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[FluffyToast J]

So I figured I'd play a bit of the 2d version. I downloaded 23.130.23a, genned a world, and started playing. And I've got a few questions.

• How big can a room be before it caves in? I heard that if a room was too big then it would cave in.
• I also heard that farming was alot harder. Why?
• How much harder is it in general to survive?

Thanks for your time.

[Aqizzar]

I haven't played the old version much, but I can venture some answers I got from trying to step back in time.

1) 7x7 in both dimensions with no support.  A hallway can be 6 wide and as long as you want it without worry.  A 7x7 room with a natural column in the middle is perfectly fine.  Just makes sure you never have a unbroken 7x7 square of open space and you're golden.

2) There's no natural underground farming plots, so you have to irrigate land to build a farm.  This is accomplished in two ways.  One is waiting for the cave river to flood and leave mud behind - it automatically does this when you breach it, and will flood randomly a couple times a year.  The other way is to irrigate a room yourself by
  a) Build (yes, build) a channel from the river to the room you want to irrigate.
  b) Build a floodgate at the end of the channel, and connect it to a lever.
  c) Seal off the room, pull lever, then pull again and wait for the water to dry.
The danger is that putting a floodgate on a channel makes it into a water cannon - it will never run dry, and water moves a lot faster in 2D.

3) Lots of little reasons; easy, accidental, permaflood being one.  Vicious wildlife is another, 2D is where the legends about elephants and mandrills come from.  Creatures will also periodically attack from the cave river, the magma, and the chasm - snakemen, gnomes (who pull levers), even GCS rarely.  There's also the little problem that after you start mining adamantium (if you chose to), a timer starts that guarantees your fortress will end - not danger or threats, just an automatic death clock.

[FluffyToast J]

Thanks. I was wondering why my miners were being crushed. I thought it was 8x8. The periodic attacks from rivers/magma/chasm sound a bit worrying, to say the least. I also noticed that you couldnt take an anvil on embark. I suppose I'll have to wait for the caravan to come around.

Edit: Apparently, its less for a cave in. I've got a room, 15x10, with two pillars pillar at 8x6 and 8x5, so theres four tiles on the sides, and seven on the top/bottom. Every now and then it will cave in. No-ones been hit yet, but...

[Aqizzar]

Edit: Apparently, its less for a cave in. I've got a room, 15x10, with two pillars pillar at 8x6 and 8x5, so theres four tiles on the sides, and seven on the top/bottom. Every now and then it will cave in. No-ones been hit yet, but...

It's 7x7, thoroughly documented, so make sure you're really looking at it right.

As for the anvil, in your first immigration wave (pretty sure it's the first automatically) you'll get a metalsmith who brings an anvil with him.  Nevermind the ridiculousness of a dwarf lugging an anvil all the way from where he's coming from, point being you'll get a free anvil soon enough.

[Salmeuk]

You might be aware of it, but the old wiki is still archived and helped me out with pretty much everything present in the old game.

A good thing to find is the farming tutorial, which has diagrams.

http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Page

[FluffyToast J]

The wiki was archived? Great! Thanks alot.

[Nesoo]

Edit: Apparently, its less for a cave in. I've got a room, 15x10, with two pillars pillar at 8x6 and 8x5, so theres four tiles on the sides, and seven on the top/bottom. Every now and then it will cave in. No-ones been hit yet, but...

That's your problem. It actually has to be less than 7. See the cave-ins page on the old wiki.