raven Hawk]

I don't know if there are any long-term uses for them, as I've yet to complete even a full year before my poor dwarf colony gets destroyed (*#$%^@#! lizardmen!). One tutorial I read recommended butchering them for meat right away, as they were otherwise "useless" (their term, not mine). If there is a long-term use for them I'd assume there will also be other ways of gathering new livestock later.

I have seen mules help hauling rock during mining. I would assume that horses have a purpose also. One thought that comes to mind is military use - cavalry, but I haven't seen anything specifically on it.

[Celeval]

I haven't had need to butcher yet, so haven't touched the horses/mules - although you can turn the horses on to become pets, which I did for one. I wonder if you can (or will be able) to train them, like the hunting/war dogs and assign to people.

Has anyone else had a pet get named? I have a named cat walking around as well.

[Abe Sargent]

I just had a kobold attack but I'm on my third year and have five sworddwarves each with two war dogs assigned so it was no porblem at all.

I moned obsidian early and made swords for my dwarves, and so I'm just getting metal now, I would not have been prepared otherwise. You can make em shields early too, pre-metal with wood.

[KWhit]

Yes, I have quite a few named pets. Right now my fortress has over 150 animals running around it. It's a little crowded.

[Celeval]

I just watched someone's pet cat chase a monach butterfly around the well room.

This game is great. :-D

[revrew]

Neon_Chaos: Thanks! I think we'll actually need a lot more than good luck. I think we'll need divine intervention.


Clearly, this is a call for revrew to join the waiting list. :D If I can take out the fortress on Mars, I can build one inside some little rock. After you, Commander Kodos.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I think I owe everyone an apology here...

I've tried a couple of times to get back into this, but I've really struggled. As the number of dwarfs increases, it gets harder and harder to process everything that is happening in the game. With our 20+ dwarfs running around at the same time, it was taking me forever to keep track of everything.

Bottom line is that complexity of the game and the way it presents information made writing the dynasty really difficult. A lot of times I'd simply miss stuff completely and have to wade through screens trying to figure out what happened. This in turn was starting to take the fun out of the game as well. I hammered away another season the other night, but I can easily see that the next wave of dwarfs to arrive would push the complexity to a level beyond my limits.

Although I hate to not finish what I started, I think that I'm going to have to retire on this one. I thought the game would work beautifully, and perhaps when they clean up the way they present information to the gamer it will work better for a dynasty. But in its current form, it would simply take too much time to chronicle events enough to include a large number of our individual dwarfs. I think someone could make a great story out of this game, but for me, it was taking too much time to keep track of even one season's events.

Again, I apologize for asking for signups and then not getting that far, but I hope you understand, and it was really starting to become more work than fun.

[Abe Sargent]

Ah well. I understand. Thanks for trying!

[Warhammer]

I understand.

[Raven Hawk]

I got lost about at the same point in my game. I completely understand.

[Kodos]

No problem. These things are supposed to be fun, not work. I look forward to your next endeavor (seeing that you are the greatest dynasty writer in FOFC history). :)

[Celeval]

Thanks for it, tho - reading this made me pick up the game, and I'm loving it.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Thanks, guys. And again, sorry for stopping.

Celeval: Glad you've liked it. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on it as it develops, and may even try another (non-dynasty) game soon.

Kodos: I think we had a good run with Silicon Pirates and XCOM, but they were quite a while ago there have been many solid dynasties since then. I'm amazed at some of the neat ideas that people come up with for these things.

Raven Hawk: Yeah, the thing that tipped the scales for me was when another wave of dwarfs arrived and I realized I needed to make them all beds and chairs and tables and bedrooms and doors. Then I had to assign them jobs and sort out all the jobs. And then I had to figure out how I was going to write it all up to include all our participants. Yikes. It was like writing about a bowl of worms where you have to talk about what each worm is doing. It quickly went from fun to "have to" and that's not a good sign for a game for me.

[Kodos]

I stand by my statement. You are, bar none, the best dynasty writer at FOFC. There are many other fine writers, but you are a cut above us.