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[screwball69]

So  I've been playing for a few months now and I've gotten to the point where I have a decently self sustaining fort.
My question where do I go from here aside from digging deeper? is there some mechanics I'm missing?

[Thisfox]

Once you're capable of surviving, the next step is to make a  ☼Masterwork☼ out of surviving.

- If you're a programmer, you might go down the Dwarfputing route. That would be interesting now that there's some real steps been made in Manager department.
- You could try starting a colony near somat dangerous, and see how you do "mining goblinite", capturing your very own necromancer, or something similar.
- Have you tackled aquifers yet? My personal best is 13 layers of aquifer (and every one of those layers full of iron ore!) I adore having aquifer-fed waterfalls in every feasting hall.
- Some people like making above-ground fortresses as a "special challenge". I sometimes have to when my aquifer turns out to be harder to crack than I intended.
- Set up a camp in a saltwater region, and start a famous seafaring fort of doom.
- Make a huge... Something. I remember someone was making a duck at one point. Other people have made forts in the shape of their own head, or in the shape of an enormous fortress, etc.
- Find a successful way of having surface-level magma forges, without the use of the local volcano.

[screwball69]

Im not even 100% certain how I'd survive in saltwater area

[Thisfox]

Firstly: Learn how to tackle normal aquifers first. The wiki has plenty of suggestions, but do not expect it to work first time...

Secondly: Pumps can purify the water to nonsalty. But you have to have uncontaminated ground for them to pump into. Check the wiki.

Thirdly: Have a goal. Whether it be a ☼waterfall☼ or a ☼Temple of the Ocean☼ or a ☼pine pirate ship☼ you will then know when you've "won".

[screwball69]

oooh interesting, can you use pumps to purify stagnant water as well?

[Thisfox]

It appears so.

The question also is whether you want to use a "waterwheel battery" or go hardcore and try to get your dorfs to pump that aquifer out manually. I'm a great believer in waterwheel batteries, personally, but I've realised recently that I really need to study windmills more than I so far have.

[mikekchar]

oooh interesting, can you use pumps to purify stagnant water as well?

Yes you can.  Just keep in mind that stagnant water is stagnant because it is not flowing -- i.e. there is a limited supply that is replenished with rain water.

Definitely +1 on having a goal.  The game has so many mechanics to explore it's not funny.  Whether you like engineering challenges or role playing challenges or aesthetic challenges, the world is your oyster.  I think some of the most interesting things people have done come about from imagining a civilisation and trying to get the game to do it somehow.  After you understand how the game works, there are few real challenges presented by the game.  Virtually everything comes from choosing to limit yourself in some way or another.

[screwball69]

I think I might try my hand at a aquifer area since I've been avoiding them.
also been contemplating making a ice fort so I'll likely add that to my list

[Fleeting Frames]

Where do you go...Wherever you want?

Outside of (art) (mega) project and military ideas, you can also embark early in the history of the world and use taverns and libraries, then watch as the stories, music, written content and relationships of the worlds are added to. Or you could try to research and make accessible poorly-understood behaviours, like crosstraining benefits of all the labours, or easily-adaptable passing minecarts through walls.

Saltwater:
Yeah, they can't drink it, but dwarves can drink alcohol and move faster in general if they have alcohol to drink semiregularly.

You should build a still, carpenter's or craftsdwarf's workshop and farm plot, grow some brewable plants on farm plot (plump helmets underground are quickest) with a Farming (Fields) labour, use a carpenter or stonecrafter or woodcrafter to create barrels or large pots, and then have a dwarf with Brewing enabled brew the plants into pots at the still.

Once you have that solved, water is still useful for treating injuries to prevent infections, but you by no means need to save injured dwarves to function - if they die, there usually will be more migrants, unless your civ is dead.


As for purifying it, don't even need pumps, just let the water through an u-bend. Or dig to aquifer/caverns, which will have non-salty water. There's likely also some stagnant pools on non-ocean biome that you have.

@Thisfox: you mention contaminated ground, but have you seen it in DF2016? I started playing early this year, and have yet to see it once, despite embarking on ocean numerous times.

[Thisfox]

I'm pretty sure he knows how to make booze already, if he's getting bored making a successful plain functional fort....

@Thisfox: you mention contaminated ground, but have you seen it in DF2016? I started playing early this year, and have yet to see it once, despite embarking on ocean numerous times.

I was referring to salt water contaminated. As in, I had a friend carefully pump water into a damp bottomed well.... and then be disappointed he hadn't "diluted" the salty 1-level water in the bottom of the well away. You've got to pump it (or u-bed it) into a dry well for success.

[Fleeting Frames]

Just checking, since they weren't certain how they'd survive in saltwater area

And, heh. Explains why I've never seen it, I always secure and transport water across z-levels - and checking just now, it seems it sets the tile attribute.