Bay 12 Games Forum

Undead and many forgotten beasts (such as those composed of stone or gemstone) are near-impossible to kill mainly because:
A: They lack living parts, and require decapitation, bisection, or bodily destruction (i.e. magma) to kill.
B: They are made of tough materials like bone, stone, and gem.

An easy solution for this is to lower the material strength of body parts as they take damage. This is a realistic simulation of deformation, cracks, and hairline fractures that develop with repeated blows. The more you hit it, the easier it becomes to break. Hit something enough times with a hammer and it shatters.
This way, repeatedly striking a creature in the upper body will eventually grind the torso into dust!

I hastily drafted a recruit in the first spring of my fortress, in order to deal with a stupid werewolf. He couldn't fight worth a darn, and his left arm was first broken, then the same arm ripped off at the shoulder, by the dang werewolf. The werewolf was killed by another dwarf, and he was rescued and brought to a bed.

He started resting and most of his wounds healed, with the exception of the arm. Thanks to the new well, and the loving careof his friends, he did not die alone and forgotten. However, even after two years of resting he wouldn't get up. Obviously, he wasn't very bright, and was waiting for the broken bone in his arm to mend. Little did he realize that it won't heal if disconnected from the body.

Until, one day, a miracle happened.

He was struck by a fey mood, and finally resumed consciousness. He perseveres, slowly, but surely, against the constant agony of a severed arm. Although he can barely manage one step before passing out again from the pain, he soldiers on, and is almost done gathering the list of supplies he desires.

This story truly goes to show that there truly is hope for any bedridden dwarf   to once again become a functional member of society, if only you believe in them.

I've made a tileset over the past year, I don't feel like talking much right now, so here is a link to it on the DFWiki.
Clicky
Tell me what you think.

In my current fortress, second summer, whenever I save after the human merchants leave the map, the game crashes while saving. The save is not affected, and I have had the bug happen about 4 times now. It saves normally if I do it while the merchants are still at the depot.
I have not attempted to save the game between the time that the merchants have embark on their journey and when they reach the map edge.
I purchased a normal selection of human goods, including several anvils to melt. I paid entirely using mechanisms. There are no notable changes to the raws.
I did not experience this bug with the dwarven caravan in the previous fall, and an elven caravan did not arrive in the spring.

I am running Dwarf Fortress 40c on Mac OS 10.3.9

I was pondering that it might be possible to make your ballistae shoot  flaming arrows and catapults shoot flaming rocks. How?
The answer: Magma!!!
By shooting them through a shallow puddle of magma a the airborne projectiles might catch on fire. Although most rocks will not ignite, lignite will.

As my research in the matter is purely theoretical, I require someone with experience in magma plumbing to test the matter.


On a side note, trees appear to block line-of-sight, movement, and fluids, but not seige projectiles. The implications of this are quite intriguing. Although the idea of constructing walls of trees may offend many dwarves, I am eager to exploit trees to assist with the elven menace.

I was wondering what screen settings people think would be good for a 1024x768 monitor, assuming I was playing full-screen and did not want a small tile-set, nor tiles stretched or squished. I know the absolute maximum size for tiles would be 12x30, but I would like people's thoughts and opinions.

Toady has said that he does not want post-1400 technologies in the game at this moment, but what pre-industrial technologies are currently not found in Dwarf Fortress.
A few examples come to mind:
1. Paper, printing, and books. Papyrus was invented by the Egyptians, and was also in widespread use by the Chinese in the 3rd century. Calligraphy and woodblock printing wer commonly used in Europe throughout the middle ages, although not on paper until 1120. Movable type was invented around 1040 AD, predating the Gutenberg Bible by 415 years.
2. Gunpowder and firearms. Invented by the Chinese in the 800s, used as explosives in 1044, and in firearms by the 1100s. The technology was published in Europe by Roger Bacon in 1267.
3. Boats, sails, rudders, navigation, naval warfare, etc.
4. Animal/human power, outside of querns.
Others here

Also note that plate armor and steel crossbows were invented in the late 14th century, less than 100 years before the deadline.

Steam power was not included, although Romans had a few steam gadgets. The reason behind this is that almost all of the steam-related suggestions made have been using post-1400 technologies. Specifically, the use of confined steam to do useful work, a discovery made in the mid-1500s.

Here is my brainstorm, now discuss!

Currently, when magma cools, it always forms obsidian.
However, there are lots of other types of igneous extrusive rock.

Have two types of magma vents, felsic and mafic. Mafic will flow faster than felsic, and forms different rocks when it cools. They will not be different types of lava, but instead tied to the regional biome information.

When felsic magma cools quickly, i.e. from water, it forms obsidian.
When it cools slowly, i.e. isolation from the source, it forms rhyolite.
Mafic magma will form basalt when it cools.
If the vent is a mafic-felsic mix, it will become andesite upon cooling.

Ideally, rhyolite volcanos should erupt more often than basaltic volcanos, but volcanos currently don't erupt.