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Author Topic: Moving asterisks on the map  (Read 6636 times)

Grahar

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Moving asterisks on the map
« on: July 08, 2014, 04:01:12 pm »

I found nothing about it: What do these moving asterisks on the fast-travel map in the adventure mode mean? I tried to zoom in on one of them, but there was nothing extraordinary.
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I am an or-di-na-ry dwarf
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Trif

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2014, 04:15:18 pm »

They're travelers. Mostly friendly in my experience, but sometimes hostile. Sometimes they're on a hill or something and you don't immediately spot them.
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smithms

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2014, 01:37:58 am »

I've had good luck turning on tracking with the K key and using Alt+k to see the most recent to help me find the asterisks in fast travel on the regular map.  Sometimes I happen upon guys in tents or a group of people around a campfire or someone just hauling through the wilderness. 

My current giant pile of asterisks seems to be as a result of an elf army coming to destroy my home fortress.  All of the inhabitants have camped out outside the fortress.  I guess that's what refugees do?  Except that they never seem to wake up.  And the army never seems to get here.  I keep waiting for the army to show up so that I can butcher elves by the truckload.  I found a bunch of elves besieging a human town once and killed sixty of them...  Was hoping for a repeat.
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Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2014, 01:59:34 am »

I keep finding dwarven militia commanders alone in the woods, never moving and refusing to talk to me. Like they have no soul. Spooky.
If I walk into one, it will swap places with me, but walk back as soon as I move.

But they are just travelers.
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StagnantSoul

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2014, 02:36:07 am »

I always instantly assume they're here to kill me. So, I kill them. One time hundreds of fleeing refugees were going over a single bridge, one by one. I think it was 200 dead elven refugees before I clued in that none were even armed.
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Quote from: Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum
I threw night creature blood into a night creature's heart and she pulled it out and bled to death.
Quote from: Eric Blank
Places to jibber madly at each other, got it
Quote from: NJW2000
If any of them are made of fire, throw stuff, run, and think non-flammable thoughts.

Spectre Incarnate

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2014, 06:55:58 am »

I always instantly assume they're here to kill me. So, I kill them. One time hundreds of fleeing refugees were going over a single bridge, one by one. I think it was 200 dead elven refugees before I clued in that none were even armed.

ROFL Stagnant, that is awesome. What were you playing as at the time?

*Rubs hands in earnest.*

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StagnantSoul

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2014, 08:22:24 am »

I was playing as a dwarf at the moment. No wonder I don't get elven caravans ever.
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Quote from: Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum
I threw night creature blood into a night creature's heart and she pulled it out and bled to death.
Quote from: Eric Blank
Places to jibber madly at each other, got it
Quote from: NJW2000
If any of them are made of fire, throw stuff, run, and think non-flammable thoughts.

Spectre Incarnate

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2014, 10:39:04 am »

I was playing as a dwarf at the moment. No wonder I don't get elven caravans ever.

Good, good... Do you still have access to this character? Name, gender, appearance? Equipment? Followers? Other significant details, if any?

*Clears away the desk while mumbling, eyes gleaming.*

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The in-game text has punctuation!  Who knew?
Mister Adams,
How many licks does it take to get to the [candy] center of a Dwarf Fortress?

StagnantSoul

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2014, 05:45:55 pm »

Name was Kadol something.. I remember because of Kadol from Dragons Age. Gender, I'm always male. Equipment was-and still is- my standard: a spear in one hand, and a hammer in the other. Equipment was a suit of masterwork from an abandoned fortress, I made that fortress just for masterwork steel. Umm... Appearance isn't in my memory. Followers is the same, hazey. He got to be a vampire, then a necromancer, then a thrall. Still got brutalized by an angel. He died after being cut up by an angel, then thumping away with just a torso, only to be killed by a random goblin.
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Quote from: Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum
I threw night creature blood into a night creature's heart and she pulled it out and bled to death.
Quote from: Eric Blank
Places to jibber madly at each other, got it
Quote from: NJW2000
If any of them are made of fire, throw stuff, run, and think non-flammable thoughts.

Spectre Incarnate

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2014, 09:36:26 am »


*Withdraws from society.*

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The in-game text has punctuation!  Who knew?
Mister Adams,
How many licks does it take to get to the [candy] center of a Dwarf Fortress?

smjjames

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2014, 10:13:52 am »

I've had good luck turning on tracking with the K key and using Alt+k to see the most recent to help me find the asterisks in fast travel on the regular map.  Sometimes I happen upon guys in tents or a group of people around a campfire or someone just hauling through the wilderness. 

My current giant pile of asterisks seems to be as a result of an elf army coming to destroy my home fortress.  All of the inhabitants have camped out outside the fortress.  I guess that's what refugees do?  Except that they never seem to wake up.  And the army never seems to get here.  I keep waiting for the army to show up so that I can butcher elves by the truckload.  I found a bunch of elves besieging a human town once and killed sixty of them...  Was hoping for a repeat.

Wait, you can use alt+k to show the most recent? I didn't know you could do that.
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smithms

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2014, 12:26:23 pm »

Yeah.  Using alt+k is super useful if you're chasing vampires.  For some reason whenever I have two towns on adjacent squares on the world map, it seems to be a vampire congregation in between them.  About twenty squares of asterisks that just chill out waiting to be murdered.  The problem is that the little guys are so fast... They can often escape my field of vision while I'm murdering one of their compatriots.  Using alt+k lets me track them back down...
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pisskop

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Re: Moving asterisks on the map
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2014, 12:27:50 pm »

The asterisks will respond erratically if they are trying to ambush you or run from you.  Both are reasons to run after them or flee yourself.

Most of the time, the travelers move in very predictable patterns.
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