Bay 12 Games Forum

I've got a stockpile of stones next to my dumping pile outside. I set some of the stones to dumping but the dwarves don't seem to want to dump them. The stones aren't forbidden and I've successfully dumped stone from inside my fort. Any ideas?

So since the old Sid Meier games have been on sale I feel that a few people here would have bought them, and I need help, so now this thread exists.

I've currently fortified 4 units in one of my towns, but I can't get them to de-fortify. I try clicking on them both inside the town and on the map tile but nothing works. I also got 2 damaged artillery units that I can no longer select. As far as I know they should be able to take two hits each, so why can't I select them now?

I don't know if it's the latest update, or if it's the new computer I built, but I can barely tell the difference between the shade of white for highlighted things. Does anyone have a way to fix this?

So I have gotten 3 Megabeasts so far and all of them spit webs. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to handle them so with a little save scumming I found out that my squad of master swordsmen in full steel and leather armor with steel weapons don't stand a chance as the beat just shoots it's web, makes them all unable to move, then one shots them all.

I'm resorting to weapon traps but it's sort of bullshit that one (apparently very common) ability can force you out of the caverns entirely.

So after spending multiple hours fiddling with marksdwarves and only getting one to train at a time, I start training a force up. I tried equipping them with some leather gear such as cloaks and mittens but my civ dwarves take them. This proved extra annoying when putting dwarves into a new squad makes then unequip EVERYTHING. Is there a way to assign certain items to military use only? Then after forbidding and unforbidding dozens of items to get them onto the proper dwarves, I trick some zombies into crossing a moat to separate them from the horde. I plan on killing them in small groups at a time. This is where things get bad. My marksdwarves, despite having tons of marksdwarf skill and only dabbling hammerdwarf skill run up to the enemy to melee them. Then, despite having no path to the other zombies due to the draw bridge being up and despite my orders for them to move back into the fort, they just stand there staring at the zombies while they get shot at. Is there no way to tell them to retreat? And if that wasn't bad enough the zombies began LEAPING OVER THE MOAT. I watch as 3 zombies just jump 5 tiles over the moat and proceed to maul my units.

I'd also like to mention that it's annoying that I cannot tell my dwarves to temporarily guard a burrows. I have to go into the orders, replace them, then change them back when I'm done. The station order is useless as the dwarves will interpret the other side of a wall effectively 50 tiles away as where I want them stationed.

It's so cumbersome I'm starting to feel like abandoning forts with sieges all together.

I'm making this thread to discuss how we group labors and what professions we end up labeling them as and why. Mostly so I can steal everyone's ideas 

Here's my most important ones:

Miner - Does nothing but mine and stone detail because I always seem to have something to mine and for when I don't, they have something else to do that involves stone.

Woodcutter - Does nothing but cut wood. Sometimes I have them also burn wood. Again, always cutting down trees and for when I don't, wood stuff.

Builder - A combination of mason and carpenter with the architecture added on. They.....build stuff.

Cook - Cleans fish, makes cheese, brews drinks, cooks meals, and butchers animals. I like to stick these buildings together

Farmer - Basically anything your generic farmer would do, plus beekeeping. Because farmers have to do farmer stuff and beekeeping was added after I have cemented these roles into my brain and I can't think of a good profession to split them up.

Craftsdwarf - for all that basic crafting and leather working. It's what I imagine craftsdwarves should do.

Molder - For all that glass/class/wax because I don't want to put that many jobs into one profession.

Blacksmith - because only blacksmiths may touch metal

Clothesmaker - Has all the labor required for making clothes and dying them enabled. I also like to stick these buildings together.

I am trying to clear stone out of an all purpose stockpile and have done this so far.

1) made another stockpile just for stone
2) disabled stone in the original stockpile
3) set each stockpile to 3 wheelbarrows and build the wheelbarrows needed.
4) set the original stockpile to give to the new stockpile.

Things to note: Stone stockpile is outside, I have a burrow set for only the inside. I am confident that these are not factors though as they have no problem hauling stone laying on the floor outside to the stockpile.

So yeah, I have no idea what is wrong. Help.