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Author Topic: Let's talk about mead.  (Read 2116 times)

thefinn

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Let's talk about mead.
« on: August 25, 2018, 10:03:23 pm »

Given the complete pain in the ass it is to make, why is mead only worth 1?

Does it give any bonus or benefit over other types of alcohol?
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Shonai_Dweller

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2018, 11:20:04 pm »

There is no economy. What value things are right now is mostly meaningless. Certainly there's no clever calculations going on regarding the rarity of bees, the difficulty of training mead brewers and the evil lord's honey taxes yet.

I imagine that even when it is calculated, the difficulty of the player's Fortress Mode interface will have no bearing on prices.
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thefinn

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2018, 12:22:28 am »

There is no economy. What value things are right now is mostly meaningless. Certainly there's no clever calculations going on regarding the rarity of bees, the difficulty of training mead brewers and the evil lord's honey taxes yet.

I imagine that even when it is calculated, the difficulty of the player's Fortress Mode interface will have no bearing on prices.

Darn, was at least hoping that mead somehow made them have happier thoughts or something. :\
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2018, 03:26:39 am »

It does, provided the drinker has a preference for mead (at least one does in my fortress). To everyone else, booze is booze, unless it's the same old booze, in which case a little variation helps.
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Fleeting Frames

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2018, 03:50:25 am »

The only benefit I know of is that meat doesn't require a farm (which can't be obsidian-cast and then dug into up/downstairs - only downstairs are possible), a factor which was critical in now-defunct itg's skyfort.

Otherwise, yeah, it's like dwarves don't know that honey was used as substitute for sugar you'd have to pay traders in equal measure of gold for. But as Shonai Dweller aptly puts, that wouldn't still be 'worth it'.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of bees is that their stings can trigger recover wounded requests. Can give a good thought, perhaps restart stopped care, or maybe stop started tavernkeeper. Those seem bit infrequent however, so I don't know if they're dependable with 60 hives in a room.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2018, 03:52:42 am by Fleeting Frames »
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Grim Portent

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2018, 06:01:27 am »

You can cut out a lot of the hassle involved by adding [AUTOMATIC] to the processes used to make mead in the raws. Honey and wax have no other uses beyond wax crafts and mead production, so as long as you have jugs and barrels empty you can automate the whole thing. I usually set up a few hives and just let them make mead in the background as a supplement to plant based alcohol.
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There once was a dwarf in a cave,
who many would consider brave.
With a head like a block
he went out for a sock,
his ass I won't bother to save.

thefinn

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2018, 02:19:33 pm »

You can cut out a lot of the hassle involved by adding [AUTOMATIC] to the processes used to make mead in the raws. Honey and wax have no other uses beyond wax crafts and mead production, so as long as you have jugs and barrels empty you can automate the whole thing. I usually set up a few hives and just let them make mead in the background as a supplement to plant based alcohol.

You can do that? *Mind Blown*

I had no idea that was configurable in the raws lol

Thanks I'll have a look.
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Grim Portent

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2018, 06:48:37 pm »

They're all in reaction_other. First one is
Code: [Select]
[REACTION:PRESS_HONEYCOMB]
[NAME:press honey from honeycomb]
[BUILDING:SCREW_PRESS:CUSTOM_H]
[REAGENT:honeycomb:1:TOOL:ITEM_TOOL_HONEYCOMB:NONE:NONE]
[HAS_MATERIAL_REACTION_PRODUCT:HONEYCOMB_PRESS_MAT]
[NOT_PRESSED]
[REAGENT:liquid container:1:TOOL:NONE:NONE:NONE]
[EMPTY]
[DOES_NOT_ABSORB]
[PRESERVE_REAGENT]
[HAS_TOOL_USE:LIQUID_CONTAINER]
[DOES_NOT_DETERMINE_PRODUCT_AMOUNT]
[PRODUCT:100:1:LIQUID_MISC:NONE:GET_MATERIAL_FROM_REAGENT:honeycomb:HONEYCOMB_PRESS_MAT][PRODUCT_TO_CONTAINER:liquid container]
[PRODUCT:100:1:GLOB:NONE:GET_MATERIAL_FROM_REAGENT:honeycomb:NONE][PRODUCT_PRESSED]
[SKILL:PRESSING]

You just need to add [AUTOMATIC] to it at the bottom and whenever there's a piece of honeycomb around the dwarves will press it automatically the way they process fish or tan leather, then you just add the token to the other reactions as well. There's just Press Honeycomb, Make Mead and Make Wax Crafts. The entire industry then works on it's own provided you have empty jugs and barrels/pots.

You can also automate soap making, plaster making, making coke from bitumous coal/lignite and a few other things.
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There once was a dwarf in a cave,
who many would consider brave.
With a head like a block
he went out for a sock,
his ass I won't bother to save.

Fleeting Frames

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2018, 11:57:12 pm »

Of course, it now competes with manager orders. Automatic is less fuss, manager allows you to more easily control which workshop the task is placed in. And also ensures you won't use accidentally use hundreds of bags to store gypsum plaster (since it occurs in large clusters). Still, Putnam has neat set of reactions done with it years before manager.

Honey had an use as a makeshift yellow pigment with water (spill on ground, wash into walls), but now dwarves will clean it up.
Coal has an use as an alternative to jet for making light rock pots and the like, and the old lignite blocks in a bin trick. Though then if your booze stockpile catches fire it will really be on ‼fire‼

Quicunque

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Re: Let's talk about mead.
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2018, 03:20:23 am »

I like mead.

I use it in the game as an indicator of fortress maturity and efficiency. I use the Manager to automate the process as much as possible (like all processes). Then, as I begin to see "Make mead (1) complete" messages at the bottom of my screen, I smile with satisfaction, knowing that my ratio of production hives to re-population hives is good, my jug & pot supply is good, the presser is doing his job, the still is in operation, and the haulers are hustling. If I notice a long delay in such messages, I know that something is not working rightly in the fort, and I begin trouble-shooting.

I like mead.
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