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[HedgehogMind]

Preface:

     I recently had an idea to start a world at year 5 and make fortresses that would make it fun to play in adventure mode. This would solve two problems I have with pre-generated worlds with long histories. The pre-generated structures have no design and are merely complex mazes, and I can never get a full understanding of the history. After a couple of rounds of generating worlds, I eventually settled on The Eternal Planets. I feel like it has a good continent structure without having it seem too complex. It's like a world map you may see in a fantasy novel.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What instantly popped out to me was the different fortresses I could run. There's a single volcano with really good ores, A nice haunted area, a holy area, and a nice spot for a bridge fort to connect the continents. I want to make a bunch of fortresses in this world. My plan is to see how many fortresses I can make by the year 150.

Fortresses:

• Fortress 1: Year 5 - ongoing: The Bridge of Destiny:
  Spoiler (click to show/hide)

  http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=181788.msg8486297#msg8486297

[Salmeuk]

give yourself a time limit for each fortress so you keep on track.. it can be easy to fall in love with a particular embark and end up never filling out your world. this is coming from someone who has shared a similar dream to your own but never quite sticks to the idea.

This would solve two problems I have with pre-generated worlds with long histories. The pre-generated structures have no design and are merely complex mazes, and I can never get a full understanding of the history.

well stated, I agree with these assessments. in many ways DF reminds me of Elder Scrolls II in the way dungeons and caves are utter chaos..

another tip, review your world with legendsbrowser or some such utility and get an idea of the civilizations. you may have generated a fairly uninteresting world or a world missing certain races, that sort of thing. good to confirm it's perfect before you commit to building.

[HedgehogMind]

     Salmeuk thank you so much for the advice. Honestly, I should have checked the world more thoroughly before starting to build, but I already started the first fortress, and I'm two years in. I will definitely be using a time limit of 10 years per fortress. That should just be enough to build its gimmick and move on. I'll definitely be going through the XML in LegendsBrowser tomorrow when I have time.

[HedgehogMind]

The Diary of Astesh "Fluffy" Idashalath: 1st Granite, Year 7.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

     It has been two years since we have started building this blasted bridge and only now do I have a blasted book. At least I finally have something to keep my mind busy. Since I couldn't write for the past two years (groan) I better write down all the goin about for the time we have been here. If there are any historians readin this listen up. You are bout to hear the tale of the legendary Bridge of Destiny.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

     We came here to build a bridge, even though right now it barely even resembles a dock. When this baby is completed it won't be your pa's rickety old wooden bridge that sleeps across a small stream. This is a transcontinental bridge. When this beast is finished, we will be able to initiate trade between our side, The Smooth Continent, and whoever is on The Continent of Controls. Well not quite actually, there will have to be a second bridge built, one that connects to the island that my bridge will connect to. But when that is done, then trade will happen. We mostly have been seated in a small hole next to the beach. From here we shall build the bridge.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is the launchpad, a small area for dwarfs to relax and craft.

    It has been a somewhat unproductive two years since we had to set up food and such. And it's not like the Mountanhomes sent us many people either. Counting myself and the six of us who first arrived here, we only have 16 people. I spent the majority of my time with the liaison last year yelling about how if they want us to finish this bridge by this century we need more people than this. Honestly, now I kinda feel bad for the old guy. Doing his best and for his efforts gets yelled at by someone he is only trying to help. Anyway, the best I can hope for is that they actually send some people over here.

Next part:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=181788.msg8486935#msg8486935

[HedgehogMind]

The Diary of Astesh "Fluffy" Idashalath: 24th Granite, Year 7.

     So we have a bit of a problem. We cant build in the ocean. This is a problem because we need the bridge to be supported by pillars or it's going to collapse. The stonework crew assures me that their skill and use of well-known methods means we don't need such security, but I don't trust them. I tried calculating to see if we could just drop the pillars into the ocean, but I did the math, and it doesn't work. This makes me remember a very strange scroll back in Drinkrag describing a way to drain water. Well, I call it draining but it's more like removing the water from existence! There's no way this could work.

The Diary of Astesh "Fluffy" Idashalath: 2nd Felsite, Year 7.

     My yelling to the liaison must have worked, because we just received 20 migrants! That's almost too many people! It makes me nervous we are going to run out of food with all these new mouths to feed. And I am still receiving them. I guess it might be time to upgrade the farm. I have ordered only the production of plump helmets from now on. And now fancy food anymore. It might be a bit annoying but I must make sure food is plenty before it tastes good. I also sent a notice to the mountain-homes that we cannot have more than 50 people. We don't need that many to build this bridge.
     In other news, some people insist that the sea seems to sit a bit lower than it has been. This happened after we installed the minecart "draining" thing, but there's no way it is actually doing something. Is it? If it is where is the water going? If we have it keep going will the world no longer have any water? These are scary thoughts.

The Diary of Astesh "Fluffy" Idashalath: 2nd Felsite, Year 7.

     I cannot deny that the minecarts are working. The water is now a meter below what it was previously. If anyone starts asking, we did NOT make this happen.

Next Part:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=181788.msg8487475#msg8487475

[HedgehogMind]

The Diary of Astesh "Fluffy" Idashalath: 28th Obsidian, Year 7.

     It has been a productive year. We managed to almost fully drain the ocean. No matter what I do the final two meters won't drain. However, I can make this work. I plan on tapping the mantle for lava, pumping it up to the ocean, and pouring the lava onto the ocean. When this is done we should have a pretty awesome base for our bridge. Then I can FINALLY build those towers and the bridge project will be complete. We were supposed to go home after the bridge is done, but I was talking to the other workers and we came to an ultimatum. Let's live on the bridge. So I came up with a design for three central towers. One bigger than the others. This will provide us with living space and our country with the first line of defense against potential hostile forces on the other side of the sea. If any enemy armies want to cross the sea, we can pull up some drawbridges and deny easy access to the mainland.

     However, that's after we build the blasted thing. First, we should concern ourselves with pumping lava. There is some concern about if we are unlucky enough to dig into the caverns. Currently, I'm ordering our metalworkers to make some steel. It should be the makings of a small militia. We shouldn't need more than ten heavily armored soldiers to defend the construction of the pump. If we are lucky we won't need a militia, but I wouldn't count on it.