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[Quietust]

Is a ranch setup really necessary? I've heard of keeping animals in pits to reduce processor load from pathing, but ropes still let them path, so...

As for mist, if you design your fort vertically it's a simple matter to run a waterfall down the central staircase (I still use a 3x3 alternating up-down central staircase, so i just channel out the center tile, add grates, and pump water down, using a pump stack to pull it back up outside my fort proper. ) If not, you can put pumps in sequence on the floor above your dining room, and just have some kind of sump to pull the inevitable spillage away and back into the system. It's recommended that you put statues on the tiles where the pumps will actually be dumping/pulling up water to control muddying and stop pathing through variable-depth water too. Have the last pump drop the water into a channel below the dining room and pull it up on the other side.

lol thats a amazing idea, you wouldn't happen to have a pic or map of your waterfall setup, that sounds awesome using the central staircase. Here's another question. Is there anyway to erase your fort from an embark location and reuse the site? I have some really good ideas and i screwed the site, it was a perfect stream/volcano site. It would be really easy to set something up there.

If you abandon then do Start > YourSave > Legends you can export generation info, which will create a text file with the seeds used to make the world.  If you use those seeds as [e]advanced parameters in generate new world you can make the exact same world blank again.

You don't need to abandon - just use Export Local Image and it'll also output your worldgen info.

[TDSS02]

Hey Trekkin, don't know if your still checking this thread but have another quick question for ya. You peaked my interest about your desert embark location, was wondering what are the first few things that you do right away when embarking on a desert and what does your embark skills look like? Was thinking about trying a desert area for my next fortress. I'm guessing find water and start a farm would be the first thing i think off, or am i wrong lol?

[Trekkin]

Here's my embark profile, spoilered for length-

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[PROFILE]
   [TITLE:FEWTREES]
   [SKILL:1:MINING:5]
   [SKILL:2:MINING:5]
   [SKILL:3:MINING:5]
   [SKILL:4:FORGE_WEAPON:5]
   [SKILL:4:FORGE_ARMOR:5]
   [SKILL:5:PLANT:5]
   [SKILL:5:MECHANICS:5]
   [SKILL:6:BREWING:5]
   [SKILL:6:PLANT:5]
   [SKILL:7:CARPENTRY:5]
   [SKILL:7:MASONRY:5]
   [ITEM:3:WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_PICK:INORGANIC:COPPER]
   [ITEM:1:WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_AXE_BATTLE:INORGANIC:COPPER]
   [ITEM:1:ANVIL:NONE:INORGANIC:IRON]
   [ITEM:1:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:BUSH_QUARRY:SEED]
   [ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:POD_SWEET:SEED]
   [ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_CUP_DIMPLE:SEED]
   [ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:SEED]
   [ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_WHEAT_CAVE:SEED]
   [ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:SEED]
   [ITEM:30:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:POD_SWEET:DRINK]
   [ITEM:30:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:DRINK]
   [ITEM:30:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_WHEAT_CAVE:DRINK]
   [ITEM:30:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:DRINK]
   [ITEM:120:MEAT:NONE:CREATURE_MAT:ANT:BRAIN]
   [ITEM:9:WOOD:NONE:PLANT_MAT:TOWER_CAP:WOOD]
   [PET:1:DOG:FEMALE:STANDARD]
   [PET:1:DOG:MALE:STANDARD]
   [PET:1:CAT:FEMALE:STANDARD]
   [PET:1:CAT:MALE:STANDARD]

It's not optimal by any means, but it hasn't yet killed me. I generally dig a modestly sized spiral entryway on the first sand level under the wagon, culminating in the start of the aforementioned 3x3 spiral staircase located directly underneath; the flat entry spiral ends up being trapped and systematically rebuilt with fortifications until the traps can be supplemented with ballistae. I dig down until I hit semi-molten rock (i don't know if it's just me, but the magma sea never quite extends to the corners of the tiles so a 4x4 embark puts you, at the center of the map, over a pillar of rock right down to the semi-molten), start digging exploratory tunnels until I hit a flat patch of magma, and structure my fort from there up. Of course, if you start on an (odd)x(odd) embark or otherwise hit magma, the basic principle is the same but you save exploratory tunneling. You can generally trade for enough wood and food for the first few years if you have both dwarves and elves trading with you, which is more than long enough to divert any water in the caverns down to make the central waterfall (you have to rebuild the staircases around that level to make room), ideally stopping it with lever-controlled hatchways on the farm levels. I'm lazy like that.

You're right in that farming is an early priority, but there's nothing wrong with doing that and starting metalsmithing simultaneously; it's why I build my forts right on top of the magma, anyway. I've also considered dropping that central sand tile at the start of the central staircase down to make a ridiculously convenient glass industry as its way has been channeled out anyway, as long as it's dropped below the waterfall's water recovery level before the waterfall starts.

The only thing you really have to watch out for is nasty things coming through the caverns; if you're worried, you can cave in sheaths around the staircase rather than building them, assuming you make the rock layers between caverns thick enough.

That's how I do it anyway.