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Author Topic: [40d16] Running into slaughter  (Read 775 times)

Lost Requiem

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[40d16] Running into slaughter
« on: January 02, 2010, 02:38:00 pm »

I got ambushed during one fortress, but the ambushers went and attacked the resident Giant living in one of the caves. The Giant killed them all, but for some reason, my dwarves suddenly ran over to go claim the items the invaders dropped, all of them running right into the Giant's cave and getting slaughtered one by one. All of the items were forbidden (I even forbid the corpses, just to be sure), but the dwarves still ran in and got themselves slaughtered by the Giant. and when I say all the dwarves, I mean ALL of them. I hope that Giant chokes on their miasma.
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smjjames

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2010, 03:00:08 pm »

Sounds more like dwarven stupidity than a bug.

They may have been trying to claim the remains and stuff dropped by other dwarves. Did you try blanket forbidding (as in forbidding the entire layer, or just the whole area) or stuff like using the 'O'rders menu to turn on dwarves stay inside? Maybe even switching off gather refuse or turning off hauling on all of your dwarves.
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Lost Requiem

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2010, 05:27:41 pm »

I tried that. Nothing worked. The dwarves just ecstatically ran into slaughter.
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Footkerchief

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2010, 04:30:01 am »

Did you actually figure out what jobs the dwarves were doing, and what specific items they were going after?
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Lost Requiem

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2010, 04:45:05 am »

No. All I saw in their job list was "Store Item in Stockpile" and they were running straight into the Giant's lair, where I save scummed and forbid everything in there. not much room for error. Oddly enough, this did not dissolve into a tantrum spiral, even as lovers, children, and dieties were being ripped in half one by one by the giant.
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Footkerchief

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2010, 04:48:01 am »

Unless you have a save that reproduces the problem, or can describe circumstances that reliably reproduce it, Toady probably can't do anything with this report.
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Derakon

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2010, 06:56:52 pm »

You can always find exactly the item they're looking for. Go to the 'j'obs menu, view the job for the dwarf, and then zoom to the item. I'll bet you missed some.
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Footkerchief

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2010, 07:11:52 pm »

You can always find exactly the item they're looking for. Go to the 'j'obs menu, view the job for the dwarf, and then zoom to the item. I'll bet you missed some.

Also, if dwarves were already locked in combat with the giant when Lost Requiem forbade everything, their subsequent deaths would have dropped unforbidden items in the cave.  The auto-forbid options in the Orders menu are essential for preventing this kind of thing.
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qoonpooka

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2010, 07:22:12 am »

It is also possible that you forbid the items too late.  I have noticed that when I forbid items or shut off the destination stockpile, dwarves will finish pathing to the job item before checking to see if the job has been canceled.  Once a dwarf is heading for an item there seems to be no way (save for drafting, perhaps) to stop them from moving to that item.
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Kon

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2010, 11:55:44 am »

I think qoonpooka has it right. They were already tasked to pick up items before you forbid them. I had something similar happen. Lost about half a adozen dwarfs before I found a solution: After forbidding all items, draft any dwarf heading into slaughter into the military, station them in your fortress, then release them from military service. This will cancel their pickup item task.
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Quietust

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Re: [40d16] Running into slaughter
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2010, 01:10:40 pm »

Alternatively, if they happen to be outdoors (i.e. they haven't entered the cave yet), ordering them to Stay Indoors should cause them to instantly cancel their tasks, stop, and head for an indoor meeting area.
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