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Author Topic: Learning the Hard Way  (Read 508 times)

DStecks

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Learning the Hard Way
« on: February 17, 2011, 03:34:35 pm »
I've been thinking about some of my fortresses and how I've lost them, and I've realized that I've lost most, if not all of them, to stupid rookie mistakes. I'm not talking about facepalm moments, where you realize that you really should have seen something coming, I'm talking about mistakes that you don't or can't anticipate until it's too late. I'm asking because I think we could make a list of advice for newbies of common, easy ways that forts fail, and I was wondering what some of your rookie mistakes were? Mine were:

Having a good farming operation set up but ultimately having all my dwarves killed by carp because I forgot to make enough barrels to store alcohol. (first fort, the complete and utter newbie tutorial fort)

Trying to divert a river into the lowest level of my fort for a well, then learning about water pressure
 
Knowing about water pressure and having a fort fail because I tried to irrigate my underground farms with a river and setting it up took so long that the dwarves starved

Embarking on an aquifer and realizing that no, they were not exaggerating about how hard as they say it is

Breaching a cavern without any real military

So, any good ones?
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Carrock

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Re: Learning the Hard Way
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2011, 03:47:28 pm »
I've lost a few to starvation and thirst, as well as the usual accidental flooding, but often it's simply because I haven't got my defences ready in time (if I don't give up with dealing with a population-tripling influx of migrants).

Not realising that traps don't work against forgotten beasts was an indirect cause of newbie fortress failure. It killed most of the population until someone knocked it down a well - killed as in infected them so they rotted away. The survivors got wiped out by an attack when I opened the gates to let some migrants in.
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DStecks

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Re: Learning the Hard Way
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2011, 03:50:08 pm »
I just remembered another one:

Making sure that your sheriff is not a ginormous badass who happens to be a miner, especially in the middle of a tantrum spiral, when you have no jail.

SOB killed more of my dwarves than the goblins did.
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Mickey Blue

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Re: Learning the Hard Way
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2011, 03:51:02 pm »
Over the course of my entire history I would say the vast majority of fortresses I've lose within the first two years or so would be to starvation (early on due to lack of understanding of how to produce food, later on usually by working on projects and delaying food/drink production just a little bit too long..), or by flooding (usually from not understanding, or recalling, that rivers are pressurized).

Fortresses that last longer are usually killed by underestimating enemy forces and not having a good defense (but then I play in a way that makes these more challenging) or FPS/boredom death, which nothing can really prevent.

-MB
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