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[DoctrZombie]

Hey all,
I've wanted to start writing a community fortress for some time now. I've gotten a reasonable amount of experiance actually playing DF now...I've built an automatic shower, and I've breached the aquafier, so now that I've gotten good enough at Playing DF, I'd like to run a community fortress.

There's one major problem: I don't have a ton of free time--so the updates would be once or twice a week. Plus, I could use some advice. I would like to get as much advice as possible so that the game can be really exciting for everyone..

What Mods/Tools should I use to help create a good story/game?
What kind of adventure appeals to most of our readers? Tundra? Desert? Calm Brook with acess to magma? Adamantine?
What kind of advice can the experianced writers provide to a newbie?

[Vactor]

having been there here's my advice:

you're going to have to keep the story going via your own force of will, and your fort will be what it is.  with updates once or twice a week it will take awhile for your story to develop, and there will be big gaps where nobody posts responses.  This dosen't mean people aren't reading and enjoying your story.

So do it for yourself first and foremost, sharing it with the guys and ?gals? of the community is just a bonus.

That being said, pick something that you'll enjoy playing, make sure there it challenges you in some way, set personal limits for yourself to make sure there is always some level of risk.  If things get dull don't be afraid to mod in more difficulty.

and finally enjoy your fort!

i'd also say frozen undead wasteland seems a bit overdone at the moment.

[Heavy Flak]

I can't claim to be experienced at writing community fortresses at all, I just kind of wing it and hope for the best.  But there are three things that really help me out as I'm doing this:

1) Keep a list of your over-all goal, and the steps you've determined are NECESSARY to get to that goal.  That way, even if main characters die or some random project fails spectacularly, you can still look back at your list and make sure you're on the right track.

2) Losing is Fun!  If you won't meet that big, lofty goal you set and your fortress is going down in flames, make it entertaining.  Though it hasn't happened to me (yet!), I'm under the impression an entertaining explosion of tantrums and miasma is so much more well-received than a 50 year fortress with no problems at all.

3) Play this for you and no one else.  I do mine because I like Dwarf Fortress and I'm trying to teach myself how to write better using what's basically a scenario generator I can just fill in the words for.  It's just a huge perk that there are people who are reading and enjoying it, and playing along with the world I've constructed.  If no one spoke up in thread at all I'd still continue to do it because I, personally, find it fun and helpful to me as a writer.

I hope this has helped, and good luck!

[ May 10, 2008: Message edited by: Heavy Flak ]

[Kagus]

I made a community fort with a specific storyline in mind, but the writing's not going to smoothly.  I'll have to start fabricating events in order to keep it moving along.

I mean, freakin' haunted forest.  Shouldn't there be something going on?  Thank goodness for DC...

The thing is, it's generally a good idea to make sure you have the beginning and the "middle part" of a story.  The early years before your fort gets settled in are generally the hardest ones to write for.  I started with the beginning and the end in mind, and now I'm slogging through the part I hadn't planned for.  Everything in between.

[ May 11, 2008: Message edited by: Kagus ]

[A_Fey_Dwarf]

I haven't created any community fortress's yet but I have been reading through a fair few. I think the best way to gain experience before starting your fort would be to do some enjoyable research and read as many other community fortress topics as possible (there seems to be a fair few of them around lately). Look at what has worked ie. Nist Akath and what hasn't.

The best community forts create something original and they also allow readers to participate by being open to suggestions. Encourage your readers to post and explain their wacky ideas.

Most of all don't give up. Even when no-one else is posting. Keep updating the storyline until a resolution is meet.

Edit] Just looked at your comic blog.... You seem to have good writing skills and creativity so a community fortress shouldn't be to hard for you. Btw I liked your blog.

[ May 11, 2008: Message edited by: A_Fey_Dwarf ]

[DoctrZombie]

Thanks =D

I tried to get DF Companion to work but was unable to figure it out. I'll give it another shot later. I'll probabally start somthing up this week, but due to my schedule updates might be slow at first.

[Jools]

I had a look at Dwarf Companion too... it says ultimately it'll be an .exe, but for now the instructions start with installing Python or something... far too much hassle for me at the moment.

There is an alternative though - probably not as many functions but easier to set up. Gibbed's Dwarf Fortress Tweak does a few things I've found handy, primarily healing/hurting and teleportation of creatures, but hopefully it should help you enough to get started. I think I found it after searching the wiki or something.

(It does need .Net 3.5 installed first though - but that's all!)

[DoctrZombie]

After some thought about dwarf companion and the like I've decided to go Vanilla--Strait DF without mods and without any tools to help... Might make the story a little less vivid but hopefully it'll be more... realistic to the players =D

alright, I think I'm ready to start!

[Kagus]

There's a packaged .exe of Dwarf Companion out now...  It contains all the stuff it needs to run properly, and has an installer that will put everything where it's supposed to go.