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Author Topic: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...  (Read 700 times)

PCpaste

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I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« on: July 06, 2011, 08:36:43 am »

I'll start from the beginning.

There was a goblin army, in which I had my single macedwarf stand against on the bridge to the fortress. He killed them all.
(Also a Rutherer was caught in a cage, while a goblin was riding it.)
I ordered the bodies and clothing to be dumped in magma, however the dwarves didn't want to touch their clothes.
(Meanwhile, my macedwarf is in the battle room, battling prisoners.)
Seasons later, I noticed these clothes sitting there on the bridge, and I thought, "Oh, I wonder if this will fly away if I lift the bridge while it's on it..." (Meanwhile, my Macedwarf is combatting the Rutherer, and is taking a while...)
I went to pull the lever, however I had two, unlabeled levers next to eachother. One controls the main gate, and one opens floodgates in eight 3x3 pillars with magma in the center in the main meeting hall.
Of course, I pulled the wrong one, and waited to see what happened to the clothes. Nothing did.
Meanwhile, the meeting hall, most of my dwarves were standing around, wondering why it's so warm.
The many, many deaths created a tantrum spiral. About twenty dwarves went berserk, the rest either died or went some other kind of insane.
(Finally, my Macedwarf is done in the sealed battle room, and emerges to see the skeletons of hundreds of dwarves, ghosts, and a few wandering dwarves, either weeping or babbling.)
All but one dwarf survived.


Label your levers, kids!
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Dwarf Fortress: The only game where an Artificial Intelligence-controlled unit can pull the pants off someone and the proceed to beat said someone to death with said pants.

tivec

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2011, 08:57:52 am »

Signed. I will never EVER put two levers next to each other after reading this, and if they're even close to each other I will label them.
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Urist McDoctor recommends a healthy magma bath to minimize the risk for infection.

In one fort I had war elephants riding camels into battle. I can imagine the war elephants taming them simply by picking them up and dropping them in a coral. I still don't understand how you can fit a few ton elephant onto camel though.

Check out my Let's Play on my Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/thetivec

Oliolli

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2011, 09:23:41 am »

I would have liked to see the expression on the macedwarfs face when he come out :D
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Lectorog

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2011, 11:38:27 am »

I always put unlabled levers next to each other, for exactly this reason.
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billybobfred

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2011, 11:40:21 am »

I put my levers near the things they control. It is very rare for me to decide that this is a bad idea.
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urist mcgeorg, who lives in boatmurdered and makes over 10,000 bad decisions each day,

Quietust

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2011, 11:42:26 am »

I'm suddenly reminded of Headshoots:
"The lever to open the gold hatch is the 2nd microcline one in the main hall I think. The other microcline lever releases all the cats from their cage."
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P.S. If you don't get this note, let me know and I'll write you another.
It's amazing how dwarves can make a stack of bones completely waterproof and magmaproof.
It's amazing how they can make an entire floodgate out of the bones of 2 cats.

Calhoun

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2011, 11:48:05 am »

Its a bit hard to explain, but generally I put my levers in positions relative to what they control, essentially a small-scale model. Usually stops confusion. Usually.
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I know it's unrealistic, but I can't help but imagine little bearded babies for dwarves. In my mind, they come out of the womb fully bearded. That's how the mother carries them around, too, she just drags them around by the beard or ties it to her belt. When the father's on duty, he just ties their beards together and the baby just kind of hangs there, swinging to and fro with Urist McDaddy's movements.

Barnox

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2011, 12:03:14 pm »

For my Elf Springs Trade Depot, I have three levers in a row, and I don't need them to be labelled.

First one: Seal the elves into the Fun Chamber.
Second one: Release the Fun Springs.
Third one: Eject the Fun Springs.
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PCpaste

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Re: I almost fell to un-labeled levers...
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2011, 12:20:23 pm »

I usually have all the levers in one room, because they get pulled quicker, and if I put on Christmas Alert, we can still close the gate while all the dwarves are cowering in the meeting hall.
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Dwarf Fortress: The only game where an Artificial Intelligence-controlled unit can pull the pants off someone and the proceed to beat said someone to death with said pants.