I have some specific ideas in mind but not sure if they'll work. If I build a fortress in a dwarven civilization then start an adventure as a dwarf from that civilization, is there any chance I'll start at the fortress, or will I always start in a human town no matter what? I wish I could at least start at the mountainhomes. It'd save me a lot of traveling.
If you edit dwarf entity raws that they build cities instead of "detailed_cavern" you can start in a dwarf area, otherwise, nope. You can retire at the site of a mountainhome though, even though no buildings are visible. I don't think you'll ever start out at an abandoned fort. It's abandoned, right?
Also, can I retire an adventurer in an abandoned fortress? Or is there some way to mark the fortress as a town so that it will let me treat it as such for adventures? If I do retire in a town, will my character stay where I left them or will they wander around and be hard to find later?
your dwarf will stay in the town, but might move to a house somewhere, I'm not too sure on this.
Is DFHack updated for the latest version? Can I mark fortresses as lairs still so items don't scatter?
Yes and yes
I'm sure I'll come up with more later. Thanks!
EDIT: One more - how do I find quests? I've asked about 30 different commoners and they all say they have no need of me. But the leaders just laugh at my lack of skill. Is the region just too peaceful or something?
probably. maybe you already solved their only trouble. Move on to the next village.
EDIT 2: And another... I finally got a quest to kill a criminal in the dungeon. I followed the TSK directions until it gave me the *** but I don't see any dungeon. I can't find anything! No hole in the ground, no building, nothing. Where the hell is it? What do dungeons look like? Is it a bug or am I totally missing something?
Dungeons are underneath the castle, probably somewhere near the center of a city. Entrance is through the central keep. Usually lots of goodies in the caslte too, though not often dwarf sized.