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Author Topic: What makes an artifact?  (Read 814 times)

thobal

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What makes an artifact?
« on: October 14, 2009, 09:29:49 pm »
Recently I had a couple of miners drown while opening up a fill tunnel for a cistern. Soon a peasant claimed a craftdwarf's workshop and grabbed a stack of dog bones and created "Saràmgur" or "The Great Bowel" That might be coincidence enough except it was a pick.

A bone pick with an image of a fly.

Right after two miners died opening a cistern.

The artifact code must somehow be paying attention. I'm actually wondering just how much history the game is able to comprehend.
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Lord Dakoth

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2009, 10:19:23 pm »
Dwarves tend to make artifacts that are items that they themselves like.

For instance, if Urist McCraftsdwarf likes Earrings, he will almost always make an artifact Earring when he takes over a Craftsdwarf's Workshop.
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shadowclasper

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2009, 10:31:21 pm »
It also draws from the history file of you game. Just as the engravings do. So you'll get stuff that correlates ALOT.

For example, one of my forts took down the Elf king or something during an invasion. A crown with the image of my champion making menacing motions at said elf king, who was being smited, were on the crown.
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G-Flex

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2009, 10:42:13 pm »
You're talking about decorations, though.

The actual item type and material, as far as anyone knows, have nothing to do with history at all.
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shadowclasper

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2009, 01:01:02 am »
I doooon't know... occasionally I've had artifacts made from the bones of the guy in question (i keep an eye on where they die and where their bones get put) and turned into stuff with those images... it might just be a fluke though.
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Skorpion

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2009, 08:29:58 am »
Savescumming can change the item, so there's a random factor. However, they do tend to make very specific and appropriate things with appropriate materials.
Most of the time. I'm still bitter about the waste-of-a-log tower-cap blowgun with spikes of tower-cap in my first year.
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The *large serrated steel disk* strikes the Raven in the head, tearing apart the muscle, shattering the skull, and tearing apart the brain!
A tendon in the skull has been torn!
The Raven has been knocked unconcious!

Elves do it in trees. Humans do it in wooden structures. Dwarves? Dwarves do it underground. With magma.

Lawec

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2009, 01:00:53 pm »
I am getting bombed with floor hatches in my current fort.. I believe it's because of the dwarf killing stairs in my fort  ::)
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Rijjka

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2009, 02:10:36 pm »
Quote from: Lawec on October 15, 2009, 01:00:53 pm
I am getting bombed with floor hatches in my current fort.. I believe it's because of the dwarf killing stairs in my fort  ::)

Are these artifacts results of possessions? Your dead dwarf may be trying to send a message from beyond the grave!
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Quote from: Oliolli on July 12, 2011, 05:08:42 am
To the dorf pulling the lever, the lever is just a lever. The magma pouring out of the mountainside is just a coincidence. To the dorf designing a pump stack from the magma sea, it is just that: a pump stack. No specific reason for it. It will never do anything.
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glueheaded

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2009, 02:14:02 pm »
Does anyone know what determines the amount of decoration on an artifact? I remember reading about that statue with like 10 pages of description.
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Lexender

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Re: What makes an artifact?
« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2009, 02:53:02 pm »
Quote from: glueheaded on October 15, 2009, 02:14:02 pm
Does anyone know what determines the amount of decoration on an artifact? I remember reading about that statue with like 10 pages of description.

One decoration per item grabbed, including the basic material. Planepacked is a bug where the moody dwarf proceeded to gather every single rock from the map.
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